Items tagged with 'food'
Eating the buffalo chicken wing cupcake from Coccadotts
Buffalo wings and cupcakes together -- as nature probably never intended.
When we heard this week that local cake shop Coccadotts was making Buffalo chicken wing cupcakes for the Super Bowl, we were intrigued. Because... Buffalo chicken wing cupcakes. It seemed unnatural, possibly wrong -- and perhaps, in some weird way, maybe kind of good.
So we stopped by the bakery today to eat one.
Miss Albany Diner building sold to Matt Baumgartner and partners
Miss Albany Diner.
Matt Baumgartner posted today that he and business partners Jimmy and Demetra Vann have bought the Miss Albany Diner building. The name "Miss Albany Diner" and its recipes are not part of the deal:
Mrs. [Jane] Brown and her son Bill, are legally keeping the name "Miss Albany Diner" as well as their recipes, and they maintain the right to open another diner in another location, as well as having the right to sell the name Miss Albany Diner and it's recipes to an interested party at another location. As new owners of the property, we legally can not continue to operate the space as Miss Albany Diner or use their menu items. I'm only noting that because it is important to us that it is clear that we are not "closing down Miss Albany Diner". They sold us the property, and we are not legally allowed to re-open Miss Albany Diner in that space.
On a personal note, I would like to thank Jane and Bill Brown, for giving us the opportunity to care for a building that is considered by many to be one of the most iconic buildings in the capital region. I know the Browns hold the diner very dear to their hearts, and I promise we will respect the history, the memory, and the integrity of Miss Albany Diner.
Baumgartner told Steve Barnes they don't have immediate plans to re-open the place as a diner. [Table Hopping]
The diner had been for sale since 2009. Cliff Brown, who owned the diner with his wife Jane, passed away in 2010. [TU] [TU]
The diner was built in 1941 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. It's had at least three names prior to being called the Miss Albany. [National Register] [Wikipedia]
Of course, Baumgartner and his partners own Wolff's, which is just next door to MAD.
photo: UpstateNYer via Wikipedia
The organic milk shortage
A sign on the dairy case at the Hannaford in Albany.
Over the last month or so we've noticed signs popping up on dairy cases at both Hannaford and Price Chopper noting that there's an organic milk shortage. And the shelves in the case have appeared rather bare at times. (We were the ones who took the last half-gallon of organic milk at the Slingerlands Price Chopper the other day. Sorry about that.)
So, what's going on?
Behold: the chicken wing cupcake
That's brown sugar sprinkled on top, apparently.
Update: We tried them -- and they're... different.
____
Colonie cake shop Coccadotts is now offering a savory chicken wing cupcake.
Yep, you read that correctly.
From the shop's Facebook page:
Here it is! Go wild with our savory Chicken Wing cupcakes! All the goodness of a typical party platter, fitting in the palm of your hand. With a buttery corn bread base and bleu cheese frosting, the only thing that makes these better is the amazing chicken wing on top!
The store says in a comment on its FB page that the cupcakes will be available this Friday through Sunday for pick up -- or by call-ahead order. Also: "Trust us, they are better tasting than you think!"
Perhaps it was only a matter of time before these two great handheld snacks were united. The idea seems to have originated -- or at least gained popularity -- with Stephanie Polluck, who writes a blog called the Cupcake Project. As you might imagine, the internet then didn't quite know what to do with itself.
[via @derryX]
Earlier on AOA: Coccadotts on Cupcake Wars
photo: Coccadotts
Where to get a birthday cake?
Jessica asked via Twitter:
Where can I get a good, non-grocery store birthday cake? Bakery in Renss has let me down for the last time.
The first place that springs to mind is Crisan in Albany, which makes beautiful cakes, birthday or otherwise. Daniel and Jen have evidence.
But there are many places to get a birthday cake in the Capital Region. Got a favorite? Please share!
Earlier on AOA: A good local bakery for cookies?
photo: Flickr user Will Clayton
Egg and Cheese Sandwich at Jack's Diner
Hard roll, two eggs, cheese.
Update: Details on the full Tour de Egg Sandwich are now available at fUSSYlittleBLOG.
All egg sandwiches are not created equal.
