This edition of Berkshires After Dark might better be renamed " Berkshires Before Dark," as our chosen location, Caffe Pomo d'Oro, is strictly a breakfast and lunch affair.

But it is a choice Berkshire hideaway particularly suited to small groups - specifically of the two-person variety- interested in whiling away a lazy afternoon with a long lunch, or starting a sunny Sunday with an elegant yet homey meal.

A European farmhouse/ bistro aesthetic prevails, with a central table greeting you upon entrance stocked with fresh loaves of bread, biscotti and other house-baked goods, and a basket full of jars of house-made preserves.

It is a bright, wide-open space, with a row of south-facing windows on the left wall offering plenty of very sunny seating, but creating shadowy corners as well.

A counter lies along the right side of the room, though you'll likely just walk in and choose a table yourself without asking to be seated. Along the rear wall are shelves stocked with more housemade preserves and a few choice specialty- grocery items.

Housed in the south wing of the old West Stockbridge train station, Caffe Pomo d'Oro seems like it was created specifically for couples. The dining room is filled with eight two-tops, and one round table that can seat four comfortably and five with perhaps a bit of a squeeze. (The furniture is all made from handsome, dark woods - again, the words elegant and farmhouse come to mind.)

---

Sure, one imagines the small tables could be pushed together to accommodate larger groups, but the space is not built for that. It seems unlikely that any groups of eight teenagers are likely to burst in and set up shop on the morning after prom.

This feeling is contrasted a bit with the wide-open floor plan, and close juxtaposition of tables. On a recent visit, I found myself remembering to talk quietly so as not to share the whole conversation with my temporary neighbors.

It's about the food, though, and the place is particularly known for breakfast - the berry pancakes of chef-proprietor Scott Edward Cole are much heralded. It's just as rewarding an option, though, to go for an omelet stuffed with ingredients of your choice (options include smoked trout, chevre, and roasted vegetables) and order a scone on the side, served warm with preserves and butter.

The lunch menu is stocked with salads and sandwiches. A hot, black forest ham sandwich was served with a healthy portion of steaming- hot meat, much thinly-sliced red onion, and a delicious stone-ground mustard on thick slices of crusty French peasant bread.

The insalata pera was a positively gorgeous mix of organic greens, Berkshire Blue cheese, pecans, dried cranberries and sliced pears fanned around the plate. Typical Italian appetizers like a Caprese salad and bruschetta were offered as well, plus a house-made duck pate.

A generous selection of loose teas are available any time, as are three varieties of coffee bean. (Though I wasn't asked my preference when I ordered, whatever was served was delicious.) Caffe Pomo d'Oro was a founding member of Berkshire Grown. Though my $ 25 tab (before tip) felt a tad dear for sandwich, salad and coffee, I felt safe to assume I had enjoyed choice, locally sourced ingredients that necessarily come at a premium.

If I wanted the cheaper version, I could have gone to a diner instead.

This is a destination spot, and depending on your timing, you may end up with a quiet, evocative environment in which to soak in the views of surrounding ridge lines, or feel like you've stumbled upon the discriminating breakfast scene of choice.

Near the end of the lunch hour one afternoon this week, a middle-aged couple shared a soup and sandwich while quietly reading.

Their evident comfort level speaks for the overall feel of the place.

The sun pours in to Caffe Pomo d'Oro in the morning - it’s just gorgeous sitting in this restaurant for breakfast. Chef/Proprietor Scott Edward Cole has turned this spot into an idyllic place to enjoy a meal. The Caffe consists of an open dining area, attractively decorated with a photo exhibit on the walls and culinary items for sale on the shelves, including serving platters, soup bowls Pomo d’Oro’s signature marmalades and preserves, breads and pastries.

The breakfast menu features Omelets with a choice of options including; Black Forest ham, brie, chevre, mushrooms, smoked trout, red onion, fresh herbs and smoked salmon to name a few.

Thick slices of Challah go into the French Toast, and Buttermilk Pancakes come unadorned or with raspberries and/or blueberries.

