Fun in Saratoga

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.

Spanish wine dinner at Wishing Well

Spanish wine dinner at Wishing Well.

Saratoga thoughts January 17, 2012

Here's what I'm thinking as I count down the days to the Saratoga Chowderfest on February 4th:

• Let's start if off with food, namely Esperanto food. You Idiot reported that the Caroline Street casual eatery is offering free dough cousins with - get this - no strings attached.  The T-U's On the Edge blog reported that they are offering cold doughboys for you to cook at home.  So much for that "lose weight and get in shape" New Year's resolution.

Photo from the T-U's On the Edge Blog

• You likely heard that David and Roslyn Zecchini, owners of Chianti, Forno Bistro, and Pasta Pane, are about to purchase 384 Broadway and that Pizza on Broadway and Raina's have already moved out.  Word has it that the Zecchinis will open a Tapas bar and restaurant at that location, which would be the fourth establishment under the DZ Restaurants corporation name.  Let's hope they make things happen quickly -the stretch of Broadway from the former Zola Kids location down to Brindisi's is presently either vacant or closed, and that's not good.
• Speaking of closed Broadway locations, It was almost a year ago that a Saratogian Headline declared "Saratoga Springs Mayor:  Borders' Broadway spot should be filled soon".  Uhhhh Scott, it's nearly February 2012 and we're still waiting.
• One business that is open in that general area is Char-Koon.  Margarita was out of town last week so since I was a bachelor for a few days it only seemed right to get some Chinese Take-out.  The staff at Char-Koon doesn't have their act together - I ordered at 6pm but they charged me lunch prices for my General Tso's Chicken, which had absolutely no spice to it whatsoever.  Those little peppers on the menu are supposed to mean the dish is hot, not nearly as sweet as grape jelly.
• Print out the below coupon and use it at Chianti on January 23rd, and they will donate 30% of your bill to the Saratoga Regional YMCA's scholarship program. 

• I like dealing with that big burly guy Randy at the Broadway Post Office.  He's efficient, knowlegeable, and he always seems to have that "Hey how ya doin'?" kind of infectious good mood thing going.
• One piece of economic development "progress" I do not want to see is the once-planned Rite-Aid location on the site of the current Springs Motel.  I don't know if this project is simply delayed or completely scrapped, but I hope the latter because I don't want to see another national chain retail location at the southern entrance to downtown.  We've already got Mobil, McDonald's, Dunkin Donuts, and Boston Market nearby, and that's plenty of representation from Anytown, U.S.A. The Springs Motel may not be a five star resort, but it is a well kept location that adds a little bit of character to that stretch of South Broadway and I hope it stays there.
• Speaking of that stretch of South Broadway, and in fact that very same intersection with Lincoln Avenue, I wrote last week that I saw signs of work at the former Kimberly Inn.  Sunday's Saratogian had an in-depth article about the new owner's plans for the place, which includes a sizable addition and turning it into a winery and bistro. The architectural sketches in the Saratogian's print edition looked great.  The developer runs the Thirsty Owl Winery and Bistro in the Finger Lakes, and plans on selling his wine here in The Spa City.  This is very interesting and positive stuff for a beautiful old building that needs some TLC.
• I think the Saratogian is a much improved newspaper over the last few years, but I would like to see more editorials printed.  There are too many important happenings in and around the Spa City, not to mention the rest of the world, to not hear more opinion from our daily newspaper. By my count the paper printed just one editorial in November (not counting endorsements) and five in December.  I hope this is an uptick I am detecting with three editorials written in the first half of January.   When the Saratogian does print one of their somewhat rare editorials, they are well written, on point, and even have a folksy and unpretentious style about them that makes them very readable.  It's not the New York Times, and I don't want it to be.  Sunday's editorial about the commencement of production at the new Global Foundries plant was very good, and I liked the clever title "Chip, chip, Hooray!"  I hope to see more of those - two a week seems like a reasonable goal.
• Continuing with the topic of my desire for more news commentary, I wrote last week about the dearth of news analysis on how Governor Cuomo's Aqueduct proposal will affect horse racing at the Queens track, as well as at NYRA in general and Saratoga in particular. Since I wrote that there have been a few things written on point, namely this Daily Racing Form piece, which noted sources indicated that Genting, the company running the Racino there, would like to see racing go bye-bye so they can use the land for bigger casinos, the country's largest convention center, and an equally ginormous hotel.  Although there are many legal and political hurdles, the general consensus is that it's just a matter of time before racing ends at Aqueduct.  Mike Veitch will focus his commentary on this issue in tomorrow's (Wednesday) Saratogian (ADDED - can be found here) and I'll be looking forward to reading what that respected writer has to say.   
• Back to editorials, the T-U had a good one yesterday about the pedestrian death on Route 9.
• The T-U's Saratoga reporter Leigh Hornbeck has taken over the Places and Spaces real estate blog.  Don't worry, she's still covering Saratoga Springs as well.  Well Leigh, more work should mean more money....
• Stewarts has plenty of its own private label products, such as soda and dairy products, and the Saratoga Springs based convenience store now has its own private label energy drink called Impact.  12 ounces of sugary caffeine for 99 cents - is this a great country or what? You can see their Youtube pitch below.
• The Wishing Well has started a new Sunday "Date Night" promotion.  $25 gets you a 3-course meal with a $15 wine add-on option.
• The Saratoga Film Forum has a new blog, which you can link here.

Whew, that was a lot of thoughts!  I didn't expect to write so much but I've been working on this post since Sunday.  Have a great week. 

Save some lives on Route 9

Save some lives on Route 9.

Winter Weekend deal at Maestro's

Maestro's at the Van Dam 353 Broadway Saratoga Springs, NY 12866 Winter finally arrives...and so do the Winter Deals from Maestro's   Friday, Saturday, & Sunday! January 13th thru 15th Friday the 13th Who says Friday the 13th is bad luck! Not here All wines on our wine list are half price from  5pm until 7pm (Limit of 2 bottles per table, one bottle discount with purchase of 2 dinner entrees, prix fixe excluded)     Saturday the 14th   Mix and Match Lunch Deal Just $10 Select one from each group Group #1 Choice of 2 house made soups Five Onion Bisque Artesian Salad Group#2 Braised Short rib Sandwich Roasted Turkey Sandwich White meat Tuna Sandwich Artesian Salad Classic Caesar Salad Sunday the 15th Monday's a Holiday so come on out for dinner!   Enjoy a three course Prix Fixe Dinner Just $20.12   From 3pm until 10pm we will discount our regular $25 Prix Fixe Menu to just $20.12     Customers like you make doing business a real pleasure.   John LaPosta Maestro's "A Fine American Bistro"