Don’t get me wrong: I love Saratoga Race Course as much as the next person. I love a night at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center and walks through the Saratoga Spa State Park. I even love learning about the city’s rich history, despite my indifference to high school social studies class. But the one thing—no, make that two things—that brought me to Saratoga full time (besides saratoga living) are: (1) the food and (2) the drinks. Whenever I have friends visit, the first thing they say about my adopted city is that they can’t believe how many bars and restaurants there are in such a concentrated area. From my apartment Downtown, I can get to no fewer than two dozen top-notch restaurants and bars by foot in less than ten minutes.
To celebrate our city’s can-eat attitude (where else could a mere 26,000 people support so many culinary spots year-round?), saratoga living wanted to highlight food-and-cocktail pairings from a few of our favorite restaurants.
But we’re not in the Napa Valley or living among the rolling vineyards of Sicily. While we may enjoy a nice Merlot from time to time, Saratoga is booze country. And delicious foods, we’ve learned, pair just as well with the hard stuff as they do with an oaky Cab.
So raise your glasses—and your forks—to these food-and-drink pairings from some of Saratoga’s finest restaurants. The hunger (and thirst) is real. Check out the results in the gallery above…and when you’re done licking your lips, I’d suggest adding in the more “traditional” pairing below. —Natalie Moore, with additional food-pairing reporting done by Terri-Lynn Pellegri
OK, sure, we love a frothy brew as much as we do a delicious cocktail. I mean, who doesn’t? And we all know one of the best places in town for killer grub and a cold beer is Saratoga’s own Druthers Brewing Company. So we asked them to pair a perfect pint-and-dish duo for us. As always, Druthers didn’t disappoint. —Natalie Moore
