Alice Brock

Alice May Brock is an American artist, author and former restaurateur. A resident of Massachusetts, Brock owned and operated three restaurants in the Berkshires-The Back Room, Take-Out Alice and Alice's at Avaloch. The first of these served as the inspiration for Arlo Guthrie's song "Alice's Restaurant". Born in Brooklyn, New York City, she attended Sarah Lawrence College. Brock worked at the Stockbridge School as a librarian where she met Arlo Guthrie. She married Ray Brock and purchased the Old Trinity Church in Great Barrington, MA. Brock never intended to pursue a career in the restaurant business and always expressed more interest in art. After the closure of Alice's at Avaloch, she relocated to Provincetown, MA and opened an art studio. In addition to her Cookbook, Brock has also authored two other books: her 1976 autobiography, My Life as a Restaurant; and a children's book, How to Massage Your Cat. She also illustrated another children's book, Mooses Come Walking, written by Arlo Guthrie. Brock initially bristled at the fame that the song and film "Alice's Restaurant" had brought upon her but later came to appreciate her role as an icon of the 1960's.