By Susan Elise Campbell

Moby Rick’s Seafood recently opened its doors at 251 North Main St. in Mechanicville, the second restaurant in Saratoga County owned and operated by Rick Lofstad. 

According to Lofstad, by combining fresh product with good marketing, he and his chefs aim to get local patrons hooked on a variety of seafood dishes.    

“Right now you can’t put in a net 20 to 80 miles off the east coast without pulling up all kinds of delicious seafood,” he said. Lofstad wants to introduce people’s palates to a wider taste of the sea.  

“Craft beer brewers have a tasting room,” he said. “Why can’t a fisherman?”

His idea is to serve smaller flights of fish, not unlike flights of craft beers, for tasting. These are the “ugly fish with spines and horns to protect them from predators,” he said, whose flavors and textures have yet to be discovered by restaurant-goers.

Live harness racing returned to Saratoga Casino Hotel for its 82nd season on Feb. 4, starting a schedule that consists of 150 racing programs running through mid-December.

“We’re expecting some great racing this year,” said race secretary Peter Iovino. “We have over $18 million in purses, averaging $120,000 in purses per program.”

In addition, the track will be hosting sire stakes races starting in June featuring the best New York bred horses in the state who will race for over $1 million in purses. 

The premier event of the season will be the 14th annual Joe Gerrity Jr. Memorial Pace with a $250,000 purse on Saturday, July 22.

“As in the past, we’re confident this race will attract a field of top pacers looking to break the track record of 1:48:4 set by Dancin Yankee in the 2014 Gerrity,” Iovino said.

The winter, spring and fall schedule will include matinee racing on Sunday, Monday and select Tuesdays, with a post time of noon, and Saturdays with a post time of  5 p.m.  

By Paul Post

Running counter to statewide trends, Saratoga County is one of New York’s fastest growing counties, thanks largely to the Capital Region’s vibrant technology industry led by GlobalFoundries’ huge semiconductor plant in Malta.

The U.S. Census Bureau says New York’s population declined by more than 400,000 the past two years, with many people driven away by high taxes and harsh winters.

In contrast, Saratoga County’s population rose 10 of 11 years from 2010 to 2021 including a 2.6 percent increase from 2019 to 2020 alone, as more and more newcomers are attracted to attractive employment opportunities and the area’s year-round cultural and recreational offerings.

“The Capital Region is a unique and special place,” said Jonathan Gertman, the Cleveland-based NRP Group’s senior vice president of development.

But business can’t succeed without an adequate workforce, which depends on providing a place for such people to live. NRP Group is helping meet this demand with construction of a $75 million, 202-unit affordable housing apartment complex called Tait Lane Reserve, off Route 9N on the west side of Saratoga Springs.

By Paul Post

What a difference a year makes.

In January 2022, new owners took over Park Manor Hotel in Clifton Park, which needed major renovations after being closed for more than two years after foreclosure on the property.

Last April, the 75-room establishment off Northway Exit 9 reopened. That was made possible by a multi-million-dollar renovation project.

“It was a tough project. There was a lot of damage, but we were able to revamp it,” said Yuvraj Chopra, whose father, Ravinder Chopra, purchased the property with partners Vinod K. Chand and Raman K. Aggarwal. “We’re the only unbranded hotel in Saratoga County that offers a boutique luxury experience besides The Adelphi in Saratoga Springs.”

Yuvraj, a 2020 RPI graduate, and his brother, Kuwar, have their own company, All Key Management. It runs the Park Manor Hotel and Hotel Key in Queens. The latter is also owned by their father, Chand and Aggarwal.

Yuvraj’s academic focus was on computer science and business management at RPI. Kuwar went to the University of Delaware where he studied finance and business management, graduating two years ago.

Amy Smith, owner of the Saratoga Arms Hotel on Broadway in Saratoga Springs, became the new chair of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce board of directors on Jan. 1.

Her mother, Kathleen Smith, held the same leadership position in 1998, so the duo becomes the first mother-daughter combination to lead the Chamber board in its 105-year history.

“My family is grateful to live in and serve this incredible community,” said Smith. “We believe the Chamber played a key role in the city’s turnaround, especially during the recent pandemic. Numerous local businesses, nonprofits, local leaders, and residents count on the Chamber to be a visible and vocal leader. 

“I’m honored to take on the responsibilities of this position as we look to move forward, from surviving to thriving, once again.”

