La Fogata

PITTSFIELD Upon entering La Fogata Restaurant, you might be surprised to notice a few wooden shelves to your right containing South American grocery items like beans, cornmeal, mole sauce, corn soda and guava candy. These are not foods that you normally see in grocery stores in the Berkshires. And thats exactly why owner Miguel Gomez makes bi-weekl... y trips to New York City markets to buy ingredients and stock his shelves. When I came here [from Colombia], Gomez explained, I couldnt find my food. I couldnt even find my ingredients. He moved to Pittsfield from Colombia in 1993 and found that there were no Latino restaurants in the area. His family sent him recipes, but there werent even any local markets that carried the ingredients for Colombian food, so he had to get supplies from New York. I learned a lot about my moms homestyle cooking, said Gomez, who began cooking traditional Colombian food from the recipes his family sent. Eventually, he realized that the lack of a local Latino restaurant was a need waiting to be filled. Gomez has a background in restaurants, and he worked at Guidos for 11 years. Before that, he was working with food in Colombia. My family had a butcher shop, he said, and my whole family worked there, so I know the cuts of meat and how they cook. There were no Latino restaurants, and I thought we needed one around here. People seem to agree. La Fogata (Spanish for the bonfire) offers traditional Colombian cuisine. My first customers were mostly from the Latino community, says Gomez, but now I get lots of Americans, Asians, everyone. The soups are very popular in winter, and people like the platters year-round. Eight tables line the left wall, with enough space between them that nothing feels cramped. A tall divider separates the dining section from the kitchen against the opposite wall. The few shelves of grocery items are right up front, so one could theoretically stop by just to purchase ingredients and not have a meal, but it would be tricky with the delicious smells wafting over the ...Read More