And I'm not even talking about different forms of egg sandwiches that can be enjoyed all around the country. Like in Philly where they scramble the egg and put it on an Amoroso hoagie roll. Or in New Jersey it comes with Taylor ham and saltpepperketchup. In New Mexico you will find scrambled eggs in the form of a burrito stuffed with green chile. Here, we put flattened fried-eggs and American cheese on a grilled hard roll, which I've recently discovered is decidedly not hard.
In the Capital Region almost every diner, deli, convenience store, bakery, and cherished institution produces a version of this sandwich. So, to better understand what makes our egg and cheese so special, I recently went on a Tour de Egg Sandwich along with 17 other likeminded eaters.
The competition among the five places was close. Very close. In the Tour de Egg Sandwich voting, Jack's Diner in Albany edged out McCarroll's in Delmar by a nose, with Famous Lunch in Troy nipping at their heels.
So what sets this diner apart?
Cooking the Tree of Life: evolution, milk, cheese, cheesecake
The popular Cooking the Tree of Life series is back at the State Museum February 8 with an evening about milk, cheese, and cheesecake. From the press release:
Dr. Jeremy Kirchman, the State Museum's evolutionary biologist, will lead the presentation, and Dr. Reid Ivy, creamery manager for the award-winning Old Chatham Sheepherding Co, will explain how cheese is made. Together they will consider the evolution of mammals, milk production, and the ingenious ways that humans (with help from bacteria) have used this mammalian adaptation to create some of our richest culinary pleasures. Dr. Ivy and Drue Spallholz from Albany's Honest Weight Food Co-op, will lead the audience in a cheese tasting. Lynn Beaumont from Albany's Cheesecake Machismo will be on hand to describe how to make cheesecake, and will offer the audience samples of cheesecake made at her shop. Fresh local milk from Clarksville's Meadowbrook Farms Dairy will also be available for sampling.
The program starts at 7 pm on February 8 (that's a Wednesday). Tickets are $5 at the door.
Earlier on AOA:
+ Old Chatham Sheepherding Company's Kinderhook Creek cheese
+ Milk delivery options in the Capital Region: Meadowbrook Farms Dairy
+ Cheesecake from Cheesecake Machismo
Where to have a tea party?
Cassie emails:
I've been tasked with planning a bridal shower for my friend. Her sister is the MOH but, she's not near the area to plan it so she's given me her ideas and now I need some help. She wants to have a tea party - think "ladies that lunch" more than "Victorian tea." We're looking for a venue that is unique/unusual with a view other than a parking lot and within 45 minutes of Albany.
I know bridal shower locations have been discussed before but, I looked through the comments and didn't see anything that fit the bill. Any ideas?
Maybe you have some ideas that will help Cassie find those ladies some lunch (and tea). If so, please share!
photo: Flickr user halahmoon
Albany Distilling Company
John Curtin and Matthew Jager, founders of the new Albany Distilling Company.
Almost every guy thinks about it at one time or another, says Matthew Jager. The "manly dream" of owning a bar. And that's how it all started out.
Matthew, who teaches at The College of Saint Rose's business school, and his buddy John Curtin, a leadership trainer and former English teacher, were hanging out at the Albany Pump Station, having a couple of drinks, when one of them said, "Hey, you know what we should do? We should open a bar!" And the other one said, "Yeah!"
Eighteen months and $300,000 later, they do not own a bar.
Instead, they own a distillery -- The Albany Distilling Company -- in a building right next door to the Albany Pump Station. A few months from now they're hoping to put their white whiskey on the shelves of bars and restaurants around the region.
Have they ever made whiskey before? No. But this little hitch doesn't seem to worry them.
A sampling of cooking classes
Maybe because of the weather -- or because we just feel hungry -- this seems like a good time of year to take a cooking class.
So we scanned through a handful of local classes and picked a few that look interesting to us. If there's one you're looking forward to, we'd love to hear about it.
PCRM wants Albany to cut cheese
Pass the pepper jack, please.
If you travel Route 378 near 787 you might have seen the billboards that went up this week. One shows the stomach of an obese man with a caption that reads "Your abs on cheese." There's also one at the intersection of Route 9 and 20 that features a woman's cottage cheese thighs and reads, "Your thighs on cheese." A group called The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine sponsored them. [WTEN] [TU]
Recently the group's president, Dr. Neal Barnard, wrote a letter to the president of the Albany city school board, urging the district to reduce the number dairy products on school menus . [TU]
It sometimes helps to know where the message is coming from, so here's a little bit about Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine...
