“Local foods, beer, stews, live music, ping pong. What’s not to love?” —Justin Soffer, CEO of Conduit Media and frequent Prairie Whale visitor
As anyone in the restaurant business can tell you, one of the most significant challenges is sustainability—keeping the food moving (nothing wasted), keeping business up, and still giving staff time off to maintain a healthy work-life balance. Few career choices have as many built-in occupational difficulties—grueling hours, intense demands, ramped-up weekends, and shifting staff and clientele, to name just a few.
So when an owner/operator stays in business for more than two decades, as Mark Firth has—and two chefs with the creativity and credentials to go anywhere remain loyal for an equally impressive amount of time, as Steve Browning and Dan Studwell have—there’s got to be a reason.
Leaving an empire for a country farm
Mark Firth and Bettina Schwartz, co-owners of Prairie Whale in Great Barrington, clearly have the right stock and ingredients when running a restaurant, as their prior and current successes show.
Firth, who opened his first restaurant (Diner) in Brooklyn with business partner Andrew Tarlow over two decades ago, next opened two more (Bonita and Marlow & Sons) along with a butchery (Marlow & Daughters) before deciding to leave the city in 2010. Bon Appetit’s Sam Dean, who credits the partners with creating “Brooklyn’s coolest, most influential restaurant empire,” announced that decision in an article titled “The Restaurateur Who Helped Build an Empire—and Gave It All Up.” For Firth and Schwartz, however, it was much more gain than loss.
After buying an 82-acre farm in Monterey, they moved their family to the Berkshires—and then decided, “We need the table to go with the farm.” So they bought an old Greek Revival house on the north end of Main Street (previously a book shop and antique store), renovated the interior with wood planks and tables milled from trees on their farm, and called it “Prairie Whale”—a 19th-century euphemism for “pig” (tying to the farm and menu) that also gave a fitting nod to Melville’s magnum opus and the landscape’s famous whale (i.e., a snow-capped Mount Greylock). The restaurant opened in October 2012 and has been recognized as the epicenter of the Berkshire farm-to-table movement ever since.
Continuing their commitment to using locally sourced ingredients whose travel time is less than a loop around Benedict Pond, Firth and Schwartz connected with (per their website) “an evolving circle of vegetable and livestock farmers, cheesemakers, and foragers” to create an unforgettable dining experience. They also teamed up with natural wine importer Bon Raisin to cultivate a wine list of “naturally made, minimally sulphured, natively yeasted wines” (something that has subsequently become popular worldwide).
Add in the butchery/charcuterie program that Steve Browning cultivated and Dan Studwell continues to grow, which uses whole animals from local farms (including theirs) plus herbs, fruits, and vegetables picked locally (often from the Whale’s own garden), and you have a locavore’s paradise—a total immersion curated with respect for the environment and clients’ health.
From early seeds to established roots
From a young age, Studwell was interested in what was growing in his mother’s garden and how he could use it in the kitchen. After completing his bachelor’s degree in business in 2003, he enrolled in the French Culinary Institute’s six-month total immersion program in New York City (widely regarded as a global leader in professional culinary/pastry/wine education, producing such talents as David Chang, Dan Barber, and Christina Tosi).
One of his first paid kitchen jobs during his city years was at Bayard’s, where he worked under chefs Eric Lind and Eberhard Müller. “I chose that restaurant because of the chefs’ connection to a local farm (Satur Farm), which has always been important to me,” Studwell says. That is where he first met Steve Browning. Since then, he has worked at many fine-dining establishments (including chef Cyril Renaud’s Michelin-starred Fleur de Sel in the Flatiron district and Flatbush Farm in Park Slope) as well as mom-and-pop places. Studwell credits chef Marco Pierre White and his first cookbook, White Heat, as being his greatest influence, however—not only for White’s approach to cooking but also for his pursuit of excellence (at 33, he was the youngest British chef to win three Michelin stars).
Studwell began working with Firth and alongside Browning in preparation for the Whale’s first breach in 2012, helping with sanding and painting before the restaurant officially opened, and then working as Browning’s second man in the kitchen.
In 2014, missing city life, Studwell returned to Brooklyn and took over as executive chef for Kurent Events, which caters to large-scale events such as the Governor’s Ball musical festival and others related to Bloomberg Philanthropies.
Returning to the Berkshires as the city lights dimmed
When the pandemic hit, catering was one of the first segments in the hospitality industry to implode.
About a month into the slowdown, Studwell got a call from Firth and Browning asking him to help launch their new pizza program—a pandemic addition in the back garden to help the Whale make up for indoor space and tables lost due to distancing requirements. “That ended up being a blessing,” he notes, saying of his preparatory training, “I learned to make some of the best pizza you can find with chef Leo Lasagni of Union Pizza Works in Bushwick.”
When Browning decided last summer that it was time to make room for other career interests in his life (including selling his “No Comply” foods at local farmers’ markets and becoming a health inspector in Great Barrington), he knew he was leaving the Whale in good hands with Studwell. “Beyond the professional opportunity, I felt an incredible loyalty to the place and the community the place has built,” Studwell says.
Stirring the secret sauce
According to Studwell, “What makes the Whale a special place is a trifecta: ambiance, Mark’s charm, and the food. We aren’t trying to reinvent the culinary wheel; we’re just trying to do our thing better than anyone else can do our thing.”
Noting the area’s bounty of incredible farm partners, he adds, “Using seasonal ingredients is something I’ve been doing with my cooking for many years—it’s limiting but doesn’t feel like a limitation. The fun challenge is to keep dishes evolving instead of always relying on old ones that work.”
Not that executive chef duties stop with the menu. There are drawers full of invisible elements that go into the hospitality business (marketing and sales, scheduling and managing, budgeting and buying). So people skills and creative problem-solving are essential.
Beyond serving the best food possible, Firth and Studwell are committed to providing the right ambiance and care—for local farmers, house staff, and customers—by upholding sustainable sourcing practices, prioritizing equitable front-house and back-house pay, and maintaining affordability for local residents. On many nights, you’ll find local farmers enjoying the fruits of their labor and the Whale’s 10 percent farmers’ discount.
What are his biggest challenges? “You’re only as good as the team you have around you,” Studwell says. “I’m thankful to be surrounded by the best team, starting with Mark and Bettina, then my great cooks, and all the way through to Sara Brown [owner of Green Branch Urban Farm], who manages the Whale’s garden. We have a good time, and all feel very lucky to be part of something people value so much.”
Like most area businesses, however, they are always at risk of losing staff due to the challenge of keeping wages in sync with the rising cost of living in the Berkshires.
What sets the Prairie Whale experience apart for its customers? “Maintaining high quality with locally sourced ingredients prepared correctly,” Studwell answers.
Firth acknowledges, “We’re big on consistency—offering the comfort food you know and love with the assurance that it’s going to be as great as the last time, every time.” To which Studwell adds, “We’ll also continue throwing surprises on the menu to keep things interesting for the customers (including Mark, who eats at bar seat #1 nightly) and keep things interesting for the kitchen.”
Recognizing both hands involved in the recent whisk pass (Browning’s long-standing reputation and Studwell’s seamless transition), Rural Intelligence honored Prairie Whale with three Readers’ Choice awards for 2022—first place each for New American Restaurant and Fried Chicken and runner-up for Al Fresco Dining.
Whether you go for the house-made sausage, fish stew, brick chicken with Brussels sprouts, or lamb shank with couscous, turnips, and kale, you’re bound to enjoy the food, the cozy-hip atmosphere, and the “coming home” feel of the Berkshire’s most beloved whale.
