SHEFFIELD — After their special permit for a farm-to-table restaurant on a working farm was denied in Great Barrington, Peter and Ginhee Ungar are starting over in Sheffield.

The Ungars want to open Tasting Counter Berkshires, a restaurant on a working farm to “showcase” the farm’s production.  They hope to source about 50 percent of the produce used in the restaurant from their own garden farms, Ginhee said. The rest would be from neighboring farms.

The problem is finding a location that is zoned for it.

The couple’s special permit and zoning exemption application to open a 48-seat farm-to-table restaurant at a 200-acre farm at 87 Alford Road was denied by the Great Barrington Zoning Board of Appeals in October.

The Ungars were under contract to purchase the Great Barrington property, listed for more than $1.9 million, but they needed the restaurant to qualify under an exception for commercial agriculture for the zoning to work.

While the zoning board said the couple didn’t have the standing to make the appeal because they are only prospective buyers, they also said they likely wouldn’t qualify for the exception anyway.

Nearly all members of the board commented on the creative take this style of restaurant has and said they hoped the Ungars would find another place to go about this nearby.

Almost nine months later, the couple presented their same idea to the Sheffield Select Board, but this time, they didn't have land identified. Ginhee said they want to make sure this is something the Sheffield community would “have an appetite for, literally and figuratively.”

“We decided to turn the process upside down,” said Bill Martin, their Lenox based attorney. “And rather than begin looking for a property to make an offer to, we thought it best to have Peter and Jenny introduce themselves to the community with the hope that a farmer that has a property or a portion of the farm that might be appropriate might reach out to us with an interest in the concept and we can do a little matchmaking that way.”

In 2015, the Ungars opened Tasting Counter, a 20-seat fine dining restaurant in Somerville where guests sit around an open kitchen to experience an intimate, chef-led tasting menu. After what they say was a successful run, they want to take the concept to the next level in the Berkshires.

“Before that restaurant, we had a vision of an idyllic farm-to-table restaurant where we are truly living on the land that is growing the food that we are then turning into our menus for guests,” Peter said.

It would be reservation-only seating and limited hours, helping to limit the number of people coming through with the idea that it wouldn’t disturb the footprint of the community. Dinner service would end by 9 p.m., and staff would be done by 10 p.m.

Select Board chair Lee Buttala said while there may be some concerns to address, especially from neighbors, Sheffield is a right-to-farm community.

“So, in another way I think it’s a nice alignment with some of our values as a town,” Buttala said.

The couple is looking for a working farm or a space that previously was a working farm that could be restored. The couple told the board they are aiming for 40 to 50 acres, but they’ve looked at bigger, and would like 10 to 20 acres for growing.

They intend to have a year-round business, with an understanding that seasonality makes for limitations. They said they have experience working around the seasonal limitations to have the type of restaurant and business that they want to have.

“We are really aiming to have the restaurant on the farm because that would truly create the expression that we’re envisioning,” Peter said. “Seeing the products around you that are being grown to create your menu.”