Fun in Saratoga

The Cupcake Lab remerges as Elizabeth's Table - it's not just another restaurant

Much of the downtown business news since track season, and even before, has been bad, but there have been some glimmers of hope.  The best restaurant news I've heard in a while is the remergence of The Cupcake Lab/Isabel's Bistro as Elizabeth's Table - in a better location (Broadway near the City Center) and with an even more inspiring business plan.  First of all I personally have witnessed Liz and Mike Phillips working their butts off getting their new place up and ready - and just watching them work morning noon and night - literally -  made me feel tired for them. We're fortunate to have business owners like Mike and Liz Phillips helping to make our downtown so lively and unique, so if their great food made from scratch with local ingredients isn't enough to get you there, then perhaps their dedication and hard work will be the added bonus.

 

 

So what's Elizabeth's Table going to be all about?  Well here are some snippets from the notes section from The Cupcake Lab's Facebook page. 

• Elizabeth’s  is a bakery, restaurant, coffee shop, and neighborhood gathering place.
• Elizabeth's Table will donate all of our day old goods to the EOC (which goes to the Saratoga Soup Kitchen)
• Elizabeth’s  will host several “meet the farmer” dinners per year, featuring produce or meats from their farm and probably their neighbors farms as well. You will have the opportunity to sit in a casual environment and chat, It is GOOD to know where your food comes from and how it is grown and handled.
• Elizabeth’s  will serve a community table dinner featuring primarily local meats and produce at least once each week. This is a great way to get to know other members of our community and to enjoy a great meal featuring seasonally local products!
• Part of the excitement of Elizabeth’s  is the addition of cooking, confections baking, bread baking, wine tasting, and coffee making/ tasting classes. 
• One major addition will be our “Grab and Go” section, each day we will offer several breakfast, lunch, and most importantly DINNER items, made fresh that day, packaged and ready to take home and heat up.

 

 

There is a unique aspect of Elizabeth's Table that no other area restaurants are offering.  Elizabeth's Table will be a Community Supported Restaurant (CSR).  What is a CSR?  Well, a lot of things, and I'll list some of it below and you can go to the aforementioned Facebook Notes page for a full explanation.  Here is an abridged version with selected information from their Facebook page here: 

Elizabeth’s Table  will purchase as much of our food as possible from our local area. The rest will be from “known sources”. Our core belief is that by knowing the source of your food you get not only healthier food but better tasting food as well. By purchasing a membership you are supporting our local farms and businesses. 

A portion of every membership will be donated to one of  four local charities: 

• Saratoga EOC
• Saratoga Plan
• Northeast Regional Foodbank
• Saratoga War Horse

You can purchase a membership, and for a limited time be a "Founding Member".  Membership levels start at $250.00 and give you various benefits.  For instance, a $250 membership gives you $250 worth of gift cards plus an invitation for one "community member" dinner per year.  $5,000 will get you fifty $100 cards, two dinners per year (2 people per dinner) and four "Kitchen Worker" shares, which give you the opportunity to work in the kitchen and learn how they make their great food.  Sounds like a fun hands-on class. 

I love their business plan, I love their new location, and I love the new name and slogan - "Elizabeth’s Table  - Savory. Sweet. Saratoga".  I will be a founding member, and you should be one too.  Mike and Liz are trying to open on Dance Flurry Weekend - February 17th (my birthday!) so let's wish them luck and support our local business owners who are dedicating their lives to helping make Saratoga Springs such a great place to live, work, and visit.  See you there!

 

 

 

 

Valentine’s at Wishing Well

Valentine’s at Wishing Well.

Sperry’s expands wine list; wine 50 percent off at bar this week

Sperry’s expands wine list; wine 50 percent off at bar this week.

$5 entrées at Maestro’s on Super Bowl Sunday

$5 entrées at Maestro’s on Super Bowl Sunday.

Go for some "Luck" on HBO this weekend

There are so many reasons that I love Saratoga Springs, but the number one reason is Saratoga Race Course.  That's why I am eagerly anticipating the official HBO series premier of "Luck" Sunday night at 9pm.  I say "official" premier because HBO did a low-profile showing back in December, but unfortunately I missed it.  If anyone caught that, please give your thoughts on here. 

 

Season 1 Trailer 

I've never seen an HBO series that I didn't appreciate for being extremely so well done, even if it wasn't for me.  I was a diehard fan of Entourage, and had an appreciation for Deadwood and The Sopranos.  HBO's Inside The NFL was the best sports program I ever saw, and I used to enjoy watching that, at least a few decades ago when the Bills were relevant.

