When I was asked to write this article about 20 years of interior design in Saratoga Springs, my mind immediately traveled back to a glorious time in my life: my twenties. I got my first job then, toured wine country on the back of a BMW motorcycle, traveled with a healthy spending account and learned how to drive on the Santa Monica Piers (at night, big mistake). My design mentors included Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Doug Tompkins and Giorgio Armani and, in 1998, I actually worked for Calvin on Madison Avenue in Manhattan. It was pre-kids and pre-Saratoga. What a time to be young, excited and alive!
It was in New York City that I was first introduced to Calvin’s classic and clean aesthetic. At the time, interiors were filled with faux sponge-wall finishes, wallpaper with borders and plastic ivy. Beige was at its all-time high, floral patterns showed up on oversized chairs and wall stencils prevailed. Thankfully, I skipped the era’s design misses and moved right into the early aughts, a time of Tuscan kitchens, shabby chicness and DIY everything. A few years into the 2000s, I started peeling off yesterday’s wallpaper and replacing it with cream, then taupe, then gray walls, removing shiny brass door fixtures, opting instead for oil-rubbed bronze, then polished nickel everything. I ended my love affair with antiqued cream kitchens, which I replaced with bright white cabinets, rich, dark-stained floors and minimal decor.
I arrived in Saratoga in the fall of 2006. My son TJ was just starting kindergarten, and my other son, Josh, was in preschool. I brought my design business here, and my new clients were intrigued by the clean lines, mix of textures and directional thinking I’d brought from Manhattan. It was out with the old decade and in with the new one, a time of open floor plans, authentic elements and custom finishes. Four years later, a clean, classic look inspired everything I did. Big stainless-steel appliances replaced white (and worse, black) ones, marble and quartz started to push out granite (thank you) and powerful industrial faucets popped up in classic white kitchens with large, dark-stained islands. Small dark rooms were replaced by big, open, bright ones, and we chipped away square tile, opting instead for the subway type everywhere. Saratoga was ready for a new look and the homes evolved beautifully as we shed the outdated, tossed the ivy and removed the clutter.
Then, with a nod to the past, we gave up the dining and living rooms, realizing that we were assigning too large a percentage of real estate to rooms that were seldom used. Living rooms became family rooms and were suddenly comfortable and lived-in, rather than perfect and stuffy; dining rooms became open kitchens with farm tables, and our love affair with open floor-planned homes was born. The kitchen became the new center of the house, and everything happened around large islands. At the same time, as life became more hectic, with technology affecting everything we did, interior design became more grounded, and we turned to a more organic feel, with rich, natural colors of the earth, fruits and vegetables, live wood edges and authentic finishes. Recycling was also in vogue, and with it came a focus on reusing furniture. So we’d see old pieces cleaned, painted and given a new spot. It was all about moving forward quickly while trying to stand still. So much can happen in 20 years if you want it to. And we wanted it to.
Here are some interior design trends that helped define the last 20 years in Saratoga and beyond (find each of the design trends in the accompanying photo gallery above).
Tuscan Kitchens And Large Stainless-Steel Appliances
Featuring weathered surfaces, natural textures and warm colors, Tuscan kitchens—often combined with rustic beams, stone and arched entries—mixed warmth with a new look in the late 1990s to early 2000s. Replacing Formica counters, boring oak cabinetry and bright brass hardware, this new look with black iron fixtures, oil-rubbed bronze hardware, large stainless-steel appliances and large farmhouse islands simultaneously felt collected and sophisticated.
Vessel Sinks, Plaster Walls, Modern Lights And Organic Wood
Everybody wanted vessel sinks in the early aughts. They sat on the counter rather than being dropped in or mounted below it. Coupled with plaster walls, warm, natural wood and a rough textured stone floor, this look was all about getting away from oversized vanities, opting instead for beautiful, organic natural lines, warm colors and modern light fixtures.
