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Archive for the ‘Saratoga activities’ Category

Saratoga Thoughts - weekend edition:

• Margarita and I ran the Peppertree Rescue 5K yesterday at the Saratoga Spa State Park.  Great cause, great weather, and a great run (OK, a slow, great run).  I probably spent $80 on our race registrations and other items and raffles, but all for a good cause.  It was an unusual 5K b/c probably about half the runners ran with their dogs.  If you are thinking of getting a dog, I would suggest looking at Peppertree because they seem like a well-run organization that really cares about matching the right dog with the right person/family.  Click here for Peppertree's Facebook page and you can like them. 

• It looks like Elizabeth's Table may open this Tuesday.  I am glad it's that close - Mike and Liz Phillips worked their butts off to get the place ready and if their food is half as good as it was at the Cupcake Lab, the place will be a hit.  Give them some support and check it out later this week. 

• I've written on here more than once that I felt (now former) Saratogian sports editor Nicole Russo was an extremely talented writer, and it looks like the Thoroughbred Times has agreed with me because she was hired by the Lexington, Kentucky based company as their internet editor.  Congratulations Nicole!  Her recent departure as sports editor and subsequent replacement by Matthew Donato means the Saratogian has had five different sports editors in just over two years.  
• I wrote a post last week about Siro's either not completing its web sites or letting the URL's expire for its main restaurant on Lincoln as well as Siro's Trattoria web site, the latter of which incidentally closed quietly for the season.  Then I mentioned how I thought the New York City location apparently wasn't opening.  Steve Barnes of the T-U's Table Hopping Blog linked my entry, and then a Siro's manager quickly replied on Table Hopping. I was apparently wrong about the NYC location, which apparently is opening within a month, but the other facts were hard to argue with. Siro's PR people (probably an outside PR firm) contacted the Business Review to do some damage control, and this article was printed Friday.  Well I'm glad The Trattoria at the Lodge is opening back up soon, and I'm really glad the NYC location is opening as well.  Siro's has to pay some more attention to the details, namely completing their web sites and not letting the URL's expire, but I'm glad they're otherwise on track. 
• It says here that Stewart's Crumbs Along the Mohawk Ice Cream is fantastic.
• Below is a picture of a race horse I used to own, now a guide pony, Minister's Appeal, working with his rider at the Oklahoma Track.  I was thrilled when the training track opened last week, but when is the Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Business Association, or Convention and Tourism Bureau, or better yet all three, going to encourage NYRA to open it to the public, at least on the weekends?  With mimimal effort, you could limit public access to an area near the timer's shed and attract numerous people up here on the weekends from April to November.  That's numerous people, and families, who will eat in our restaurants, shop in our stores, and, by the way, get all that much more excited to attend the track in the summer which can only help attendance. Seems like a no-brainer to me.

• Who is Amy Sutton, and why does she have so many prominent listings at Roohan Realty?  I seem to see her names on signs everywhere.
• Finally, Margarita and I met some friends last night at Lake Ridge Restaurant in Round Lake (exit 11).  I was never there before but had the feeling for some reason it was a rustic, basic place, but it was very nice inside and had great food and service.  If you're ever looking for a restaurant down that way I do recommend it.

OK folks that's it for now.  It will be nice today (Sunday) and up to 80 tomorrow on Monday. Have a great week!

OK I haven't done one of these in a couple of weeks so here we go:

• I see the Harness track will open back up on April 11th.  That is doubly good news - the fact that the equine disease strangles is apparently contained means the Oklahoma Track can open on time the weekend of April 14-15. 
• Hey the Megabus is here!  Great prices, useless schedule.  It leaves Saratoga at 7pm and arrives in NYC at 10:30, and leaves NYC at 8:30am and arrives in the Spa City at noon.  Huh?  The Saratogian has an article here.
• It looks like the prep work is beginning (in other words an ugly fence has gone up) on the building that is going up next to the Bread Basket on Spring Street. 

