On April 24, a week after taking over the hotel, Claire set up a meager table at the local job fair with a “sign” handwritten on the back of an envelope. The best thing to come out of that was our introduction to local teens Rory and Finn, who signed up to work as barbacks for the reopening of the Ostrich Room — running food out from the kitchen, clearing dishes and cleaning tables, and generally doing whatever grunt work was needed. Finn, much as we love him, seemed to disappear early in the summer; I think he got busy with other stuff and is now off to college and only ever ended up working a few shifts. But Rory, a rising 10th grader, has worked here all summer, and quickly came to feel like a peer and partner. She appointed me her social media intern and Hagai her sous chef (leading him to blast “The Wheels on the Bus” on repeat for her); she mapped the basement and hasn’t quite pulled together that slide deck to pitch us a golf cart. When she’s been late for her shift it has usually been for a good reason like advancing too far in a tennis tournament.
The summer frenzy has diminuendoed as Claire finds her rhythm. Since I last wrote she has become able to set solid-enough staff schedules that she can give herself the occasional day off — not a weekend, since that’s our peak, but a sort of shadow lagging the weekend, often Mondays. We saw my family in Maine, and hers on Cape Cod. On big Tanglewood nights, the inn has often sold every room; when we host live music here, the bar has sometimes packed every seat to overflowing. And now we are confronting the end of the Tanglewood summer season. The last classical performances were this weekend, and the last popular concerts are next weekend. The fire pit is back in use. For Rory, school and soccer are starting up again, and Saturday was her last day working here.
I wanted to sit down for an interview with her before her shift, but she had tennis. I suggested doing it after, but she wasn’t sure she could stay. So we sat in the round room around 5:30 p.m., shortly after the tavern had opened, when it was still pretty deserted. I pulled out my phone and started recording.
Rory: Oh, this is a voice thing!
Toph: Yeah! Yeah yeah. So this is for our newsletter.
R: We have a newsletter? As of when?
T: April 16 or shortly thereafter, when we took over. I’ve sent out like seven or something.
R: Has anyone read them or is it…?
T: Yeah we have 130 subscribers to the newsletter in Substack.
R: What website is this on?
T: Substack. Do you know Substack?
R: I’ve never heard of that.
T: It’s like a newsletter service.
R: Mm. Yeah. OK.
T: Well, here, we’ll begin. What have you learned this summer?
R: Does it have to be Apple Tree Inn–related?
T: Whatever.
R: Okay, let’s see. What have I learned this summer… um… to lay outside with peak UV to get a good tan.
T: Okay, now, what have you learned Apple Tree–related?
R: That running a restaurant is very difficult.
T: What’s hard about it?
R: Getting customers. I feel like it’s something that we specifically have struggled with.
T: It’s a crucial one.
R: Yeah I would say. I would say the hotel part has gone really well, the inn part. But the restaurant part could use a little work.
T: And you haven’t really worked on the hotel part, so the part you’ve worked on is the part you think is not going well, and the other part you just sort of assume is going better?
R: Well, would you say you’ve worked on either part?
T: No.
R: Okay, so I’m one for two and you’re oh for two.
T: What sort of jobs have you worked before?
R: I’ve been a babysitter.
T: You babysat for our friend Morgan.
R: Yes, I did.
T: She subscribes to the newsletter. Shout out to Morgan.
R: Shout out to Morgan.
T: How was her baby?
R: He was great. He did absolutely nothing and I watched TV the entire time.
T: What did you watch?
R: Suits. Have you seen Suits?
T: No.
R: Do you know what it is?
T: I know it’s a TV show with like, lawyers being stuck up.
R: Yes so I babysat a lot of people. I found the right and wrong age group to babysit for. Anything after three is wrong. But when they’re like, not criers and they’re good.
T: And you worked for Miraval.
R: Very, very stuck-up crowd. As mentioned, they came to eat dinner with their robes on and shoeless. I bussed tables and I was a food runner.
T: So you have experience with a restaurant that’s, shall we say…
R: It was a little more successful.
T: Up and running. More established.
R: We had, on average, like 130 in house every night. How many would you say we have in house every night here?
T: Like 10? What would you say?
R: I would say around that number. It depends on if we’re counting the band.
T: I don’t think we should, their meal is comped. What do you think is the range you’ve seen this summer?
R: I would say zero to…
T: What nights have been zero? Well, the very first night was zero.
R: Yes, it was. Zero to, I don’t know, maybe 65? What would you say?
T: Okay! That sounds good.
R: What would you guess our high has been?
T: That sounds right. I have trouble picturing… I feel like I’m really bad at counting and estimating how many people are filling a room.
R: Isn’t your job related to numbers?
T: It is. But I’m bad at them.
R: Well, hopefully your boss doesn’t subscribe to your newsletter.
T: I don’t think he does.
R: Does he know that you have one?
T: I think I’ve told him, yeah.
R: Of course you have. Okay, that’s nice.
T: I think some of my coworkers subscribe.
R: How has your career been in… isn’t it based in California?
T: It is, yeah.
R: Do you wish you were in California?
T: Sometimes.
R: Really?
T: I miss San Francisco.
R: You worked in San Francisco?
T: Yeah. I moved out to San Francisco for this job, and then Claire and I reconnected there.
