Susie Davidson Powell

New York

Dining Critic | Food & Drink Writer at Times Union (Albany)

British food writer in upstate NY. @TimesUnion dining critic, cocktail columnist, https://t.co/U1q5XNpwEN author & recipe developer, travel & wine enthusiast.

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Articles

Regent at Brookmere hotel in Saratoga a place for French fare

1 week ago | timesunion.com | Susie Davidson Powell

Two miles east of Saratoga Race Course, the $30 million transformation of the former Longfellows hotel and conference center into Brookmere, a new luxury hotel and spa, is complete. The project, by Sonny and Julie Bonacio with investment partner Mark Haworth, is run by Hay Creek Hotels and Restaurants, which also operates the Bonacios’ The Lodge at Schroon Lake in its portfolio, looms large in its modernity even with Longfellow’s 100-year-old dairy barn baked into the design.
Revisiting The Roosevelt Room: Mostly smooth sailing despite upheaval

2 weeks ago | timesunion.com | Susie Davidson Powell

Previous installments of Second Course include The Daisy in Cohoes, The Stewart House in Athens, Arthur’s Market in Schenectady, Harvest Smokehouse in Valatie, The Seasoning House and Bespoki Bowl in Troy, Cart & Cafe — Indian Grocery and Restaurant in East Greenbush, Siro’s in Saratoga Springs, Lil’ Deb’s Oasis in Hudson, Farmacy in Glens Falls, Nine Pin Cider, Loch and Quay, Black and Blue Steak and Crab, and Kismet Grill, all in Albany, the The Aviary in Kinderhook, and Coray Kitchen in...
Summer cocktails from Familiar Creature, La Capital and Quechua

2 weeks ago | timesunion.com | Susie Davidson Powell

May is a packed full of days celebrating drinks, including World Cocktail Day on May 13, National Aperitif Day on May 15, World Whisky Day on the third Saturday, and of course, it also kicked off with plenty of margaritas in celebration of Cinco de Mayo. We have a local connection to the word “cocktail,” with the first known definition published by editor Harry Crosswell in 1806 in The Balance and Columbian Repository, a periodical printed in Hudson.
Restaurant review: Boca Bistro still strongly Spanish in Saratoga

3 weeks 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.
Dining review: Taiga in Hudson an introduction to Russian food

1 month 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.
Quechua Peruvian brilliant addition to Watervliet dining scene

1 month 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.
Second Course review: New owners spice up Kismet Grill in Albany

1 month 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.
Review: A long time coming, DeFazio’s at 216 is a big, bold success

1 month 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.
Susie Davidson Powell tries Tree House Brewing beers in Saratoga

1 month ago | timesunion.com | Susie Davidson Powell

It was New York Craft Beer Day on Friday, and so I’m talking beer instead of cocktails this week. A Times Union story tracing the history of beer in the Hudson Valley noted Albany was once the beer capital of the 19th century.
Familiar Creature an immediate and comfortable winner in Saratoga Springs

1 month ago | timesunion.com | Susie Davidson Powell

Familiar Creature, a new wine bar on Phila Street in Saratoga Springs, is exactly that: familiar, because it’s inspired by Montreal’s French bistros like Vin Papillon, Pichai and Chez Simone, and by Québécois cuisine. And familiar for its European tiled floor, windows open to the street, wine-red stools studding a wooden bar, wines by the glass written on a mirrored back bar and the wine stock stored in open shelves on a far wall.