Joining Smith on the board of directors are: Tara Pleat, of Wilcenski & Pleat, as immediate past-chair; Chad Kiesow, of Stewart’s Shops, as chair-elect for 2024; Randy Metevier, of Applied Materials, as vice chair; and Eric Hennessey, of UHY Advisors, as treasurer and secretary. 

Smith appointed three local leaders to serve one-year terms on the 2023 board. They are Najja Thompson of the New York Thoroughbred Breeders Association, Maggie Fronk of Wellspring, and Johanna Friedman of the Saratoga Springs City School District.

The  board has a total of 27 members. 

By Jill nagy

Company Salon and Spa in Saratoga Springs has undergone changes.

After nearly 20 years in Saratoga, Brandon Scott opened his own business in 2020, before the COVID-19 shutdown.

 “To survive the shutdown as well as we did was really a blessing,” he said. Scott survived a two-month bout with COVID-19 but is now well and back at work.

  The salon now has four additional workstations. He explained that while the salon is no larger than before, the working floor area expanded by opening up space previously used for storage.

  The new stations he created came from Italy and are in sleek “Italian industrial” style. He described them as “beautiful ovals” with lights around the edges and nice finishes. The walls are covered with wallpaper designed by Italian decorator Roberto Cavalli. New shampoo sinks allow customers to lean back, put their feet up, and enjoy an “air massage, a very nice comfortable massage,” while washing their hair.

 Scott’s salon no longer offers spa services, and he plans to change the name to Company Salon and concentrate on the hair and make-up services the business offers.

By Christine Graf

Just over a year after establishing The Sugar Fairy Bakes in Mechanicville, owner Stacie Blair plans to open a second location in Ellsworth Commons in Malta. 

The 2110 Ellsworth Boulevard space where the shop will be located was previously occupied by the Little Gym.  

Blair developed her love of baking at an early age while working alongside her grandmother in the kitchen. By the age of 5, she had memorized her grandmother’s banana bread recipe. Today, she serves that same banana bread at The Sugar Fairy Bakes. 

A longtime Mechanicville resident, Blair was working in restaurant management and sales when she experienced sudden and unexplained hearing loss in 2014. Over a three-month period, she completely lost her hearing. 

After receiving cochlear implants, she was able to regain some hearing but remains hearing impaired and suffers from problems with her equilibrium. Because of this, Blair was no longer able to work in a profession that required phone calls and interaction with customers. 

It was while she was in search of a new career that her son suggested she sell her baked goods. Although she was skeptical that anyone would want to buy them, he convinced her to give it a try.

By Jill Nagy

Mocha Lisa’s Caffe has new owners and a slightly different location. 

The business is still in the Clifton Park Mall but in a larger space some 260 feet from its former location. 

It is much larger, with more tables and has  a selection of new and used books for sale. It is now more of a place for people to relax, according to Nicole Van Zandt, one of the new owners.

The new owners, Van Zandt and her husband, Roland, and her brothers Colin and Alan Hughes, are longtime Mocha Lisa’s customers, now on the other side of the counter. 

They bought the name, the furniture and other contents and are keeping the staff. They will continue to serve a special blend of coffee from Capital City Roasters and are negotiating a contract with a supplier of teas and honey.

They purchased the business on November  and moved into the space in December.

Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) recently announced that SUNY Empire State is one of a select group of colleges and universities receiving phase-two grants through its Inclusive Excellence 3 (IE3) initiative. 

The grant will help SUNY Empire continue its critical work in ensuring inclusion of all students in science. The college is one of only two SUNY institutions chosen to participate in this prestigious national program funded by one of the largest research philanthropies in science.

SUNY Empire’s grant—totaling $531,600 over six years—along with prior funding for previous phases, is being used to design experiments aimed at improving the introductory undergraduate science experience for students from historically underrepresented backgrounds.

Along with 14 cohort institutions, including University of California Santa Cruz, Fordham University, and Middlebury College, SUNY Empire will be tasked with finding ways to make the content of the introductory science experience more inclusive through faculty development, student engagement, and curricular change.

SUNY Empire also was selected to participate in the first phase of the project, which began in April 2021 and ends in March. In this phase, SUNY Empire worked with its partner institutions to identify and better understand institutional and cultural barriers to inclusion at colleges and universities of all sizes and geographies. SUNY Empire’s work specifically focused on systemic issues that affect the student learning experience in introductory natural science courses, such as biology, chemistry, physics, and environmental science.