Whether your New Year’s resolution is to get back to the gym, take a daily walk around town to clear your head, or spend more time wearing comfy clothes (count me in!), these two looks are for you. Those who identify with Wednesday Addams should head straight to Irene Leigh in the Saratoga Marketplace for a trendy head-to-toe look that’s (almost?) as dark as her soul. I paired slightly shiny black leggings with this fun sweater and puffer coat, and added a splash of color with Hoka sneakers from iRun Local. For those not afraid of a little hot pink, I dressed up another pair of black leggings with somewhat of a statement piece: a soft, fuchsia coat that matches the pink in the sneakers perfectly, and a bulky black scarf (hey, in Saratoga in the wintertime, keeping warm is always in style). The final touch for either look? Futuristic ski glasses that’ll propel your style into 2023 and beyond.
When Ali and Ryan Finley, Manhattanites who recently relocated to Dallas, decided to have their June 2022 wedding in Saratoga Springs, Ali had a one-track mind. “I’d heard about this beautiful farm that overlooks Saratoga Lake,” the horse racing fan says. “I was dead set on it. I always envisioned myself getting married on water.” The only problem? That farm—Old Tavern Farm—is privately owned and not, unfortunately, a wedding venue. But the soon-to-be-Finleys had an in. While Ali didn’t grow up in the horse racing/breeding world (her first horse race was the 2018 Belmont Stakes when Justify won the Triple Crown), her husband-to-be did, and you may recognize his last name.
Ryan’s father, Terry, of Saratoga-based racing syndicate West Point Thoroughbreds, got ahold of Old Tavern owner Walt Borisenok, who graciously agreed to let the couple host their wedding at his working breeding farm. (Two of Borisenok’s children got married on the farm, but this would be the first non-family wedding held there.) Once Ali’s dream venue had been secured, the rest of the ultimate Saratoga wedding weekend fell into place.
“We hosted our rehearsal dinner and welcome drinks at 15 Church, which was gorgeous,” she says. “We had all of our guests stay at The Adelphi and a bunch of hotels downtown, and Ryan and I got ready at the Adelphi.” But before the couple could say “I do,” they wanted to give their friends and family a taste of the Saratoga racing scene. “We obviously couldn’t host our wedding during racing season just because it’s so hectic, but we really wanted to give our guests a glimpse into what makes Saratoga so special,” Ali says. “We hosted a breakfast on the backstretch catered by The Bread Basket, so everyone got to learn about the horses and watch them work out, and right after we hosted a private tour of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame with Tom Durkin.”
Only after that super-Saratoga morning did the party make its way to Old Tavern Farm, which had been transformed into a picture-perfect wedding venue with florals by Hops Petunia, a circular bar and an aisle coming right out of the farm’s main horse barn. “Ryan and I did not do a first look, so he was a wreck,” Ali says of her husband seeing her for the first time as she walked down the aisle. “Honestly, I wanted that moment for us.”
After officially tying the knot on the spot where they’d buried a bottle of bourbon 30 days earlier (doing so is said to bring good weather on wedding day), Ali and Ryan joined their guests for a reception featuring catering by On The Marc, music by The Eleven and cake by Villa Italia. “Ryan’s one request was to have espresso martinis passed around
with dessert,” Ali says. “I don’t know how they did it, but On The Marc made it happen!”
The after-party was at track season hotspot Dango’s, and on Sunday morning, a farewell brunch was catered by Sweet Mimi’s. “We wanted to make sure to get all of our favorite spots and restaurants involved,” Ali says. “Saratoga is such a special place to Ryan and me, and we couldn’t wait to have all of our people experience the joy of everything it has to offer.”
Even in the bitter winter, nothing goes better with a cold beer than some salty, spicy pub fare. “Tell me about it,” says Colin Quinn, co-founder and co-owner of the Saratoga-based Artisanal Brew Works (ABW). A school teacher at Saratoga High by day, the bearded Quinn looks more the part of a beer-brewer, and took his passion pro in 2015 by starting ABW with Kurt Borchardt. Now he’s excited about adding a permanent in-house food menu. “This is the very first time in our seven-year history that we have our own kitchen,” says Quinn, who began home-brewing in his 20s. “To be able to pair beers with food items is something that Kurt and I have been talking about for a long time.”
