Food & Drink

Looking Past the Cookies

by B.A. Nilsson December 14, 2011

Norway needs butter. The country’s consumption of it has increased this year because of a surge in fat-laden, low-carb diets, and last month’s butter demand was up 30 percent over the same period last year. ...

0 comments

The Comfort of Family

by B.A. Nilsson December 8, 2011

Minissale’s Wine Cellar Café, 1 14th St, Troy, 274-6225, minissaleswinecellarcafe.com. Serving dinner 5-9 Wed-Thu, 5-10 Fri-Sat, 4-9 Sun. D, MC, V. Cuisine: Italian Entrée price range: $7 (small cheese pizza) to $20 (veal Marsala) Ambiance: your mom’s dining ...

0 comments

Eastern Swing

by B.A. Nilsson December 1, 2011

Phila Fusion Asian Restaurant and Bar, 54 Phila St., Saratoga Springs, 226-0400, philafusion.com. Serving lunch 11:30-3 Mon-Sun, dinner 5-10 Sun-Thu, 5-10:30 Fri-Sat. AE, D, MC, V. Cuisine: pan-Asian Entrée price range: $12 (noodle soup) to $20 (sea ...

0 comments

Let’s Do the Time Warp

by B.A. Nilsson November 22, 2011

Don and Paul’s Coffee Shoppe, 68 Broad St, Waterford, 233-1040. Serving daily 6 AM-9 PM. MC, V. Cuisine: all-American Entrée price range: $1.70 (burger with chips) to $11 (scallops dinner) Ambiance: a little gossip, a little chat If you ...

0 comments

Bordeaux in the Burbs

by B.A. Nilsson November 16, 2011

The Epicurean, Latham Farms Mall, 579 Troy-Schenectady Road, Latham, 786-8272, epicurean-ny.com. Serving lunch 11-4 Tue-Sat, dinner 5-9 Tue-Wed, 5-10 Thu-Sat. AE, D, MC, V. Cuisine: French Entrée price range: $12 (Beggar’s Purse with ricotta & prosciutto, small ...

0 comments

Talking Turkey

by B.A. Nilsson November 10, 2011

Since trying long ago to cock a snoot at Thanksgiving tradition, I have evolved over the past 20 years a tradition of gathering with 15 to 20 friends, most of them orphaned of extended family ...

0 comments

Over the River and Through My Life

by Amy Halloran November 10, 2011

Thanksgiving is glued to America as surely as baseball and apple pie. Even if you feel uncomfortable about celebrating a mythical meal that represents the appropriation of the better part of a continent, you’ll likely ...

0 comments

Holiday Entertaining

by The Staff November 10, 2011

Sweet Potato-Andouille Soup Kenneth Ruud, Grille One Six Five Normanside Country Club, 150 Salisbury Road, 439-2117 2 Tbsp. oil 1/2 cup onions, diced 2 links andouille sausage, diced 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced 4 cups chicken stock 3/4 cup heavy cream 1/2 Tbsp. ...

0 comments

Road to Morocco

by B.A. Nilsson November 3, 2011

Days are shorter, nights are colder: It’s root vegetable season. It’s time to spend a little longer in the kitchen. I’ve been spending more time with earthenware cookers, in particular one of the most marvelous ...

0 comments

The Real Moussaka

by B.A. Nilsson October 27, 2011

The Greek House, 27 Third St., Troy, 272-6058, thegreekhouse.net. Serving 11-9 Mon-Sat. AE, D, MC, V. Cuisine: Greek Entrée price range: $6.50 (veggie gyro) to $18.50 (grilled marinated lamb shanks) Ambiance: storefront What constitutes authentic? It’s one of the ...

0 comments

Bakers’ Square

by Amy Halloran October 20, 2011

On a bright, warm September Sunday, people stroll and shop amid the ring of tents and vendors that constitute the farmers market in the park behind Hubbard Hall in Cambridge. Some of them wander over ...

0 comments

Under the Tuscan Sunset

by B.A. Nilsson October 13, 2011

Ca’ Mea Ristorante, 333 Warren St., Hudson, 822-0005, camearestaurant.com. Serving lunch noon-3 Tue-Sun, dinner 5-10 Tue-Sat, 5-9 Sun. AE, MC, D, V Cuisine: Northern Italian Entrée price range: $17 (spinach-ricotta ravioli) to $25 (New York strip) Ambiance: charming, ...

0 comments

For the Love of a Gadget

by B.A. Nilsson October 6, 2011

Earlier this year, the BBC aired a TV feature in which Stephen Fry looked at what he considers to be the hundred greatest gadgets ever invented. Not surprisingly, quite a few of them involved the ...