• Speaking of The Bread Basket, I am trying to eat healthy but yesterday I had a bear claw from there.  Geez that was freakin' delicious.  Gigantic too. I guess that's why they call them "bear" claws and not....squirrel paws.
• Restaurant updates:  PJ Davis advises me he is hoping to open the new PJ's Barbecue (new name:  "PJ's Bar-B-QSA") in early May.  Elizabeth's Table should be opening up soon.  I assume Russo's is getting close as well.  We're at least a month out from David Zecchini's new Broadway Spanish tapas restaurant Boca Bistro.  The new Arby's that is going into the old Grey Gelding location should be finished by late June.
• I love our library but I hate hate hate the new tables on the second floor.  The old ones were roomy, sturdy, and comfortable, but these little replacements look like they are for third graders.
• I was kidding above on the Arby's in the Grey Gelding.
• I saw on Tom Dimopoulos' Facebook page that his position was eliminated from the Post-Star.  In other words he was let go.  That sucks - first of all because he is a great reporter and a class act, and second of all does that mean the Post Star is giving up on Saratoga news?  Perhaps - the Saratoga Snippets blog hasn't been updated in a month - and that was an entry by Dimopoulos.
• Click here to find out about the Nacre Spring dance performance at Universal Preservation Hall
• Man that addition on the Wilton YMCA is huge - it appears to be about the size of the original building.
• I had a note to write something about SPAC, but I don't remember what it was.  If anyone has any SPAC news or thoughts, feel free to comment and help a blogger out.
• If you need to make last minute Easter plans - Maestro's, The Wishing Well, and Capriccio Saratoga are a few of the restaurants that will be open - but there are several others as well.

OK that's about it folks.  Have a great Easter!

OK I haven't done one of these in a couple of weeks so here we go:

• I see the Harness track will open back up on April 11th.  That is doubly good news - the fact that the equine disease strangles is apparently contained means the Oklahoma Track can open on time the weekend of April 14-15. 
• Hey the Megabus is here!  Great prices, useless schedule.  It leaves Saratoga at 7pm and arrives in NYC at 10:30, and leaves NYC at 8:30am and arrives in the Spa City at noon.  Huh?  The Saratogian has an article here.
• It looks like the prep work is beginning (in other words an ugly fence has gone up) on the building that is going up next to the Bread Basket on Spring Street. 

• Speaking of The Bread Basket, I am trying to eat healthy but yesterday I had a bear claw from there.  Geez that was freakin' delicious.  Gigantic too. I guess that's why they call them "bear" claws and not....squirrel paws.
• Restaurant updates:  PJ Davis advises me he is hoping to open the new PJ's Barbecue (new name:  "PJ's Bar-B-QSA") in early May.  Elizabeth's Table should be opening up soon.  I assume Russo's is getting close as well.  We're at least a month out from David Zecchini's new Broadway Spanish tapas restaurant Boca Bistro.  The new Arby's that is going into the old Grey Gelding location should be finished by late June.
• I love our library but I hate hate hate the new tables on the second floor.  The old ones were roomy, sturdy, and comfortable, but these little replacements look like they are for third graders.
• I was kidding above on the Arby's in the Grey Gelding.
• I saw on Tom Dimopoulos' Facebook page that his position was eliminated from the Post-Star.  In other words he was let go.  That sucks - first of all because he is a great reporter and a class act, and second of all does that mean the Post Star is giving up on Saratoga news?  Perhaps - the Saratoga Snippets blog hasn't been updated in a month - and that was an entry by Dimopoulos.
• Click here to find out about the Nacre Spring dance performance at Universal Preservation Hall
• Man that addition on the Wilton YMCA is huge - it appears to be about the size of the original building.
• I had a note to write something about SPAC, but I don't remember what it was.  If anyone has any SPAC news or thoughts, feel free to comment and help a blogger out.
• If you need to make last minute Easter plans - Maestro's, The Wishing Well, and Capriccio Saratoga are a few of the restaurants that will be open - but there are several others as well.

OK that's about it folks.  Have a great Easter!

You can find the details for Saratoga Olive Oil's March 30 Food Demo here.  Spaces fill up fast so if you wish to attend you should register immediately. To see video from Saratoga Olive Oil's inaugural food demo, click below.

It would be unfair to call Chubby Checker a one-hit wonder, but let's face it - the song we all associate with him was his #1 hit from 50+ years ago - and that song was noneother than "Stairway to Heaven".  Ok, of course it was "The Twist".  His follow up song, "Let's Twist Again" was also a top 10 hit, and I would guess he had some other songs, but to be honest, I have no idea what they are. 

But just to see him perform his signature song, which created a dance craze and had several other artists performing twist-themed songs, is enough to get me to scrape up $30 and go to Vapor Nightclub on April 12.  In 1989 I had a chance to go see Jerry Lee Lewis, and I passed.  I hate myself for missing that because even though Lewis is still alive, he's not in the greatest of health and I don't think he performs at all anymore.  My advice: Go see these original rock and roll artists - because the few that are still living are in their 70s and 80s, and they won't be around forever.  I hope to go see Chubby Checker - it sounds like a fun time. I can't twist to save my life, but with a few beers I try anyway - and hell I got the chubby part down pat.  See you there.

And awayyyyyy we go....