R: Okay, what would you say the main difference between San Francisco and Lenox Massachusetts is?
T: Uh… which way you’re facing on the timeline of world history. San Francisco is facing forwards and Lenox is facing backwards. In San Francisco, people get excited when things are futuristic, and in Lenox, people get excited when they feel like they’re in the 18th century.
R: That’s a fair assessment. I was expecting you to just say there’s more trees here.
T: There are probably more trees here. Though there are a fair amount of trees in San Francisco. Have you been?
R: I have been to San Francisco.
T: What did you think?
R: It’s not Lenox.
T: What did you think are the main differences?
R: Definitely, the trees. Do you base your main difference on how many old people you see in Lenox? Is that why you think…?
T: That’s part of it, but even the young people in Lenox are interested in going to restaurants — beautiful, amazing restaurants — like Stissing House that are candle-lit dinners.
R: What are people and what are kids in San Francisco looking forward to doing?
T: They’re, you know, packing 20 programmers into a house to all try to do startups together.
R: Teenagers?
T: No, like twenty to…
R: You were a different teenager than most.
T: How do you know?
R: Just a guess.
T: What sort of teenager do you think I was?
R: If you were in my grade, like going to school with me, I don’t think we would be friends. Is that fair to say?
T: Yes.
R: You seem like you were very much the kid in the corner reading the book.
T: Yeah. The first college party I went to, I sat in the corner reading a book because I was shy and awkward.
R: What book was it?
T: The Odyssey.
R: Oh, my God.
T: I didn’t know what to do. I was very lost.
R: Had you not read the Odyssey?
T: I think maybe I was, like, begging for someone to just like, come up and strike up a conversation with me, because I was too shy to strike up a conversation with other people.
R: Well, I’m sure they were thinking that, and then they saw, “Oh, my God, he looks very into his book right now. Let me leave him alone.”
T: No, a lot of people came up and chatted, actually.
R: Did you chat about the Odyssey?
T: Some.
R: I read The Odyssey in eighth grade.
T: I’ve never read it. That’s the most I’ve ever read of it.
R: So you never finished it?
T: Never, no.
R: Oh, okay. How did you get—
T: Um, wha—
R: Okay, sorry. Keep going.
T: Are you trying to derail this?
R: Well, no, I’m just I’m wondering who invited you to the first college party.
T: Um, the whole class was invited.
R: [laughing uproariously] So this was like—
T: It was like an official college party. Those are the only ones I went to freshman year.
R: So this was like a “everyone’s invited” type thing?
T: Yes, literally, like mailing list, the whole freshman class…
R: So you know like when you’re in kindergarten and you’re having a birthday party, and your mom says you have to invite the whole grade, but you just want to invite certain people, and then, the whole grade shows up? You were part of, like, a “participant’s award” invite?
T: What’s a “participant’s award”?
R: Like, you know how, like, everyone gets a trophy because they participated.
T: Yeah, my childhood bedroom has some participation trophies from youth soccer and stuff. I don’t think I ever won anything.
R: So you were invited to this party by default, because everyone else got an invitation? Okay.
T: Yeah, freshman year, those were the only parties I went to. There were a couple of those and a couple of the student newspaper parties, because I signed up for the student newspaper. I almost didn’t get in, and then this guy Adam Kommel advocated for me. And that’s how I met Claire. And so I’m very grateful to Adam.
R: Thank God for Adam.
T: Thank God for Adam.
R: Where’s Adam now? What is he doing?
T: He lives in New York and works for Bloomberg.
R: Oh, so he’s doing well.
T: Yeah, I think so. He’s a email subscriber I think.
R: Oh, is he? Shout out to Adam.
T: Shout out to Adam.
R: You were about to ask a question before I asked how you got invited.
T: Well, I was interested in — you worked at an established restaurant.
R: Yes, I did.
T: And then you’ve worked at this one. What are some differences?
R: A lot of differences. There were about six chefs in the kitchen, three dishwashers. [We have one and one.] It was an all-inclusive restaurant. So you could just get up and leave because it was included in one stay. So people could order, like, a whole bunch of food.
T: Was everyone a guest? Like there were no outsiders?
R: No, it was only guests.
T: Okay, so you know who everyone is. Do you have to ask for their room number or something when they come in?
R: Yeah, sometimes.
T: Or you just know them?
R: And you would have to have a reservation to go. There is this one guy that I met that was the CEO for a multi-billion dollar company.
T: Which one?
R: I can’t remember what it was to be honest with you, because I was very much not supposed to tell anyone.
T: But that was the highlight of the summer?
R: Yeah, because he tipped me.
T: Why did he tip you?
R: Twenty bucks.
T: That feels pretty stingy.
R: Well, I know, but it’s twenty bucks.
T: But that’s your top memory from the summer, is a multi-billionaire tipping you twenty bucks?
R: Actually, one woman asked me if the straws we used were gluten-free. So I’d say that was also up there.
T: [laughing] Okay.
R: I would say those with money aren’t always of the highest intelligence, to put it lightly. Those self-made, I would say, are of high intelligence, but those born into money… not so much.
T: Yeah, how much is a room a night? It’s like a thousand something, a couple thousand?
