“Step back in time…Dinner’s just getting started! Experience Colonial charm, garden views, and rich history at Salem Cross Inn Restaurant and Tavern, located at 260 West Main Street, in West Brookfield, MA 01585.”
www.salemcrossinn.com
Phone Number: +1-508-867-2345
Hours of Operation: Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 4 PM- 8 PM; and Sunday from 12 Noon- 5 PM; Office Hours: Tuesday-Friday 10:30 AM- 2 PM. *Call to Make Reservations!
“A taste of tradition. Traditionally inspired, locally grown, and crafted fresh each day.”
Located on 600 acres of pristine land in West Brookfield, Massachusetts, this restored 18th-century farmhouse is “home to a restaurant and tavern that celebrates New England’s colonial roots. Seasonal menus feature traditional American fare, prepared fresh daily with heirloom vegetables and herbs grown right in our own gardens. Today, the original home stands as one of the finest surviving examples of early American architecture. Visitors will find wide board pine floors, handcrafted moldings, oyster shell plaster walls, and grand fireplaces throughout. Each room is thoughtfully decorated with colonial artifacts, ceramics, fine furniture, and rare collectibles. Perhaps most unique of all, is the 17th-century Roasting Jack, located at the fieldstone hearth in the Chestnut Room. This remarkable piece of culinary history is the only known authentic operating Roasting Jack of its kind in public use in the United States—and it’s still used at the Inn to roast mouthwatering prime rib.” Roasting Jacks were the original “Low and Slow” BBQ-ing devices! Designed to slowly turn meat over an open hearth for even cooking, Roasting Jacks were the precursor to modern day rotisseries and other slow-cooking methodologies.
Salem Cross Inn is “surrounded by rolling hills and scenic countryside. Salem Cross Inn offers a historic colonial farmhouse and barn setting that’s both inviting and full of character. With original architecture and a welcoming warmth that’s felt the moment you arrive, it’s a setting that brings people together and creates space for truly memorable celebrations.” Salem Cross Inn is the recipient of “The Knot: Best of Weddings 2026,” “Weddingwire Couple’s Choice Awards of 2025,” “Best of Zola 2026,” and is in “The Knot: Best of Weddings Hall of Fame!” The Best of Zola refers to an annual award for top-rated wedding professionals; caterers, venues, planners, photographers, vendors, DJs, etc. recognized for excellent service, high star ratings, positive client feedback, professionalism and customer reviews on the Zola wedding planning platform; www.zola.com Both Weddingwire and The Knot are major wedding planning sites, owned by the same parent company, “The Knot Worldwide,” but offer slightly different user experiences; “The Knot focuses more on inspiration, guest tools, RSVP tracking, and all-in-one planning, while Weddingwire excels in vendor searches, reviews, and lead generation—often favored by vendors for its robust directories.” www.weddingwire.com and www.theknott.com
Aside from offering a stunning wedding venue, throughout the year, Salem Cross Inn hosts a variety of seasonal dinners and special events that “highlight the food, history, and atmosphere of Salem Cross Inn: From our open-hearth Fireplace Feasts to holiday gatherings and themed meals, each event offers the chance to enjoy” company, companionship, and outings in a unique way. *Fireplace Feasts are special ticketed dinners, with separate seating hours/times different than the regular restaurant and tavern hours of operation
What is A Fireplace Feast? Since the Salem Cross Inn Restaurant and Tavern is home to the only known authentic operating Roasting Jack in the US, the Inn invites you to “join us for a special dining event as the Innkeepers at the Salem Cross Inn announce their series of 1700’s style feasts, prepared on the open hearth of a great fieldstone fireplace. Relax by the fire as dinner is prepared for you in colonial style. Stir the chowder as it bubbles in our cast iron cauldron over a crackling fire. See your prime rib, roasted ‘to a turn’ as the authentic Roasting Jack rotates slowly over a crackling fire of wild cherry logs.” A Roasting Jack is a historical mechanical device used to automatically rotate a spit/skewer holding meat over a fire, ensuring even cooking and browning. Roasting Jacks came in several different powered forms such as weight-driven/bottle jack; spring-driven/clockwork; steam-powered or even dog-powered as in a Turnspit. “These ingenious contraptions, popular from the Tudor era through the 19th-century, used gears and weights or springs to provide a slow, consistent rotation—a significant upgrade from manually turning the spit.”