To complete that barroom snacking dream, Quinn and Borchardt tapped culinary whiz Jason Emerson, who grew up in Saratoga and got his first taste of the food scene in high school. “I started out as a dishwasher at the Mexican Connection and worked my way up,” he says. Since then, Emerson has worked for some of the toniest restaurants and resorts in the area: Saratoga National, The Sagamore and The Equinox across the Vermont border in Manchester. He spent the previous six years as a sous chef at the Spa City’s famed artist retreat, Yaddo.
“We’re going to rotate some comfy taproom favorites,” Emerson says. “Beer cheese, pizza, panini, and Michigan dogs with chips.” His current favorite item? A marinated mix of sautéed Greek and Spanish olives, tapas style, with Calabrian chilis and garlic. “It pairs very well with our Intermezzo Italian Pilsner,” he says. “The beer complements the spiciness, saltiness and herbaceousness of the marinated olives.” For dessert, he created a chocolate mouse with ABW’s own popular peanut butter stout and plans to add a frosty sorbet utilizing the brewery’s own fruited sours to the menu.
The new kitchen soft-opened on December 17 with a small but scrumptious selection. Since then, the pair of beer-makers has rolled out a full menu, and they’re hoping to toast to a full-fledged ABW restaurant one day. “Unfortunately the slow economy has delayed our 180-person restaurant space,” says Borchardt. “For now, we pivoted to having a smaller kitchen with a focus on making super high-quality food. Our focus is on becoming a destination brewery.”
The duo’s beverages have been so successful that Quinn even gets recognized at work. He says, “I get questions from my students like, ‘When can I come in and have a beer, Mr. Quinn?’ I tell them: ‘When you’re 21.’”
When Trinity Mouzon Wofford and Issey Kobori, cofounders of beauty/wellness/superfood brand Golde, graced the cover of Saratoga Living in the summer of 2021, they’d been engaged for nearly two years. The happy couple had been together since high school—he went to Schuylerville and she, Saratoga—and had first met all the way back in preschool, but hadn’t even started planning the wedding yet. Life had gotten in the way, as the duo’s already-popular national brand really took off. And after their moment in their hometown spotlight, life got in the way again. Wofford got pregnant, and this past July gave birth to Ruby. Once Ruby arrived, though, it was time. Just five weeks postpartum, Wofford and Kobori were saying “I do” at Saratoga’s Pitney Meadows.
“We’ve loved visiting Pitney Meadows for their great produce stand,” Wofford says. “So when we heard they hosted a handful of wedding events every year, we knew it would be perfect for us.” (In November 2021, the couple bought a house in and moved to the Hudson Valley, but wanted to get married in their hometown.) In true Wofford and Kobori fashion, the wedding was a fairly simple affair, with Wofford wearing next to no makeup and a $200 vintage lace dress. “We cared about great food, music and photos,” she says. “We were very intentional with those things, and then let the rest be very organic. The whole event felt really natural to us and not stuffy.” The catering was handled by Kevin London of Farmhouse Food (“everyone commented about how it was the best food they had ever had at a wedding”), the music was a live jazz band for cocktail hour followed by a DJ who played ’70s dance music, and Meredith Heuer handled the photos, which have a fittingly timeless feel to them. It was also important for Wofford and Kobori to honor Kobori’s Japanese heritage; he and his mom put together a traditional sake toast ceremony where they literally broke open a wooden barrel with mallets.
And, oh yeah, the teeny-tiny elephant in the room: Ruby. “I was honestly pretty nervous about how it was all going to go,” Wofford says about bringing a 5-week-old to a wedding. “Somehow, though, she did really well through the whole thing. It was so great in the end to have her there with us. It was much more than just a wedding celebration—it was a moment to mark our journey ahead as a new family.”
When Maggie Dohertycalled her real estate agent father in Saratoga and said simply,
“It’s time,” Dad swiftly went to work with palpable excitement. Doherty and her Hofstra University college sweetheart, Josh Zager, were ready to move back to her hometown, marry and start a family.
But first, the fourth-generation Saratogian and her beau needed a house. And Zager hadn’t yet proposed.
After 12 years of dating, the couple found their dream home at 174 Grand Ave. Then life sped up. In May 2021, Zager proposed (spoiler: she said yes) and the couple moved to Saratoga from Brooklyn. In August, they shot engagement photos at Henry Street Taproom (a favorite date spot and where they held their rehearsal dinner), and the couple that met as collegiate rugby players (she was a freshman, he a sophomore and the team captain) were ready to walk down the aisle at a modern Victorian garden party that was as Saratogian as you can get.
