'Berkshires Farm Table Cookbook' authors to speak

On May 9 at 7 p.m., join authors Robert Bildner and Elisa Spungen Bildner for a short cooking demo and discussion of their book "The Berk­shires Farm Table Cook­book," which pays tribute to dedicated family farmers and farm-to-table chefs.

The Berk­shire hills of west­ern Mass­a­chu­setts are famous for their unique cul­ture, from scenic views to artis­tic and lit­er­ary attrac­tions. But in addi­tion to the region’s clas­sic land­marks, the Berk­shires also boasts an impres­sive num­ber of fam­i­ly-run farms. Togeth­er with local restau­rants, these farms add anoth­er fea­ture to Berk­shires cul­ture: heart­warm­ing and home­grown food. Telling the sto­ry of fam­i­ly-run agri­cul­ture through the lan­guage of food, The Berk­shires Farm Table Cook­book offers 125 recipes to recall the mag­ic of the Berk­shire region.

Robert Bild­ner, a for­mer attor­ney, cre­at­ed and sold sev­er­al food dis­tri­b­u­tion and man­u­fac­tur­ing com­pa­nies. Bild­ner and his wife Elisa estab­lished the Foun­da­tion for Jew­ish Camp, and he serves as a lay leader on sev­er­al non­prof­it boards. He stud­ied pho­tog­ra­phy, and pho­tographed this book’s farms and restau­rants. He grad­u­at­ed from Yale Uni­ver­si­ty, Uni­ver­si­ty of Penn­syl­va­nia Law School and Jew­ish The­o­log­i­cal Seminary.

Elisa Spun­gen Bild­ner is a for­mer lawyer, CEO of a food com­pa­ny news­pa­per, editor/reporter (Star Ledger, Newark, New Jersey) and jour­nal­ism pro­fes­sor (Rut­gers Uni­ver­si­ty and New York Uni­ver­si­ty). Spun­gen Bild­ner is also a pro­fes­sion­al­ly trained chef (School of Nat­ur­al Cook­ery, Boul­der, Colorado) and yoga instruc­tor. She grad­u­at­ed from Yale Col­lege, Colum­bia Uni­ver­si­ty Law School and also has an MS in Nutrition.

The virtual program is part of the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island's Behind the Book series and is free. You will receive a Zoom link after registering. Register at https://www.jewishallianceri.org/bildner/