Types of Historical Roasting Jacks are as follows:
–Weight-Driven/Bottle Jack: A heavy weight, such as a stone, was raised and then slowly descended, its gravity turning gears that rotated the spit; perfect for BBQ-ing large cuts of meat.
–Spring-Driven/Clockwork: Winding a key activated a spring mechanism, similar to a clock; ideal for smaller BBQ items such as chicken or fish.
–Smoke Jack/Air Spit: Hot air rising from the fire below turned a paddle wheel, which then transferred the motion to the spit via gears, a design from the 15th-century!
–Dog-Powered: A Turnspit dog was a short-legged, long-bodied dog, bred to run on a wheel; the Turnspit dog ran on a treadmill and its motion connected to the spit by belts and pulleys; this practice was common in Britain from the Tudor period; the “Turnspit Dog” was also known as “The Kitchen Dog,” “The Cooking Dog,” or “The Wheeling Dog;” over time, with advancements in kitchen technology, Turnspit Dogs were no longer bred for their specific function, and their numbers dwindled, eventually leading to their extinction.
The function and significance of Roasting Jacks were trifold:
- Even cooking: The primary goal was to rotate the meat continuously for even heat distribution, preventing burning, and ensuring that all sides of the meat cooked perfectly.
- Kitchen Automation: Roasting Jacks mechanized a laborious task, allowing cooks and kitchen staff to perform more food preparatory and cooking duties; Roasting Jacks became a status symbol found in wealthy homes.
- Design: Often made of brass, Roasting Jacks featured a cylindrical body, a winding keyhole, and a hook for the meat; sometimes with decorative elements like maker’s marks.
www.firebacks.net states, “Roasting Jacks- or Spit Jacks—were used in the kitchen to facilitate grilling meats or other dishes on a spit in an open fire by rotating or turning the spit. The manual rotating spit was the simplest contraption and has been used since the first century BC; this is a turnspit in which the spit was turned by hand by means of a lever. The hot air-powered rotating spit, or Air Spit, are rotating spits which are set in motion by the hot air of an open fire; a paddle wheel in the chimney rotates through the hot air of the fire; the rotating movement of the paddle wheel is transferred by a few gears to the spit in front of the fireplace; this type of rotisserie probably dates back to the 15th-century. During the late Middle Ages, a mechanism was used in which a weight—mostly a stone—and gears were used to turn the spit. The Spring-Driven Roasting Jack, or The Clockwork Jack, appeared during the 18th-to-19th-centuries when a mechanism was introduced in which a spring was wound up to drive the spit; these Clockwork Roasting Jacks were smaller in size and thus not entirely suitable for cooking very heavy pieces of meat. Additionally, many other ways were tried to drive the spit; such as using dogs, steam, and smoke.” A manual turnspit consisted of a rotating spit with a handle that could be turned around on 2 andirons. The most commonly used stands were the andirons with spit hooks. In addition to grilling the meat, the andirons are used to lay firewood; this creates good aeration of the fire and prevents the wood from rolling out of the fire; in France these andirons are called “landiers;” they are of Gothic origin. www.firebacks.net continues, “From the late Middle Ages, weight-driven Roasting Jacks were used in the kitchen. The device must be attached to the chimney rim beside or above the fireplace’s opening. A wide fireplace with a wide chimney is required for this purpose. More complicated mechanisms were also used here to run several spits simultaneously at different heights. Large pieces of meat could also be roasted and cooked on the powered spit. The weight-driven rotisserie has always been expensive equipment and therefore, reserved for the nobility and for large institutions such as hospitals. Installations for hanging the spits were built in front of the fire, but andirons with spit hooks were also used for this purpose. On the spring-driven Roasting Jacks, smaller pieces of meat were roasted, cooked, and grilled, such as: chickens, pheasants, pigeons, sausages, and fish. There were also accessories for the clock-spit such as the drip pan and a spoon for meat basting. During the 18th and 19th centuries, when the spring-driven or clock-driven spits were used, the spit was driven by spring and a shaft and a gear system, mounted in a metal box; the cupboards were usually quite small and were placed on the ground in front of the fire; the spit was attached to one of the shafts in the box and rests on the other side on a stand or on the spit hooks of fire andirons.”
