Steve Barnes

1 week ago | timesunion.com | Steve Barnes

WILTON — Old World Gourmet Market opened June 11 for what turned out to be a four-day preview. As a result of computer hiccups and other brand-new-business problems, the owners, John and Maria Biagini, decided to close to regroup and will return on Tuesday, June 24. The 7,500-square-foot store is impressive, even more so when you know that John Biagini is 74 and undertook the venture after more than half a century in the food business. He told me in December, “I’ve been cutting meats since I’m 17.

1 week ago | timesunion.com | Steve Barnes

ALBANY — Bars and restaurants will be able buy a small amount of wine and spirits from liquor stores, previously not allowed, if Gov. Kathy Hochul signs a bill passed by the state Legislature this week that is among the only changes to New York alcohol laws to be passed during this year’s session.

1 week ago | timesunion.com | Steve Barnes

Among the many bars and clubs launched in downtown Albany since The Big House brewpub debuted in 1996, the one that was open the longest under the same ownership was co-founded by Mike Ripley. It was Blue 82, located at the eponymous North Pearl Street address from mid-2005 to April 1, 2022 — seven weeks before what would have been its 17th anniversary.

1 week ago | timesunion.com | Steve Barnes

EAST GREENBUSH — The 64-year-old Gene’s Fish Fry is among the latest businesses to be added to the state’s Historic Business Preservation Registry, which honors businesses that have been open at least half a century. Founded in 1961 on what was then a country road with a slaughterhouse across the way, Gene’s was launched by Gene Halsey, who’d worked on the property for four years when it was Harry & Rita’s Chicken Barbeque Pit prior to buying it to turn it into his eponymous fish fry.

2 weeks ago | timesunion.com | Steve Barnes

ALBANY — In a locally unprecedented change, the 15-month-old location of Hattie’s Restaurant is closed through late summer as it is adapted into a hands-on training site for culinary students of the Schenectady-based SEAT Center workforce development program. Hattie’s will reopen to the public in late August or early September, with students staffing most positions under the supervision of professionals, including SEAT instructors, according to those involved.