Chilaquiles at the Point Café
Breakfast, Mexican style.
The hardest part about eating chilaquiles is pronouncing chilaquiles.
Say it with me, as I say it out loud: chee-lah-KEE-lehs.
Very good, I knew you could do it.
Now practice it at home and don't drop that last "l." Then come this weekend, it will be time to take a trip to Schenectady near the Rotterdam line.
Yes, Schenectady, for yet another surprisingly delicious Mexican treat. Unlike at some ethnic restaurants, at The Point Café you can't just point at this dish on the menu or order by number -- because their chilaquiles are not on the menu. But don't let that stop you from one of the most soul satisfying breakfasts in the region.
So what exactly is this marvelous dish? And why is it so good?
The local supermarket field is getting crowded
A rendering of the new store Honest Weight is raising money to build.
The supermarket market in the Capital Region is going through some interesting changes right now. ShopRite is making a major investment by building as many as four stores in the area, seemingly with the aim of going to head-to-head with Price Chopper. The Chopper is planning "the store of the decade" in Latham. Fresh Market apparently has been doing well at its spot in Latham. Target has added expanded grocery sections to its stores here. Walmart keeps pushing low prices in its grocery sections. Hannaford continues being Hannaford. And now there's going to be a Trader Joe's.
As these development have come down the conveyer belt, there's been concern about where all this will leave places such as Honest Weight and the Niskayuna Co-op. And it's a good question. Both markets have passionate fans -- but they're also relatively small players, and the market is getting crowded.
So, we were interested to read how Honest Weight sees its place in the market shaping up. From an email the co-op sent out yesterday:
In the light of recent reports of major expansions from regional and national chain stores, it may bear repeating more often - to yourself, family, friends, customers, and acquaintances - that Honest Weight is NOT in competition. It is in a class by itself. We have a niche (hell, we created it!), and we will remain strong within it. ...
Perceived 'competition' is always a challenge. Honest Weight has faced and risen to the challenge over the years and we will do so now. While we have been planning for the new store, we've been tightening our belts and improving the things we're known for- diverse and natural product mix, fantastic produce, bulk, cheese and meat selections - and top-notch grocery and deli selections. We have been ramping up our catering department and honing our baking and cooking skills. You've seen the results, and eaten them. With our excellent customer service, our skilled and knowledgeable staff, our commitment to the community and our 35 years of passion for the healthiest food and widest product choice available, we welcome side-by-side comparison with any chain grocery.
The full email, which references Trader Joe's, is after the jump.
Whether you call it competition or not, having more players on the local supermarket scene will force markets to step up their game -- or risk losing out. And even then, they may end up with less than they had before the shake-up. The pie here isn't growing very fast -- but there will be a lot more people trying to take slices from it.
In the short term, that could be good shoppers -- lower prices, better service, better and more interesting selection. Let's hope it works that way in the long term, too.
All Good Bakers moving
All Good Bakers announced yesterday that it's moving from its first storefront on Quail Street in Albany to a bakery space on Delaware Ave (or, the DelSo, as you also like to call it).
Write owners Britin and Nick Foster over on their blog:
[The spot] that has been calling our names for years, 540 Delware Avenue, was vacant, and offered a multitude of improvements: Three times the square footage, 10 parking spaces, a slightly larger retail area, reasonable rent, fully-installed fire-suppression system (with fans and hood - a huge expense!), better quality finishes, on a main thoroughfare, accessible to our Delmar customers (but still in Albany) and we could walk to work in good weather! ... We've lived in the DelSo neighborhood since moving here in 2003 - having our bakery here will be an absolute dream come true for us. We'll start acquiring equipment and navigating the city permitting process next week. We're hoping to open sometime between mid-February and mid-March, and will operate on Quail St. until then.
The space is the strip of storefronts next to the recently opened Mingle. The last tenant in the space was also a bakery, called In the Mix.
AGB says they were able to make the move thanks in part to financing from the Community Loan Fund of the Capital Region.
We can only hope they're taking the toast with them.
Earlier on AOA:
+ Interesting in 2011: Britin and Nick Foster
+ Eat this: Grilled cheese at All Good Bakers
Where to go for seafood?
