Wine Bar of Saratoga, side-view.

Just a stone’s throw away from Uncommon Grounds in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. is the Wine Bar of Saratoga. Located in an unassuming, cozy second floor walk-up on Broadway, this lovely restaurant just recently celebrated their 10-year anniversary. Owner Melissa Evans tells us that the space was formerly occupied by a beauty salon, and from our vantage point, it’s come a long way from hair curlers and scissors.

Stepping into the Wine Bar brings an immediate calm, with your eyes adjusting to the soft light and your ears absorbing the perfectly set music in the background. A hostess can direct you to a table with friends, you can sit at the bar, or enjoy an elevated view of Broadway through their gorgeous front picture window. For smokers, there’s even a dedicated smoking room complete with fireplace and an entire seating area downstairs that can be rented out and catered for meetings, parties or presentations. Like patios? Summer-time brings Wine Bar’s outdoor seating into play for some serious people watching on the main drag of Saratoga in its prime.

Wine Bar of Saratoga ready for the holidays!

The deciding factor that sets the Wine Bar apart from other businesses of its kind is Chef John Ireland’s cooking. This young chef has meandered his way from Pennsylvania, to Washington, DC to finally taking the helm at the WB in Saratoga, learning and growing in many different chef positions along the way. The menu is brief but wide, offering inventive combinations of classic and modern cooking styles. “Small plates” are the norm, but there are also options for full-sized versions of entrée-style selections. It’s been recommended to try a few smaller plates for a meal to experience a variety of flavors.

Braised boar bacon... delicious!

In order to counteract the “mid-week restaurant lull” that many businesses feel on weeknights, the Wine Bar folks instituted a Tuesday / Wednesday night $4 small plate special menu that gives diners a chance to try out Chef Ireland’s up-to-the-minute cooking ideas at a very low cost. Above, witness the “Braised Boar Bacon” that included mussels, lemongrass, cilantro and nuoc mam. This appeared on last Tuesday’s $4 specials menu, along with the broccoli rabe salad (pictured below) and a beet salad that included chevre and orange. To keep up with each week’s specials, check out the Wine Bar’s Twitter account.

Broccoli Rabe salad; smoky, tasty!

Tying the elements of inventive food, a classic wine list and great ambiance together is the cornerstone of excellent service. We’ve found the service at the Wine Bar from hostess to waiter to bartender to busser to be seamless, unobtrusive and knowledgeable about all aspects of their offerings. It’s really an unbeatable business combo to have these elements in place and we look forward to many more nights at the Wine Bar. When you end up sitting for a meal, keep in mind that Uncommon Grounds French Roast coffee is waiting for you in the Wine Bar’s french presses to cap off your night!

Cheryl Rozell demonstrating knife sharpening

Ever find that your favorite spatula just isn’t scraping it anymore? Are your college-era pots and pans dented or mangled beyond normal use? Looking for a unique, useful or classy gift? Look no further than the most excellent Clifton Park, N.Y. kitchen utility store Spoon & Whisk!

Local entrepreneur (and regular Uncommon Grounds customer) Cheryl Rozell opened Spoon & Whisk in 2007. Located in Watkins Plaza on Route 9 in Clifton Park, this unassuming corner lot store should win an award for “most items neatly and efficiently arranged in one small space“.

In speaking with Cheryl, one can sense her dedication and love for all things kitchen related. Her high level of knowledge about the products that Spoon & Whisk carries is astounding. She effortlessly couples that with a generous, patient demeanor and a knack for figuring out exactly what you need. This type of direct customer service is what makes this store heads and shoulders above any other kitchen-focused venture.

Spoon & Whisk carries a formidable stock of coffee and tea products. Cheryl says that the top selling coffee item is the La Cafetiere array of french presses including the Verona, the Wave, and Titania models.

We were pleased to learn that Spoon & Whisk demonstrates their Capressa coffeemaker using Uncommon Grounds House Blend! (See picture below for our black & yellow bag! Fun!)

Coffee central at Spoon & Whisk