Valentine’s Day is one of the busiest of the year in the hospitality business, and area restaurateurs say industry staff shortages reported across much of the country will not impact their holiday offerings.

Owners and managers from across Franklin County said they are fully prepared with special offerings for when lovebirds from across the region flock to their establishments on Tuesday.

“We’re very fortunate. We’ve kept a lot of staff from pre-COVID,” commented Whately Inn owner Stephen “Chip” Kloc, whose grandfather owned the restaurant in the 1960s before his family bought it back from a different owner in 1980. “Being closed two days a week has helped a lot. We’re not stretching it.”

Kloc said the Whately Inn is normally closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, but will be open on Feb. 14 for Valentine’s Day.

“That’s a little special,” he said, adding that the eatery will be open from 4 to 9 p.m.

The Whately Inn will offer the same menu with some specials, Kloc said, including lobster-encrusted haddock with fresh asparagus and a hollandaise sauce.

Jim Zaccara, co-owner and manager of Hope & Olive in Greenfield, said his restaurant has no issue with staffing and he is ready for one of the biggest nights of the year.

“It’s already all booked up,” he said Friday.

Zaccara said there will be a $55-per-person fixed-price menu that includes slow-smoked brisket, braised lamb shank, Korean barbecue quail and oysters Rockefeller.

“It’s always a good night,” he said.

This will be first Valentine’s Day for the new Shelburne Falls Pub and Brew, formally the beloved Sweetheart Restaurant. Bar manager Tara Tippett said the eatery just secured some dishwashers to bring the establishment to full strength. She said there will be a $50 fixed-price menu in which a customer gets to pick an appetizer and entree and gets a side salad and a choice of dessert. The menu will include ribeye steak, chicken francaise, eggplant parmesan and seafood-encrusted baked haddock.

Tippett also said there will be martini specials, and couples can get two glasses of champagne for $10.

She mentioned business is expected to pick up in the spring and summer, and the restaurant plans to open its outdoor seating, which essentially doubles the capacity.

Like his counterparts, Nick Ruggiano, co-owner of the Blue Heron restaurant in Sunderland, said there are no staff shortages at his business.

“We’ve been able to get some good people in here and retain their services,” he said.

Ruggiano and lifelong friend Justin Mosher, a 14-year veteran of the Blue Heron’s kitchen, closed on the business on July 13, 2022. Ruggiano said the Valentine’s Day menu will include classics like bisques, roasted duck and oysters on the half-shell. The restaurant had booked 200 reservations as of Friday afternoon.

Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or
413-930-4120.

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