Saratoga Grinch on SportsCenter
BUT FIRST: Pizza! (A yummy, needed Christmas palate cleanser)
Pizza time! The history is in the dough at Rustic Pizza & Eats
Christmas palate cleanser: How a year-old hotspot with a decades-old recipe is gaining brand-new fans.
Dec 17, 2025
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Other people doomscroll Instagram. Me? DoorDash — I can’t resist all that juicy local food intel. (Ordering food is a separate silo entirely.)
So when a mouthwatering pizza place I’d never seen or visited popped up — then followed me on Instagram within 24 hours — and I learned the whole thing was rooted in a decades-old, three-generation family recipe?
I suited up.
Some of you may be shaking your heads. Yes, I’m talking about Brian Brumley, who founded Spring Street Deli in 1996, and his Rustic Pizza & Eats (556 Maple Ave.), which honors the legendary Crystal Bar of Amsterdam past.
Rustic pizza opened in July 2024, but it’s gaining new fans — like me — after biting the bullet and jumping on DoorDash. Add a brand-new holiday catering menu (the meatballs alone) and a new Detroit-style pizza made from the hotspot’s homemade bread dough, and it’s a whole new game.
“We are doing a very good business with DoorDash,” Brian says, “and the new catering menu with my mother’s meatballs on it — they’re the best meatballs you’ve ever had — and her spaghetti sauce, ravioli and stuffed shells. We bake our own bread here, roast our own meats, make our own dressings. Everything is made from scratch.”
“My mother” is none other than 90-year-old Clem Brumley, née Centi, the one who convinced Brian to return to the restaurant biz despite being tuckered out after 27 years at Spring Street Deli. “She came up with a grand idea that I should carry on the family pizza recipe after my cousin had had it for like 30 years,” he says, since a decade had passed since the closing of Crystal Bar and the pizza was no longer available.
“So we were at a wedding and my mother said to my cousin Tony, ‘Why don’t you let Brian have the family recipe and keep it going?’
“I’m like, ‘I don’t want to go back to the restaurant [business].’
“And of course you can’t say ‘no’ to mom, so here we are.”
(Tony taught Brian the family pizza recipe and methods to perfection before he passed away.)
The Brumleys moved to Saratoga from Amsterdam when Brian was 2, but visited the fam — and Crystal Bar, which was founded by Brian’s grandfather and an institution for 67 years before closing in 2012 — often.
“You wouldn’t believe the amount of people who come in from Amsterdam,” Brian says. “The older crowd that comes in say they’re so happy we’re here, that it’s so great we’re keeping the tradition going.”
I feel seen
🎄 Man, sometimes it’s hard writing every single day. Saratoga author Nic DiDomizio (Nearlywed, upcoming A Murder Most Camp) both impressed and entertained me with his festive “deadline procrastination but make it melodious” Instagram post earlier today.
[Click on the above embed to enjoy.]
ICYMI…
Dispatch exclusive: wine tasting room opening tomorrow! And ‘An Elemental Christmas’
Rob Reiner remembered by a Saratogian who knew him
Shopping cheat sheet! We know you’re tired.
High energy, local flavor: Meet News10’s new ‘Be Our Guest’ host, Billy Floyd
All-ages holiday tea at Bocage
☕ Seatings: Sunday, December 21, 10 a.m., 12 p.m., 2 p.m.
Bocage Champagne Bar
When the littles take over Bocage Champagne Bar, it’s always a good time.
The Phila Street hotspot’s 4th annual Holiday High Tea will go down this Sunday, Dec. 21 — and guests of all ages are invited.
This year’s festivities include a tea and cocoa bar, piles of sweet and savory holiday treats, and even an unlimited “sparkling enhancement” option if Mom is in need of some extra merriment.
For more information and to grab your tickets, visit bocagechampagnebar.com.
Staggering number of Toys for Toga toys delivered today
Toys for Toga — with the support of a record 125 Saratoga County businesses —donated an estimated 5,500 toys to three Saratoga County nonprofit human services organizations today.
Included: $18,000 in gifts and technology specifically designated for teenagers, an age group that often has the greatest unmet needs during the holiday season. Think video game consoles, tablets, headphones, scooters, bikes, clothing — and wish-list items requested for specific children.
Toys for Toga donations are split evenly between the Franklin Community Center, CAPTAIN Community Human Services, and the Mechanicville Area Community Services Center.
This news was brought to you by…
Saratoga Grinch makes SportsCenter
The annual Santa vs. Grinch exhibition race at the harness track (yes, the competing drivers are decked out in red and green, respectively) has divided the national sports scene. The reason? The Grinch won (by a landslide). On SportsCenter, they thought it was hilarious, “The Grinch goes on to steal the race…like he stole Christmas,” and then a simple, “I love that outfit.” Ben Carton, however, did not take the spectacle as lightly. “Santa had to win…it’s for the children!” he exclaimed in a clip shared on X (formerly Twitter), among other very not-for-children comments. “The Grinch didn’t just win,” he said, “the Grinch pulled a Secretariat and beat Santa by like 50 lengths.”
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