Mezze in Williamstown Offers Staff Menu
Comfort Food at Affordable Prices
By: Mezze - Jan 23, 2012
Mezze Bistro + Bar guests can now enjoy comfort food the kitchen and house staff loves to eat. Launched in December, Mezze Bistro has created a casual, more affordable menu for guests, which features cook’s favorites that pair perfectly with a classic cocktail or a local brew.
In the cold winter months, comfort food is what most diners crave at mealtime. The Staff Menu evolved from the popularity of Comfort Sunday at Mezze Bistro – a three-course prix fixe menu available on Sundays from November through May. Comfort Sunday has created a strong following with many regulars coming back week after week.
Inspiration for Staff Menu selections comes from the kitchen’s collective cultural heritage and adaptations of ‘junk food’ favorites. The Mezze team crafted the menu to include fun food items like Pig Skin Chili + Cheese Fries, East Mountain Farm Pork Pot Stickers, Black Queen Angus Farm Oxtail Pierogi, Beef Bulgogi Lettuce Tacos with Kimchee Slaw, Spicy Asian Rice Cakes with Fried Egg + Pickled Mushrooms and ‘Franco’s Beans’ – Housemade Knackwurst served with Brown Sugar-baked Heirloom Beans. Staff Menu selections range in price from $6 to $16.
With the same sourcing quality of Mezze’s dinner menu, where ingredients are purchased from local farms and food producers whenever possible, items on the Staff Menu are made in-house. The cooks butcher whole animals raised on sustainable farms, and smoke hams, cure meats and prepare sausages, salami and other items as part of the craft of charcuterie practiced in the Mezze kitchen. The back-of-house team bakes house breads, rolls pastas by hand, brines pickles using local vegetables and makes all stocks, sauces and dressings from scratch.
The Staff Menu’s bar fare is accompanied by a collection of entertaining drinks, which include an eclectic selection of cocktails and beers Mezze team members enjoy after work. Shift Drinks like The Last Word, Eagle Landing and Corpse Reviver #2 are offered alongside Large-format Beers (750 ml), big yeasty brews which range in price from $14 to $16, and One More Before You Leave options which include Shift Beers for $2 and a Straight-Up Shorty – Jack Daniels + Coke in a shorty glass for $6.
“The cooks are keeping it casual, cooking up their favorites and making it all in house,” said Nancy Thomas, co-owner of Mezze Restaurant Group. “The Staff Menu provides a way to experience Mezze’s food quality in a more approachable fashion and we hope this encourages guests to come in more often to enjoy what we have to offer.”
The Staff Menu is subject to change as it reflects the whim of the kitchen and what is available in season. Visit www.mezzebistro.com or call 413.458.0123 for more info.