R: Couple thousand. How much is a room here? Or am I not supposed to know that?
T: I mean, it’s on the website. It’s like, I’d say, right now for tonight… like 300 bucks?
R: Okay, that’s not bad.
T: What would you have guessed? I should have asked you before I said.
R: Well, I don’t really know what, like, a Marriott is. Is it less than a Marriott?
T: I don’t even know.
R: I stay at Marriotts everywhere I go.
T: Yeah, you get those Bonvoy points?
R: Yes, we do. What do you think the best room is in this hotel?
T: Eight.
R: I would agree.
T: Yeah? Have you looked at all the rooms?
R: I’ve only been to Eight.
T: That’s where we stayed in January, when Claire was looking at the hotel.
R: Did you know that it was gonna be the best, or did you just sort of guess?
T: I think Claire had seen all the rooms at that point, and it was her favorite. So she picked it because the hotel was completely empty.
R: Did you see yourself owning an inn?
T: No, but I hoped I would marry Claire, and I saw her owning an inn, at least since college. Because her senior year, she mentioned it to me. We were like, studying together in the library, pulling an all-nighter, and people were asking her what she wanted to do after graduation. And she said, well, who knows, but like, her crazy dream would be to have a hotel somewhere up the Hudson.
R: Sorry, so I got stuck on you pulling an all-nighter for studying. It’s very rebellious of you.
T: Have you ever done that?
R: Yes, I have, actually, yeah. Do you know what the SAT is? You heard of it?
T: I’ve heard of it, yeah.
R: Do you know what the SSAT is?
T: Yes.
R: I have to study for it.
T: Wait I don’t really remember… I remember the PSAT.
R: The SSAT is just the middle school version to get into, like, to go to a prep high school.
T: Are you gonna go to a prep high school?
R: I might.
T: Would that be for…
R: Tennis.
T: But for this year or next year?
R: This year, the spring semester.
T: Oh, you would switch halfway through the year?
R: Yes.
T: What could Apple Tree learn from Miraval?
R: Everything is very professionally done there, I would say. Um… I think we need to get more customers. That’s our main issue.
T: Well, yeah, but how do you get customers?
R: We need a better social media standpoint. Have you posted for tonight?
T: Yes.
R: Did you see my post?
T: For Chantell? Yeah. It was good.
R: Did you see how it did significantly better than all of our other posts?
T: Yeah. What do you think it was about it that did better?
[Rory points to herself.]
R: I want to see how many likes we got actually.
T: Are you gonna stay on our Instagram even after you stop working here?
R: I’ll stay following it, I guess. 80 likes.
T: That’s good.
R: Look at yours: 27.
T: So what do you think the difference is?
R: I think it’s me.
T: Could you unpack that for us?
R: Well, yours is not aesthetically pleasing like mine is.
T: Why not?
R: I don’t know. Aren’t you a computer guy?
T: Yeah.
R: Don’t you have to make things look good for the audience? Or no?
T: I don’t know. We have professional designers.
R: Okay, so you’re not the one that… you’re finding the data.
T: I have been in the past. I’m typing code to make things on the website look the way the designers have said they should look.
R: So they have the style…
T: Yes.
R: And then you just sort of…
T: I just hammer away.
R: I think something that really is a good representation of your idea of style is that your favorite color is orange.
T: No, Claire’s favorite color is orange.
R: Oh, I thought you said yours was.
T: No, I don’t really have a favorite color.
R: You’re one of those.
T: Can we talk about how you think Claire and I are obsessed with stripes?
R: There’s not a lot to it. For the for the newsletter, Toph is actively wearing stripes. Claire isn’t, actually, today.
T: A black shirt with thin white vertical stripes.
R: I know, usually they are horizontal. So I would say…
T: I feel like stripes are really normal.
R: But not for every single shirt! It’s like, how many…?
T: All of my shirts are striped! I think almost all of them.
R: I know!
T: No, this morning, I was wearing a blue long sleeve shirt that was not striped.
R: You even have pants that are striped, though.
T: Do I?
R: Yeah, I think you do. Or like, socks. Or something else. Some other clothing item.
T: I had some shorts that Claire made me throw away that were striped.
R: Why do you think you have this obsession with stripes?
T: I think it’s a perfect middle ground where there’s a little bit of texture, but nothing controversial. I’ve never thought about it until you pointed out that we wear a lot of stripes.
R: But do you realize it now?
T: Yes, yes, we have a lot of stripes!
R: Big stripe family.
T: What are alternatives to stripes? Solid?
R: Yeah.
T: Rory is wearing a solid…
R: Navy shirt.
T: Dark blue, navy shirt.
R: Yeah. Well, actually, I have really good style. This is just part of the uniform.
T: Did someone tell you a uniform to wear?
R: Yes, Claire told me the uniform!
T: Really? What was the uniform?
R: Black shirt and jeans.
T: So you’re not actually…
R: Well, this is very close to black. Aren’t you color blind?
T: No! You would believe I am.
R: Yes, I would very much.
T: Claire’s sister’s husband is color blind. So there’s that.
R: That’s good for me to know, in case I ever come across him.
T: Do you really have no lessons for us from Miraval? You told me you had business lessons.
R: Well, I do have business lessons. I just don’t think they’re related to Miraval.
