Restaurant Week Revival

Yawn. Restaurant week seems to be a played out topic. I think we have all come to the consensus over time that it’s just not worth anyone’s while: The menus are uninspired, the service is terrible, and the food isn’t of the quality offered during the rest of the year.

But could that be changing? Maybe. If so, slowly. And it may also be influenced by geography.

I’ll direct your attention to two separate restaurant weeks in the region. One starts today in Saratoga. The other begins Monday in Colonie (which extends further than you might realize). But instead of poking through every menu, looking for the ones that stand out as the most worthwhile. I’ll present you with a little bit of evidence that gives me hope for the future.

Let’s start closer to home in Colonie.

My feelings for Garden Bistro 24 are complicated. But this is a place, that when it wants to, knows how to pull of great food at a great price. And their restaurant week menu presents three courses, each with something that makes me smile. Believe me, that’s a harder feat than one might expect.

– A salad with snails and bacon? That’s my kind of salad.
– Homemade fettuccine tossed with a “bolognese” of Herondale Farms beef? For good beef, I’m willing to overlook the inclusion of filberts and chili pepper in something called “bolognese”. Especially when it’s served with homemade noodles. I’m a sucker for those.
– A simple crepe filled with fresh berries and topped with vanilla whipped cream? What a light and lovely way to end a meal.

I’ve also been advised that the new Portofino’s is better than one might expect. While their restaurant week menu doesn’t knock it out of the park, there are certainly some solid contenders. And as a newer restaurant, they’ve got something to prove, so I hope they would bring their A-game.

– Grilled asparagus with Prosciutto di Parma and Grana Padano? That sounds like early spring to me. I’m a little nervous about the inclusion of honey and basil creme. But maybe they can make it work.
– Pancetta Carbonara that contains neither peas nor cream? Be still my beating heart. And it’s on their homemade pappardelle? Awesome. More places need to make their pasta. This would be fun to try.
– Cappuccino Chocolate Pot de Creme with campfire toasted marshmallow? I hate s’mores, but love good chocolate with a well toasted marshmallow. This sounds like it could be a playful winner and cap off a lovely meal.

For whatever it’s worth, one thing Clifton Park has going for it is its participation in Saratoga’s Restaurant Week. While the town may do double duty as a suburb of Albany and Saratoga Springs, it’s still in Saratoga county.

Angelo’s 677 Prime never participates in Albany’s Restaurant Week, but Angelo’s Prime Bar + Grill in Clifton Park is going all in. Their menu brings inventiveness, quality ingredients and a respectable dessert to dinners for the $20 promotion.

– A kale caesar with fried chickpeas? Whoa. That’s daring. Kudos to them for pushing boundaries and offering white spanish anchovies for a $2 supplement. I love supplements.
– Organic chicken breast? Oh yeah. Pan roasted, with plenty of veg and a madeira thyme sauce? That sounds delicious and a definite cut above the commodity chicken served elsewhere.
– Vanilla panna cotta with berry coulis? After two relatively healthful courses, one deserves a little splurge. In Albany we seem to get the same list of tired desserts everywhere. This is an elegant classic.

There are plenty of great restaurants offering great menus in Saratoga Springs for restaurant week. It’s kind of surprising given the lackluster menus we see in Albany. And no menu more clearly shows that divide than the one from a restaurant that lives both down here and up there: Cafe Capriccio.

Year in and year out, Capriccio’s Albany restaurant week menu stays pretty much the same. It’s unconscionable that there isn’t one hot appetizer on the list. It reeks of either laziness or complete contempt for the promotion and the people it brings through the door. But Capriccio Saratoga sings a much different tune.

Starting today you can start with not only something warm, but one of their signature dishes, wood roast eggplant with four cheeses. While their pizzas might not be fancy, apparently they do them well, and I’d gladly try their version with sausage, hot peppers and red onion. There’s at least a sporting chance that the orange ricotta cheesecake is a bit lighter than traditional New York style versions. Still, that’s three courses of cheese which is a lot, even for a cheese lover.

So here’s the big question. Why?

It’s before tourist season, so we can’t blame those from big cities with more discriminating tastes and heavy wallets for the better food options. Could it be competition? Could it be that Albanians are creatures of habit and a well entrenched restaurant doesn’t have to try? Could it be that the organizers of Saratoga’s restaurant week are holding participants to the fire, and will reject their lame attempts at substandard menus?

I have no idea. But I’m pretty impressed.