Barbara asks via Twitter:
Where can I get some yummy crab legs? I moved here a few months ago and I am craving some good crab and seafood!
We'll modify Barbara's question a bit: If you were to recommend one restaurant in the Capital Region for seafood, which place would it be?
Got a place in mind? Please share!
photo: Flickr user Chrysaora
And now there are 5 local Friendly's
Friendly's closed five more of its Capital Region locations Sunday night. [WTEN]
The company had 15 locations in the Capital Region before closed six locations here last fall when it filed for bankruptcy. A spokesperson tells the TU this most recent group of closures is the result of not being able to work out new lease agreements. (The company was sold for $75 million at the end of December to an affiliate of the private equity firm that had bought it for $337 million five years ago.) [AOA] [TU] [Boston Globe]
That leaves five Friendly's in this area: East Greenbush (Troy Road), Troy (Hoosick Street), Clifton Park (Route 146), Saratoga Springs (Route 50), and Queensbury (Aviation Road). [Friendly's]
(Thanks, Daniel)
Earler on AOA: With bankruptcy on the horizon, Daniel ate the Buffalo chicken sliders at Friendly's.
Trader Joe's confirms Wolf Road location
The site of the soon-to-be Trader Joe's in Colonie.
Trader Joe's has confirmed that it will be opening a store at 79 Wolf Road in Colonie. The company says the store will open during the 2nd quarter of this year. The grocery store will be approximately 13,000 square feet.
Commence whatever ceremony you had planned.
A tip of the hat to the Business Review's Michael DeMasi for first reporting the news today. And to the TU's Chris Churchill for first identifying the site back in November.
The strip mall where the TJ's is being built formerly housed an Office Max. When we stopped by last week to peek through the windows, the interior had been gutted to the dirt. A construction worker told us the space will be filled by a "a Chinese restaurant and a gourmet grocery store."
The Wolf Road Trader Joe's will not be carrying wine, says TJ's spokesperson Alison Mochizuki. This isn't surprising -- in New York State retailers are only allowed one location to sell wine and liquor, and TJ's has one in Manhattan.
As for why the company chose Albany -- and whether the We Want Trader Joe's in the Capital District group influenced the company, Mochizuki says in an email:
There's a lot of foodies in Albany! We consider ourselves the neighborhood grocery store and feel Albany is a wonderful community to be part of.
Although it is very nice to be wanted, wooing doesn't go into our decision making processes of selecting a location.
Full company press release after the jump -- and a bunch of reaction from people on Twitter...
The new Lark Tavern opens
The new Lark Tavern reopened quietly on New Year's Eve.
Eighteen months after fire closed the Lark Tavern, a new version of the popular bar/restaurant on Madison Avenue in Albany has opened.
When you walk in the door you'll recognize it. Sort of. You might get that sense of wait, I've been here before -- haven't I?
The new owners -- Ryan Hancox, his wife Mary Silverstein, and their partner Laura Bianchino -- have redesigned a bit. There's a brand new kitchen and a nook for a piano bar that used to be a storage closet. And the structure itself has pretty much been rebuilt on the inside. Overall the new Lark Tavern looks like a modernized version of its former self.
We stopped in to check it out and meet the new owners.
Eat This! Tournament of Tasty Delights 2011
Twenty-three delicious things vying for the title of tastiest.
Every delicious morsel selected for Eat This! over the course of the past year is truly special. I love each of these 23 foods like I love my children. How could I possibly pick a favorite?
Well, I'll tell you: with a single-elimination blind draw bracket.
Here's how it works: 14 items go head to head in round one, with nine getting a bye to round two. The list of contenders was randomized by random.org and that order determined the initial placement of the foodstuffs.
I agonized over each match-up. Some decisions were harder than others. And it kills me that there are amazing dishes that have to get eliminated in the first round. They deserve a more dignified fate.
What follows is a blow-by-blow of the showdown, with my one favorite thing from the past year left standing.
Interesting in 2011: Britin and Nick Foster
Nick and Britin Foster, with their daughter Katie.
All this week we'll be highlighting some of the interesting people we've gotten to know over the past year.
