Free Stuff, Good Times & Old Bloggers

Yesterday I checked out the new MopCo theater in Schenectady. It’s pretty sweet. And it’s almost right across the street from Perreca’s bakery.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t there for a show. I was there for a meeting. Yelp is a promotional partner with the Storytime Time event this Friday at 8 o’clock. What that means is two fold. For starters, I’m giving away tickets, which are super easy to win. The other is that if you’re at the show, and check-in to MopCo using the Yelp App, you’ll get a free bag of popcorn! Score.

There are rumblings that this weekend is all about supporting the arts and eating delicious food. And I think that’s a great idea. So I’m recommending that on Friday night, you hit up More Perreca’s for dinner, and catch my buddy Ethan Ullman at MopCo. Just make sure to save room for that free popcorn.

Then on Saturday (and I think I may have already mentioned this) there is an awesome pop-up at Saratoga Apple with Nine Miles East. It’s the place where all the real food lovers are going to be that night. I’ve even gotten confirmation that there will be donuts in addition to the cheese and gravy slathered wood oven roasted potatoes. I don’t know if there will be an after party at Hamlet & Ghost, but a man can dream.

Speaking of dreams, I just had a couple of mine come true.

One of my favorite local bloggers has come out of semi-retirement. And he’s not just a blogger, but also perhaps one of the area’s most talented chefs. Yes, that’s right, chefsday is back! And Chef Dominic already has a couple of posts under his belt.

The blog was on hiatus since September, and I’m thrilled to have his voice back in the local blogosphere. Dominic really cares about good food and doing things the right way. I only wish he would name names when revealing the shortcomings of other kitchens.

Perhaps Dominic will write a tell-all book when he retires. I would totally buy that.

Speaking of retirement, guess who else is back? Bill Dowd. A long, long time ago he used to be the restaurant critic for the Albany Times Union. The two of us have had disagreements in the past, but I’ve long appreciated his Notes on Napkins blog to be a great place to get news of the food goings on around the Capital Region without all of the drama of the local newspaper’s comments section.

Bill had been blogging on the TU for a while, but now he’s moved his blogs over to blogspot, which is where you can find Dowd On Drinks, and his other projects too.

More than anything else, I want to have many voices in this community sharing their thoughts on food. So I’m thrilled to see a couple of strong bloggers getting back into the game. If you haven’t read them before, check them out.

I do hope you enter to win those free tickets for Friday night’s show, the giveaway closes at 1opm tonight, so don’t delay. And I hope to see you at Saratoga Apple on Saturday. If you come, please make sure to say hi.