The Stone Ground Oatmeal is topped with a choice of fruits and syrup, and looks really hearty. And you can order eggs any way you like with bacon, ham, herb roasted potatoes, mixed greens, fruit and toast or bagel. The popular Breakfast Sandwich consists of eggs, Black Forest ham, Swiss Emmental on toasted farm bread.

The Caffe also serves bagels and the Bagel Platter comes with smoked salmon, capers, cream cheese, red onion, tomato and cucumber. Pastries include a muffin of the day and currant cream scones with jam and butter.

A cup of coffee here is large and delicious and you can also get an espresso, cappuccino or latte. The tea list is extensive, with varieties of Black Teas, Herbal Tisanes, Green Teas and White Teas.

We sit next to the large window and watch the birds feeding from the Caffe’s feeder. It’s January in the Berkshires, but with the sun, the food and the marvelous atmosphere in this Caffe, you feel like you’re in paradise. It’s hard to leave!

You know how it is: It’s another rainy day, and your plans are shot so you think, Let’s go out for lunch. Caffe Pomo d’Oro in West Stockbridge is an ideal spot because it is light and airy even on the grayest day. You can watch the lightning and clouds collide with the mountains through the oversized paned windows and a skylight helps lighten the mood. Chef/owner Scott Edward Cole has been happily feeding locals and summer people in this reclaimed train station for 16 years with a European-style menu that relies on the best ingredients available. Sandwiches (such as salami with roasted red peppers and provolone, $8.95) are served on yeasty Rock Hill Bakehouse bread, and the gazpacho ($5.50) is like drinking in the essences of a local vegetable garden. On weekends, there can be a wait for Cole’s justifiably famous pancakes served with Ioka Valley Farm maple syrup ($7.50) and oatmeal offered with an array of toppings ($7.50).  There’s expertly made lattes and a wide variety of loose teas, which makes Caffe Pomo d’Oro a great place to linger until the clouds pass. Of course, the restaurant is just as delightful on a sunny day, when you can sit outside at umbrella-shaded cafe tables.

Gilding the apple:

With all the excitement surrounding the opening of new restaurants, it's sometimes easy to overlook those establishments that have been pleasing their customers, old and new, for decades.

With that in mind, I paid a visit to Caffe Pomo d'Oro at the train station on Depot Street, opened by chef/owner Scott Edward Cole some seventeen years ago.

Taking advantage of a pre-lunch lull, Cole sat down to talk about his longevity in a notoriously fickle industry.

He moved to the area from New York nearly twenty years ago, and, looking for a reason to stay here, sought a job waiting tables-- what else is someone who's 24 with a fine arts degree going to do in Berkshire County, he asked-- but never found the kind of restaurant he wanted to work in.

Passing through West Stockbridge, he noticed that the space in the Train Station, a former diner, had just become available. "It was a bit of a mess," he said, "but the beautiful bones of the space were evident."

As foolhardy as it seemed at the time, without any real commercial experience, he opened the caffe, fully expecting to fail and return to grad school.

"I really loved to cook," he explained. "I grew up in a culinary household, traveled a lot and picked things up wherever I went." He credits his French grandmother, and Josette, his host mother from time in high school spent in France. But his greatest inspiration came from his stepmother, the food and wine writer Marlena de Blasi.

A timely dream about gilded apple led to the name, caffe pomo d'oro, the Latin root of the Italian word for tomato, "pomodoro."

                          **               **                 **

Despite foreboding clouds gathering overhead, we chose a table under the sun umbrellas on a wooden deck resplendent with pink hibiscus blooms, purple foxglove, fiery dayliles and aromatic juniper.

An appetizer of homemade duck pate with pistachios and crusty farm bread (8.50) needed only a dab of pungent Pommery mustard to avoid overpowering its mellow taste.

The Insalata Pera (8.50) was a heaping pile of balsamic dressed organic local field greens loaded with dried cranberries and surrounded by pear slices. The expected Berkshire Blue crumbles were met with a welcome smattering of fresh pecans.

While darkening gray skies threatened to drive us indoors, our gaze followed the delivery of a flat of luscious, just picked red raspberries destined for the compact, tidy kitchen.

