Susie Davidson Powell

2 days ago | timesunion.com | Susie Davidson Powell

When Boca Bistro opened in Saratoga Springs in 2012 — the new baby in the DZ Restaurants portfolio — somehow it wasn’t reviewed by the Times Union, and by the time I started writing for the paper in 2014, it was already two years old. Unlike restaurateur David Zecchini’s existing Italian concepts, Chianti il Ristorante and Forno Bistro (and, at the time, Mare and Pasta Pane), Boca was focused on Spain.

1 week ago | timesunion.com | Susie Davidson Powell

It’s not every day you end a three-course dinner by shopping for Russian skin-care products and scents, perusing handmade pajamas and admiring framed photography all made, designed or shot by the chef. It’s also uncommon for your first impression of a restaurant to be its scent thanks to locally foraged yellow prairie coneflower, grayleaf goldenrod, butterfly weed, yarrow and whorled milkweed, all dried and densely hung in bunches from the doorway and over the narrow bar.

2 weeks ago | timesunion.com | Susie Davidson Powell

Four years ago, East Greenbush’s dining scene had a boost when the owners of Salsa Latina in Albany opened a sibling Mexican eatery in the once-legendary Mother’s Roadhouse biker bar. Now, with Edith and Oscar Geronimo as the sole owners of Greenbush Salsa Latina — Edith’s brother owns the Albany spot — Watervliet is the next lucky recipient of the Geronimo’s new project, the month-old Quechua Peruvian Restaurant, focused on the food of their homeland.

3 weeks ago | timesunion.com | Susie Davidson Powell

In this Second Course series, I put the spotlight on restaurants reviewed over the years. Some have stayed the course; others reinvented menus or their entire identity after the pandemic lockdown. Some might have slipped off your radar — or never been on it — and are worth a look. Kismet Grill, 1116 Madison Ave., Albany; 518-599-0500 and kismetgrill.com Article continues below this adHours: Tuesday to Sunday: Lunch, noon to 4 p.m.; dinner, 4 to 9 p.m. Closed Monday.

4 weeks ago | timesunion.com | Susie Davidson Powell

The doors are finally open at DeFazio at 216, 10 years after the DeFazio family bought the expansive Vanilla Bean Bakery building a block and a half north of their Fourth Street pizzeria and 75-year-old Italian import store in Troy. Weeks of service for friends and family passed as they ironed out opening details, including the installation of another stove when demand for chef Max Clement’s pastas outpaced pizza.