Fun in Saratoga

Go East, young man!

Young women too!  And old people, and kids, and everyone in between.  East, out route 29 that is, to Eli's Broad Street Breakfast in Schuylerville.

 

The breakfasts at Eli's are big, hearty, and delicious, with service to match and prices that are reasonable.  I didn't even know it was there but am happy some friends showed it to us.  It's easy to find, simply go to 70 Broad Street (U.S. Route 4) leaving the center of the village towards Victory.  Open Tue-Fri: 06:00am-11:00am Sat 06:00am-12:00pm Sun 07:00am-12:00pm.  It's worth the drive.

Also getting good reviews from my neighbor as well as the T-U's Saratoga Seen blog is the new Mango 29 Deli about 2/3 of the way to Schuylerville in the hamlet of Grangerville in the former 29 Roadhouse location.  Try to look at their web site and not get hungry by the descriptions of the apparently great food they are offering.  If you try the Mango 29 Deli before me, please let me know how it was.

 

 

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NYRA announces details about upcoming Saratoga Race Course season

The short version is that there will be only 4 giveaways this year, the long version is in this Times Union article.

Saratoga thoughts and weekend wrap up

It's an opinionated day:

• I really enjoy the Saturday morning Farmers Market at High Rock Park.  The Wednesday evening versions of the market just aren't the same - I remember them as being much more subdued when I went last year.  I went last Wednesday to it and while it will never have that festive atmosphere as the Saturday event, it was very alive and better attended than I remember from last year.  I enjoyed going and was glad it had a certain buzz to it.
• When I was at the market Wednesday I bought a loaf of seven grain and honey bread from Effie's Baked goods which is located on the side of the shelter building to the left, closest to Lake Avenue.  I am not going to tell you it was bad, but it was dry and I couldn't taste the honey.  I guess I expect more from a $5.25 loaf of bread.  I prefer to buy bread from the Bread Basket on Spring Street and will just as soon as I get there.

• Speaking of getting value for your hard earned dollar, I often get my clothes tailored from Tony the Tailor down on Route 7 in Latham.  He's not cheap but he does good work.  I knew there was at least one tailor in town here in Saratoga Springs and read a story about him a while back, so I decided to keep my business in Saratoga.  I found Di Matteo's Custom Tailoring in the yellow pages and stopped there on Church Street last week to have some pants repaired.  What is interesting is that I just had an identical pair of pants needing the exact same repair fixed by Tony the Tailor a few weeks ago for $14.00.  Di Matteo's price for the same repair:  $25.00.  Hey I expect to pay more in Saratoga, but that's a 78% markup!  I don't want to go out of my way to steer you away from a local business, but I have no problem informing you of my experiences.  

• We stopped into The Irish Times before going to Baileys.  The eight piece band - The Gobshites - was great if not a bit loud.  That's their flag, if you will, to the right.  The place had a good crowd but it was a noticeable and I guess expected dropoff from the previous week.  I will say I stopped through on Wednesday and they had a respectable crowd then.  My friends had dinner there Saturday and they said it was good and "better than the Parting Glass."  I guess the real tests will come in January when the hotel rooms are empty and it's 3 degrees outside.  I think it's a great place and I hope they do well. 

• Speaking of The Irish Times, I saw an ad for City Tavern that said it was "Saratoga's only rooftop bar".  Their web site touts the same thing.  I guess that is still technically accurate because while the Irish Times has a nice rooftop patio for dining and drinking, there is no bar out there.  Yet. 

• I recently commented on here that I tried Sabina's Wood Fired Restaurant and the food was just OK, and that two of my friends agreed with me but another thought it had the best pizza in town.  Add two more friends who recently told me they thought it was good.  I do want the place to succeed so if I am glad there are people who feel differently than I do. 

• I don't know if The Saratogian is marginally improved or if it sucks just the same and I just have battered readers syndrome.  What I will say is that their sports department puts out a very good product and I really like their horse racing coverage, especially the commentaries of Michael Veitch and Jeff Scott. 