Not being hot enough for the alternative gazpacho, we ordered a bowl of hearty vegetarian split pea soup (6.50) which deftly avoided the usual dominant salty ham flavors.

The filling "Griglia" sandwich (8.95) of nicely grilled eggplant, zucchini, roasted red pepper, red onion was graced with fresh basil leaves and ended with a lingering note of garlic.

From a tantalizing array of desserts and lattice topped fruit pies, we chose a slab of raspberry drizzled bread pudding (3.95), served with a benediction of freshly whipped High Lawn Farm cream.

A shortbread lemon square (2.50) served split into two triangles along fresh strawberries, was pleasantly chewy--neither gooey nor crunchy as its parentage would suggest. The discreet lemon flavor was indicative of the subtlety that pervades Caffe Pomo d'Oro. With the exception of the bracingly strong coffee, shipped in from San Francisco, Cole deals a delicate hand with his creations.

We dodged the puddles in the parking area as we left, marveling that the rain held off long enough to let us finish our lunch al fresco.

                     **                     **                        **

A return visit for breakfast yielded trademark fluffy buttermilk pancakes with crisp browned edges, and dotted with the same fresh raspberries we had seen delivered, and served with Maple syrup from Ioka Valley Farm (7.50) and a generous side order of herb roasted potatoes.

The calm neutral walls of the terra cotta tiled dining room were hung with tidy arrangements of  bird paintings that mirrored the flock pecking at the feeders outside the picture window. Large pastel bouquets of dried hydrangeas filled rustic containers, while long wooden shelves offered imported artisanal pastas, house made sauces, and other staples for a well stocked kitchen. Rows of glass jars held dozens of exotic loose teas and tisanes. An eclectic music mix spun from Belgian jazz remixes to Tom Jones.

"At the end of the day, it's just simple, earnest food." Cole said. "it's lovingly prepared, with a minimum of fuss, to highlight the abundance of locally sourced ingredients." He uses Equinox Farm greens, produce from Farm Girl Farm, fruit from Bartlett Orchards, milk from High Lawn Farm, and many more local foods...

Now 43, he acknowledges that the restaurant venture has turned into a "pretty long folly."

A steady stream of appreciative customers filed in and sent him back to his calling.

Caffe Pomo D'Oro is an entertaining little breakfast establishment tucked away in the ever quirky hamlet of West Stockbridge. The owner/chef is usually on hand to delight regulars with his ever witty conversation and expose patrons to an eclectic mix of tunes.

Portions aren't too small, nor too American-sized. Finishing off a plate of food (my personal favorite is the tomato, brie and herb omelet with roasted potatoes) leaves customers satisfied without feeling guilty. Best bet on a drink? Try a latte large enough to bathe in.

In a word: scrumptious.

Caffe Pomo d'Oro has been quietly making friends among the breakfast, brunch and lunch crowd for nigh on 10 years.

The good coffees, berry pancakes made from scratch, unpretentious but uncompromising quality and the location -- in a wing of the West Stockbridge train station -- make it an attractive destination for a morning or midday restorative.

It amply fulfills chef-owner Scott Edward Cole's vision of "a sweet spot, visually appealing, comfortable but unimposing."

But this summer, Cole decided to extend the café's hours into the evenings four days a week. And he brought in a kindred kitchen spirit, Kevin Scott from San Francisco, to do dinner.

The menu is deliberately limited to a handful of starters, a salad or two and three dinner choices that change by the week.

To my mind, a short bill of fare is a fine omen -- like the prix fixe menus scrawled on chalkboards in Europe only after the daily trip to the market has yielded up inspiration.

It is a good sign that what's on your plate gets there in a natural progression, from source to table, without doing time in the deep freeze.

Because I was dining with a group of friends, it also meant that we could sample practically everything offered.

While we were sorting out seating, our waitress arrived with a corkscrew and we unbagged our carry-in wine bottles. The café does not have a liquor license, but cheerfully accommodates importations. Indeed, stem glasses catching candlelight were the primary décor on the simply white-dressed tables.