T: Okay. What are your business lessons?
R: I think a lot of people still do not know that the Apple Tree Inn even basically exists, or the Ostrich Room exists. So I think you need to take a step back from like, booking as much music, and getting the word out and actually focusing on getting customers. I would offer my golf cart idea, because that is an excellent idea. The posters are a little bit much. If I saw them in public, I would not immediately read it. But that’s okay.
T: Well you haven’t put any up, have you? Rory was supposed to…
R: No, no, yes, I have! Yes, I have.
T: Where did you put them up?
R: Heritage House, town hall, community center…
T: What’s Heritage House?
R: [deep sigh] How do you live here?
T: I just got here!
R: Like, but that’s…
T: I don’t go anywhere!
R: But why? See, that’s your issue. People don’t know you and Claire. So you—
T: People know Claire, Claire gets out and about.
R: I know, but you need to get out and about.
T: Okay, what is Heritage House?
R: Because I think you would draw people in—
T: Thank you!
R: —in like, a weird, like, quirky way. Like, people are gonna see, hey, look at that guy in stripes. And they’re gonna be like, let me go talk to him. Heritage House is basically the most well-known restaurant in Lenox; it’s like a pub.
T: Never heard of it.
R: Okay, that’s your issue.
T: Oh, Olde Heritage Tavern?!
R: Yes. Same thing.
T: Oh, okay! I know what that is…
R: It used to be a Heritage House, so I just call it the Heritage…
T: Okay, I’ve been there!
R: You have been there?
T: Yes, I’ve been there. I know it. It’s a classic spot. They all know me there!
R: Oh yeah?
T: Just kidding, nobody knows my name there.
R: Okay.
T: But I have been there maybe two or three times.
R: Okay.
T: “Heritage House” makes it sound like a historic home.
R: You also need to know more about like, Lenox, like, like, like, lore. Do you know what that means?
T: I know what “lore” means, yes.
R: Well, I didn’t know — ’cuz I think you’re —
T: It was a standard English term before it became a slang term.
R: Well, you know, I wasn’t sure how caught up you are on English terms. So there’s a lot of, like, drama and stuff that has happened in Lenox that you just need to be aware about, you know?
T: Like what?
R: Like do you know what the Lenox Seven are? It’s a bad example…
T: The Lenox Seven?
R: Yeah.
T: No.
R: See…
T: Are they, like, serial killers or something?
R: No, but…
T: Are they seven houses?
R: Close! Do you have any other guesses for me?
T: Musicians?
R: No.
T: Restaurants?
R: No. So this is a good example of why you need to be more aware of our community, because there’s certain things that will be referenced while you live here, and you’re gonna need to know them.
T: What are the Lenox Seven?
R: Lenox and Lee have a very big… um, beef? Big “beef,” I would say, for lack of a better term. Sorry, that wasn’t a very professional word for our newsletter. But Lenox kids and Lee kids had a lot of tension, and seven Lenox kids pushed a car of, I think, two Lee kids in water, and they drowned. And they went to jail. I don’t know why you’re smiling right now!
T: What!? That’s crazy!
R: Yes! They were all teenagers.
T: When was that?
R: Like, decades ago.
T: You think knowing this will help us run our hotel?
R: Well, everyone knows about it, if you’re a true local.
T: Yeah, no no, I believe you, you’re right!
R: Yeah, it’s stuff like that.
T: That’s Lenox lore.
R: Yeah, exactly.
T: Okay, what’s more Lenox lore?
R: Well, you can’t demand this on the spot. It’s gonna be hard for me to come up with that…
T: It has to sort of arise organically?
R: Exactly, yeah. Because, again, has anyone ever come up to you thinking you’re a Lenox local?
T: No.
R: Yeah, and do you see how that’s an issue? They ever like ask directions for something?
T: Only when I’m sitting behind the front desk and I haven’t known what to say.
R: So you look it up?
T: Yeah.
R: Okay. Do you know where Haven Cafe is?
T: Yes.
R: Can you give me directions to Haven right now?
T: Oh sure.
R: Oh, sure.
T: So go down the driveway.
R: Yup.
T: Take a left.
R: Mm-hmm.
T: When you get to the crazy intersection, take a left.
R: Sorry, what’s gonna be at the intersection to give me, like… what’s a…
T: There’s a statue of a Revolutionary War person.
R: Okay, or the monument, yeah.
T: The monument. You call it “The Monument?”
R: Okay, whatever.
T: Okay, so take a left…
R: Yep…
T: And then… [pause]
[Rory laughing]
T: Wait, and then don’t…
R: Don’t turn?
T: And then don’t take the first right. I think, take the right after the derelict gas station…
R: Okay.
T: And it’ll be on your right.
R: How close? Like, immediately on my right?
T: Like, two buildings down or something, yeah.
R: Okay. That was pretty good! Yeah!
T: Am I right?
R: Yeah, you are right.
T: There we go!
R: Yeah, but that’s one restaurant in Lenox, so…
T: Okay, give me another.
R: I have to think of a more complicated one that’s not… could you do something that’s not in the center of Lenox or no? No, you couldn’t.
T: Probably not. I don’t know. Like what?
R: Okay. Do you know where Jae’s is?
T: Jay’s? I’ve never heard of it. What is it?
