What I Don’t Know

It all comes back to Noah Sheetz. He’s one of the few chefs working in the Capital Region who passionately cares about local ingredients. But even he and Ric Orlando have their roots down in the Hudson Valley, which boasts a lot of locally inspired dining. So does Saratoga Springs.

The Capital Region sits in the middle of these two enclaves of local dining, with equal access to the same magnificent suppliers, yet remains largely unmoved. Yes, I do know the dining situation here is improving.

I had hoped to meet some more of the local farmers in attendance at A Spring Deliverance this past Saturday, but that didn’t happen. Instead I had some great conversations with new friends and old. I also finally got to meet Kerosena in person for the very first time, and we didn’t even get to talk about her mother’s crimes against food.

Then on Sunday, I was surprised to see Noah had written a piece on All Over Albany about local fast food. Sure, these businesses are local, and indeed they are a regional treasure that breaks beyond the sameness of national chains. However, I’d be floored to learn the hotdogs served at Famous Lunch are made with locally produced happy pork. I wish they were.

But these are the things that I do know.

What Noah’s post on All Over Albany showed me was that despite my diligence in scouring Yelp, the Times Union, and food blogs around the region, there is still plenty about the region that isn’t even on my radar.

Chubby’s East Side in Troy is now on my short list of places to visit. I put in a request for verification to the venerable Mr. Dave, but by golly that looks like the fabled Neba sandwich that I hear passed away when Mike’s sold out to Mr. Subb.

For a transplant, I don’t think I do a bad job at learning about the local legends.

I said at the beginning, “It all comes back to Noah.” Because at the Spring Deliverance event Saturday I also made a new friend J, through Jonathan, who not only is a regular reader, but came along on the inaugural Fussy Little Tour, the Tour de Donut.

Honestly, I cannot yet attest to her bona fides, but when she heard of the Tour de Soft Serve she lit up. Then she insisted, absolutely insisted, that the best soft serve in the region isn’t soft serve at all, it’s frozen custard. And then she put her cards down on the table,

“Marcella’s near East Glenville. On route 50.”

To which I responded with nothing other than blank stares and silence. Who? Where? What’s route 50? Maybe those of you who live out by Schenectady have heard of the place. Perhaps you’ve even been, since apparently East Glenville is just a bit up the road from the cute little hamlet of Scotia, and route 50 is the major road that connects the two towns.

However, I’m inclined to believe this woman’s opinion because her praise wasn’t just platitudes. She was very specific about the density and craftsmanship of the cones.

Have I ever mentioned that I love people with strong opinions?

So a recon mission to Marcella’s is in order too. Whether or not it gets combined with a trip to Lefty’s in Queesnbsury is another matter entirely.

The bottom line is that I’ve learned a lot about the Capital Region in the nearly four years I’ve been here. But it’s a vast and varied land. There are cute little towns all over the place, many with at least one if not several food spots that have stood the test of time. And that doesn’t even take into consideration all the newer places that have opened up more recently even as close as Albany.

(I just found myself recently thinking about Anton’s, and how special it is despite a few small drawbacks.)

It’s good to have weeks like these to remind me that there is still a lot I don’t know about food in the region. It stokes my hunger to get out there and keep learning more. And how fittingly appropriate that this experience all stemmed from a chef whose brain I wanted to pick about local farms.

Chef Noah seems to be an interesting guy and I’m glad that we see eye to eye.