Rather than divvying out who would order what appetizer, we ordered three and a salad, passing them around in happy succession. The different tastes, loosely linked by Mediterranean heritage, mingled well and were aptly accompanied by a half loaf of very good, hot bread and limpid gold olive oil.

The asparagus in the Risotto Asperigi ($9) was pencil thin, a tender counterpoint to arborio rice porridge scented with lemon and white wine.

Zuppa di Muscoli alla Livorno ($11) married plump sweet mussels with a bold herbed tomato broth and had goodly slabs of crisply toasted bread for absorbing the excess.

Best of all were the Gnocchi della Pomo d'Oro ($11), those beloved Italian potato dumplings that, when overprocessed, are pasty and cloddish, but when made with a sure hand are light and mouth-melting.

These were the real thing, set off by a superbly simple fresh tomato and butter sauce.

The first edge of our hunger allayed, we swiped our plates with bread and passed around the salad of locally grown baby arugula leaves, see-through-thin pear slices, gorgonzola cheese and toasted walnuts ($9). That harmony of mellow and pungent flavors matched the harmony of the room -- its earthy tiles, muted sage walls, ironwork fixtures and simple furniture.

A wall of shelves offered a tasteful array of imported condiments. One of the large many-paned windows held a few lovely pieces of Italian crockery and tall vases of blue globe thistles. The other let in a pewter cloudscape and a peep of moon.

"What do you think?" I asked, anticipating my friends' pleasure.

"It's like eating in someone's home," Amy said.

"Better than that," Eileen added.

"Someone's home in Europe," Marc contributed.

"In Tuscany," finished Tom.

Our waitress began serving the entrées with a quiet, slightly haphazard grace. She brought Filleti di Troto ($22), Porchetta Ascolana ($20) and the last helping of Pollo con Funghi ($18), for which we had providently put in our dibs upon arrival, having learned that there was only one left.

The trout dish featured two pale filets crossed over a somewhat salty puree of olives and celery root (celeriac) and covered with a thick sauce of leeks and fennel.

The flavors were well-balanced, but the presentation seemed bland in texture. With all three components soft, it cried out for a crunch of vegetable or the trout's own skin, nicely crisped.

The pork tenderloin was rolled with a spiral of herbs and pancetta (Italian bacon). More pancetta, sage and aromatic vegetables added depth to the cannelloni beans that accompanied. The latter, the chef told me, are just like those that every farmhouse granny in Tuscany has bubbling on her hearth.

The chicken, which we came squeaking-close to missing, was the most satisfying of all. Herbed chicken breast on a bed of field greens was covered with a king's ransom of succulent shiitake mushrooms, and the whole plate was surrounded by crisp, buttery medallions of potato so good that they briefly monopolized the table conversation.

This plate had the best interplay of flavors and colors, and one wished that the vegetable offerings ($4 each) of zucchini, carrots, fresh beans -- had been incorporated into the other entrée presentations, even at added cost, rather than sold a la carte.

On the side, they didn't have the same impact.

While we ate and talked, a flower farmer arrived with an unceremonious delivery of several tall buckets of glads, sedum, millet, shocking purple liatris and coneflowers.

Cardinal to the café's aesthetic is Scott Cole's insistence on using the best native produce, and he is an active player in the growing interconnection of Berk-shire farmers and restaurants.

By the time we finished admiring the extraordinary blooms, we realized that we were so replete with primi and secondi courses that dessert was out of the question, even for research's sake. (The strategy for another evening might be to have appetizers, salad, coffee and dessert.)

We took a lingering look at the homemade peach and berry pies, the brownies and lemon squares -- which we know are good from other visits -- and let discretion get the better of us for once.

Although dinner will be served only through Labor Day, daytime trade will continue, and Cole is concocting a series of themed dinners one Saturday a month through the year.

For those evenings, he plans to work with Danny May, proprietor of the neighboring wine shop and takeout business, La Bruschetta, to choose wines to accompany the regional dishes.

And he is definitely planning to be open for dinner again next summer -- another seasonal treat to look forward to in the Berkshires