Restaurant Week Preview

It’s Downtown Albany Restaurant Week…again. This time around it’s Thursday, October 13 through Friday, October 21. Sure, that’s not exactly a week. But hey, when the Downtown Albany Business Improvement District offers three course meals for $20.11 at some of Albany’s finest restaurants, who am I to cast aspersions about the number of days in a week.

This time there are seventeen participating establishments, although once again, some of the more notable restaurants are choosing not to participate. 677 Prime, Yono’s and dp brasserie are sitting this one out. And in some ways I cannot blame them. If one is judged by the company one keeps, the remaining participants are indeed a motley crew. Downtown Albany’s restaurant week continues to include a broad range of establishments from white linen fine dining to dive bars not known for their food.

All the same, this is a chance for restaurants to bring new people in the doors and wow them so they continue to come back throughout the year. However, it doesn’t seem like many places get it. Yes, there are a few that have presented at least three compelling dishes. But most missed the mark.

I’ve gone through all the menus, and have the highlights and lapses for your convenience.

First, the great news. Farmed Altantic salmon is almost entirely gone from the menus! I can barely believe it. Seriously, only one menu lists salmon, and one other lists a mysterious “seafood macaroni and cheese.” I am hopeful that this is yet another sign of continued improvement in the Albany culinary landscape.

“Seafood macaroni and cheese” on the other hand isn’t. But that comes from one of the many places participating that aren’t exactly known for their food. At one you can make a meal out of chicken wings followed by a hoagie and a slice of cheesecake.

Frankly, that is not the kind of Restaurant Week that Downtown Albany needs. Yes, perhaps the deal will draw more people to downtown at night who might otherwise have stayed home. But it diminishes the reputation of Albany as a place with a good dining scene.

Fried pickles, fish fry and triple chocolate mousse cake don’t cut it. Nor does potato skins, teriyaki grilled chicken sliders and classic carrot cake. But my favorite bar menu was the one that offered chicken wings, a burger between two grilled cheese sandwiches and a slice of cheesecake.

Some items were simply too mysterious to comprehend.

Like this interesting entrée called Shrimp Andre. Here’s the description, verbatim: Large gulf shrimp sauteed in a brown sauce, with sherry wine, seasonings & herbs, over pasta chicken. Bonus points for anyone who can tell me what pasta chicken is, and why you would want it under shrimp in brown sauce.

However, odd preparations are not reserved for the less fancy restaurants. The Brown Derby offers an “Autumn Green Salad” which contains, “Gingerale Soaked Apples.” I find that to be irrationally upsetting.

So speaking of the better restaurants, what did they bring to the table. Here’s the run down.

Brown Derby
There are a few fall dishes, notably Butternut Squash Bisque & the Rosemary Pork Loin with apple, sweet potato and sage. Although they continue to tout that desserts come from Villa Italia, the owner’s classic Italian bakery that has somehow gotten a reputation for being better than it actually is. Not that it’s bad, but I think a restaurant of this caliber should be serving something finer to cap off the meal.

Café Capriccio
I was there for a prior restaurant week, and I really wish they would offer a hot appetizer. Their rapini with white beans, olive oil and garlic isn’t noted as a chilled dish, but it’s stone cold. Despite its being past tomato season, the best bet would seem to be their fresh mozzarella. I’d be curious to try their porchetta after tasting the one Chianti made over the course of a day on an open fire rotisserie. But I’ve been told their eggplant with four cheeses is one of the few must-eat dishes. Either way, you are in for one heavy meal. And if you end with the Sicilian Cheesecake with Ricotta, you could have cheese for every course.

Jack’s Oyster House
A lot of people are looking to see how Chef Larry Schepici does at the helm of this classic Albany institution. Restaurant week could have been a stunning opportunity to get people in the doors and show them his stuff, but not with this slate of entrees. Chicken Neapolitan: Fresh herb seared breast, layered with spinach, fire roasted peppers, and fontinella cheese, finished with a garlic basil artichoke sauce. Tilapia Amandine: Tilapia fillet seared with almonds, and finished with a light amaretto almond vin blanc sauce. Vegetarian Rigatoni Aubergine: Large rigatoni with roasted eggplant, basil and parmesan reggiano tossed in a roasted tomato cream sauce.

Fontinella? At a place like Jack’s, with a chef like Larry there is no excuse for using anything less than Fontina Val d’Aosta. Seriously.

Kelsey’s
Again, they continue to surprise and impress with their restaurant week menus. There are interesting and genuinely tasty looking seasonal items in every course. Granted, they could all fall apart in execution. But a meal of smoked corn soup with clams, a rare hangar steak with caramelized onions and mashed potatoes, and a pumpkin crème brulee sounds like a lovely meal for $20. The roasted trout entrée is probably a lot more ethically sound, and equally delicious sounding with caramelized fennel and onions and a red pepper sauce.

La Serre
Their menu is a bit all over the place. For example, if I had access to local seasonal farm fresh vegetables, it would never occur to me to make a “Vegetable Cake” served with a roasted red pepper aioli. All the same, you can have a panko encrusted goat cheese salad (with toasted pumpkin seeds), a seared duck breast with an apricot and fig compote, and a mystery dessert of the day for $20, with the additional surprise treat of a $25 gift card good for a future visit (one per table).

taste
This revamped restaurant that was formerly Dale Miller seems to be offering a dessert for every course. Tempura apple fritters with a Captain Morgan gastrique dipping sauce is an appetizer. Applesauce with cinnamon emulsion goes alongside a butternut squash ravioli entrée. But at the same time a crab stuffed crepe with morels and micro arugula sounds like a lovely starter. Coriander crusted bass with squash ragout and Vidalia onion broth speaks to fall. Ending on a warm and spicy note of chai crème brulee rounds out a winner of a menu. Especially for the price.

My top three? I’d have to say Taste, Kelsey’s and Capriccio. Brown Derby and La Serre lost me on dessert. And the Jack’s menu is just embarrassing. Honorable mentions go to both the Albany Pump Station and V&R.

So in total I would really only truly consider going to eight of the seventeen restaurants participating during restaurant week. That’s less than half. I think the Downtown Business Improvement District and the restaurants themselves could take a lesson from the same book: quality is more important than quantity.

Heck, my wish came true when it came to farmed Atlantic salmon, maybe next time around the menus will get better too. We’ll just have to wait and see. I’m not going anywhere.