Creamy Walls, Rustic, Reclaimed Beams, Dark-Stained Floors And Minimal Decor
As we moved into the mid 2000s, we abandoned warm colors for a cooler, more modern palette. Creamy and taupe walls replaced sun-drenched warmth, and reclaimed wood beams showed up next to modern decor. It was a time of exploration and taking chances.
Creamy White Cabinets, Industrial Appliances And Soapstone Counters
By 2010, kitchens lightened up to a creamy white, appliances got bigger and stronger, sporting an industrial air, and natural stone became the norm. Soapstone, quartz and marble, with their soft-honed finish, replaced shiny granite, with oil-rubbed bronze hardware and minimal decor remaining the choice for designers.
Bright White Cabinets And Farmhouse Sinks
In the late 2000s, white kitchens were a classic and clean escape from a hectic life, and farmhouse sinks reminded us of a simpler time (even when they were imported from England and quite expensive). Honed marble counters were soft, natural and light. Our lives were frenetic, and a clean, bright, light and clear kitchen became a respite from it all.
Subway Tile, Taupe Walls, Cement Sinks And Large, Rectangular Floor Tile
Throughout the last 20 years, we’ve moved away from square tile—and in the last five, moved to a more classic-but-rectangular subway shape, often in cool taupe and gray tones. Coupled with a poured-cement sink and polished nickel fittings, the modern bathroom layout reflects the simplicity and the organic warmth of where interior design is now.
If you’ve been to a wedding at the Canfield Casino or attended a corporate event at the Hall of Springs, you’ve experienced what Mazzone Hospitality does best: make parties tick. Whether it be enjoying their top-notch catering services or watching their staff work tirelessly in the background, you know that the event you’re attending is in good hands. No other business in the Capital Region is so entirely dedicated to customer service—and nails it every time. We recently talked to Mazzone Hospitality’s Chief Financial Officer, Matt Mazzone, about how he got into the business and what the best part of working at Mazzone is.
How did you get your start in the hospitality industry?
The hospitality industry is in my blood…I grew up in it and can remember it being a big part of my life for a long time. I left the family business for a short time between 2000 and 2007, but what drew me back was the excitement you get taking care of a guest.
What makes Saratoga Springs such a great place to run a business?
Saratoga Springs is great because of the variety it offers…meaning there’s so much to do, so many different customers and venues to work with and a variety of seasons.
What sets Mazzone apart from the other like-minded companies in the region?
In a simple word, what sets Mazzone Hospitality apart—or allows us to deliver the difference for our customers—is the passion our employees have for what they do. We have an amazing team that really enjoys what they do and gets excited about making guests’ experiences on their special day something to remember.
What’s your favorite part of running and/or working at Mazzone?
The best part of my job is when I can make an impact on the team. What excites me is watching a person join our company and seeing them grow. We have many people that started as servers that are now General Managers, and dishwashers that have become Executive Chefs.
What impact do you hope your business has on the Saratoga community?
We’ve been a big part of the Saratoga dining and event scene for a long time and look forward to continuing to push the envelope for amazing events and innovative culinary delights. Events bring people together, and we want to be synonymous with bringing people together with good food, great service and hospitality.
For saratoga living, there was a lot to celebrate on the night of Wednesday, May 30, at Putnam Place in Saratoga Springs. For one, we were celebrating the magazine’s 20th anniversary—and our wonderful new issue, which has just hit newsstands (make sure to grab an issue or take a look at some of the features on saratogaliving.com). We were also unveiling our first-ever “Saratoga 20,” an exclusive list of individuals in Saratoga and the surrounding region who have been contributing to our community in new and exciting ways.
Many of the Saratoga 20 were in attendance, from Elizabeth Sobol, the Saratoga Performing Arts Center’s President and CEO, and Lizzie Hunter, the American Cancer Society’s Senior Community Development Manager, to local wunderkind TJ Tracy and Mike Phinney, Principal Architect at Phinney Design Group. They all received framed versions of the black-and-white photographs that were featured in the magazine (all were expertly shot by saratoga living‘s Senior Photographer Dori Fitzpatrick).