0 comments

Retro Contemporary

by B.A. Nilsson September 28, 2011

The Standard, 1 Crossgates Mall Road, Albany, 452-7007, standardalbany.com. Serving 11-11 Sun-Thu, 11-Midnight Fri-Sat. AE, D, MC, V. Cuisine: mix of old and new Entrée price range: $9 (chop-house burger) to $34 (Standard bone-in beef filet) Ambiance: Prefab ...

0 comments

Local Farm and Food Directory

by The Staff September 22, 2011

Bakeries Bella-Napoli Italian Bakery, 672 New Loudon Road, Latham, 793-0196; 721 River St., Troy, 274-8277. Assorted breads, cookies, pastries. Berkshire Mt. Bakery, Inc., 367 Park St., Housatonic, Mass., (413) 274-3412. Breads, pizza crusts, cookies, toast crackers. Bountiful Bread, ...

1 comment

Be Amazed

by B.A. Nilsson September 15, 2011

Sushi X Lounge, 710 New Loudon Road, Latham, 713-4102, sushixlounge.com. Serving lunch 11:30-4 Mon-Fri, dinner 11:30-10 Mon-Thu, 11:30-11 Fri-Sat, noon-10 Sun. AE, D, MC, V. Cuisine: Japanese Entrée price range: $20 (Mon-Thu), $22 (Fri-Sun) Ambiance: colorfully unique Picture your ...

0 comments

The Chips Are Up

by B.A. Nilsson September 7, 2011

Lil’ Britain, 116 North St., Bennington, Vt., 802-442-2447, lilbritain.com. Serving 11:30-8 Tue-Sat. D, MC, V. Cuisine: classic pub fare Entreé price range: $4 (chip butty) to $11 (seafood combo & chips) Ambiance: bright and friendly London’s first fish-and-chips shop ...

0 comments

Hamming It Up

by B.A. Nilsson August 31, 2011

Panzur Restaurant and Wine Bar, 69 Broadway, Tivoli, 845-757-1071, panzur.com. Serving dinner 5:30-9 Tue-Thu, 5:30-10 Fri-Sat. AE, D, MC, V. Cuisine: Spanish-inspired modern Entrée price range: $8 (tortilla Espanola) to $23 (New York strip) Ambiance: artistic bistro There’s evidence ...

0 comments

A Rare Cut

by B.A. Nilsson August 25, 2011

The Raindancer Restaurant, 4582 State Highway 30, Amsterdam, 842-2606, raindancerrestaurant.com. Serving 11:30-close Mon-Sat, 12:30-close Sun. AE, D, MC, V. Cuisine: American steakhouse Entrée price range: $9 (Raindancer burger) to $40 (king crab legs) Ambiance: charmingly rustic In my neck ...

0 comments

Fair Trade

by Amy Halloran August 17, 2011

Tequila infused with strawberries and raspberries. Spicy dill pickles. Jalapeño jelly. Peach-raspberry crisp. Granola. Pesto. Smores. Whoopie pies and a dozen eggs. What’s this, a shopping list? Nope. These are the things people brought to ...

1 comment

A Summer Tradition

by B.A. Nilsson August 10, 2011

If you live in, grew up near or frequently visit the Burden Lake area, you’re already nodding your head in anticipation of a good review of a place you revere. That’s what it is. That’s ...

0 comments

Puppy Love

by B.A. Nilsson August 3, 2011

Summer in Saratoga: It’s a gamble. Will there be a parking space? Can you tolerate such a crush of hoi polloi? Will you find a seat at a restaurant? Once there, can you get service? ...

0 comments

New Life

by B.A. Nilsson July 27, 2011

Chubby Sperry was a Saratoga fixture in the 1930s, a racehorse owner who also characterized the social scene as Prohibition drew to a close. While I’m in no position to affirm what his namesake restaurant ...

1 comment

The Omnivore’s Delight

by Amy Halloran July 20, 2011

"Can we put it here?” a woman asks a vendor at the Saratoga Farmers Market on a Saturday in July.The vendor is Jeff Bowers of Sweet Spring Farm in Argyle. He keeps 35 goats on ...

0 comments

Food & Drink – Best of 2011

by The Staff July 14, 2011

Best Restaurant Café Capriccio 49 Grand St., Albany Newly added to the Café’s menu of northern Italian-inspired specialties is true Neapolitan pizza, a flatbread variety baked in an old-world oven. Otherwise, the menu features handmade ravioli, the chef’s ...

2 comments

events calendar