R: It’s a Asian food restaurant. Do you know about — there’s a new restaurant in town, what kind of food is it?
T: I have no idea. There’s a new restaurant?
R: It’s in a red building.
T: Boema?
R: Nuh-uh. Yeah, what’re the most recent restaurants?
T: I don’t know. Boema is relatively new. Betty’s is much older.
R: Yep.
T: Olde Heritage Tavern seems old.
R: Do you know about do you know about the crypto guy? That’s another Lenox lore.
T: Yeah. What’s his name?
R: I don’t know. We all just call him Crypto Guy. He had a Lamborghini. Do you feel like we’re progressing in our interview?
T: I feel like you should give us more business advice. Okay, so you don’t think Apple Tree has name recognition. But it’s existed here forever. So why don’t you think anyone knows it?
R: Because the thing is, with Lenox, everyone knows everyone. Like, if I go uptown with my dad, there will be seven people that we get stopped by to talk to. You need to be those same people. You have to be known, because then people will want to go to your restaurant, not just to try it out, but to, like, like, try it out for you guys, because they know you guys, and they want to see how it is. So you have to, like, blend in with the locals. You hear what I’m saying?
T: Yeah.
R: Okay, so you need to know the town, like… Smitty Pignatelli… you need to know just the normal, like… Hoff… see, you don’t…
T: Who’s Hoff?
R: Hoff’s trucking, it’s like a car business.
T: Okay.
R: But there’s just like… you need to be known. Were you known in California?
T: I don’t think I’ve ever been known anywhere I’ve gone.
R: [deep sigh]
T: I mean, I went to a college of, like, what was it?
R: Not many people!
T: Two or three thousand people, yeah, so I guess people knew me there, but probably fewer people than knew most people there.
R: Were you, like, the guy in the polar bear costume?
T: I should have been!
R: I totally could see that.
T: I probably would have made more friends that way.
R: Probably.
T: I have great friends from Bowdoin, for your information.
R: I’m glad to hear that. And, might I add, they all know how to play rugby, which is excellent.
T: They do, yeah. What do they see in me?
R: I couldn’t tell you, but maybe it’s your lack of rugby. So they were like, we need someone to balance us out, so let’s find the polar opposite of what we do, so he can just be, like, the odd one out, but he’s like, quirky and part of our group. So they were all probably pushing like 250, right?
T: Pushing 250, like in weight?
R: Pounds, yeah.
T: I don’t even know what they weigh. But some of them were big, yeah.
R: Okay, so not quite your size.
T: No, they could all take me.
R: So maybe they needed someone in the group to know there was at least one person that they could take at all times, you know what I mean? Like a confidence booster, an ego…
T: Okay, so we have to be known. I think that’s good advice, but that only applies to getting local business, which can only be business for the restaurant.
R: Oh, do you want to get more business with the inn? You need to get people to write reviews, because that’s a big thing too. Like, I could literally count 10 other inns and hotels within 10 miles of us, because Lenox is very much a hotel place. So if you came to Lenox right now, if you think about it, what hotel would you choose to stay in?
T: Apple Tree Inn!
R: But that’s because of your bias! I work here, and I love it here, but if I lived in California and I came to Lenox to stay somewhere, it wouldn’t be here.
T: Where would you stay?
R: I would probably stay at the… what’s it called? It’s the brown building with blue shutters… you probably don’t know where this is. It’s on… what’s the fancy road in Lenox?
T: You’re asking the wrong person!
R: Mountain — no… I will find it for you. Cliffwood! You know Cliffwood? No, you don’t know Cliffwood. OK, but if you look up “inns Lenox Massachusetts,” are we gonna pop up? No, we’re not even… [looking at results] I would stay at the Constance. Constance is nice.
T: Is that one of the Lenox Collection?
R: Are you referencing the Lenox Seven?
T: No, there’s a collection of three hotels that are all owned by…
R: Yes, it’s one of the collection, yes. [continuing to scroll] I’d stay at the Hampton Inn—
T: Wait the chain Hampton Inn?
R: Yeah, it still looks nice. I’m someone who’s prone to chains.
T: Would you stay at that big Marriott?
R: Is it Brook Farm? No… see, they’re cheaper than you guys, not to kick you when you’re down, but… Stoneover Farm! That’s where I would stay. Do you know where that is?
T: Yeah, it’s right up the street!
R: I know, it’s Cliffwood if you keep going then it becomes—
T: It’s Under Mountain Road!
R: Yeah, exactly. Look how pretty this is!
T: I know! My cousin got married there. But I think they only have like, seven rooms.
R: That’s okay.
T: How much is a room?
R: Let’s see real quick. 485.
T: So not far off from us… Stoneover Farm is beautiful.
R: Yes it is. We need more attractions on this site.
T: Like a duck pond? They have a duck pond, so we should have a—
R: Yes, exactly. Why stay here? You have to think to yourself, why stay here over the 20 other inns that are around here?
T: What do you think?
R: Well, I just told you I wouldn’t stay here over the 20.
T: OK, if you could invest money in this hotel and make it better so that people would stay here, what would you do?
R: I would cut down trees there to get that view.
T: Like view of the lake?
R: Yes. I would definitely keep a tennis court, put a tennis court in…
T: Well, renovate it.