• I don't hate Price Chopper but I do like to spread my grocery dollar around if I can, especially to local vendors that add to Saratoga's vitality.  Many months ago I saw that Putnam Market was selling fresh fish, namely salmon.  I love salmon but it took me forever to break out of my normal shopping routine and get to Putnam Market to buy some - but they no longer sell it there.  I guess it wasn't profitable for them either because of buyers' habits or the bad economy.  I am going to make it a point to get there more often and buy some of their delicious looking food before they are forced to discontinue even more items. I suggest you do the same.  Note that they still carry smoked salmon, but apparently not fresh filets like they used to.

• Speaking of things named "Putman", The Post Star's Saratoga Snippets blog has reported about the planned soft opening this week of Putnam Den, a new mid sized music venue planned for the site of the former Back Street Billiards on Putnam Street across from the Library.  I agree with Post Star reporter Drew Kerr when he says the Spa City is sorely lacking such a venue.  If the music won't get you in the door, the Putnam Den's web site proclaims "we have 9
  BATHROOMS!! Saratoga...Your days of wasting
  away the night waiting for a bathroom are over!!"
  

  
  
  
  
  

  Well, there you go, now drink five beers and get down to Putnam Street soon.  On a related note, The Post Star had a good article last week highlighting much of the business activity in downtown Saratoga Springs.  ADDED:  The Saratogian has a story about Putnam Den in today's paper here.

• Well, I had more to write but this is long so I'll wrap up for now.  Today marks exactly one month until the opening day of track season!!!

I saw Angelina Jolie in Saratoga today!

Actually, I didn't see Angelina Jolie, but I did see the Angelina Jolie of horses in Saratoga today.  I was with my girlfriend Margarita and our friends Jen and Gabe at the Oklahoma training track when the van transporting Rachel Alexandra from yesterday's dominating win in the Mother Goose Stakes pulled up and unloaded Angelina Rachel.  She came complete with an entourage, an attitude, a security team, some paparazzi (Including Gabe, who is credited with the picture below which I stole off his blog), and yes a pile of luggage heavy enough to bring down the average Cessna.  Not kidding.  I wanted to shout at everybody "It's a fucking horse!", but I have to admit it was pretty fun to be there at that time and I may have gotten caught up in the hype - just a little.   Here's hoping we see Rachel at the Travers or another Saratoga Stakes this summer. 

Saratoga Reserved Seating Update

For 2013 Saratoga Reserved Seating information - click here.

 

ADDED 8/31/09 - CLICK HERE  FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT RESERVED SEATING REFUNDS.

I called NYRA today to find out when they would be sending out the Saratoga Reserved Tickets.  This is the fourth time I called them about it (See previous posting here) and in my previous inquiries I never did get a straight or even vaguely correct answer from them.  When I called them this time the answer I got was that they were conducting the lottery and we should be receiving our tickets within 2 weeks.  I am skeptical about any information as to dates I get from them (they previously told me "sometime in June" and obviously missed that date) but at least they are closer and I know they will arrive in time for track season so...I'll just deal with it and wait. 

I have been getting a lot of Google hits on here regarding that subject so I know I'm not the only one waiting.  The information on the "Tickets" page of the Saratoga portion of the NYRA site says "Ticket applications for reserved seats must be postmarked by January 31, 2009...." which means that information is about 7 months old. 

Brindisi family to take over Chez Sophie location

The Schenectady Gazette has the story here about the Brindisi family's plan to open a casual restaurant in the soon to be former Chez Sophie location in the Saratoga Hilton adjacent to the City Center.  They will still keep Brindisi's open and run both places. 

Juicy Burgers to add locations

Well here's a nice local economic story when so many of them are bad.  I learned recently that Juicy Burgers, the independent fast-casual hamburger restaurant located in Milton Center (Hannaford) Plaza out near the Saratoga County airport in the town of Milton, is adding locations. 

