Before we dive into the (unexpectedly) raciest known party so far this fall, let’s dig into off-season Siro’s.
The empty track outside belies the buzz inside at the post-track, pre-Noah’s Siro’s
Immediately upon being greeted so warmly by the dapper maitre d’ Michael Stone and our tuxedoed waiter, Adam, I felt underdressed in my white trousers — not because they made me feel that way but because I love getting dressed up for dinner and didn’t know I was squandering an opportunity to do so until it was too late. Post-track Siro’s was already feeling unusually special…
Exhausted after a somewhat raucous opera happy hour (which we’ll get to…), we ordered a round of espresso martinis. Tanya, the gregarious and hilarious mixologist, came over and asked if for our next one we wanted her special “sweet cold foam.” (“Tanya will have a significant role in your fun tonight,” Michael quipped in his introduction.) I knew I didn’t have a second one in me, but Paul took one for the team. The actual drink was dark and bitter (in a good way) to offset the sweetness, which she expertly didn’t overload. Layered and unique: my siren call. Next time.
The food was delicious: an exquisitely-plated Spanish chopped salad and perfectly-cooked Chilean Sea Bass for me. Thanks to Tanya’s espresso martinis, we left Paul’s black truffled lo mein — a new offering since track ended — doggie bag at the table. Yes, there was a good crowd there, too, which I wondered about as we drove in along an abandoned Wright Street and past the empty track, staring out of our Uber slightly concerned until we saw the lit Siro’s sign shining like a beacon.
The most endearing part of our whole evening was how excited everyone there was for Noah’s Italian, which is opening this fall (“hopefully by mid-October but definitely by Nov. 1”) on Phila Street.
(Noah being, of course, the restaurant’s Noah Frese, who has famously enlisted Danny Petrosino…but multiple sources are now telling me that helping Noah out with pasta is not the only project that a restless Danny is considering cooking up downtown.)
I’m now duly pumped, too, but also hope I get to Siro’s one more time this fall during this unique shoulder season between track and the new restaurant. I’ll be wearing a dress.
Opera Saratoga brings the house down with a blush-worthy performance
Opera Saratoga is two parties into its new “year-round presence” initiative; after a mermaid showed up to the first one I (falsely) assumed this past Thursday’s “Sip and Sing” at Standard Fare would be tamer. Before the night turned blush-worthy, Christine Taylor Price, who starred in last season’s She Loves Me, brought the house down while teasing next year’s productions. I had heard that she was looking for a bartender to “teach her how to make a cocktail” for one of the numbers — I didn’t know said bartender would have lines. Graham, you nailed it.
And then we had songs explaining open relationships, a woman with a younger man, a young woman man-handling an older man — a lot of female angst all around, and audience participation that had everyone rolling.
Paul Kligfield happened to be sitting in just the right seat with just the right twinkle in his eye — and became a part of not one but two numbers about wannabe lotharios. Local singer Emma Commisso sang Blonde’s aria from Mozart’s Abduction from the Seraglio and targeted Kligfield, who laughed along with the crowd as the live wire — singing in German — proved her character wasn’t afraid of getting a little rough when rejecting unwanted advances. When Skidmore professor Sylvia Stoner-Hawkins took the stage, she also zeroed in on Kligfield.
The next day, I asked his wife, Pam Abrams, about Kligfield’s turn as a ladies man. She quipped, “We had fun when we got home.”
Also in the crosshairs: board members Bryan and Robin Benak’s stunning daughter and boyfriend. When Stoner-Hawkins expertly spit out a line in her song about the young blond being too young, she shot back, “I’m 24!”
(Click the embed below to open the Instagram post and hi the arrow on the right of the photo to scrool through to some video of the performances, including a clip of pure laughter — that’s Benak on the right with the long hair and her parents in the frame on the left.)
FOMO? The opera next hits Thirsty Owl on October 16.
You heard it here first
Keep your eye on Union Gables Inn — the new owners are open to shaking things up. They first showed off their skills as Libby Supper Club, where you can book the luxury of having a private chef who instead of coming to your home invites you to his — a sprawling, historic mansion on Union Avenue. Give it a try; it’s quite an experience. They’ve also played with cocktail parties, making delicious snacks and very stiff drinks for us guests who got to wander and settle into nooks and crannies to relax, just far enough away from downtown. Now there are whispers of a possible masquerade party. I’m not a Halloween/costume gal, but a masquerade soirée in a 125-year-old haunted mansion would be a must-RSVP for me.
A most familiar hangout
Familiar Creature — and its stellar, oft-updated wine list (thank you, Miles Merton!) — has become quite the industry hangout. I stopped in Wednesday for a quick drink and snack and ran into Zach Skowronek, who’s behind all of the stunning photos helping to make Standard Fare the new hotspot, and the new restaurant’s fabulously-mustachioed waiter, too, who was in there for a little alone time. Past trips have yielded sightings of Gluten-Free Concierge Maura Postlethwait and wine guru Kathleen Willcox.
Have an event to pitch Dish Saratoga? Email me! abby@saratogadispatch.com.
Abby Tegnelia is on the board of Opera Saratoga but all opinions are her own.