R: Well, that’s one word for it. It’s more of a…
T: Rebuild? Annihilate and construct from scratch?
R: Yes. Um, you could hit ’em with a little ropes course here. Wowwwww, ropes course, didn’t think about did you?
T: I did not think of a ropes course, no.
R: Oh, well, you’re welcome. See, there’s so much land, though.
T: There’s a ton. What about connecting to the hiking [trails]?
R: And I don’t picture you just walking on the land for fun. So what’s the land being used for? [pause] There you go.
T: I mean, I feel like we do fine in the summer and then the winter is going to be a real struggle. So I feel like we, more than anything, need, like winter attractions.
R: Well, sledding?
T: So, you know, Claire has her whole like spa obsession, like hot tubs, hot springs, Japanese onsen.
R: That would really be changing the vibe! Do you guys have a hot tub here?
T: No.
R: Oh, maybe we should get one. Um, I would make this a sledding hill, if you guys can.
T: Yeah, I mean, we can get a couple sleds. Maybe we should before wintertime.
R: Yeah, but make them say Apple Tree Inn.
T: Branded sleds? What do you think of the name “Apple Tree Inn”?
R: I think it needs to change.
T: What do you think of this room we’re in, the round room?
R: I think this should be taken out, taken down, and redone.
T: How would you redo it?
R: Um, I would probably extend this out, like, make the radius of this, like… I don’t know, like, four, five feet further.
T: But you would still make it a round room? You would rebuild a round room?
R: Well, it has to sort of has to be round because of the structure of this. If I can make it square, I would probably make it square. I would make it go out more, make it more of a… like a deck that people could drink.
T: I mean, we have this porch…
R: I know, but that one’s sort of like, I don’t want to say… Does that fire alarm work?
T: Are you thinking of pulling the fire alarm to get out of this interview?
R: Well, that would be extreme, wouldn’t it? Um, I would paint this building. First thing I would do, I would paint it.
T: What would you paint it?
R: Not the color that it is. Probably white.
T: Claire’s already booked painters for April.
R: What’re they gonna paint it?
T: Well, Claire’s trying to decide. Maybe white. Definitely not what it is now.
R: I’m not rocking with the peach color.
T: Yeah, what would you even call it? I guess peach. It’s like a wan yellow—
R: It’s like a puke yellow.
T: —with, like, forest green trim, right?
R: Yeah. So what color would you paint it?
T: I like white. I think Claire’s also considering a dark green.
R: That could be interesting. I like her hot tub idea.
T: Like a barn red.
R: Don’t go red. You guys should have little fairy lights. Go outline the driveway all the way up, so people can just see it more and realize it’s an actual place.
T: And not haunted and abandoned?
R: Yeah, like, this would be something that you find in your nightmares if you didn’t know what this is.
T: What are your nightmares like?
R: My nightmares are probably very different than your nightmares. I have this recurring dream that I go into the woods and find a house there. But it’s in our backyard. I’m convinced there’s a whole family in our backyard that we just don’t know about.
T: Do you think they have polar opposite versions of you and your family? What would opposite Rory be like?
R: Opposite Rory? Not good with sarcasm at all.
T: Really earnest.
R: Yes, very kind, yeah. I’m working on my filter, if you can’t tell.
T: Are you sad to leave the Apple Tree?
R: I am. Do you think I’ll come back next year?
T: Do I think you will?
R: Yeah.
T: Have you had fun?
R: Yeah, I’ve had fun…
T: Do you respect us?
R: …but I might need to work somewhere else with higher pay. I’m sorry.
T: How much do we pay you?
R: $16 an hour.
T: What would you want to do?
R: Well, I have a friend that makes $25 an hour plus tips.
T: Doing what?
R: Working at Balderdash.
T: What’s Balderdash?
R: It’s a wine cellar in Richmond. They have live music all the time. They do much better than us.
T: So when Claire was your age, I think she had not yet worked at a hotel. And when she worked at the Chatham Bars Inn on Cape Cod during summers when she was in college, I think that was the first time she sort of had the dream that she could run a hotel one day.
R: Do you think me working here has given me the dream to run a hotel?
T: Probably not.
R: What do you think I want to do when I’m older?
T: I was about to ask you that.
R: Okay, but I want to know your thoughts first. Like, what can you see me doing when I’m older?
T: I think you would hate to have a boss and love to be a boss. I think you would like bossing other people around more than you would like taking instruction.
R: Wouldn’t anyone?
T: Although I don’t know how your personality will change. I don’t know how much people change. [Rory keeps pinching her elbow.] How’s that mosquito bite?
R: I don’t know if it’s a mosquito bite, but I really want it off. Um, I want to be a physician.
T: Yeah?
R: Yeah. So… you can’t trust me with a knife. You’re trying to picture that right now.
T: No, I wasn’t — I trust you with a knife. Why do you want to be a physician?
R: I’ve grown up around that world for a while.
T: Because of your mom?
R: Yes, and I have many medical issues — fun fact about Rory.
T: Like what?
R: I was in a ski accident. Did I tell you? I don’t know if you knew this, but I’ve spent a lot of my life in the hospital, and my brother has spent a lot of his life in the hospital. And then also, ’cuz my mom.
