The wait is nearly over.

I caught up with the owner of the Bon Ton Fish Market who confirmed that the long-awaited Wilton location -- in the same plaza as Hattie's Chicken Shack, The Meat House, Chipotle, Five Guys and others -- will open at 9 a.m. Friday.

The market is the first spin-off of the flagship Bon Ton Fish Market in Greenwich, Conn., which has been open since 1902.

Tony Norado, owner of the Connecticut location, said the Wilton store will offer the same fresh, high-quality seafood as the Connecticut store. He will do all the purchasing for both stores at the Fulton Fish Market in New York.

“We’re just going to bring the best quality seafood up to the area,” he said Monday.

Joel Reingold, a Saratoga Springs resident for about 14 years, is the owner and operator of the Wilton location. Bringing quality seafood to the Spa City is a labor of love for Reingold who said the idea, originally his late wife Berna’s, has been 13 years in the making. The Reingolds often went to the Greenwich, Conn. Bon Ton Fish Market and, as seafood lovers, wanted to bring the seafood closer to home.

“She loved Bon Ton Fish Market more than anything in this world, except Saratoga,” Reingold said.

Berna Reingold died in 2003 and the plan to bring Bon Ton north languished for a few years, but Joel Reingold never let go of the dream. “With the dramatic changes to this community, it became clear and apparent that if we’re ever going to do it, we’re going to do it now,” he said.

The store’s opening was slightly delayed by some construction issues, Norado said, but the store customers will walk into Friday will offer a top-of-the-line fish-buying experience.

Fish will be trucked to Wilton daily, Norado said and it will all be what is known as “day boat” fish – meaning it spent no more than 48 hours at sea after being caught. With the exception of a few imports from Europe like Dover sole, all the fish sold will be domestic. Norado said the inventory will vary with the seasons and with what looks good on a particular day, but will include “everything from cod to tuna, swordfish, scallops, lobsters.” All the fish will be cut in the store and nothing already processed will be sold.

Norado, who has been the owner of Bon Ton Fish Market for 25 years, is actually only the third owner in the market’s long history. “We’ve been doing this for many, many years here in Greenwich,” he said. “There’s a lot of experience behind the counter.”

Offering a high level of customer service is as important as high-quality fish, he added, and while I was interviewing him he put the phone down to offer a long explanation to a customer inquiring about the mercury levels in different varieties of fish.

Another fish market is also planning to open in Saratoga.Rick Lofstad Jr., the owner of the popular Pura Vida Fisheries stand, long astaple of the Saratoga Farmers Market, purchased the former home of Pepper’sMarket and Deli on Lake Avenue earlier this month and plans to open a permanentlocation there in the near future. 

— Emily

It's official, Broadway's newest brew pub is set to open Wednesday, according to the Druthers twitter feed:

Druthers Grand Opening will be Wednesday, August 1st!!!! Who's excited?! #Saratoga #CraftBeer
— Druthers (@DruthersBrewing) July 26, 2012

Read more about Druthers here. 

Emily

(UPDATED at 7 p.m. July 12 with info about Smoke & Fire next door also moving, scroll down to the bottom)

Noticed this on my way home from work yesterday, Grand Illusions hair salon on Caroline Street is planning a move to 81 Railroad Place.

Managed to get my thumb in the frame in this one...

... and caught myself in the reflection in this one. A photographer I am not.

The salon opened at its Caroline Street location in August 2010, just a few months after the Malta location was destroyed by fire. I covered that fire back in 2010 and I remember distinctly how shocked I was that the salon's owner, Carol Levine, was not only willing to talk to me while standing in front of her still-smoldering business, but was actually pretty optimistic.

“At least no one was hurt; everything else was just material stuff," Levine told me at the time.

For a few months after that fire, Levine worked out of a different Malta salon — Innovation - A Salon — whose owner, Maggie Caruso, offered her temporary space to work after hearing about the fire. 

Grand Illusions was closed today, a sign on the door said there was a family emergency, but I hope to get in touch with Levine asap for more info on her latest move.

-- Emily

UPDATE: Much thanks to the anonymous commenter who pointed out that Smoke & Fire, located right next door to Grand Illusions, is also moving. According to Smoke & Fire's facebook page, they'll be closed July 30 and 31 while they move to Broadway. Here's more info from their facebook:

I believe the 489 Broadway space they're moving into is the former home of True Tattoo, which moved to Church Street.

Now I've got to figure out what's going on in those adjacent Caroline Street buildings...

-- Emily

A fish market!

So says Mamatoga, who's got a great scoop here. She writes that the people who run the Pura Vida fish stand at the Saratoga Farmers Market are taking on the location. Read her full post here.

You may remember plans announced wayyyy back in November to open a Bon Ton Fish Market in Wilton (in the plaza with Five Guys, Hatties, The Meat House etc.)... still hasn't opened, not sure what's up with that.

I'm working to set up an interview with the Pura Vida folks asap.

-- Emily

Miss Scarlett Boutique, the Phila Street store that sells designer clothing for children and cool mommies, is opening a Clifton Park Center location and holding a fashion show Thursday to celebrate.