“It was a Saratoga event through and through,” Doherty says of her nuptials that took place October 9 at Anne’s Washington Inn, with catering by 9 Miles East. “I wanted the beauty and charm of Saratoga. This is where we want to raise a family, and we love it deeply.”
No detail was overlooked. The seating chart hung in a frame that once held the coming attraction announcements at an old theater (owned by an uncle of Doherty’s) that was once on the corner of Congress and Spring, and her “something blue” was her strapless fitted gown—with Victorian lace accents and beading, of course—from downtown boutique Something Bleu. “My ‘something old’ and ‘something borrowed’ were a Victorian cameo necklace and earrings, which are family heirlooms,” she says. “The necklace belonged to my great-grandmother. It’s a real Victorian piece that made its way through the Saratoga generations, and I wore it on my day.”
Not only were her flowers done by the brilliant local florist Samantha Nass, but there’s a connection there, too: Nass lives next door to Doherty and Zager, in a home once inhabited by some of Doherty’s relatives. “Sam brought our modern Victorian garden party to the next level,” Doherty says. “She did a stunning installation above the gazebo where we did the ceremony, beautiful arrangements for the tables, and the bouquets. The linens she chose were a gorgeous terracotta color, like spiced cider.” The bridesmaids wore velvet dresses in fall colors such as maple and hunter green, and Bread Basket Bakery baked cupcakes for guests and a small two-tier cake for the couple in a seasonal pumpkin spice flavor.
Once everything was perfectly in place, Zager was taken aback when he hit the aisle and saw his 160 wedding guests for the first time. “As I walked down the steps and started to walk down the aisle with my parents on my arms, it struck me just how many people had traveled to join us and given us so much love over all the years Maggie and I have been together,” he says. “Our lives wouldn’t be the same without everyone.” When it was Doherty’s turn to walk down the aisle, Zager “lost it” (his bride says with a giggle) and was comforted by a smiling Doherty. “I held his hand and told him to breathe,” she says. “I was grateful that I got to sit down before the ceremony and read his card—we had planned to have cards and little gifts for each other to get our center and bring everything back to the two of us. I got my emotions out then!”
Both the bride and groom work in the liquor industry—she represents Beam Suntory spirits via the PR/marketing firm Savona Communications, and he does online marketing as a director at the distributor Southern Wine & Spirits—so the signature drinks were important. They landed on a Ginger Smash (Doherty, Zager and their dog, Patsy Cline, are all redheads) made with bourbon, lemon and mint, and a Patsy Cline Paloma named after said dog, who was part of the wedding party. “And my dad brewed a home beer,” the bride says, “that he called Maggie’s Wedding Ale.” Garland Nelson, whom Doherty has known for 20 years, did the music. And after an emotional day, she was ready to let loose. “It would not be a Saratoga event without Garland!” she says. “I didn’t leave the dance floor once.”
In March 1985, I got it in my head that the reigning queen of Saratoga Springs society, Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt “Marylou” Whitney, was about to ruin my summer.
I was then PR director for The House of Seagram, Ltd, the global drinks company headquartered in Manhattan. That month, I told my masters that if we sponsored Marylou’s annual gala, we’d get a lot of publicity. My boss provided a substantial budget. Off to Saratoga I went.
On the train from New York to Albany, I wondered, What could I have been thinking? Apropos of nothing, I concluded that Mrs. Whitney would be imperious and demanding and I would feel her wrath. I was, of course, completely, stunningly wrong.
After meeting her representatives in Saratoga, Marylou invited me the next week to lunch at the posh apartment she and her then-husband, “Sonny,” shared at 59th and 5th. The building’s extravagant lobby smelled of Stargazer Lilies and featured a private elevator that whooshed me up to the couple’s grand marble foyer, which a uniformed doorman called the “foy-YAY,” and where Mrs. Whitney greeted me warmly and insisted I call her Marylou. “Everybody does,” she said, smiling.
We were to test cocktail recipes she’d created for the gala using Seagram products. She landed on “The Saratoga Sparkler,” which contained Great Western Champagne, simple syrup, three dashes of bitters and a cube of brown sugar.
At some point, Sonny, in a tie and bespoke suit, descended the curved marble staircase and, like his wife, greeted me warmly. He was fixated on an accomplishment he was quite proud of: The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. He was a founder, a major donor and the driving force behind it. I promised him I’d pop in some day and see the place.
Marylou’s Saratoga soirée that year was just like every one she held—glittering and full of glorious people-watching.