With guests enjoying signature cocktails (the aptly named “Saratoga 20”), a bourbon tasting courtesy of Upstate Distilling Co., delicious food from Buddha Noodle and the music of Alta Havana—both indoors and outdoors—it was nothing short of the “party of the year.” Take a look at some of the photos taken at the event by Bigler Studio above.
It’s officially summertime—at least from where I’m standing—and that usually means more time with the family. I was honestly torn this weekend about the theme, because there’s not only a host of family-oriented happenings, but there’s also a lot of events highlighting the Capital Region’s diversity. I was debating which to pick when it occurred to me that family is just a microcosm of community. It may sound corny, but it’s true. I could easily cover all of these wonderful events, because a community—a region like this one—is just a vast web of families and relations. In this spirit, the editor’s choice this week is the Puerto Rico on My Mind Community Event at 160 Central Avenue, Albany on Friday, June 1.
It came as a shock to many, but according to a Harvard Study that was published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Tuesday, the actual death toll in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria was nearly 5,000, not 64 as the official estimate originally concluded back in September 2017. Many of these deaths were from a delay or lack in medical care. More than eight months have passed since the deadly Category 5 hurricane blew through Puerto Rico.
For these reasons, a Capital Region advocacy and outreach group called LATINOS, has created a free, family-friendly event to honor and commemorate those affected by the deadly hurricane. The celebration lasts from 1pm to 7:30pm, and includes a little bit of everything for everyone. For the artsy types, patrons will be able to visit a new exhibition of Puerto Rican artist Juan Maldonado, as well as see the local debut of Ay Maria!, a tragicomedy of five survivors recounting their experiences before, during and after the hurricane. There will also be a prayer service and vigil lighting for Puerto Rico at the Capital District LATINO’s beautiful new headquarters, formerly St. John’s Lutheran Church. And for the hungry and festive, there will be Latin American food provided by Salsa Latina restaurant, not to mention live music from the Rumberos and the closing act of the evening, Alex Torres & His Latin Orchestra. If this great lineup doesn’t convince you to come out to Puerto Rico on My Mind, then come out just to show your support. Here are some of the other events going on this weekend:
Friday, June 1
Park and Play Movie Night – free event at St. Mary’s Hospital, 1300 Massachusetts Avenue, Troy. Polish Fest – three-day event at Mary of Czestochowa Church, 250 Old Maxwell Road, Latham. St. Basil Greek Festival – St. Basil Greek Orthodox Church, 909 River Street, Troy.
On a recent trip to the Louvre in Paris, it wasn’t until I went up to the third or fourth docent and asked in my minimal French, “Could you tell me where Landscape With The Fall Of Icarus is?,” that I realized I was wasting valuable time. There was so much to see! (I later realized that the painting was 200 miles away in Belgium, but that’s another story.) I’m happy to say that Saratoga Springs will soon have its own Louvre’s worth of fine art on display and for purchase—and it’s coming to the City Center this August.
Historically, Saratoga’s main summer attractions have been the racetrack, ballet and other cultural events—but a major art show has been oddly absent. That’ll all change with the introduction of the inaugural REVEAL International Contemporary Art Fair. “Art is a common language,” says Jacquie Grande, Founder and President of REVEAL. “I think hosting an event where art is the common denominator will bring people together.” Hundreds of artists’ works will be shipping in from dozens of galleries all over the globe, and it’ll be the perfect atmosphere for both the serious collector and window-shopper.
Running from August 3-5, with a VIP celebration and preview on August 2, the REVEAL Art Fair will be a welcome addition to an already frenetic Downtown Saratoga summer scene. And when I stop by, I’ll certainly know enough not to be looking for the Mona Lisa—but it’s possible that the next one might be hanging somewhere nearby.
Take a look at some of the art that will be on display at the REVEAL Art Fair in the above gallery.
I have traveled more than 14 million miles on behalf of my clients, I’ve been fortunate enough to constantly find inspiration from cultures and traditions all over the world, allowing me to bring new and exciting elements to my designs. I put a lot of effort into the timing and flow of events so that the guest experience is seamlessly constructed from beginning to end.
