Berkshire County is known for its immense beauty. Whether your interest lies in hiking or biking, visiting the many local art museums and galleries, or enjoying some of the best food in the country, there is something for everyone. In 2022, Vogue magazine reported that Great Barrington “has become one of the most popular destinations in the highlands of Massachusetts."

Berkshire County is also home to a local community that prides itself on its creative and entrepreneurial endeavors. Take Kevin Kelly ’19, for example, a Great Barrington native who recently launched After Hours, which he describes as “the next generation of dining.” After Hours works with local businesses to create mutually beneficial financial and marketing streams by hosting creative dining experiences in existing restaurant and venue spaces. As chef-owner Kelly describes, “After Hours is a restaurant without a home.” 

Read the Q and A below to learn more.

What inspired you to launch After Hours? 
I was always interested in starting a business that provided meaningful change within a community. I grew up in Berkshire County and have worked in restaurants in the area since I was about fourteen. 

I lived in Boston for about four years, going to school and working in restaurants. Cities, in general, are always going to have a market for business. But every time I came back to Berkshire County, I would notice another restaurant for sale or closing. I thought about opening my own restaurant, and went through all the steps of what financial projections would look like, what staffing would look like, how would our menus work with the space, and different things like that, but it just wasn't something that felt financially sustainable, even though I loved the industry and wanted to stay in it. So, I started thinking, “If that’s not something that works, what does?” I came up with the concept of “a restaurant without a home.” It is an idea about how small businesses can work together and how local economics can function. 

Were you always interested in working in the food industry? 
Being in the food industry certainly has its days. It is an industry that you must love to be in. I was hooked from my first job busing tables at the restaurant Allium, which used to be on Railroad Street in Great Barrington. My dad worked in restaurants, and I was always cooking at home when I was younger but never anticipated that I would make a career of it. I went to school thinking I was going to be an engineer, and somehow ended up at Babson College studying entrepreneurship and small business management. In my last semester I wondered, “What are my next steps?” I started looking at consulting jobs, but it just did not feel like me. I remember applying to jobs and thinking I could do this during the day, and then a couple of nights a week, I could serve or cook at a local restaurant. 

Did your time at Berkshire influence your career decisions? 
My post-graduate year at Berkshire was a great and invaluable experience. I had coaches and faculty who were incredible and helped shape my decision-making skills and growth through the next five-plus years following graduation. After Berkshire, I was recruited for soccer at Lycoming College in Pennsylvania, but I ended up getting too many concussions that year, so I had to prematurely retire. I then transferred to Babson College, where I graduated from. I can reflect on all those different educational experiences, but the year at Berkshire was something that I still think about a lot and helped me to feel confident about my career decisions. 

What do you think makes the Berkshires so special? 
My family has been in the Southern Berkshires for ten or 11 generations. Berkshire County is a place that has such apparent beauty, and there is a special feeling that you get when you are here. It is also such a close-knit community. If you look at the towns in the Berkshires, it is big geographically, but so small in terms of who you know. It is one of the more special parts of living here. It is also an area that is so supportive of people who are consciously pursuing good and wanting to be a part of the community. You cannot beat the community aspect of the Berkshires. 

What are some of the dishes that you like to prepare? 
This is one of the more difficult questions to answer. Wanting to be in the food industry, at least for me, is not about that one dish or that one cuisine. It is more about continuously learning, expanding, and being creative. I have to be excited about the food I am putting on the plate. And if I do not like it, I don't really want to serve it. 

That said, the one dish that I have started holding close to my heart is carnitas. My brother-in-law taught me how to make them, and it was the first recipe I wrote down in a notebook. And it has just evolved over the years. I also enjoy making various kinds of focaccia. One of the cooler items I have right now is a simple salad I call “Dancing Greens Salad” because the greens come from Dancing Greens Farm in Great Barrington, a farm we work closely with. We use their greens and pair them with a housemade ricotta. It is a simple and bright salad but has a lot of unexpected and exciting components to it. 

It is also a blessing not to have to serve the same exact menu five nights a week. How often do you get to serve dinner in a grocery store, then dinner on a farm the next day, and then a wine tasting? There are so many different opportunities that come when you are not tied down to a brick-and-mortar establishment.

After Hours has hosted dinners at Guido’s Cafe and Marjoram + Roux in Great Barrington, The Neon Newt in Becket, a farm dinner at Hancock Shaker Village in Pittsfield, and more. For information about upcoming events, visit their website or Instagram!