Britin and Nick Foster took a big step this year when they opened a storefront for All Good Bakers, their organic bakery that had previously only sold at the Delmar Farmers' Market and via a community supported bakery arrangement. And they've seen success: the storefront on Quail Street in Albany has been one of the bright spots in a neighborhood that's needed a lift.
It's been interesting to watch Britin and Nick build their business -- both because of the way they seem to conscientiously make decisions about ingredients and operations, as well as their savvy use of social media to spread the word about their products.
And we get the sense they're baking up bigger things in 2012...
Interesting in 2011: Christian Noe
Christian Noe while judging the Troy bracket of this year's Tournament of Pizza. He was probably wondering what he'd gotten himself into.
All this week we'll be highlighting some of the interesting people we've gotten to know over the past year.
We got to meet Christian Noe from Nighthawk's Kitchen this year after inviting him to be a judge in the Troy bracket of the Tournament of Pizza. And we're glad we did. He was a great judge -- thoughtful, detail-oriented, and fun to hang out with it (always important in the TOP).
Christian started to make a name for himself on the local food scene when he won first place in the home-cooked category at this year's Mac 'n Cheese Bowl. Then he opened the Nighthawk's Kitchen stand at the Troy Farmers' Market, serving up some delicious -- and deliciously crazy -- comfort food. And then this fall he taught a series of popular cooking classes at the Arts Center.
So, Christian has had an interesting year. And it sounds like even bigger things could be ahead in 2012...
Interesting in 2011: Sarah Gordon
Sarah Gordon and FarmieMarket's delivery van.
All this week we'll be highlighting some of the interesting people we've gotten to know over the past year.
We have a lot of respect for people who start something new from scratch. And that's just what Sarah Gordon did last year when she launched an online farmers' market connecting farms and customers in Albany County. Even more impressive: she's figured out how to grow it -- this year Sarah expanded the concept to become FarmieMarket, which includes farms and customers in all four of the Capital Region's core counties.
The idea for FarmieMarket comes from a very personal place for Sarah: her own family's farm in Knox. After using her digital savvy to help grow the family's grass-fed beef and hay farm, she realized she could also help other local family farms trying to carve out a spot in the market. This isn't just a business -- it's a cause. And a worthy one. Think about it: for every local family farm that's able to find its place in the modern world, there are ripple effects: open space preservation, economic development, better tasting food.
So, it's safe to say we're impressed. And we think after you hear a little bit from her, you will be, too.
Hungry for Shades of Green
The Shades of Green storefront after it closed. Jewel of India is now in that space.
It might be silly and overly nostalgic, but years after its demise I'm still mourning the late great Shades of Green.
Like a lost love, absence has only made the heart grow fonder... and hungrier.
If you weren't in the area during that time or never had the pleasure, let me tell you, Shades was an absolute wonderland. It wasn't fancy: soups, sandwiches, and fresh-squeezed juices served from a small kitchen on Lark Street, but there was just something special about the food and the atmosphere. Vegetarians and non-vegetarians sat side by side enjoying meals that, regardless of labels, were just plain addictive.
Years after it closed, people are still lamenting its demise. And it left a vegetarian void in the Capital Region that has yet to be filled.
Sticky Fingers Candy Apples
Donna Harris doesn't even notice the smell anymore -- but you would.
After three years of making gourmet candy, caramel and chocolate apples, the owner of Sticky Fingers Gourmet Apples is used to the delightfully overwhelming scent that wafts through her shops in Cohoes and Troy.
The two-pound apples at Sticky Fingers are covered in more than just jelly or caramel. There's also fluffernutter, praline pecan, dark chocolate and sea salt or cajun spice.
I stopped into their new shop on River Street to check out a few different varieties and find out what exactly goes into a $10 gourmet candy apple.
Where to buy a whole fish?
Barry emails:
My family and friends are having a traditional Italian "Feast of the Seven Fishes" on Christmas Eve. One fish dish must be a whole fish - I am trying to find a good source for a sea bass called branzino. I have heard nothing but negative things about Two Cousins, and wondered if there was another fish market worth visiting. Thanks.
That has not been our experience with Two Cousins -- on the contrary, they've been helpful on the few times we've dealt with them. If you have thoughts on that account, please share.
And got a suggestion about where Barry should look for a whole fish? Please share!
photo: Flickr user takaokun
... said Wendy Voelker about The organic milk shortage