Russelnod – Great Food Blog with Revamped Look

My friend Don Lesser writes the food blog Russelnod. It covers the food scene in western Massachusetts, from its farms to its kitchens to its restaurants.  I have enjoyed a few of these restaurants with Don. (see for example his review of our meal at Gypsy Rose Bistro in Shelburne Falls and my comments on our Two NOLA Breakfasts in Ashfield MA). I also relied on Don for Pioneer Valley (Amherst) MA Area Restaurants: A Local’s Favorites, Pioneer Valley (Amherst) MA Area Brew Pubs: A Local’s Favorites, and Upper Cape Cod Restaurants: A Frequent Visitor’s Picks. We also took a class together at the CIA: Making Spanish Tapas – Cooking at the Culinary Institute of America.

Don goes the Cape every summer and his recent posts on Buca’s Tuscan Roadhouse and Venus & The Cellar Bar in Easthampton adds nicely to his writing on the area’s dining places. I guess I need to get him to update his recommendations for the area. There is also no greater kitchen in the area than Don’s own where I have had many memorable meals.

Don writes on food for the Daily Hampshire Gazette and Edible Pioneer Valley. In 2008, Don won the James Peterson Food Writing Passion Scholarship and was a finalist for the Greenbriar Scholarship and the Apicius scholarship at the Greenbriar Symposium for Professional Food Writers. Don has been writing about been writing and cooking for 40 years now and this experience shows in his writing. Following the dictum, Shop locally, cook globally, He has been exploring the Pioneer Valley for regional treats, whether home grown, home made or simply imported. I really recommend this blog if you like food regardless of where you live.