• Spring is essentially here, and I am thrilled.  Let's hope that gets some people on the sidewalks and in our restaurants.
• I hope I'm smart enough never to open one of those restaurants - it just seems like backbreaking work that will eventually bankrupt you.  If I ever did open one,however, I would want it to be like Ralph's on Central Avenue down in Colonie.  Ralph's has great Italian food with a near-perfect homeade sauce for very reasonable prices.  Their soups, which comes with every entree (or you can choose a salad) also have that great homeade quality as well.  Nothing, and I mean nothing, in Saratoga comes close as far as Italian food goes.
• For those of you that have HBO  - have you been watching the program "Luck"?  I've mentioned before how it's centered around thoroughbred horse racing and it has a stellar cast (Dustin Hoffman, Dennis Farina, Nick Nolte, and several others). I'm really enjoying it.  They have a brief snippet at the end of each episode called "Trackspeak" where they will replay a scene from the show where something very specific to horseracing occurred (ie. claiming a horse or a steward's inquiry) and break it down for you and explain the rule all in about two minutes.  Cool stuff.  The other thing I'm enjoying in the show is the acting of retired jockey Gary Stevens.  His character is just a miserable prick in that show - no - make that a coke snorting, F-bomb dropping, mean-spirited miserable prick - but funny at the same time.  Let's hope my mind can separate his character with the real life Stevens when the well-dressed, amiable, and articulate commentator appears on NBC Sports at Saratoga this summer.
• I saw how NYRA channelled a ton of the casino money into their stakes races at Saratoga and Belmont this year.  That's great, but I wondered why they didn't up The Travers a bit.  Every year it seems like there are a few top horses that pass on the Travers for other races, and I hate to see that.  I guess a million bucks doesn't buy what it used to. 
• Back in Novmember it was reported that the Bon Ton Fish Market out of Connecticut would be opening a new store in the same strip mall as Chipotle and The Meat House in Wilton.  I was at that strip mall the other day and there has been no construction performed on the proposed Bon  Ton location to date, and I found out the earliest the place will open will be May. 

• Click here to sign up for the Saratoga Olive Oil Food Demo on March 16.
• From the 'you can't make this stuff up' files, did you catch the profile of Michele Riggi in Sunday's Times Union?  The online version even came with video.  The article had a few interesting tidbits - notably that she's from Broadalbin-I just sort of expected her to be from Long Island or something.  It went to length to point out the good, and gave less mention to the bad, but at least mentioned it.  I just about fell over when the article not once, not twice, but three times mentioned Michele Riggi's name in the same sentence with Marylou Whitney.  Please.  While I don't hate the Riggi's, I'll always have a certain amount of disrespect for them for what they did to that Civil War era house on Greenfield Ave.  Marylou Whitney wouldn't even think of doing something like that.  The article also quoted I-Saratoga's 2009 entry entitled "The Riggi's suck" in which the blogger called the Riggis "arrogant ego-maniacal gasbags", however the article didn't name the blog.  Probably the reason I don't hate the Riggi's is best summed up by a quote of Whitney's husband John Hendrickson when he said "Saratoga has always been about characters".  He's right, and whether you like them or not the Riggis are characters and they make life here in Saratoga that much more interesting and special. 
• I mention this every now and again - I miss that I-Saratoga blog. 
• The Tiznow and Virgil's House location are up for rent, and Paper Dolls store moved to Broadway a few months ago - Henry Street sure has been undergoing some volatility lately hasn't it?  I wrote about Henry Street a few years ago and asserted that it was "one of the hidden, and evolving, gems in the Spa City".  Things are different now, not dismal, just a bit down in my book.  My take: Things really went downhill when they removed the Skycopter.  BTW:  I wonder how Capriccio Saratoga has been doing this winter - I sort of forgot about that place lately but would like to get there again soon.  I also wonder if the condo sales at 54 Phila (the Phila Fusion building) have improved.  Last I knew none of them have sold.  Oh well, if anyone has information or thoughts on this, let me know.

OK well that's it for now.  Have a great weekend.

I enjoy reading Michael Veitch's articles on horse racing in the Saratogian.  One little snippet of his article in Wednesday's Saratogian caught my eye, and I think he was telling us that there may be a second Saratoga Race Course meet this fall.  The snippet read as follows: 

New Spa racing event

Plans are nearing completion for a fall steeplechase racing event at Saratoga Race Course in 2012.  It's a beautiful time of year at the track, and this idea has potential.

This information was tucked away in the middle of the article.  I think this news is absolutely huge - and I simply don't know if I'm making this out to be more than it is, if this information was a trial balloon being floated to see how it plays, or something else.  What I think I was reading was that if plans work out, this fall, presumably in October, the Saratoga Race Course will reopen for a second meet (!) with steeplechase racing.  I assume there will be betting as well.  I can't help but wonder if it will be exclusively steeplechase racing, or will they slide a few flat track races in there, and then the second year have even more track racing, and the next thing you know, there are two Saratoga meets each year.  This seems consistent with my previous comments on the apparent proposed closing of Aqueduct Race Track. 

