by jill nagy

Mel Hathaway, co-owner of the Flats Restaurant and Tavern in Rexford, describes the menu at his new eatery as “elevated tavern,”  offering a lot of local tavern food favorites but with a twist. 

Everything is made from scratch, he said, including sauces and French fries. “We try not to use our freezer very much.”

As an example, the “elevated cheeseburger,” which is a Kobe beef patty, lobster tail, bacon marmalade, crisp pancetta, roasted red onion, tomato confit, and gruyere cheese. 

“It is one of our signature items,” he said. The so-called Rexford Burger, and the rest of the menu, was developed by executive chef Stefan Watts, formerly the chef at Smith’s restaurant in Cohoes. Other popular items include a hummus plate appetizer, a shrimp po’boy, and the chef’s own carrot cake.

The Flats Restaurant and Tavern is located in a new shopping plaza at 675 Grooms Road,  at the intersection with Fischer Ferry Road, a neighborhood formerly known as Rexford Flats.   Since he began in a brand new building in a brand new plaza—with dirt floors—Hathaway had his restaurant built “exactly as I designed it.” 

As the Saratoga Race Course opens for the season the Saratoga Springs Downtown Business Association is staging a Celebrate Saratoga event with live music on Thursday, July 14.

The event is scheduled for 6-9 p.m. in downtown Saratoga Springs, following the opening day of the track. It will be presented by 4 Pillar Funding and showcases downtown retailers, restaurant, and live music. 

Caroline Street will be closed to traffic from Broadway to Putnam Street, allowing for more pedestrians to flow and gather to listen to the performances. 

Soul Session’s Garland Nelson’s Motown tribute ensemble Reflections will be performing live on the main stage, located at the Spa City Motor Lodge on the corner of Broadway and Division Street, while local performers will play at notable landmarks throughout downtown. 

A window decorating contest involving downtown businesses will also be held.

Other musical performances include Whiskey River Band playing on Caroline Street and Putnam Street. Life Line will be at Impressions on Broadway, Rick Bolton and Jackie Dugas will be at the Arcade Building on Broadway, Jeanine Ouderkirk Duo will be at the Saratoga Arts Building on Broadway, Jess Hudack will be at Ben and Jerry’s at Putnam and Phila streets, Jeff Brisbin at the Spa City Cafe on Broadway, and the Dave Fisk Jazz Quartet will be outside Adirondack Trust Co., also on Broadway.

“The DBA is excited to welcome guests and locals back to the Saratoga Race Course and into our businesses with no restrictions this summer,” said Deann Devitt, DBA president. “We invite everyone to come downtown on July 14, do some shopping, enjoy a meal and listen to some amazing musicians.”

Saratoga Springs residents are one step closer to having what some officials are calling “the fastest internet in the United States” after crews completed the first phase of construction on the Saratoga Springs FiberCity network. 

In late May, the city’s Department of Public Works issued a permit for contractors to begin construction, placing fiberoptic microduct and fiberoptic cables 12 inches underground, in the greenspace right-of-way, along Myrtle, Marvin, and Van Rensselaer streets. 

Crews from LatLong Infrastructure LLC completed phase-one work on June 20 and will pause efforts allowing for better traffic flow during the summer tourism season, and for city officials to review the latest construction techniques and building methodologies.

“We’re enormously excited to start this amazing project and complete the first phase of the Saratoga Springs FiberCity,” said Robbie Heaps, vice president of quality assurance, environmental, social & corporate governance, for SiFi Networks. “We’ve been working with the community and city leaders for years to make this dream a reality. Saratoga Springs will be the first city in New York state with an all-fiber network and the first Open Access network here, as well,” he added.

By Jill nagy

The Plant Hatch, a new plant shop in Clifton Park, saw a “great turnout” for the store opening  at the end of June and sold more 700 plants during their first weekend, according to co-owner Nick Marshall. 

The shop combines a full-service florist with a store selling indoor house plants like cactus, succulents, and some rare indoor house plants. There are some 2,000 plants in all, said Marshall.  

The shop is located at 800 Route 146, in the Town Plaza shopping center in Clifton Park. 

Marshall and co-owner Jeff Paulsen, saw a lack in the Clifton Park area of  shops offering a wide variety of top quality plants and a staff with experience in plant care and floral design, able to educate customers in how to care for the plants they bring home. 

The Plant Hatch has six employees, including the owners, who can help them choose a plant and keep it healthy.

By Susan Elise Campbell

With the opening of Other One Brewing, a new craft brewery and tap room at Glennpeter Plaza in Halfmoon, co-founder and president Randy Lewis has checked one more thing off his bucket list.

Lewis has been a home brewer for years, an interest shared by his son. But with a new baby and grandchild on the way, the timing wasn’t right for a father-son enterprise, he said. But it was just right for his three neighbors, Brian Hutchinson, Pete LaPan and Matt Stillitano. During the pandemic the four started making beer and working out of Hutchinson’s garage, splitting all the expenses. 

Now they own a business.

“Brewing isn’t cheap,” Lewis said. “We’ve spent well into the six figures.”

The story began when one of the neighbors came over to his home to watch the brewmeister at work “and to drink the stuff,” Lewis said. As interest grew, Lewis said, “I’m not getting any younger. Let’s open a small tap room.”

Lewis is retired but the other three still work full time. Nevertheless, they agreed to run the tap room with no outside staff.

Lewis said he did some market research and analysis to assess what styles and flavors of beer the community would buy.