Well that didn't take long.
The Putnam Street space recently vacated by Sangwych (the former home of 8 Tables) is going to be an Italian restaurant called Mio Posto.
Mio Posto means "my place" in Italian and owner Danny Petrosino intends to make the restaurant very much his place.
"I'm gonna cook what I like to cook," he said in a phone interview Wednesday evening. What he likes to cook is Italian food with an emphasis on locally-sourced ingredients. "I only use family-owned purveyors," he said, name-dropping John Fusco's Edelweiss Veal Co. and Reliable Brothers meat purveyors, both in Albany. Petrosino hopes to change his menu weekly — "I'm gonna use what's fresh and what's available," he said.
Opening Mio Posto is a bit of a homecoming for Petrosino, he is originally from Amsterdam and recently moved back there after a few years in Florida. But to say he's got deep local roots is to put it mildly. He worked for Angelo Mazzone for several years and was the General Manager at both the Hall of Springs and Glen Sanders Mansion and was the food and Beverage Manager at Saratoga National for a few years.
The CIA grad was profiled by the Times Union about a year ago, they wrote this: "The 53-year-old Amsterdam native worked at other upscale spots, but most of all he talks about his first job. He started in 1981 at Ecobelli's Restaurant at Ballston Spa, for many years, one of the best Italian restaurants in the region." Click here to read that full story.

Petrosino's most recent venture, Red Sauce in The Villages, Fla., was "an old school red sauce joint," he said. He sold his half of the restaurant to his partner a couple months ago, moved back upstate and began hunting for a place to start a new restaurant. 

The location for Mio Posto sort of fell in his lap, he said. He originally was looking for something in Amsterdam, but heard about the vacant space from his lawyer and thought it was perfect. The 22 or so people it will seat is a far cry from the 500 covers Red Sauce regularly does, and there's freedom in that.

"You don't have to worry about filling about 150 seats," he said. A small restaurant where he can cook only the things he wants to cook is something Petrosino, and probably most lifelong chefs, has always dreamed of having. 

"My food's kind of old school," he said. "I'm a big believer in buying good ingredients and not adding a lot to it."

The price point will likely be somewhere between Sperry's and Max London's he said and he plans to sign a multiple-year lease. Mio Posto will likely open in late March or early April, as soon as the liquor license comes through Petrosino said.

Once Petrosino has a firm date for opening, I'll give you an update.

-- Emily

Big thanks to @SaratogaShoots for the tip on this story!