Steve Barnes

6 days ago | timesunion.com | Steve Barnes

More than a dozen years after the original Tara Kitchen opened, the  multilocation restaurant brand is evolving, with renovations at all three of its Capital Region locations and changes in menu and style at two. The newest upstate Tara, open for five years at 1785 Western Ave. in Guilderland, is temporarily closed while work is being done to transform it to Tara Kitchen Mediterranean Marketplace and Takeout, due to open April 29, said owner Aneesa Waheed.

1 week ago | timesunion.com | Steve Barnes

Many of the individual details about Alex Portelli and his Joe N' Dough Cafe in Albany are by themselves interesting. Collectively, they make for an utterly distinctive and singular combination. Portelli is 24. His record includes a felony drug conviction and three years of incarceration. He tried to run for Albany mayor last year on a pro-marijuana, pro-backyard-chickens platform, but was booted from the ballot.

1 week ago | timesunion.com | Steve Barnes

In the latest restaurant news:Ryan’s Wake in Troy celebrates its 20th anniversary today, April 16, with happy-hour specials from 3 to 8 p.m., a proclamation at 4 p.m. from Troy Mayor Carmello Mantello and $2 Utica Club drafts, the price of the beer when Ryan’s Wake opened on April 16, 2005. Owner Chris Ryan, a Utica native, has had the beer on tap since the first day, and beermaker Fred Matt, owner of Matt Brewing Co., which produces Utica Club, will be a guest at the anniversary.

1 week ago | timesunion.com | Steve Barnes

Intrigued by the slim-bodied string instrument slung over the back of a lanky guy in his mid-20s with blond hair flowing from beneath a straw bowler hat, a man at the Troy farmers market asked Sawyer Fredericks, “Is that a dulcimer?”No, Fredericks explained, it’s just a guitar with a really small body, about half the width of a cereal box.

1 week ago | timesunion.com | Steve Barnes

ALBANY — The new owner of Jack’s Oyster House plans to revive the brand under its original name and reopen the historic restaurant after extensive renovations and repairs as part of a downtown development plan that includes multiple buildings and businesses, a representative said.