Yemeni coffee shops are heating up

After Ichiban Japanese + Wok N Roe Burmese, the no-frills El Guayaquileño is bringing coastal Ecuadorian flavor to Albany’s Central Ave.

Upper New Scotland Ave in Albany’s Helderberg neighborhood is quietly blooming. We review Bloom Boutique Bar & Eatery, a new all-day new American restaurant inside The Rise/Midtown Square apartment complex.

Intel: All Change Around Albany + Troy.
— Editor Susie Davidson Powell dishes out the latest industry news in March.

Is art best served in a bar? In Hudson, Troy and Schenectady, these 3 bar owners are drawing a crowd.

Haema Hospitality announces their first brick-and-mortar in a spring move to Hudson. They’re taking over the former Bar Bene wine bar on Warren Street and building owner, Marie Wong, is thrilled.

In Kinderhook, Isola is equal parts wine bar + community hub with Hillary Zio’s curated focus on boutique, coastal European wines.

Spring Fever? All Change in Saratoga: 7 Chefs On The Move.

INTEL: Little City Luncheonette is open on New Scotland Ave in Albany with comfort specials, breakfast cocktails + two familiar young chefs. We dropped in for stacked pancakes, breakfast cocktails + matzo ball soup to get the early dish.

Restaurants, cafés and bars took a stand for workers and communities, supporting Minnesota and resisting I.C.E. with the Jan. 30, 2026 general strike.

In Rhinebeck, the C. Cassis tasting room is worth a visit anytime, but you should plan ahead and reserve your seat for their occasional Pretend Restaurant.

Sub-zero temps, snow, ice bars! From Lake George to Saratoga Springs, February is the month to bundle up for hot toddies, fire + ice.

INTEL: Welcome to The Hi-Note in Saratoga Springs. Canned beer, a Fernet club, wood-clad walls + ‘80s basement vibes are all in place at The Hi-Note.

Little Goat (Rhinebeck) serves up polished farmhouse and community appeal with an all-day bakery, Mediterranean-inspired menu + the martini service of our dreams.

WHERE TO EAT—Below Ground at the Empire State Plaza.

In Hillsdale, Hilltown Hot Pies lives up to the hype with dough to die for + crushable wines. 🍕

Double Chicken, Please? At Hy’s Fried in South Egrement, Mass., we talked with owner Jack Luber about his family fried chicken recipe, vinyl-only DJ sets and why Hy’s might soon be a fried chicken empire.

We ask 7 bartenders if zero-proof cocktails are here to stay. They’re all in.

INTEL: Curious Elixirs, booze-free, ready-to-drink adaptogenic cocktails crafted by bartenders and made in the Hudson Valley, was one of the first on the market. We asked founder John “J.W.” Wiseman what’s changed in a decade.

INTEL: What happens when 9 Saratoga bartenders help to create a unique Pinhook Kentucky bourbon whiskey? You get a true Spa City blend. And it’s coming to Saratoga soon.