1. What Makes A Colin Cowie Event Distinctive?
I pull from the client’s unique DNA, meaning no two of my parties ever look the same. I use my five-senses approach to guarantee that everything guests smell, touch, taste, see and hear is flawlessly orchestrated and catered to the seasons, time of day and overall experience of the event. There’s a certain art in giving guests just the right amount of time to eat before livening up the dancefloor with a carefully curated musical selection. My favorite part of any event is when the candles have burned halfway down, the wine’s taken its effect and everyone’s got a smile wrapped two-and-a-half times around their face. That’s truly why we do what we do. My recent work in Saratoga’s the ideal example. After expanding our presence into the area, I was able to get involved with events like the Saratoga Wine & Food Festival and use the DNA of the event itself to enhance and revamp it. This September, guests at the festival can expect to experience it like never before.
2. What’s The Best Way To Make Over Your Home?
I like to start with a basic canvas. Gray or white are my favorites, as they showcase all other colors fabulously. When it comes to entertaining, I’m a huge collector of tabletop items. Start with your basic white and treat it like a little black dress. You can dress it up or down, depending on the occasion and your mood. Embrace a couple of colors that speak to you and build a collection of coordinating napkins, placemats, candles, water glasses and objects, allowing you to create multiple looks. That way, you build a wardrobe that is a reflection of your own personality, whether you’re setting a few placemats up for a TV dinner or a formal meal at the dining room table. I find it’s a good idea to think of your home as a summer and winter space. Lighter, more beautiful and airy colors for the warm summer days, and darker, warmer colors for those winter nights. Always remember that bringing guests into your home is the best way to give them a window into your life!
3. What’s The Most Difficult Part Of Planning A Destination Wedding?
The obvious difficulty is the added logistical consideration. If guests are flying in for a multiday event, you have to think about moving their luggage seamlessly, making sure everyone’s able to make it to and from each venue in a timely way and creating a well-thought-out production schedule to adhere to. What I usually do is bring in a core management team and then hire local creative partners and vendors, who are familiar with the location should we need anything. I’ve had the pleasure of teaming up with the right people at these destinations and making sure that I have a crew of intelligent and professional producers who can handle site-visits and other premeditated logistics, so that there are minimal surprises on the day-of. And remember, with all the logistics, a well-informed guest is a happy guest. Send a save-the-date, set up a website with all the travel and attire information the guests might need and mail out a confirmation package that clearly stipulates the different events, times and dress codes. Finally, assume that they haven’t read anything and leave them the itinerary again, along with a welcome note.
4. What’s The Single Best Tip You Can Give An Aspiring Colin Cowie Protégé?
The one ideology that’s guided me throughout my career? Ruthless editing and perseverance. The service industry today is oversaturated with products. We don’t need another solution or hospitality provider; what we need is to ruthlessly edit to get rid of the 90 percent of clutter and keep the 10 percent that truly matters in making a quality offering to the client. Perseverance is key. Remember, every “no” gets you one step closer to a “yes.” Surround yourself with a team of individuals who are experienced, knowledgeable and ready to put in the work. Having a support system that you can depend on is a major key in being able to sustain a successful business.
This year marks the milestone 150th running of the Belmont Stakes—“The Test of the Champion”—on June 9 at Belmont Park in Elmont, NY. First run in 1867, the Belmont’s the oldest of the races that make up the American Triple Crown—and at 1½ miles, it’s also the longest.
It was named for August Belmont, a 19th-century German immigrant, who amassed a great fortune and great political power in New York and was a leading sportsman. The greatest Belmont ever? There are plenty to choose from, and good arguments can be made about a number of them.
But for my money, it’s the epic 2015 running, when 90,000 people cheered as American Pharoah ended the 37-year Triple Crown drought. In all my years covering sports, I’ve never seen, heard or felt anything like it. Happy birthday, Belmont—here’s to 150 more.
