announced the inaugural KWF Residency Award at Heirloom Lodge in West Stockbridge. Led by Heirloom Lodge owner Matt Straus, who also owns The Heirloom Cafe in California, his competitive pro-gram offered a $ 10,000 cash prize, lodging, and the opportunity for the winning chef to lead Heirloom Lodge’ s kitchen for a week, curating their own menus and overseeing three nights of dinner service. The program also included collaboration with the restaurant’ s staff and culinary interns from Berkshire Community College, fostering mentorship and skill development within the local culinary community.
“ The idea of connecting philanthropy with the production of more fresh, local, delicious food is sort of unheard of,” says Straus.“ There are farmers in the middle of the country who are collecting subsidies for growing soybeans and corn, but so far as I know, there aren’ t subsidies for really well-trained, experienced culinary professionals who want to make a difference in a community by way of healthy, nourishing, delicious food.”
The residency was won by Hudson Valley chef Hannah Wong, who cut her teeth in the kitchens of Daniel Boulud’ s dB bistro Moderne, Gramercy Tavern, and East Village eateries.( She also ran a residency last year at the aforementioned Old Chatham Country Store & Cafe.) Her weeklong residency in April was given a positive reception, and Wong, no stranger to pop-ups and residencies in the area( thanks to her events and pop-up culinary company Haema), chalked that up to the willingness of the host and host kitchen to embrace handing over the fiery reigns and letting new ideas seep into the fabric of the restaurant.“ I think Matt created a very special environment that made it easy for me to kind of come in and establish myself in a way that felt not like taking over the restaurant, but really just kind of aligning,” says Wong.“ That to me is hospitality, right? It ' s inviting people in and then sharing your space.”
Straus says that beyond the exciting culinary exploration this kind of residency inspired, there’ s a larger philosophy here. Wong brought her own Asian-inspired palate and choices to Straus’ farm-to-table focus, like her tweak to The Heirloom Lodge’ s beef tartare that was made resplendent with bright, sharp flavors fused
20 // BERKSHIRE MAGAZINE Holiday August July 2025 2025 2023