Here's the full press release:

Miss Scarlett Boutique of Saratoga Springs Opening Second Location

At Clifton Park Center

***

Holding Grand Opening Party and Fashion Show Thursday July 12th

Saratoga Springs, NY July 10, 2012/PressRelease/ --Miss Scarlett Boutique of 19 Phila Street in Saratoga Springs is bringing its unique fashion and accessories for women and children to Clifton Park Center with the opening of a second location.

The Clifton Park location will carry the same hand-picked selections of women’s and children’s designer and discount clothing and accessories and will maintain the boutique look and feel of the Saratoga location.  The Clifton Park store will also offer more gift items and home goods.

“Clifton Park is a rapidly growing area and many of my current clients come to Miss Scarlett from the Clifton Park/Albany area.  This will offer a more convenient location for our customers to shop.”  Jennifer Marcellus, owner of Miss Scarlett said. “I am excited to bring the unique items and shopping experience of a small boutique to Clifton Park Center”

Miss Scarlett will be hosting an in-store reception at 6:00pm Thursday followed by a Fashion Show at 7:30pm. The store is located inside the Center next to the new Regal Movie Theatre and the entrance to the Hilton Garden Inn and Prime Restaurant.  Store hours are: 10am to 9pm Monday thru Saturday and 11-5pm on Sunday.

About Miss Scarlett

Miss Scarlett is a one of a kind boutique offering labels such as Anthropologie, Free People, Ya Los Angeles, Sugarlips, Level 99 and smaller Los Angeles based boutique brands.  Miss Scarlett was opened in 2009 by Saratoga native Jennifer Marcellus when she moved back home from San Diego where she designed and manufactured her own line of children’s clothing under the label “Jen Jen”. Miss Scarlett opened a second location in Clifton Park Center in July 2012. www.missscarlettboutique.com

According to their facebook page, the Jonesville Store has closed once again, this time "until further notice."


UPDATE: We got in touch with the owners and they say environmental issues are to blame for the closure. Read more here. 
The post reads as follows:

DEAR PATRONS

Do to circumstances beyond our
control, one in which is a continuing environmental issue,
we regret the closing of our store until
further notice.

Any outstanding gift certificates
can be redeemed by calling us at
518-877-0507.

Our off premise catering services
will still continue at our corporate site.

Please call Maria Decker at
518-877-0507 to place your
catering order.

Thank you so much for all of your continued support, we are deeply touched by all of our customers.
Stay tuned for news here on our Facebook Page.

You may recall that this is not the first sudden closure for the eatery, which is locally famous for its pancakes.

The previous owners, John and Jean Travis, closed the store in December 2011 citing financial difficulties. Here's an excerpt from Paul Post's Dec. 16, 2011 story:

CLIFTON PARK — John and Jean Travis opened the Jonesville Store five years ago with a dream, but the past few days have turned into a nightmare before Christmas.

Faced with a perfect storm of financial difficulties, the couple plans to sell their popular business, leaving its 14 employees facing an uncertain future right before the holidays.

"Jean is still hoping for a Christmas miracle," John Travis said Thursday. "I don’t know. There were a lot of tears here yesterday."

Wednesday was when the Travises notified workers that they’re negotiating to sell the quaint store, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has operated almost continuously since 1854.

Read more about the closure here. 

Just 48 hours after closing, though, the Jonesville Store was back in business, this time under new management. Maria and Robert Decker of Clifton Park bought the building and revamped the menu. Read more about the reopening here.

Reporter Glenn Griffith has a call into the Deckers for more information about their recent decision to close. As soon as I've got more for you, I'll put it up here.

-- Emily

It's Friday and even though it was a four-day week, it still felt like a looong week. So I don't have much left to give, but here's some delicious news that just landed in my inbox:

RAVENOUS, Saratoga’s only creperie and European café, has unveiled several new menu additions for the summer season.  The locally-owned & family-operated business has also expanded its hours for July: Open Tuesday - Sunday.

Now open weekends at 9am (Sat & Sun) and open later evenings. 

Tues-Thurs: 11:30am-8:30pm

Friday: 11:30-9pm

Sat & Sunday: 9am-9pm

Closed Mondays

 Additions to our Lunch & Dinner Menu................

 Kings Pulled Pork Crepe – This crepe features slow, roasted pork smothered a citrus, bourbon mop sauce.  Topped with a drizzle of barbecue sauce and served with a side of mom’s coleslaw (red & green cabbage, cranberries, apples, almonds and celery).

Crepe Toulouse - Fresh, ripe berries of the day paired with our homemade lime curd. Bursting with summertime flavor!  Today we're using locally-grown raspberries....

THREE NEW DIPPING SAUCES FOR POMMES FRITES:  

Sweet Ginger Mango Mayo, Zesty Curry Mayo & Smokin' Sriracha Sauce.

We sampled several new sauces with Ravenous customers and the three above were the runaway favorites.  So all three were put on the summer menu.  We now have 12 different dipping sauces to choose from!

Brunch menu additions................

Crepe Boudreaux – This Louisiana-inspired crepe features Andouille sausage, hard boiled egg, freshly diced tomatoes, caramelized onions & a dollop of cheesy grits.  Served with a side of crispy pommes frites.

Banana Walnut Crepe - Sliced bananas and walnuts sauteed in a Jamaican rum sauce combined with a moist banana crumble filling.  Topped with freshly whipped cream.