For saratoga living‘s 20th anniversary, we decided to compile a list of the most recognizable faces who actually hail from Saratoga Springs, the Capital Region and beyond. Below, we take a deep-dive into these dive individuals—Saratoga native David Hyde Pierce; Jimmy Fallon, a graduate of The College of Saint Rose; Lake Placid’s Lana Del Rey; Schenectadian Mickey Rourke; and Lake George’s Rachael Ray. (Art by Robert Risko exclusively for saratoga living.)
(Robert Risko)
David Hyde Pierce
Frasier’s little brother is Saratoga’s favorite son. By Will Levith
I remember when simply watching television was considered an event. There wasn’t a smartphone alarm or DVR to set; you had to make time in your calendar to watch a show—and if you didn’t catch it at that exact date and time, you were out of luck. You had to either tape it (which was incredibly tedious), fake it through the water-cooler conversation or sheepishly admit to your friends that you’d dropped the ball.
One of the first shows that I had a weekly date with was Frasier, the spin-off to mega-hit Cheers. First airing in 1993, it had that memorable, jazzy theme song (“Tossed Salad and Scrambled Eggs”) and an ensemble cast that seemed like it had been stripped right from my childhood, which was spent knee-deep in the stilted egos of academia. My two favorites were the constantly-at-odds, über-educated brothers, Drs. Frasier and Niles Crane—played by Kelsey Grammer and newcomer David Hyde Pierce, respectively—who would lob witticisms at each other like hand grenades. Sure, it helped that Frasier inherited Cheers’ Brobdingnagian network audience, but right out of the gate, there was a different kind of intelligence to its dialogue and humor, and the chemistry between its characters was palpable—which had a lot to do with Pierce’s presence.
Prior to his turn as Niles, Pierce had appeared in a mishmash of mostly forgettable fare, and to the average viewer, he was just another “anybody.” Overnight, Frasier turned him into a star. Pierce, apparently, didn’t even have to audition for the role; he tells me it was handed to him by the show’s three creators. “They told me, ‘We’re thinking about having a brother for Frasier, and all we know is, since Frasier went to Harvard, his brother would go to Yale, and since Frasier is a Freudian, his brother would be a Jungian.’” Soon after, he was offered the part—and it’s safe to say that he exceeded all expectations: Over the next decade-plus, Pierce was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Emmy 11 times in a row—a record-setting feat (he was 4-for-11, by the way).
Rewind the highlight reel a bit further, and you get the David Hyde Pierce that grants him inclusion in these pages. Born in 1959, Pierce grew up on Fifth Avenue in Saratoga Springs, attending Caroline Street Elementary School and eventually landing at Saratoga Springs High School—also my alma mater—where he excelled in the arts and won the coveted Yaddo Medal as a senior. “I was in the drama club and the choir, and I played the piano for the orchestra,” says Pierce. He’d gotten serious about the arts in a particularly fortuitous and hilarious way: As a sophomore, he was skipping gym class to play the piano in one of the school’s practice rooms. Music teacher Jeff Vredenburg happened to be within earshot, and instead of sending Pierce to the principal’s office, asked him if he’d be interested in accompanying the choir. “Now, looking back, I can’t tell you how important that moment was,” Pierce says.
While Frasier could’ve easily been any actor’s creative peak (it wrapped in 2004), Pierce stayed busy on the small and silver screens—as well as on his first love, the stage. You can find him in the film Wet Hot American Summer and its Netflix TV reboots, doing guest spots on critically acclaimed drama The Good Wife, and reprising a Niles-like role opposite Grammer’s Sideshow Bob on The Simpsons. And most recently, he’s been part of the stellar cast in the 2017 Broadway revival of Hello, Dolly!, which landed him a Tony nomination. “We’re bringing it to a close this August,” he says of the musical. “I’ve had many one-of-a-kind moments in my career, but this was certainly one that is to be remembered and cherished.”
Pierce has also remembered his roots, making his way back to Saratoga often. In the last decade, he’s played organ at the Bethesda Episcopal Church, lent his name to a Home Made Theater benefit and appeared at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center with the Philadelphia Orchestra. “I’m looking forward to the next chance I get to come back home,” Pierce says.
