From the editor
You’re the real deal, Dispatchers.
I’ve been thinking … There’s a glossy version of Saratoga Springs we all know well: picture-perfect models smiling at the track, Broadway looking ready for its close-up. But nothing warms my heart more than your curiosity about the details of life here that don’t make the postcards.
And you’ve given me some ideas.
First came our new Good Question column. Now I’ve got something else a-brewing. And I promise it’ll be out of the cauldron before Halloween. 😱
PLUS: 🗓️ I’ve been building! My events calendar relaunch is back on track — coming soon…
— Abby
🫶 Super-warm community welcome to the 217 new subscribers who have joined since the last Dispatch. You’re in the right place.
In this issue:
🀄 Are you ready?
🍂 Autumnal flavors for the win
🥂 This is a test
🚨 Foodie emergency
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🀄 MAHJONG
🚨 Open Play is here! 🚨
Our first Mahjong Boot Camp on Sunday was a HUGE success — the chorus of winners calling out “mahjong!” sounded like a casino floor.
With so many players now graduated from the beginner class/Guided Play, we’re introducing an all-levels Open Play ($20). (All players welcome — we can’t wait to meet some new faces!)
👉 Launch date: Sunday, Nov. 1.
🗳️ VOTING
Early voting starts Saturday. To find a polling site near you (and research just about any question you might have about our local elections), visit the Saratoga County Board of Elections.
There’s also a handy sample ballot.
🍂 FALL FLAVORS
From harvest dinners to fall menus, here’s where to taste Upstate New York’s most iconic flavors.
Toast to Harvest at The Thirsty Owl (184 S. Broadway)
On Thursday, Oct. 29, The Thirsty Owl is throwing an epic wine pairing harvest dinner. Dig into the incredible Finger Lakes wines with seasonal classics like roasted butternut squash (pass the Riesling), cider-braised pork belly bites, short ribs …. $90 per person.
Drink Globally, Eat Locally at Franklin Square Market (55 Railroad Place)
Savor global and local flavors at Franklin Square Market on Saturday, Nov. 7. You’ll pair dishes like porcini soup and chicken liver mousse with classic Italian sips, chicken chorizo croquetas with wine from Basque Country, trout with Swiss vino, duck cassoulet with French wine, and a chocolate caramel tart with a Portuguese selection. $135.
Dig Into Autumn Classics at Olde Bryan Inn (123 Maple Avenue)
If your dance calendar is too busy for a precise pre-planned Autumn outing, hit Olde Bryan Inn for fall classics … anytime until winter. Recent (frequently rotating) seasonal faves include apple pumpkin soup, the autumn butternut squash pumpkin ravioli and the not strictly seasonal but always fab Dubai chocolate torte. Wash it down with the Appl-rol Spritz or a Frog Ally Harvest Ale.
📰 IN BRIEF
Interested in running the Gideon Putnam? The Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation is officially open to new proposals, reports the Albany Business Review.
Travel + Leisure takes in the stunning Lakes to Locks Passage, calling the drive from the Capital Region and along Lake George/Bolton Landing “one of the East Coast’s prettiest.”
Congrats to Saturday’s Wing Off winners: Whitman Brewing (People’s Choice, Pickle! Pickle! Pickle!) and Bentley’s Tavern (Wildest Wing, Piggy Smalls).
PHOTOS: Tang Museum’s fall opening night reception and costumed kids celebrate Halloween early at the Y’s regional Trunk or Treat, both in the Daily Gazette.
🥂 WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING
It doesn’t get more Saratoga than Andrea Zappone’s costume party (think NYCB dancers in pink tutus and a resplendent Spirit of Life statue) this past weekend at King’s Tavern, benefitting Operation Walk NY. Zappone — who, with her husband, Mike, dressed as Congress Park’s Spit and Spat — picked out her favorites from the below video [click the photo embed to play]. How many can you pick out?
A Disney cast member from the Saratoga Springs resort in Orlando
The Siro’s piano bar
Don McLean
Saratoga still and sparkling waters
Forrest Gump running the Saratoga half — and Jenny performing at Caffè Lena
Hamlet and Ghost
A dozen buglers
Caroline Street and the Avenue of Pines
Sara (who wore a toga)
🏆 And congrats to the winners…
The Wilton Tornados
👻 GHOST WATCH
Since both the Ghosts of Saratoga Trolley Tour and the Canfield Casino’s ghost tours already sold out, ghost stans should probably jump on this one: After all the Halloween hoopla, Canfield is throwing its second annual, super-luxe “Spirited Evening.” We’re talking after-hours access to the 150-year-old hub of unexplained phenomena, a presentation by a medium, sit-down dinner — and a hands-on, interactive paranormal investigation.
To grab your ticket, visit saratogahistory.org.
🛍️ DINNER CLUB
A gas leak, a rescue and one very confused young man
Photos by Seen in Saratoga
Until last week, I’d never had a Dinner Club emergency.
Sure, there have been little hiccups. But when one restaurant called to cancel its entire table two hours before showtime because of a gas leak, I panicked. Luckily, Familiar Creature across the street stepped up to make room for some of the displaced diners, and Solevo took the rest. All six gamely headed to their new spots to dine with strangers.
Man, I love this group.
My favorite moment, though, was at The Market at Franklin Square. The young man who greeted me wanted to know everything about Dinner Club. Yes, it’s true: The diners had never met before. “Do you eat with them?” “Nope.” “So you just… watch them from far back?”
Once I stopped laughing, I told him no — but Seen in Saratoga kind of does! I explained that theirs wasn’t the only table, either: Strangers were meeting each other all over downtown. Same time, different places.
“WOAH.”
Then we all met up at The Misfit — decked out in amazing Halloween décor, down to fake bloody handprints on the banquettes — to gossip about how it all went down. Seen in Saratoga, 54 diners and me.
Next one is Nov. 11! Lucky 11/11 and our lucky seventh Dinner Club. Don’t jinx yourself by not signing up!
Special thanks to the Dispatch Dinner Club’s fall sponsor, the fabulous Helen Simpson of Keller Williams — top luxury agent and Fast Agent Award winner.
📌 ICYMI…
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