Swedish Hill Winery isn't here anymore, 

But don't worry! It's moved just down the block to its new location at 441 Broadway, where the store has been operating for the past two weeks. 

Go check out this local winery's new digs! 

Get excited, cheese lovers. Putnam Market on Broadway will close on Monday and Tuesday to construct a specialized cheese room. Market co-owner Cathy Hamilton traveled to London where she was in La Fromagerie, a cheese shop that had a similar room, and decided to bring the idea back to Saratoga Springs.

The 100 square foot room will be located near where the cheese is currently located in the store, but the new room will be enclosed, insulated and kept at a temperature somewhere between 50 and 55 degrees. There will be a glass window customers can look through to see the cheese, and they can enter the room to sample. The cheese will be protected, wrapped and cut to order. Putnam Market sources its cheeses from regional cheese makers and some cheese importers.

“The goal is to roughly triple the amount of cheeses we carry and make it easier to see,” Hamilton said. “It’s new and exciting.”

Ali Khalil has reopened Manna’s restaurant in Ballston Spa with his brother, Moe. The name is the same as it was under the previous owners, but the menu is different. The restaurant, which has been open under the new owners for less than a month, offers a menu with mainly Italian-American cuisine with some breakfast menu options, and more of a focus on delivery and takeout food. The brothers also operate a pizza parlor, Rusty’s Pizzeria in Watervliet, which they took over three years ago. While the brothers do have experience in the restaurant business, this is the first restaurant they’ve operated that has a larger seating capacity.

They decided to keep the same name as the restaurant had before to make for an easier transition and because Manna’s was a big name in Ballston Spa.

“We decided to open this one because there was that motivation for more, the American dream,” Khalil said. “For us anyway, we give 200 percent.”

-- Jamie

Panza's restaurant is taking over Twenty 8 Tables, chef John Ireland said this week.
When I talked to Ireland, he said he couldn't say much beyond confirming that Panza's was assuming ownership of the Maple Street restaurant and bar.
"We just got in and we're in the process of going through things," Ireland said. "But there will definitely be changes."

--Jamie

Leta Betor and Susan Stanley, both of Saratoga Springs, are opening a new store called The Gift Box June 1 at 215 Milton Ave.
The store, which Betor compared to an emporium because of the variety of goods they'll sell, including collectibles and newer items. There will be everything from furniture to bird houses, china and chandeliers, which the two have sourced from different collectors.
Neither of the two women have operated a store like this before, and began actively collecting materials for the past six months. The store will be open year-round and into the evening.
"In Ballston Spa, things tend to close early, and it seems like you can't get anything after 4 or 5 p.m.," Betor said. "We'll open later in the day and stay open later at night too."

There's also a new place to work out on West Avenue in Saratoga Springs. Saratoga Core Fitness now has a location at 68 West Ave. The gym's motto is "everyone is an athlete." There are packages for different classes, single classes and physical training sessions are $45 per hour.
Victoria Nye Cordi, an Albany native and fitness trainer, recently opened the facility, which basic training, something called "Mommy and Baby Restore the Core," a workout for a mother and her small child and Piloxing, a mixture of Pilates and boxing.

--Jamie

A bar with an Old Spa City vibe received its liquor license yesterday, and now its bar, not just the kitchen, is open for business.

Tiffany Albert, who owns the Putnam Den with her husband Jonathan, opened The Living Room on lower Caroline Street. Albert looked through local libraries and the historical society to find out what the atmosphere in a speakeasy would have been like in the 1920s.

The establishment, which is conveniently located across our parking lot, has actually been open since mid-April, serving food like grilled ostrich, buffalo chicken spring rolls and homemade potato chips with various dipping sauces.

The bar menu features drinks that would have been popular at an earlier time, with edible flowers and garnishes. Albert in particular highlighted a strawberry basil martini. There are half-price drinks from 3 to 6 p.m.

The Living Room’s current hours are from 3 p.m. to 2 a.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and food is served late.

There's another option for organic in the city, but this one deals in things you put on your face, not in it. Ruth Boals opened New Attitudes Salon and Spa on Phila Street, where she uses organic products for facials and other treatments, and ammonia-free hair color. A Saratoga Springs native, Boals moved back here recently after spending years living in Florida, where she also had a salon. Her website is here: http://www.chihairgirlandwhatnot.com/ 

Have a fantastic weekend!

--Jamie

Something really quick for you: I stopped in over at Elizabeth's Table, which is now open at 510 Broadway. I was told that the owners are really busy (it was right around lunch time when I dropped by, and many of the tables were full) but that they'll be calling me soon. As soon as I hear, I'll fill you in on all the details.
Owners Mike and Liz Phillips closed The Cupcake Lab at 517 Broadway in October to move into the new location with Elizabeth's Table. In the meantime, here's a link to the Elizabeth's Table Facebook page with some photos of the interior of the new space.

--Jamie

Travel + Leisure magazine has named Broadway in Saratoga Springs one of America's Greatest Main Streets. A blurb on the magazine's website says Broadway "looks like a Main Street on steroids, with grand buildings of Beaux-Arts and Colonial Revival styles."
The piece mentions Broadway's benches and outdoor seating at restaurants as being perfect for people-watching, especially during track season and recommends stopping at the Saratoga Spa State Park.
Woodstock, Vermont; Littleton, New Hampshire; and Bath, Maine were other Northeast destinations with Main streets that made the list.

It was also announced today that Sen. Charles Schumer, D-NY, has introduced legislation that would reward small upstate businesses for buying new equipment and hiring new workers. The proposal would allow businesses to receive tax credits equal to 10 percent of new employee salaries to create an incentive for companies to hire. Businesses could also write off 100 percent of expenses related to capital equipment purchases in the coming year.
Here's how it would work: businesses would receive a tax credit for 10 percent of any payroll expansion in 2012, up to $500,000. Schumer's office breaks it down by region:
Capital Region businesses could see an average tax break of $4,013 for each new employee hired, and in the Hudson Valley, businesses could see an average tax break of $4,717 for each employee hired.

--Jamie