The Church Street Cafe, marked its 25th anniversary in late May, 2006. The eatery has been open under the same ownership longer than any other in the historic village district of Lenox, MA.

Partners Linda Forman, Allan Forman and Clayton Hambrick have expanded several times since they opened the cafe on May 24, 1981. They started with space for just nine tables and a beer and wine license. They applied for and received a full liquor license a few months later. "As businesses moved elsewhere, we were able to expand to what we are now," said Linda Forman. They grew to 14 tables in 1984, had another expansion in the late 1980s and the final one in the early 1990s.

In January 1997, the three partners bought the building and in the spring of 1999 finished a complete remodeling. The cafe now seats 90 people.

The restaurant has received,for four years in a row, an award of excellence from Wine Spectator magazine. The menu changes seasonally and, while meal prices have risen in line with the cost of food, they keep menu prices reasonable by buying as many locally produced ingredients as they can.

Hambrick, from Eagle Rock, Va., is a graduate of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and trained as a chef at a French cooking school in Bethesda, Md. In the late 1970s, he was chef for Ethel Kennedy, the widow of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, at Hickory Hill in Virginia and on Cape Cod. Allan Forman, from Richmond, Va., is a graduate of American University, Washington, D.C. He was a school psychologist in Washington for 15 years before opening the restaurant. A native of Providence, R.I., Linda Forman also graduated from American University. She was a high school English teacher for 14 years before coming to Lenox. All three live in Lenox.

Church Street Cafe is open from Tuesday to Saturday and closed Sunday and Monday until the end of June, when it is open seven days a week during the tourist season.