T: What was your ski accident?
R: It was me going into a tree. It was fun. Probably wouldn’t recommend it. They cut down the tree, though. I did a number on it.
T: You got revenge?
R: Yeah, well, there was a lot of blood on it.
T: Oh, my god.
R: Yeah, see, you seem like a squeamish person, so I’m not sure you want to hear this story.
T: I want to hear it! I’m cowardly but not squeamish.
R: Okay, are you sure?
T: There’s a difference, yeah.
R: Okay, so I was skiing, and then I went over like a rock, and it popped one of my skis off. So I was skiing on one ski, and your girl does not have great balance, so I went straight into a tree, knocked out, and then… so I broke my jaw here, and here, hence the scar. And then I fractured my clavicle, and I tore this lip completely came off.
T: Oh my god!
R: It was really gross, to be honest with you. And I lost a third of my blood. So — I know, isn’t this exciting? So they took me to one hospital, then it was too severe, so I had to go to Baystate.
T: Had to go to Bay State? That’s a…
R: Hospital, yes it is. See! More local information that you should know!
T: Yeah, nearest hospitals!
R: Do you know what the two nearest hospitals are?
T: No.
R: [deep sigh] Do you know, like, what town to go to if you get hurt?
T: Pittsfield, probably?
R: Okay. [Pittsfield has the Berkshire Medical Center; Great Barrington has Fairview.]
T: When was this?
R: 2020, maybe? Yeah.
T: Which feels like yesterday to me, but feels like a long time ago to you.
R: Yes it was. But you want to hear the craziest part about the story? I passed out in the bathtub because I hadn’t eaten anything, because Rory could not eat, and my mother happened to call my name and came in and got me out just in time. So I had, like, two near-death experiences. Isn’t that interesting?
T: You’ve mentioned your fainting.
R: Yes, I’m big on fainting. That was the first time I actually fainted. Have you fainted before?
T: Yeah.
R: What was it from?
T: I don’t know. I probably hadn’t eaten, but I was like a teenager.
R: You were frail.
T: I think only once. I was frail?! I’m still frail.
R: I feel like you are still frail.
T: Do you remember hitting the rock?
R: No, I completely blacked out. I was told by someone else. Have you skied on Otis?
T: No, is that near here?
R: Yes, that’s where it was. So now I switched teams to snowboarding, and now I snowboard.
T: Is that less dangerous?
R: Probably not. I just can’t ski again. I’m just like, not, like…
T: Because you’re traumatized?
R: Yeah, too traumatized.
T: And you know, Claire had her big ski accident.
R: I’m traumatized for her, too.
T: But I feel like you’ve recovered pretty fully.
R: Yeah, for the most part. Do you think she’s not?
T: She can’t run!
R: Well, yeah. I can’t take huge bites of burgers, so we’re sort of on the same level.
T: Do you have photos?
R: Ohhh, you do not want to see photos. That was a very… not good for someone who’s squeamish or cowardly.
T: I’m not squeamish!
R: I do think you are, I’m sorry.
T: I don’t think I am.
R: So if like, I started bleeding right now, you wouldn’t freak out?
T: No, I would be super relaxed and I have Band Aids in my wallet.
R: [snorting] Why do you have Band Aids in your wallet?
T: Because Claire always bites her fingernails and bleeds. Actually, the real answer is that my dad always carried Band Aids. And I think out of wanting to be like him, I started carrying Band Aids at a young age, and then when we would like go for a hike in high school, and someone would get a minor scrape, I like weirdly had a Band Aid—
R: You were known as the Band Aid guy.
T: —and I just wanted to be helpful in some meager way.
R: Do you look up to your father?
T: Yeah. Do you?
R: I feel like my father and I are colleagues. I feel like we’re on the same level. I think he sees it that way too.
T: I don’t think I was a colleague of my father.
R: I’m like, a friend of my dad. My dad and I are very similar people.
T: Claire always had this relationship with her parents where they treated her more like a friend than like a child. Wait, do you do call your parents “mom” and “dad”?
R: I call them [by their given names].
T: I never did that. It was always “mom” and “dad”.
R: What’s your last name? Tucker, right?
T: Yup.
R: Did you have any nicknames?
T: Toph is a nickname.
R: I know, for Topher, right?
T: For Christopher.
R: Why do you go by Toph instead of Christopher or Chris?
T: Because when I was learning to speak, I couldn’t pronounce the hard C or R or S sounds. So I took the only part of my name I could say, which was Toph, and it stuck. At least that’s the story—
R: Can you pronounce it now? Or are we still working [on it]…?
T: Christopher.
R: Oh my god, nailed it. That was so good.
T: Okay, rapid fire. What do you think of the menu? What would you change about the menu?
R: I would add some more simplistic things in there.
T: For food or drink?
R: For food. And then I would make more mocktails for drink.
T: Of course you would.
R: Well, it’s not legal for me to have cocktails here.
T: True. What’s your favorite mocktail here?
R: Gotta go with the Shirley Temple. I know you are a big fan of that one, too.
T: I love a Shirley Temple. What’s the other one? Max’s Punch. How do you like the Max’s Punch?
R: It’s okay. It’s not a Shirley Temple.
T: OK, do I have any other questions?
