When I sleep, I dream of sitting in the grass, eating chicken curry and a panini and corn fritters,…read morewhile music plays. And then I ride a pony. Oh wait! That's Taste of Amherst! For a weekend every summer, the majority of restaurants in town set up tents on the common and serve smaller portions of their food. There are no tickets involved, and nothing costs more than $5. So you can sample dishes from The Pub, Andiamo, Panda East, Paradise of India, Baku's, Boltwood Tavern, and others.. And dessert from Atkins Market and Bart's. Then if you're not stuffed you can head to the grown-ups only tent to sample wine and beer from Amherst Brewing Company (with free pint glasses). It's awesome. They have a lot of bands play all sorts of music throughout, and there's a climbing wall and pony rides for the kids. (I couldn't ride, I was too old, or too fat from all the food.) If you live in the Valley you should not miss this!

"Well, big wheels roll through fields where sunlight streams…read moreMeet me in a land of hope and dreams" (Bruce Springsteen) We were having brunch at an outdoor table at Jake's Restaurant when I spied a tall skinny sculpture across the street on the lawn at the Hampshire County Courthouse. It's a bronze sculpture of a young girl cradling an injured dove in her right hand. The piece is titled "Hope". It was sculpted by local artist Greg Stone and dedicated in 2016. Stone said it "represents all young people in our community whose good work is having an extraordinary impact, and the dove represents our compassion and vision of peace for the future." It's a very cool looking statue and I Iove his message of youth, kindness, and hope for a brighter future.

I don't want to Hamper your progress in discovering every town named Hampton in the USA, but…read morethere's one you forgot, in Western Mass just north of Springfield. Named after a large town not far from my birthplace, Oxford England. It's weird to me that I've now been to this one much more than the other one, although I've played concerts in the other one and never in this one. It's a lovely town, in the more conservative part of Mass but that's only by Mass standards. Northampton has 30k people including an old college friend and his new wife. They love it there. He teaches at nearby U Mass Amherst. For this reason I'm sure I'll be visiting more regularly.

I am a huge fan of Northampton and have been since my college days. Even though I went to school…read moredown the road, my uncle worked at Smith so we were here quite a bit. I love all the stores and love coming back every few weeks/months to lament or rejoice in the changes that have taken place over the years. When my son had to report to grand jury duty (he goes to school out here now too), he wondered what I would do with my time - what wouldn't I do with my time. This is like my second home and I love driving out here to hang out (not as often anymore since my uncle retired).

A lovely place, varied menu, terrific staff, delicious food…read more We will definitely be back. A special thank you to the waiter (Colin?) who turned our no longer needed table for five into a perfect table for four. And who got me a seat cushion when I looked like I needed one!

We were pretty hungry when we arrived at Spezzo on a bustling weekend evening. In spite of this, we…read morewere seated in only about 10 minutes. The host was pleasant and helpful. The atmosphere was lively, the decor was on the heavier darker side, which I actually prefer. Things went downhill from there though. It took over 10 minutes for someone to come by the table, and another 15 to get our menus and finally place an order. It seemed as though there were several staff on the floor, but only one was actually waiting on tables. Our server started out seemingly a bit perturbed with us, but they eased up as the evening progressed. I had a decent glass of red, and we also ardered some non-alcoholic beverages which were festive looking and tasted nice. We ordered the foccaccia appetizer. It came out just shy of burned. It was dry, bland and flat tasting, but heavily salted. I had high hopes for the the Spezzatino di Manzo, a beef stew. It may have been rich in taste at some point, but all I got from it was salt. The beef was edible but not as tender as it should have been, and what few vegetables and potatoes survived were mush or nearly pulverized. There were also quite a bit of chewy gristle. The Roasted Mushroom Risotto was unexpectedly watery and flavorless, almost soupy. The Alla Vodka Fettuccini was cooked properly, and wasn't bad, but was tomato heavy for an alla vodka. The chicken in this dish however was overcooked and dry. For dessert, we got the lemon sorbet which was perfectly fine, but it's really hard to mess up sorbet. I don't know how this place has as many stars as it does. Our experience was an expensive disappointment.

Why it took me so long to finally come here, will forever be a mystery. Absolutely delicious…read more Initially I was throw off by the tight staircase you have to walk up to dine in at. We got up the first flight and gave our party number (2), they asked if we were okay to sit upstairs. We said sure, why not, especially as the first floor was decently crowded. We got upstairs and it was so serene and intimate, I couldn't have asked for a better seat. The view of Amherst center was beautiful. Perfect weather, blue skies...I digress! Our server, (who's name I wish I remembered!!) was incredibly helpful and offered recommendations to us as neither of us had been there before. We started with the breaded shrimp with marinara...YUM. If you're a shrimp fan, do yourself a favor and order this. Next came some complimentary bread and oil, which you can never go wrong with. Then entrees. The chicken verdicchio was mine and it was delicious. The mushrooms were tender, the artichoke hearts were a perfect addition. I tried my boyfriend's Alfredo and that too was delicious. Price was pretty decent as well, especially for what felt like a fancy place. $12 for the 7 shrimp, $26 for the Crazy Alfredo and $27 for the verdicchio. We packed up the leftovers and even the next day they were delicious.

Great food, waitress gave us extra bread and was very welcoming. Good atmosphere for formal or…read morecasual meals

A little bit of history, a little bit of culture, and a whole lotta food. The tour guide was…read morefriendly and informative, the stops were well planned and showed a great slice of the local cuisine (and, wheelchair accessible). Highly recommend. Your minds, souls and bellies will all leave a bit fuller.

This was a fabulous tour. Our guide (Davis) was informative about so much more than the area…read morerestaurants-he spent extra time with us and gave us one of the best tours we've ever taken. There was so much delicious food and a few great beverages-well worth the cost of the tour. Not sure what would change if you have any food sensitivities though, since the menu is pre-decided. Wasn't an issue for us but I suggest mentioning it before you book if it's an issue for you.

Everything on the menu is made fresh and always delicious. Great assortment of slices reasonably…read morepriced and ready to eat in or to go. Fonzie (owner) and his staff are fantastic and go out of their way to be sure you are satisfied. Weather it be a party sized pizza or one of their famous grilled chicken salads (served with those amazing garlic knots). You can't go wrong. Give them a try.

Primo Pizzeria Too is a humble pizza joint that consistently makes a good slice at every hour. The…read morestaff has been patient with me, keeps their pizzas warm for pickup, and convinced me that each pizza will be beyond adequate and delicious. Do you know how hard it is to make pizza and have it come out looking "like pizza?" and tasting well? If you don't, you might believe it's easy by how Primo Too creates a pizza to your order. Don't rest on your laurels, Primo Too, finals are only a few months away and you know you still get graded on every pie's first impression. Being ready for demanding pizza season surprises like the Sox getting through the playoffs means we still want good pizzas for when the game goes bad!