Stories
Meet the movers, shakers + badass makers. These are the creatives making culinary news. And their stories of a pour or plate.
Featured
Meet the movers, shakers + badass makers. These are the creatives making culinary news. And their stories of a pour or plate.
The Wild Honey Pie talks about new music discovery, summers upstate, climate change + getting back to live music events.
Tiny cocktails are popping up everywhere including the new Flyback flight at Klocke Estate
We paired Dominican Exec. Chef Riany Mena of Toro Cantina (+ Menu By Mena) with DJ/music producer Rome Thrasher and asked: If this dish were a track, what would it sound like?
Pretty Pig Provisions talks about his roving pop ups, coffee-cured bacon + Polish ferments.
We paired Executive Chef Éfrén Hernández of Casa Susanna with DJ/music producer DJ Wave and asked: If this dish were a track, what would it sound like?
The Last Melon - a local spirit with a soft, tropical take on a classic Negroni by bartender Zach Wolfgramm at Kindred, Saratoga
We paired Executive Chef Noah Frese of Siro’s with DJ/music producer Jungle Punk and asked: If this dish were a track, what would it sound like?
Tisean Daniels, GM + Managing Partner of Ama Cocina in downtown Albany, talks tacos, tattoos + the tea on cold-brewed tequila.
Raissa Doumbia + Mathieu Niamke of The Seasoning House have brought their African cuisine from the Côte d’Ivoire to Troy.
The Pancho y Lefty - or cold-brewed tequila - is back at Ama Cocina 2.0.
Executive chef Éfrén Hernandez of Casa Susanna at Camptown in Leeds and Rivertown Lodge in Hudson, talks masa, movies, James Beard noms + his passion for modern Mexican cuisine.
We paired Nostalgia Bakery x Oktah and asked: If this dish were a track, what would it sound like?
From Siberian Chef Vlad Larvin, Taiga is a taste of the wild boreal mountain forests from his hometown Altai region. From Russian botanical teas to blinis with smoked salmon and roe, it’s a seasonal feast often with dramatic presentations. In the back, a surprising addition of a small store with his botanical skincare line and imported hand-sewn silk pajamas and clothes.
Christy Counts, the founder of Neverstill Wines, talks about the Finger Lakes, wine cocktails, opening in Hudson + her passion for animal welfare.
Hotel Lilien — a cool 1890’s boutique hotel, perfect for lounging if you’re upstate for a weekend; perfect for cocktails and light dinner in the living room of the hotel bar. Play pool, put some music on the juke box or show up for DJ Sir Shorty on a Saturday night.
From the award-winning chefs behind Contra + WildAir in NYC, an upscale, upstate dining retreat complete with chef’s gardens, boulder wrapped fire-pit, their signature creative small plates + impeccable cocktails. (Don’t miss their eclectic flavored ice cream.)
Stir up a true New Yorker summer cocktail with Neverstill Riesling + C. Cassis blackcurrant liqueur.
Haema Hospitality has been popping up all over the Hudson Valley from breweries to bookstores with chef Hannah Wong and her partner SJ McLaughlin reimagining Asian street food with a Hudson Valley farm twist.
Suwun Thai Home Cooking is the new home of Brooklyn Thai restaurant Ghang Thai Kitchen in the former Cuckoo’s Nest in Albany’s Pine Hills. Upscale but warmly welcome, the menu reads as a best hits of Thai classics with Thai-inspired cocktails in flavors from tamarind to coconut-ginger.
Ask the expert: Mixologist Madeline Dillon solves a cocktail dilemma with recipes for 2 batched cocktails this summer. Move over Negronis, and batch Dillon’s Hot Tomato Margarita or Peach Whiskey Sour.
3 spots you need to know when you’re hungry at the Albany-Rensselaer train station: Son of Egg, Shwe Burmese + Illusive Restaurant & Bar.
Jenny Love Lee + Tommy Ballinger opened Tommy Boy, a seasonal Korean food cart in the waterfront River Garden of The Stewart House, as a love letter to Korean culture through the lens of Hudson Valley farms.
Casita at Mass MoCA is a love letter to the tiny villages of Mexico with regional dishes, house-made tortillas and moles, and excellent cocktails and mezcals sourced during visits to producers.
INTEL: 3 spots you need to know this summer for outdoor dining. Banh mi for your picnic. Burgers for the park playhouse. Taco truck, bbq and live music on an apple farm.
Adam Minegar, owner of Hemlock in Catskill, talks theater, making the 2025 Esquire best bar list, and opening a craft cocktail bar in a small town upstate.
Tuscan Bakery is not Italian but Turkish. Go for fresh made bread, Turkish böreği, kol börek, sweet pastries and imported Turkish delight. Stay for Turkish coffee, breakfast, menemen, or tea.
The Seasoning House talks Cote d’Ivorian flavors, cocktail culture, upstate diversity + their move to Troy.