I think an autumn meet would be great, because I agree with Veitch that fall is a beautiful time of the year around here.  Despite my enthusiasm, I can't help but wonder what's up when such potentially huge and historical news is released in such a relatively quiet manner.  Stay tuned. 

Well it's not my intention to make this the "Saratoga Thoughts" blog, but lately my schedule has limited my efforts, at least somewhat, to these types of postings.  OK, with that half apology out of the way, here we go:

• Well I went to the Beer Week events, sort of. I stopped out for some food and beer with the Funsaratoga field agent and an out-of-town guest.  I'm glad to have any event that brings visitors (and their wallets) to Saratoga Springs in late winter, but as someone who was in several of the venues, it didn't seem so well organized.  Perhaps if I actually bought tickets and went as an attendee, it would have been better, but as an accidental attendee, I was underwhelmed
• I saw the Maestro's porch was getting some use in Thursday's and Friday's nice weather.  Who ever thought that porch would get nearly year-round use in 2011-2012? 

File Photo

• Well it sure seems like there are several Saratoga restaurants that are hiring.  A perusal of Craig's list shows that Ravenous, Forno Bistro, Jacob & Anthony's, Sabina's, The Parting Glass, and Angelo Mazzone's several restaurants and catering establishments are looking for employees.  That doesn't count the several unnamed Saratoga restaurants that were advertising jobs as well, including one "new restaurant opening in late March" that I assume is Russo's, which is opening in the former Brindisi's location. 
• Speaking of  Craig's list, you'll never know what you'll find on there - here's an ad from someone looking to have a partner in opening a bar in downtown Saratoga.  Yea, bars and business partnerships always work out well - especially when they start out from Craig's list.
• Continuing with the Saratoga bar/restaurant scene, I reported way back when that Mine would have a full menu and I noticed them promoting it along the sidewalk on Broadway this past Friday night, as evidenced by the picture below. 

            I give Mine credit for trying, and their menu looks like it has reasonable prices, but I'm not sure if I can take a dining establishment seriously that is offering a full dinner menu, and also a "Pisces night" (it was last night - "Pisces get in free all night"), a teen night (tonight - for all of you under-21 kids that fanatically read this blog), and has a web site that is not working (at least when I checked).  My casual walk by and internet look gives me the feeling they are all over the board.  Just my thoughts.

• When I was a kid, there was just one free newspaper, and that was of course the Pennysaver.  Saratoga Springs has Saratoga Today, The Spotlight, and the Spa City Moneysaver - and there seem to be many other free specialty publications as well.  It's almost overwhelming - and all this in the internet era. Go figure.
• With Saratoga diners dropping left and right (namely Beverly's, Friendly's, and the Saratoga Family Restaurant), I thought it would be a good time to check out Shirley's, on West Avenue.  You may recall it was purchased last year by someone who was going to add some Montreal, Quebec cuisine to the menu.  Well the chowder was excellent but the grilled haddock I ordered came out cold - I think it was prebaked and never heated for me.  Oh well, if I ever get my fat blogging butt to the YMCA anytime soon perhaps I'll get rid of enough guilt to try Shirley's rather fattening sounding Poutine -  which is a French-Canadian specialty consisting of french fries, gravy and cheese curds.  I'm half intrigued and half disgusted, but my gluttonous curiosity will get the better of me eventually and I'll report on here how it was - and what my cholesterol was before and after.
• Speaking of eating things I shouldn't - the wings at the Stadium pass my four-part test - and I'm from Buffalo, which makes me an expert. The four part test is as follows: (1) Wings should be big with plenty of meat - not those wimpy tiny ones you get in some restaurants. (2) The sauce should have the right balanced flavor and have enough substance to cling to the wings. (3) They should never be undercooked, and in fact should be cooked extra crispy, and (4) the blue cheese should be of high quality.  The Stadium passes all four of those tests, with an extra star for their chunky blue cheese. 
• From Buffalo errr...fine dining to Buffalo fine arts - I see the Buffalo Philharmonic will be playing at SPAC this summer - on July 25th.  I'll be there....in a Bills jersey with my face painted.  It's a Buffalo thing. 
• And finally, Saratogian editor Barbara Lombardo had a great idea when she proposed that the Skidmore bookstore move into the empty former Borders location.  She asked "I can dream, can't I?"  Yes you can, and I like your thinking Barbara.

Have a great weekend everybody.