Anyway, I digress.  Luck is an intense series about Horse Racing which vividly focuses on, to steal an old line from ABC's Wide World of Sports, the thrill of victory and (especially) the agony of defeat.  It has an all-star cast (Dustin Hoffman, Dennis Farina, Nick Nolte), especially for a TV series, and it just looks really, really good. I hope I'm not disappointed.  An HBO series about horse racing and all sorts of related drama thrown in - what's not to love?  Especially with no new Entourage episodes available.  My only complaint so far is that it wasn't set in Saratoga.  You can read a review about Luck here.  Don't call me Sunday night, I'll be busy. 

Saratoga thoughts January 25, 2012

OK here we go with a mid-week posting:

• I am hoping to see the movie Red Tails - partially because it is a WWII movie (my late father, Ted De Federicis, was a B-24 Bomber co-pilot during the war) and partially because a Saratoga Springs resident was one of the Tuskegee Airmen.  That is so awesome. If anyone has seen it please post a comment on here.

• I was glad to see the Rail, Ski, and Stay package offered utilizing Saratoga Springs hotels, restaurants, and shops.  I hope it is successful - although I imagine this winter's mild weather isn't exactly helping.
• I wrote a few weeks ago how the T-U lost interest in their Community Blogs, and now I see the Post Star's Saratoga Snippets blog hasn't been updated in almost two months. Not sure what's up with that but I may give reporter Tom Dimopoulos a quick email to inquire.
• It looks like Maestro's is starting a monthly newsletter announcing specials and other offers, such as their Valentines Day menu.  Their February issue can be found here.
• You Idiot is reporting on a few rumors, one being that the former Brindisi's location will be filled by the restauranteurs who also own Russo's Grill in Amsterdam, ADDED: The Saratogian has the details here.  Also another post by You Idiot indicates, amongst other things, that Sangwych "is in serious trouble", Bowtie Theatres are moving into the old Borders location, Max London will be appearing on the Food Network Show "Chopped", and a Spanish Restaurant will be moving into the old Grey Gelding location.  Again these are rumors, and the last one (Grey Gelding) could have been mixed up with the confirmed news, of which I reported part of on last week, that the Zecchinis (owners of Chianti and Forno Bistro) will open a Spanish Tapas Restaurant in the old Pizza On Broadway location.  You Idiot has his ear to the ground so I'm sure more than half of what he reported on is true.  Just not sure which half. 
• Did you know that there was a Saratoga Musical?  It was on Broadway in the late 1950s, but didn't do so well.  You can buy a poster from the play from someone on Amazon.com.

OK so Saratoga the Musical is not such a surprise, but Saratoga Ointment????  Yup. Not kidding, and you can buy that on Amazon as well. Oh the City Hall jokes I can come up with on that one....

•  I know the Saratogian has assured us that the sale of their Lake Avenue building was just a simple "internal transaction", but I'm reserving the right to let it get me nervous for reasons I can't exactly articulate. 
• I'm pretty pissed off to find out how quickly the Genting Corporation, the ones who run the Casino down at Aqueduct, is apparently willing to jettison the horse racing at Aqueduct so they can knock things down, kick everybody out,  and build a huge convention center, hotels, and an even bigger casino.  Maybe I was a bit naive and my love for horse racing blinded what should have been obvious.  Genting looks more to me like a wolf in sheep's clothing a Trojan horse (pun not really intended) than a savior.  I'm not against a Convention Center there, but does that really mean they have to end horse racing too?  Why can't we have a gigantic and unique convention center, one with something special in addition to the mundane slot machines and table games?
• I see the Horse Racing Museum and Hall of Fame is closing until March 1st for some "exhibit updates".  I don't doubt that is the reason, but something tells me the slow winter months likely influenced their decision to stay closed for a little longer than they may have otherwise.
• Saratoga General Music Rule #I - if you're a national act playing at SPAC, your career is doing quite well.  Saratoga General Music Rule #2:  If you're a national act playing at Vapor Nightclub, you haven't had a hit in 15 years.
• And finally, the best happy hour in Saratoga Springs?  The Turf Club, at least according to some of my friends.  I was there once recently and would tend to agree, if for no other reasons than the warm fireplace and the neighborhood feel.  That's all for now folks, have a great weekend.

The Saratogian responded to me via Twitter regarding their latest editorial

I appreciated The Saratogian's positive reply to my post from last week encouraging them to write more editorials.  Last night the Saratogian tweeted "@dmdefed Thanks for the praise (and the push) on our editorials this week, here's the latest:  http://saratogian.com/articles/2012/01/21/opinion/doc4f1b632704ccc412802811.txt."

This was a link to the Saratogian's Sunday editorial about the mess at the Saratoga Housing Authority.  It was not only well written - but appropriately hard hitting too!  I like to see the Saratogian taking a lead in the community, and this editorial was a great example of that. 

Valentine’s Day at home from Mazzone Hospitality

Valentine’s Day at home from Mazzone Hospitality.

Super Bowl from Marello restaurants

Super Bowl from Marello restaurants.

Ravenous slates winter deals

Ravenous slates winter deals.