I think I can speak for my fellow Saratogians in saying that we’re all eagerly awaiting that day, too. (Read the full-length interview with David Hyde Pierce here.)
(Robert Risko)
Jimmy Fallon
How the king of late night started it all at The College Of Saint Rose in Albany. By Richard Pérez-Feria
The first time I met Jimmy Fallon, more than a decade ago, about a dozen of us were sipping champagne and listening to Madonna’s Confessions On A Dance Floor softly playing in the interior cabin of an impressive yacht docked in Paradise Island, The Bahamas, moments after an epic fundraising concert by Patti LaBelle (to be more specific, the song “Hung Up” was playing on repeat). It was an epic night made even more memorable when Fallon, fresh from announcing his departure as a Saturday Night Live regular, joined our small group and immediately started joking around. Fallon was impossibly funny, unbelievably kind and as cool as you remember your best buddy from college being. And that, precisely, is his brand personified: Jimmy Fallon is everyone’s best friend from college.
Ah, college…After leaving The College of Saint Rose in Albany a semester before graduating to pursue comedy full-time, the affable host of The Tonight Show impressively finished his degree in 2009, some 14 years after leaving.
It shouldn’t be surprising that some of Fallon’s most successful career highlights include him as part of a brotastic duo with his megawatt pal, Justin Timberlake. In other words, the man sure knows how to be a friend. Fallon’s true genius lies in the fact that not only does he look like a guy who’d be your best friend, but he also is that guy. And Saint Rose graduates can proudly claim him as one of their own. So, yeah, Jimmy Fallon’s our kind of friend.
(Robert Risko)
Lana Del Rey
How the girl from Lake Placid conquered the music world. In style. By Jeffery Dingler
In my humble opinion, Lana Del Rey’s Born To Die is one of the greatest albums about heartbreak ever written. Its hit single, “Summertime Sadness,” I’m not ashamed to admit, became a personal anthem after a certain breakup (yes, it was a summer breakup, too). But attached to all the heartache in these songs—in the sultry lyrics and smoke-filled atmosphere—is a vivid depiction of the wanderlust, confusion and longing that often comes with the territory of one’s early 20s.
You wouldn’t necessarily guess from her name and music that Del Rey’s a local girl. Born Elizabeth Woolridge Grant, the daughter of two former NYC advertising workers, she was raised in Lake Placid—site of the 1980 Winter Olympic Games—and grew up singing as the cantor in her church choir. “It’s not really somewhere I’ve spent a lot of time, not since I was 14,” Del Rey told GQ in 2011 of Lake Placid. “It’s beautiful. It’s a vacation destination. Olympics. It’s small, 2,800 people…it’s very different from [New York City].” (Three years later in Rolling Stone, she said it was “really, really quiet,” comparing it to the town in the TV show Twin Peaks.) She and her family also spent some time in Miami, where she picked up a little Spanish and started thinking about a different, more exotic stage name. Raised Catholic in a tiny town, Del Rey rebelled, picked up a drinking habit at 15 and was sent to Kent School, a boarding school in Connecticut. It was there, influenced by its proximity to the music scene in the Big Apple, that she began her transformation into Lana Del Rey (her first stage name was Lizzy Grant).
Since releasing her “eponymous” debut album in 2010 (it’s actually titled Lana Del Ray, not Rey), Del Rey’s released a string of critically acclaimed albums, sold millions of records worldwide (three have been certified platinum), collaborated with artists such as Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie Nicks and pop powerhouse The Weeknd and been nominated for a quartet of Grammys. Her most recent album, Lust For Life, debuted last year at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. I think we can comfortably say that Lana Del Rey gives the “Miracle On Ice” a run for its money in the Best Of Lake Placid category.
