image description
Rachel Donohue of Natural Wallflower, left, truffle-maker Tarah Warner and her employee Jen McCarthy at the opening of Truffles by Tarah.
image description
Warner cuts the ribbon on her chocolate shop at 48 North St. on Friday.
image description
Mayor Peter Marchetti among the first customers for the candy.
image description
image description
Natural Wildflower bath and body products will be back in December as one of the rotating pop-ups at 48 North.

Truffles By Tarah Pop-Up Opens in Pittsfield

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
Print Story | Email Story

Boxed up truffles for holiday gifting.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Tarah Warner hand rolls and dips as many as 1,000 truffles per week. 

Throughout November and December, her treats will be available at a pop-up store in the downtown.

On Friday, the ribbon was cut for Truffles by Tarah at 48 North St. Offerings range from classic favorites such as dark chocolate to lavender lemonade.

"I'm just really excited to highlight locally sourced ingredients and to do the fun, interesting flavors that I've always been told nobody wants to try," Warner said.

"Things like the lavender lemonade, where people are like, 'No one's going to eat that, that's weird,' and then magic, people really like it, and now it's the holiday season so all those really fun winter flavors, the peppermint, the eggnog. It's really nice to be able to play with seasonal flavors and seasonal ingredients."

Born in raised in Berkshire County, Warner is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., with a degree in baking and pastry. She has worked at a chocolatier for 14 years, for some time at Mielke Confections in South County before it closed.

Her business is about two years old and before the pop-up, sold her treats at farmers and makers markets.

While chocolate can't be sourced from this region, Warner uses local ingredients when possible to flavor the truffles. Her first curated collection was a "Berkshire Box" that includes five truffles with locally sourced ingredients.


These include coffee from No. Six Depot and Baldwin Extracts in West Stockbridge.

Because this is a holiday pop-up, the treats are in seasonal packaging. Warner's advent calendars, available in 12-day and 25-day options, have received a lot of attention.

She is a member of 1Berkshire, which provided the ribbon cutting, Downtown Pittsfield Inc., and a graduate of the Entrepreneurship for All program. Representatives from each organization, Mayor Peter Marchetti, and the city Office of Cultural Development were present at the event.

Warner said DPI Managing Director Rebecca Brien was instrumental in securing this storefront.

"All of DPI was a huge help with getting this to where it is," she said.

Because the storefront that formerly housed The Spot has ample space, a rotating schedule of other local businesses will appear at the pop-up. This past weekend and for one day in December, Natural Wallflower bath and body products will be at the shop.

Owner Rachel Donohue explained that her products are eco-friendly with no plastic packaging and made with plant-based and essential oils. Her most popular products are shower steamers, which come in eucalyptus, lavender, orange, and fir needle for the holidays.


Tags: chocolate,   popup,   ribbon cutting,   

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Dalton Division Road Project in Pre-25 Percent Design Stage

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
DALTON, Mass. — The town's engineers say there is still time to work through the Dalton Division Road project’s design and permitting process. 
 
In December, the Select Board voted to advocate for Concept A, which would have sidewalks on both sides, a 5-foot bike lane in the road on both sides with a buffer, and a 2-foot painted buffer between the vehicle lane and in the bike lane. They also recommended the two-way stop control option. 
 
Since that decision, there have been sentiments to revisit this decision to reduce the cost and improve safety at the intersection off Williams Street, Washington Mountain Road, and Mountain Road. 
 
The original vote would have been the most expensive and "certainly not" the engineer or the state's "preferred design," Town Manager Thomas Hutcheson said during a meeting in November. 
 
During last week's Select Board meeting, Fuss & O'Neil project manager and senior traffic engineer Steve Savaria represented the options, explained potential obstacles, and demonstrated the next steps. Present board members have yet to vote on their final choice. 
 
The project is still in the pre-25 percent design stage and is currently on the fiscal year 2029 Transportation Improvement Program list, so there is "plenty of time" to work out the details. 
 
Since the original vote, some board members have shifted their opinion toward advocating for the most feasible and timely option with a "path of least resistance to get this project done." 
 
View Full Story

More Pittsfield Stories