Good morning, Dispatchers!
I’m taking my annual spring brain break this week. Covering this year’s Saratoga Summer — our final Belmont, plus a staggering 51 days of racing, for starters — is going to take everything I’ve got.
So I’m breathing in some crisp mountain air to re-center and recharge.
Luckily, since Saratoga stops for no one, our own Kathleen Willcox jumped in to keep you in the loop.
— Abby
🫶 May 6 Dinner Club: Take the quiz, get paired with 5 neighbors, receive your restaurant invite the morning of May 6, and enjoy your meal as you make new friends. Then head to The Misfit to reunite with the whole group — 41 and counting! — for a nightcap to gossip about how it all went down.
Dispatch Dinner Club: the only Saratoga supper club that supports our beloved local restaurants (last month’s booked tables at Rhea, Kindred, Coat Room, Standard Fare, Omakase, The Market and Chianti) while we make real connections. See you there!
🤝 MEET THY NEIGHBOR (🚨 new section alert!)
Hello, neighbor: Creating kindness in an increasingly polarizing world
Have you also found it getting harder and harder to discuss anything? From youth sports to a love of steak, even the most innocent enthusiasm or topic of conversation feels fraught with peril.
Saratogian Molly O’Gorman, the director of narrative and engagement for the Service Employees International Union — the second-largest union in the country, with 2.1 million workers — has seen the increasing alienation and uncomfortable silences creep into her professional and personal life.
And has developed some ways to tackle it. (Maybe that’s why she always seems to be smiling.)
Instead of throwing her hands up in defeat, O’Gorman says she has become “determined to build community in a different way.”
“What I often see playing out online, where people can just anonymously exchange thoughts without any face-to-face interaction, doesn’t match my vision of my neighbors.”
— Molly O’Gorman
In Saratoga, that means tackling it on two fronts: what to do during everyday life such as grabbing groceries, and getting involved and volunteering for political and social organizations that resonate with her personally and politically.
“Saratoga is a bellwether county,” O’Gorman says. “What we do, and how we vote, matters. The school board matters. The stances they’ve been taking on trans rights and critical race theory have an impact here, and beyond.”
But it also involves a mental shift during the day-to-day.
“It’s funny because when I run into someone, generally a stranger, on the street, in the grocery store, or in my neighborhood and they do something polite or kind for me, I have no way of knowing what church they go to, what their politics are, or how they feel about anything really,” she says.
“As a mental exercise,” she continues, “I’ve been trying to pretend that they are as different from me as possible. It helps me see everyone as potentially kind and community-minded in an increasingly polarized world.”
🎟️ SOLD OUT
Lola’s early screening of ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’
On Thursday, Lola Saratoga will present an early screening of the new Devil Wears Prada 2 film starring Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Stanley Tucci and Emily Blunt — and congrats to the fashionistas for selling out!
Those that grabbed their tickets in time will enjoy red carpet treatment, a raffle, and an early viewing of the season’s “it” movie! And 100% of the profits will be donated to Girls Inc.
📸 PARTY PICS
Opera Saratoga takes on NYC
Photos by Bill Lynch
Last Thursday, Opera Saratoga threw a Spring Soirée at the gorgeous home of Karen Brooks (LEFT) and Robert Schroeder — and the great Bill Lynch was on the scene for the Dispatch. The Capital Region’s only professional opera company drew an A-list arts crowd including author A.M. Holmes (CENTER, above right), and bold-faced names from the Met Opera and New Music USA.
OS has a huge line-up for its spring season at UPH, including My Fair Lady and The Elixir of Love. Visit atuph.org.
👉 Send us your party pics! abby@saratogadispatch.com.
🍺 Brewseum ferments a sell-out
For the fifth year in a row, the annual Night at the Brewseum at the gorgeous Canfield Casino completely sold out its boozy event, featuring about 50 local brewers, cideries, wineries, and restaurants.
“People want to support a good cause,” says John McDonald, a vice president at the Saratoga Springs Lion’s Club — all of the ticket proceeds benefit the Lions’ Mission Goals in Sight, Hearing, Diabetes, Youth and Community. “And it’s a great night of food and drinks.”
“I loved that there was a nice healthy sampling of Pilsners and lagers,” says local community booster and beer enthusiast Laura Tilton. Her faves? “The German Pils at Common Roots and the Alchemy Pilsner, which I found bright and refreshing.”
Another experienced party-goer — who insisted on using only his first name — gave the event high marks.
“I enjoyed the variety of light beer,” Bill says. “I usually don’t enjoy beer events because there is a focus on IPA’s. I also appreciate the limited number of tickets. There was a lot of people, but it didn’t feel overcrowded.”
Standard Fare’s spring menu brings in fresh newbies, old faves
“I wasn’t sure, but now that I’ve tasted it, holy sh*t! In a good way.” — overheard at Standard Fare’s spring menu preview last week.
I was dining at the bar (and meeting Molly O’Gorman, see above), digging into tempura fried squash blossoms — which were stuffed with shrimp mousse. Any initial pause was immediately forgotten, thanks to the outstanding crispiness of the thin tempura batter, and the firm, shrimp (but not shrimp-y if yaknowwhatimean) mousse.
Other hits: homemade rosemary focaccia and taleggio butter and yellowfin tuna loin carpaccio with crunchy garlic.
Thankfully, tried and true hits like the meatloaf, pork chop, and the “doesn’t taste vegan or gluten-free” zucchini lasagna make their bow on the full menu as well.
“We want to reflect seasonality,” says Clark Gale, Standard Fare’s co-owner, “but still provide a few anchor items that our regulars get attached to.”
📌 ICYMI…
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