“I dreamed of a property that would allow me to have a real full-service restaurant, with land to grow veggies and a place where people could just melt into the landscape.” —Rafi Bildner
When a beloved farm-to-table chef like Dan Smith decides to hang up his apron for good, it’s hard not to mourn. John Andrews Farmhouse had been a Berkshire favorite for more than 30 years when Dan put the property on the market in 2021. Potential buyers came and went until this spring, when Hilltown Hot Pies owner Rafi Bildner—often described as a “nomadic pizza entrepreneur”— bought the iconic restaurant.
Bildner grew up coming to the Berkshires (Becket) with his parents, Elisa Spungen Bildner and Robert Bildner, who authored The Berkshires Farm Table Cookbook. “I’m the fourth generation in my family to do something food related,” says Rafi . He studied at Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa and worked at pizza restaurants in New Haven and San Francisco before coming back to the Berkshires in 2019 with the intention of starting a pizza business. That summer, The Dreamaway Lodge invited him to set up his portable pizza oven at the property and Rafi found himself making 80 pies a night, all on his own. Hilltown Hot Pies was born and Rafi landed more and more pop-up gigs at breweries, event spaces, and coffee shops. But he found the mobile, outdoor pizza business to be limiting.
“I dreamed of a property that would allow me to have a real full-service restaurant, with land to grow veggies and a place where people could just melt into the landscape,” Rafi says.
As a kid, he recalls dining at John Andrews and remembers it as “a warm beacon that pulls you in.” Now, as the property’s new owner, he’s seeking to maintain and expand upon that same vibe. “This place needs to feel like it’s for everyone,” he says, “not just people coming up for the weekend.”
Rafi is planning major renovations for the 1790s farmhouse, including a wood-fired pizza oven and an expanded bar. That work will begin in the fall. In the meantime, he’ll resurrect his mobile pizza operation on the property this summer with an outdoor pizza garden that should be open by the end of June. Next year, Rafi plans to dramatically expand the garden and possibly introduce chickens and goats. He’s hoping to open the new restaurant, Hilltown, by early summer next year.
“Pizza has always been a happy food in my life,” says Rafi . “I love the communal aspect of it. It’s like a canvas for whatever is going on on the farm.” And, like his predecessor, he intends to partner with local farms such as Indian Line, Woven Roots, North Plain, Farm Girl Farm, and others. And he hopes to work with High Lawn Farm on mozzarella.
“All of the farms in the area have been a constant thread in my life and I’m happy to now be in a position to buy a serious amount of produce from them and to have deep relationships,” Rafi says.
Hilltown Hot Pies
224 Hillsdale Rd.
Egremont
Late June to mid Sept.
F & Sa 4–8pm, Su 3–8pm
