By Jill Nagy
During her nine years operating the Five Points Market and Deli in Saratoga Springs, Maura Pulver often wished she could do “just food” and not worry about the other obligations of operating a neighborhood market.
Now, she has a new operation called Simply Food at 666 Route 9 in Wilton. It’s not really a restaurant, she said, but rather “kind of like a family shop.”
She serves breakfast sandwiches, lunches and, on Tuesday nights, home cooked takeout dinners. The lunch business, she said, has been very good. There are many new stores and offices in the neighborhood and, so far, not many options for those people to buy lunch.
Her breakfast sandwiches are very popular, she said, and dinners sell out most Tuesdays. So much so, she is thinking of adding another takeout night.
Among her breakfast sandwiches selections is the Blueberry Bomb, on grilled and buttered blueberry bread, loaded with cheddar cheese, two eggs, sausage and maple syrup. Another selection, the “horseman breakfast,” consists of two eggs, bacon, sausage, ham, American cheese, and hash brown potatoes on a hard roll.
The dinners, she said, are “good home-cooked meals, the kind that Mom used to make.”
One week, she roasted a turkey and dished it up with dressing and all the trimmings. Another week, it was roast pork with garlic mashed potatoes. She plans to add some vegetarian options and, come spring, will probably add salads.
Pulver began selling takeout “king-sized” dinners at Five Points. Now, however, she said life is easier.“Now I have a real kitchen.”
Many Five Points customers have followed her to Simply Food and most of the staff also came along. All of her current employees have worked for her before. She said that she is pleased to see “old regulars” from Five Points and is beginning to acquire a following of”new regulars.”
Pulver also does some catering. She provides food for Adirondack Cruises on Saratoga Lake, camps in the Adirondacks and others. She can also do parties.
Simply Food is open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Customers can pick up Tuesday dinners between 4-6:30 p.m. While most of the business is takeout, Pulver can serve 13 people inside during the COVID-19 pandemic. By April, she expects to add patio service that will expand the capacity.
People can order by telephone at 518 584-1000, from the website simplyfoodbymaura,com, or in person at the window or inside.