On specific dates from November through April, you may enjoy “A FIREPLACE FEAST,” at the Salem Cross Inn. “Our Fireplace Feasts bring history to life with a 1700’s style meal prepared over the open hearth of our fieldstone fireplace. Tickets are $89 per person, tax and gratuity are included. Enjoy the scenery, the season, and the history of a place that has been welcoming guests for generations. Check in downstairs at our Chestnut Room and enjoy Salem Cross Inn’s famous cheese spread. While your dinner is cooking to perfection, enjoy a short horse drawn wagon or sleigh ride through the fields on the Inn’s pristine 600 acres. Shake off the chill with warm mulled wine or cider upon your return. Browse our extensive collection of colonial and federal period American antiques…Beware the brimming bowl of freshly whipped cream—the perfect complement to New England’s best apple pie!” Fireplace Feasts details, schedules and event tickets can be found on the website, www.salemcrossinn.com The Salem Cross Inn Restaurant and Tavern
Photo 14
Fireplace Feast Collage
Also on the website, you may find area and local lodging recommendations, including “A peaceful country get-away surrounded by woodlands, perfect for relaxing at Laurel Ridge Bed & Breakfast,” www.laurelridgebandb.com and “A historic New England Inn offering accommodations and homemade bakery treats in nearby Sturbridge, MA,” at The Publick House Historic Inn www.publickhouse.com A list of “Cool Beans” and “Nearby Stops,” includes: “Overlook Farm: A picturesque organic farm offering fresh produce, flowers, and a charming taste of rural life. Ragged Hill Cider Company: A family-owned orchard and cidery crafting small-batch hard ciders from local apples. West Brookfield Town Common: The heart of the town, perfect for leisurely strolls, Famer’s Markets, and seasonal festivals. Breezelands Orchards: A roadside favorite since 1896, known for crisp apples, homemade pies, and the kind of New England charm that keeps folks coming back year after year—and home of the Award-Winning Top Recommended Apple Cider Donut! Brookfield Orchards: More than just an orchard, it’s a community gathering spot. Pick your own apples, shop local goodies, and don’t leave without their famous apple dumplings!”
www.overlookfarm-ma.com
www.raggedhillcider.com
www.breezelandsorchards.com
www.brookfieldorchards.com
The name “Salem Cross,” is a blend of “heritage and folklore. It honors the Salem family name who worked tirelessly to restore the historic homestead, and also references a hexmark etched into the front door handle of the main house. Known as a ‘cross-mark,’ this symbol was believed in the 1700s to ward off ‘ye evils of witchcraft and diverse other manifestations of devilitry,’ – a nod to New England’s storied past.”
“Enjoy early American fare! Savories: Salem Cross Inn’s famous cheese spread, mulled wine and mulled cider; Help us make our ‘Chowder of the Sea,’ straight from the cauldron; 1700 Fireplace Prime Rib: Prime Rib cooked to perfection using our c. 1700 Roasting Jack; Fresh from the Oven: homemade rolls and muffins; and we make New England’s BEST APPLE PIE—with a dollop of fresh whipped cream!” The Fireplace Feast and the Salem Cross Inn’s excellent cuisine, divine dining events, and unique, charming atmosphere have been featured on:
–The Food Network’s “Best Of”
–“Man, Fire, Food,” The Cooking Channel
–“Taste of the Town,” www.MyFoxBoston.com
–Boston’s “Chronicle”
–Yankee Magazine
–Gourmet Magazine
–Country Living Magazine
–Colonial Homes Magazine
–Early American Life Magazine
…and chosen as the “Hidden Jewel,” by Boston’s Phantom Gourmet! …Deservedly so!!