(Robert Risko)
Mickey Rourke
From Schenectady to Hollywood, the star of 9½ Weeks and The Wrestler has been through it all. By Will Levith
When I was a teenager, my parents unwittingly allowed me to rent the director’s cut of 9½ Weeks from the Drive In Movie Store on South Broadway in Saratoga Springs (RIP). Had they known the lurid contents of the VHS tape, they might’ve thought twice about renting it for me. Confession: I was watching the 1986 film for Kim Basinger’s racy love scenes—but had I given the movie a fair shake, I would’ve realized what a solid actor the young hunk playing opposite her was. That was Mickey Rourke, who’d go on to play a broad range of rough-around-the-edges characters before having a career-defining moment in 2008, when he won a Best Actor Golden Globe for his turn as Randy “The Ram” Robinson in The Wrestler opposite Academy Award-winner Marisa Tomei (he also got an Oscar nomination for the role).
Long before Rourke became one of Hollywood’s most notorious bad boys, he was a kid from Schenectady. Born Philip Andre Rourke, Jr., in 1952, he was the son of a carpenter/bodybuilder. Rourke told host James Lipton on Inside The Actors Studio that his mother had nicknamed him “Mickey” because she hated his father—who had the same name. His parents divorced when he was six, and eventually, his mom remarried a police officer and moved Rourke and his two siblings to Miami (according to the actor, his stepfather physically abused him and his younger brother for a decade). Years later, in order to summon the proper emotional state for an audition at New York City’s famed Actors Studio, Rourke traveled back to the Electric City and reconnected with his estranged father. “We spoke for about seven hours,” Rourke told Lipton. “He gave me $50 and bought me pork chops and mashed potatoes and sauerkraut, and he had 22 screwdrivers, and that was the last I ever saw him.” Needless to say, he nailed the audition, and the rest is cinematic history.
(Robert Risko)
Rachael Ray
How the girl next door from Lake George took television by storm. By Natalie Moore
When I returned home from a whirlwind, two-day trip to New York City—during which I experienced a $25 margarita, my maiden voyage through the subway system and a meeting with superstar chef/philanthropist/designer Rachael Ray (quite a change from a day in my typical Upstate life)—my mom wanted to know what the Lake George native was like. “Blunt,” I said. “But in the best way.” It’s true. Ray’s a to-the-point, no-nonsense force to be reckoned with; a boss. She says what she means without offending, follows her passions until they’re realized and manages to balance an Emmy Award-winning show, a furniture line, two nonprofits and cookware and pet-food lines, all while leaving time to buy thoughtful gifts for her coworkers and pose for the cover of saratoga living.
Born in Glens Falls, Ray moved to Lake George when she was eight. There, her mother managed the local Howard Johnson’s restaurant, the chain’s last surviving outpost. After a stint working in New York City in her 20s, Ray returned to Upstate New York, where she managed Mr. Brown’s Pub at The Sagamore and then worked as a buyer at Cowan & Lobel, a gourmet market in Albany. There, she began teaching her “30 Minute Meals” classes, which got her discovered by the local CBS TV affiliate, Today and eventually, The Food Network.
On Saratoga Springs, Ray says, “I consider it my backyard.” Her go-to spot here is Lyrical Ballad, the cavernous bookstore on Phila Street. “I love music and I read actual books, and Saratoga is where you go to get that stuff.” Though she admires Saratoga for the arts, Ray tends to steer clear of the racetrack. “I love horses,” she says. “I’m always deathly afraid that one of them will get injured, and they’ll have to shoot it like in Marnie.” This sentiment’s certainly not uncommon, even among track lovers. Ray’s just not afraid to say it. And I, for one, respect her even more for that. Like a boss.
I recall seeing a David Hockney work at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City last winter, one of his composite Polaroid pieces, where a series of individual photographs, all taken from slightly different vantage points, are assembled to form a “complete” picture. A century earlier, photographer Seneca Ray (S.R.) Stoddard was working the same type of magic in the Lake George region.
Stoddard’s photographs of “The Queen of American Lakes” and the Adirondacks are some of the finest ever taken—and a number of them are now collected in Water & Light: S.R. Stoddard’s Lake George (Chapman Historical Museum). He took 10,000 photographs in the Adirondacks, including more than 700 shots of Lake George. It’s a selection of 150 of those sepia-toned images, culled from the Chapman Historical Museum’s collection, that forms the heart of Water & Light. The book is organized as a pictorial tour of the lake from its head at Lake George Village (then Caldwell Village) northward, past Bolton Landing and through The Narrows, to Ticonderoga, where the waterway drains into Lake Champlain.