Through a happy turn of events, I’m now a member of the visitors staff at the racing museum. I sometimes wonder if Marylou and Sonny might find that mildly amusing.
The dream of living in a mansion in the woods while still within Saratoga Springs city limits isn’t just a fantasy. For a cool $3.5 million, it could be a reality.
“What’s not to love about this home?” says Rebekah O’Neil, the Howard Hanna real estate agent for 21 Rose Terrace, a modern farmhouse-style dream home located just beyond Wilton Mall. Custom designed by Saratoga-based Trojanski Builders, the three-story home (ready for winter with amenities such as radiant heat) has five bedrooms, six-and-a-half bathrooms and recently went on the market. “In addition to the indoor heated lap pool, I love the outdoor entertainment area for spring and summer, and the basement for fall and winter entertainment,” O’Neil says. “This house was made for hosting events and entertaining small or large crowds.”
Entertainment indeed: The basement boasts its own bar and wine room, a private gym (where visitors will find that aforementioned saltwater lap pool), plus a golf simulator. Coffered ceilings and built-in shelving and cabinets highlight the sprawling open-concept living space that is the main floor, which also has a stunning stone-lined fireplace in a cabin-inspired lounge area. All interior design—from paint colors and window treatments to furniture and décor—was handled by Devonshire Home Designs out of Long Island.
Then there’s the outside. From the mansion’s in-ground, lighted pool and hot tub to the mini-playground for the kids and a super-spacious patio featuring a fire pit, outdoor fireplace and outdoor kitchen with a built-in grill, this house is practically begging its future owner to host parties and get-togethers.
And with a 14.64-acre lot, the property is private and woodsy (no need for an elaborate, relaxing water feature; there’s an actual stream) while still only minutes from downtown Saratoga. “This home sits on the largest lot in the neighborhood,” says O’Neil. “They combined two of the larger lots to make one that is almost completely private from neighbors. It’s the best of both worlds!”
From its inaugural running in 1865 through its final edition in 1955, the Saratoga Cup was one of the most prestigious Thoroughbred races in America. During its celebrated history, the Spa fixture was won by 16 horses who went on to be immortalized in the Hall of Fame, including Triple Crown champions Gallant Fox and War Admiral. But when it comes to standouts in the Saratoga Cup specifically, the magnificent Exterminator stands alone.
A chestnut gelding bred in Kentucky, Exterminator was one of the most accomplished and popular racehorses of his or any era, achieving star status when he won the 1918 Kentucky Derby at odds of 30-1. He had a slow start at Saratoga—he was winless in three starts as a 3-year-old, as well as in three starts as a 4-year-old, before finally breaking through with a sensational performance in the 1919 Saratoga Cup, equaling the stakes record of 2:58 for 1¾ miles in defeating the standout Purchase, who won eight stakes races that year. And that was only the beginning.
Exterminator went on to win the Saratoga Cup in 1920, setting a course record in a 10-length romp over the filly Cleopatra, and was the lone horse entered in the 1921 Cup, making for an easy third victory in the race. His fourth and final run in the Saratoga Cup, however, was a significant challenge for the veteran campaigner. As a 7-year-old, Exterminator was second choice at odds of 7-5 in the betting for the 1922 Cup behind 3-5 favorite Mad Hatter, the champion 3-year-old of 1921. Mad Hatter gave “Old Bones” Exterminator everything he could handle in a furious stretch duel before the elder statesman dug deep and prevailed by half a length, achieving what The New York Times called “a feat unique in American turf annals”—four consecutive Saratoga Cup titles.
Exterminator retired following his 1924 season with 50 wins in 100 starts, and in 1957 was inducted into the Hall of Fame, right across the street from where he made horse racing history.
If you’re an old soul or history buff who dreams of turning back the clock to escape to another century, walking through the doors of The Inn at Saratoga is about as close as you can get.
As the cold winds blow down Broadway, the cheery hotel with its toast- and pumpkin-colored exterior welcomes guests into its Side Room, a former lobby that’s been carefully curated to whisk you back more than 150 years. There’s a glowing fireplace, chandeliers, an oh-so-elegant red velvet banquette, antique furniture and china, and a 1912 Steinway. In the morning, overnight guests enjoy a breakfast buffet in this exquisite Victorian parlor; in the evening, it’s a restaurant that’s open to the public.
Cocktails anyone? Bee’s Knees and Aviation, gin concoctions that were all the rage in the Roaring Twenties, are crafted in the hotel’s intimate Tavern.