Bobby Mitchell, the owner of the well run eatery, advised me that he is opening a location near the intersection of New Karner Road (Rt 155) and Western Avenue (Rt 20) in Guilderland in the second half of summer, and he is scouting other locations in the Capital Region for future expansion.  He said that he is wary of expanding too fast and it taking a "steady" approach to adding locations.  Sounds like a prudent plan to me, and his burgers as well as the fries are great.  His staff is friendly and they keep the place bright and clean.  Here's wishing Mitchell and his company all the luck and big success. 

Chipotle

I was on a business trip last week and I stopped at Chipotle in Wilton for the first time and had a chicken burrito. 

I was pretty hungry so I was going to be agreeable to anything filling.  The burrito was satisfying and tasty but there was still no doubt I was eating chain food in a chain restaurant.  I will go there again, but I won't go out of my way to do it.   The restaurants have a dedicated following but I'll probably just eat there maybe 2-3 times a year.  A Times Union reviewer stopped there with her kids and had a poor experience, although her second visit was improved from the first.  Nonetheless her talk of oversalted products, not so appetizing guacamole, and stale chips will make me very observant on my next visit.  The company should be commended for having a very cool web site.

Sabina's Woodfired Restaurant: My review

A while back I was excited to read about the planned opening of Sabina's Woodfired Restaurant on Union Avenue across from the racetrack, in the old Bruno's location.  My excitement about Sabina's stemmed from the fact that (1) it was in my neighborhood and (2) I believe and have written previously on here about the need for neighborhood restaurants, in addition to those downtown, in order to keep the city vibrant. 

 

I have been to Sabina's twice, once to dine in and once for take-out, and know three other people that have eaten there as well.  The problem is that as much as I want the place to succeed, I found the food just so-so, perhaps approaching good, and two of the three aforementioned people seem to agree with me on that.  I had the Lasagna Ravioli one night, and it was good but not great, and the lasagna pizza another night (I guess I like lasagna flavored items - looks like we all know one blogger that better back off the cholesterol and get to the gym).  The pizza was overcooked almost to the point of being burned, and therefore it was dry.

UPDATED:  Some other friends subsequently told me they liked the food there.

On the plus side, One of the three aforementioned people I know thinks that Sabina's has the best pizza in town.   Also, the owners and staff are friendly, and as my look into the kitchen indicated, they sure work hard there and seem dedicated to their profession.  I just feel that in a bad economy and with an out of the way location (at least 46 weeks out of the year) they need to be blow people out of the water in order to make it.  I will try their pizza again, based on my friend's enthusiastic recommendations, and hopefully this one will be as good as he says they are. 

On a related note along the Saratoga woodfired pizza trail, I stopped out at a party last month at the Harvest & Hearth Woodfired Artisan Pizza, located about 6 or 7 miles out of town on Fish Creek. The place is big and is located in a nice location with docking spaces for boats and it gives you both a country and lake/river feel for such a short drive.  The place was busy and the pizza was good - again not great. The place is big and it has a separate back room which is ideal for a party.  Again the location is nice and if you're looking for a change of pace with a bit of a country and nautical feel then this may be the place. 

 

 

For those of you who think that all I do is eat fattening foods in and around Saratoga and write about my dining, or rather, eating experiences on this blog, well maybe there is a little truth to that. Hey it's all about the blogging for your benefit.  On the plus side I did run the Lake Placid half marathon last weekend and finished in a respectable 2 hours and 2 minutes.  The trouble is, at the rate of my eating-blogging, I'll have to keep running (hello Boilermaker!) so I don't gain weight this summer.  Well I hope you're enjoying these entries and feel that perhaps they are  informative.

East Side Recreation Center: Full speed ahead

I guess I haven't been paying that close of attention to the situation regarding Mayor Johnson's pet project and in a way his mayoral identity piece, the proposed East Side Recreation Center.  I seem to remember the NIMBYs winning one lawsuit and the city winning another (or perhaps the second was an appeal from the first - like I said I apparently have not been paying close attention).  My point is that I thought it was still tied up in the courts and that construction hasn't begun yet.  Man I could not have been more wrong - I went jogging by the location off Vanderbilt Avenue the other day and what used to be a park was simply a multi-acre patch of dirt with several pieces of construction equipment on it.  I took a few pictures of the location in case you haven't been there lately