Sophisticated Elegance

For those seeking an upscale dining experience, the Notch 8 Grille at Union Station in Northampton is ready to fulfill that need.

“We’re becoming a destination for special occasions. You can come early and stay late, really enjoy yourself and take your time,” says Jeremiah Micka, owner of Notch 8 Grille and the rest of historic Union Station.

The restaurant’s signature dishes are its steaks, which are sourced from Kinnealey Meats in Brockton, a premier provider to high-end restaurants.

“They’re sourcing from the best places and that really shows,” explains Jeremiah. “They’re prime grade. That was our goal - to start at the highest level.”

Among their steaks, the dry-aged sirloin steak is one of their most popular among diners, most likely because not many local restaurants do the dry-aged process. The 14-ounce prime rib and filet mignon are also popular and familiar cuts for diners. For those looking to splurge a bit for a special occasion, the tomahawk steak fits the bill. It’s a generous bone-in ribeye with a Frenched bone.

Another perennial favorite is the seared scallops dish with smoked bacon jam, served over crab risotto and with pan jus. However, Jeremiah’s favorite dish is the shrimp and fennel, both of which are sauteed in tarragon cream sauce with artichoke, baby spinach, crimini mushroom and fettuccine.

The full raw bar, featuring fresh oysters, is also popular with diners. In addition to the oysters, other favorites include the shrimp cocktail and blue crab.

For appetizers, diners can choose from many options, including carpaccio, a raw shaved tenderloin with caper relish, shaved parmesan extra virgin olive oil and crostini and portabella stack, a grilled balsamic, marinated portabella mushroom with bell peppers, fresh mozzarella and red peppers.

Notch 8 Grille has been in the works as an addition to Union Station since about 2014. After renovations to The Roosevelt Room, the banquet space, and the success of The Tunnel Bar, a destination bar location, and The Deck, the seasonal outdoor dining space, Jeremiah and his partners developed a five to seven-year plan to open up a signature dining experience. Although Covid paused their plans, Notch 8 Grille ended up even better than they could imagine.

“The Tunnel Bar is a destination bar and we wanted to keep them in-house after they have a few drinks there. We wanted to have a place that had a wide range of high-end options and were willing to make that long investment in upgrading the kitchen to do so,” recalled Jeremiah. “The buildout came out amazing. You never know exactly what it’s going to look like until it’s all done, but this is really impressive.”

The restaurant officially opened at the end of December 2023, purposely planned to get the kinks out during the slow, winter season. Only months in, Jeremiah is seeing consistent food quality with full and steady growth of the restaurant.

“The film is still developing, but it has a lot of potential to go where we want it to go,” explains Jeremiah. The restaurant also has more time to build itself because of the other investments at Union Station. There isn’t so much pressure to be a big success right away.

With 160 seats in the restaurant, the servers often take only a few tables at a time, allowing them to provide superior service to their diners and for the diners to truly enjoy their meals without needing to ask for anything.

As the restaurant moves into the high summer season, Jeremiah expects there will be some tweaks to the menu as they look at what is and isn’t selling. The team generally tries out new dishes by making them specials before adding them to the menu.

Notch 8 Grill is located in the historic Union Station building at 125A Pleasant St. in Northampton and is open every evening starting at 4 p.m. It is also open for brunch on Sundays. For more information, call 413-326-4151 or visit www.Notch8Grille.com.