The Inn at Saratoga, the oldest continuously operating lodging in town, turns 180 years old this year. On this milestone birthday it seemed as good a time as any to celebrate the rich history of this downtown jewel. If only its walls could talk—for perspective, the hotel predates the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. When it first swung open its doors in 1847 (there are no known records of how the building had been used since being built in 1843), as a boarding house for ailing visitors hoping for a mineral water cure, there was no Saratoga Race Course, Adelphi Hotel or Canfield Casino.
The Inn at Saratoga’s intimate tavern is open to the public. (Rob Spring)
When Bob Israel, a man with a passion for restoring Saratoga’s historic buildings, bought the hotel in 2003, it was the Coachman Motor Inn. Since then, he and his daughter, Liz, the hotel’s owner/operator, have passionately worked their time-traveling magic.
Both overnight guests and the locals who drop in for drinks or dinner relish the atmosphere—and many tell the inevitable ghost stories that surround a building that’s staring down two centuries’ worth of guests. “They love the feeling that they’ve been transported to a bygone era,” says Liz. Alas, her brother, Adam, assures that there are no ghosts—a ghost-hunter once checked.
The renovation of the Side Room was the daughter-dad duo’s labor of love.
“We wanted it to be a real historic building, not a modernized historic building,” Liz says. “Places like that are slowing slipping away, and we don’t want to ever let that happen. We really wanted to bring it back to its original glory.”
Without photos of the original lobby, Bob and Liz researched the hotel’s history, consulted experts on turn-of-the-century décor, and then let their imaginations take flight. “We looked at pictures of historic hotels and parlors, sitting rooms and reading rooms,” Liz says. Layers of wallpaper were scraped off, and the room was painted a deep, rich terracotta. And Bob was finally able to use the walnut paneling he salvaged as a teenager from a shuttered men’s club in Newburgh, where he grew up.
“We pulled up the carpet and discovered three inches of cement on top of the original hardwood floors,” says Liz. “We jackhammered out the cement. Because of the weight of it, the floors were bowed. So we had to jack up the floor from the basement. And we refinished those floors.”
Charming pieces of antique furniture were purchased at auctions, including from the Grand Union Hotel and United States Hotel, two epic lodgings from Saratoga’s past. (In fact, the owner of the building when it was the Everett House during the post-Civil War boom was the brother-in-law of the owner of the United States Hotel.) One particularly grand find: a rack near the bar that was once used for men to hang their top hats before entering the Grand Union’s ballroom.
The Inn’s bustling dining room. (Rob Spring)
“I love what we did in that room,” Liz says. The Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation applauded their efforts too, honoring the Inn with an award in 2016.
The inn sparkles with holiday parties this time of year, and if Bob’s around he’s known to happily regale his guests with a story or two about the historic inn’s past. “Dorothea Brownell and her sister were local historians and characters, and they knew a lot of the famous musicians that came through here,” begins one favorite about the Brownell Cottege, now an annex behind the hotel where guests warm up with gas-powered Franklin stoves right in their rooms. “They had one party to commemorate an orchid that blossomed once a year. It would come out and then it would die. And they’d have a big party with musicians there. Utah Phillips actually sang a story about the parties.”
And the renovations continue. During the winter and spring, the hotel will be updating its 42 rooms and suites, including the Brownell Cottage, where the aforementioned Dorothea and sis lived.
Downstairs, the vintage vibe pops up again in the Tavern, which is often alive with the sound of local musicians who love to play in the storied bar. And many signature cocktails are, of course, served in antique glassware.
Even in the restaurant, there’s a retro touch, and that’s Hannah’s Beef Brisket, which, no matter the season, is the most popular entrée.
“That’s my grandmother’s recipe,” Liz says of the slow-roasted meat bathed in a wine-and-tomato sauce. “It’s a comfort food, a great dish to eat when you are sitting in that cozy room by the fire.”
This December 31, Saratoga will ring in a new year with a new (two-day) festival—so why not celebrate with a new look (or two!)? Frivolous Boutique, which reopened following construction at 385 Broadway earlier this year, has everything you need for a glam night out. For a bold, head-turning-yet-classic look with just the right amount of glam, go with this faux leather red dress paired with a boxy, bedazzled purse. For a subtler yet still-super-sexy look, there’s yet another faux leather dress look—this one in off-white and accented with, yes, feathers. Channel that Roaring Twenties energy all the way into 2023—the pop of hot pink on the heel will just add fuel to your fire.