Photographer S.R. Stoddard.
Before Stoddard became a highly-sought-after photographer, he was earning his living painting decorative landscapes on the interiors of railway cars. When he settled in Glens Falls in 1864, he opened his own business doing ornamental and sign painting—and spent his free time painting portraits and landscapes. Stoddard would end up approaching his landscape photography with a painterly eye. When taking photographs of a lake or falls, he’d use a longer exposure to render the surface of the water milky and luminous. And when he made prints, Stoddard would sometimes combine different exposures to obtain a stronger image, for example, burning the clouds from one image into the clear sky of another to heighten drama.
Though Stoddard exhibited work at Philadelphia’s “Centennial International Exhibition of 1876”—the first official World’s Fair—the artistry of his photographs went largely unrecognized during his lifetime. It wasn’t until 1980, when his work was prominently featured in “American Light: The Luminist Movement, 1850-1875” at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, that Stoddard’s reputation as a fine artist was established. That it was ever in doubt should come as a surprise to anyone paging through Water & Light. Though the scenes themselves can be described simply—views over the pristine glacial lake to the forested mountains beyond, shots of rocky coastlines and picturesque wooden bridges, steamboats and landings, ruined forts, staid hotels, rustic camps and people in Victorian dress fishing, canoeing, lounging in hammocks or engaging in a tug-of-war—the sum is considerably greater than the individual value of the parts. I can’t help but let Stoddard’s work whisk me away to a serene summer afternoon on Lake George. Won’t you join me?
By the age of 20, Alexander The Great had conquered numerous countries, Augustus Caesar had become a Roman Senator, Joan of Arc was victorious in war, Mary Shelley had published Frankenstein and on and on—legends, apparently, are in a hurry to get things done. In the hubris of my youth, I, too, saw myself on the fast track to greatness, and precisely on my 20th birthday, the day after Labor Day, I was beginning the second week of my junior year at Tulane University in New Orleans. As Editor in Chief of the school’s award-winning newspaper, The Tulane Hullabaloo, I presided over an interminable meeting that finally ended with my crew surprising me by singing/mumbling “Happy Birthday” and passing around slices of ice cream cake, tortilla chips and cold beer. What a way to end our long, productive day. Even now, I smile when I think of that moment.
Exactly 20 years ago, I was, unbelievably, living my absolute best life: Surrounded by dozens of close friends and colleagues, I was a bachelor on the loose, working as co-owner and Editor in Chief (with business partner, George W. Slowik, Jr.) at PressCorps, our New York City-based magazine company. (Living in an incredible apartment at 2 Fifth Avenue next door to Washington Square Park certainly didn’t suck either.) Frequent travel to Los Angeles and Miami for celebrity interviews and photo shoots added to my enchanted existence, but it was my yearly summer trek to the Hamptons that truly gave me life. That summer, two decades ago, I shared a Southampton cottage (with an incredible pool) on a former potato farm with two of my closest friends, Jim Long and Geoffrey Blatt, and all I can remember from that entire season was how we couldn’t stop laughing. Hilarity was the norm at Chez Papi. We. Had. Fun.
Since, right now, I’m excited and determined to make my new home in Saratoga Springs permanent and love-filled, I really can’t imagine what I’ll be doing exactly 20 years from now, but I sure do hope that, whatever it is, people who love me are near, the work I do is top-notch, I continue to think before I speak and my mad crush on this city, this seductive Saratoga, develops into an epic romance without an end in sight.
Twenty years is a curious time to measure, for it’s simultaneously a very long time indeed as well as gone in the blink of an eye. So here’s what I propose: Let’s take a moment and raise a glass to celebrate our collective past 20 years, with the strong belief that the very best for all of us is yet to come. I can feel it.