R: I don’t know, you said “rapid fire” and then you asked me one question.
T: Website?
R: It’s not good. You need better pictures of our rooms.
T: Do you think the rooms are nice enough and we just need better pictures of them? Or are the rooms not nice enough?
R: See, this is a loaded question. I can tell you’re trying to trick me here. You have to get pictures of room eight. Like, the one with the red on— [referring to an old photo of a room in the lodge]
T: Oh yeah I know you hate that one.
R: You have to think of it from a very aesthetic perspective, not just realistic. Everything has to be pretty. All your Instagram posts are not pretty. All my Instagram posts are pretty. That’s why they get more likes, and more likes by verified accounts! Are you hearing me out?
T: I am. Do you think I can develop an intuition for aesthetics?
R: I don’t know. Do you wear glasses?
T: When I drive.
R: Why only when you drive?
T: Because I don’t need it for like, walking around.
R: But you don’t have great eyesight?
T: No.
R: Yeah, I’m just trying to picture you like — you are so someone who should have glasses. Like, that fits your person.
T: Are you excited to drink here in six years?
R: I hope to not be here in six years. Not in, like, a dark death type of way, but like, just not locally in Lenox.
Kari: Rory, we’re gonna need some help.
R: Okay, coming.
A rush had hit the Ostrich Room and Kari was now running severely behind thanks to my sideshow. Once the music started at 7:30 we ended up having about 50 people in there. Maybe I should’ve asked anything about what it was like working here or how the guests were. Thank you to Rory for agreeing to be interviewed, for keeping us humble, and for her friendship!
Recently asked questions
Could someone drive my friend to Albany [~45 min], for a fee?
Sorry, there’s like two of us and we have to stay here! But I can take you to the bus stop in town. In the future, Abbott’s is supposedly good if you ask a couple days in advance.
Is this the totality of the breakfast?
Yes, sorry!
Did I leave my Amex card at the bar last weekend?
No, sorry!
Who do I contact about booking live music?
Jenny!
Are you guys gonna light the fire pit again tonight?
I’m very happy to! It’s interesting that this question implies that we have, like, a policy, like it’s a preexisting fact in the world whether we’ll light it or not. If you want it I’ll light it! In general, if people humbly wonder if we could do something for them, we’ll make every effort to do it; if they act entitled to something we don’t explicitly offer, it’s a lot less effective.
[Re: “Can I get you anything else?”] Cocaine?
Nope! Wild thing to ask your server!
Changelog
Hagai added focaccia, polenta, and a crack pie to the dinner menu, and on Sunday piloted a brunch menu. Instead of drinks starting at 4 and food at 5, all service in the Ostrich Room now starts at 5. The kitchen doors have new “Employees Only” signs. We got a new water dispenser for the coffee station. A decorative strut on the outdoor staircase of the carriage house fell off and was repaired by Memo and Demetrio. We put up flyers advertising the Ostrich Room and ran an ad in the Berkshire Eagle. The decorative wood in the front entryway — cut, arranged, and painted by previous owners to hide the ducts in the non-functioning fireplace — was depleted by fire-crazed guests who had already exhausted the other large hopper of wood. We tested a shuttle service to bring people down to the Tanglewood front gate but got only one taker and I fumbled the pickup. Alison got the third piece of the Hudson River map triptych reframed. A guest picked three apples on the lawn and gave them to us; they were OK.
Visitors
Thank you to the many friends of the inn who have stayed or popped in since the last newsletter went out, including Sharon, who owned the inn from 1995 to 2021; Mary and Roy, whom I missed but who left a note in the guest book concerned that my long absence here meant they’d been removed from the mailing list; Ellen and Chuck, whom I missed but who brought lovely flowers; Dave and Bridget, sharing lessons from running a different sort of communal space; Gene and Lloyd, bringing gossip and friends; Larry and Lilah, who we didn’t even know were in town until a waitress sat them next to us at Zinc; Pat and John, who offered to deliver Guido’s groceries; Steve, Liz, David, and Henry, our restaurant consultants; Emily and Phoebe and Max’s brother Moby; Gillian and Arthur, who made us feel good by describing the problems in the place they stayed nearby; Matt and Chelsea, whom I missed and who learned the hard way that you need a car here; Linda and Zoya, who celebrated the latter’s birthday at Tanglewood; Nancy, whom I also missed; and — all the way from the banks of the Loir in Mazangé, France! — Fil, Anne, Jasmine, and Ines.
I’ve often been bad and slow when people ask about visiting but I’ll do better and we treasure every pop-in! With the long slow winter ahead we’ll need the company. You know, back when Roy Rappaport opened the hotel as “Avaloch”, they had a series of talks called “Avaloch Meetings” or something… RingoCon, anyone?
Hysterical post! Keep it up, and do whatever you can to hold onto Rory— she’s a trip! And she’s given you some great matching orders for the fall and winter, both for the inn (sledding hills! Hiking trails/map! Getting the restaurant known/loved locally— your chef warrants it!) and for getting to know the local area/people/lore, and getting known locally yourselves— all of that will be more possible when occupancy slows a bit… The inn is AWESOME, and its low-key-ness will appeal to certain visitors over the slickness of other places, so roll with it :)
Marching orders, not matching!