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!

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Mr. Sunshine]

I am as pleased as you are. Lovely people, great food.

[Jen]

I'm afraid I was not impressed by Elizabeth's, when I stopped in for the first time a few weeks ago. I believe it was she and her husband/significant other who were in the background - he was at the bar with a laptop and papers, and Elizabeth, or Liz, was puttering around as well. I sat at the bar because I was a single, and I then was forced to listen to them talk about running the restaurant, and neither seemed in a particularly cheery mood. Very uncomfortable. Then I ordered an ice tea and the waitress blinked when I asked for lemon, and then had no clue where they kept the lemons. By the time she came back with them, I had finished my ice tea. Rather ridiculous not to have the basics down with waitstaff on offering a basic beverage. The scone I ordered was amateurishly made - lumpy with huge pieces of dried fruit that should have been cut up. I was not impressed and I wouldn't go back.