Ask a Local
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PHOTO: COURTESY OF RHONDA BELLUSO;( LARK STREET) COURTESY OF LARK STREET BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT
Ask a Local
Originally from a small town in Illinois, Rhonda K. Belluso has lived on and off for nine years in Albany, where she shares a 1929 Tudor-style home with her husband, son and stepson. A former environmental lobbyist, she owns and operates her own public relations and marketing firm, RC3 Communications.
I love Albany’ s small-town feel. It’ s great bumping into friends at a coffee shop or grocery store, and my neighborhood is the best. While many things about Albany have changed, a lot is the same. There’ s new, exciting development around Albany Medical Center and in the Warehouse District, but along South Manning, toward my neighborhood, it’ s as charming as when I first drove there, in 2001.
For brunch, we love Café Madison( get there early to avoid the lines). For lunch, we like El Loco or El Mariachi. Our go-tos for dinner are Druthers, The Pump Station, New World Bistro and Capital City Gastropub. Jack’ s Oyster House is a nice treat or one of the old Italian restaurants downtown like Lombardo’ s or Café Capriccio. For coffee, we walk to Tierra Roasters or drive to Emack & Bolio’ s, which has delicious confections.
I encourage guests to visit in warmer weather for the fun festivals like the Tulip Festival and the Alive at Five concert series. Track season is fun too, so we’ ll do a picnic at Saratoga Racetrack— just 30 minutes north.
FUN FACT
Amtrak. com
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Before being named for the English Duke of Albany in 1664, the Dutch called the settlement Beverwijck, meaning“ beaver district,” since the critters ran rampant. Before that, the Mahicans called the area Pempotowwuthut- Muhhcanneuw, or“ the fireplace of the Mohican Nation.”
In winter, we go to the New York State Museum, which has a giant carousel, or go skating at the Empire State Plaza Ice Rink( it’ s free, minus the skates). And there’ s always a concert or play we can see at The Egg, Palace Theater or Upstate
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Concert Hall.
Out on a Lark
From quaint coffee shops to gargantuan festivals, Albany’ s Lark Street has it all.
By Brian PJ Cronin
It’ s a 10-minute cab ride to Lark Street from the Albany- Rensselaer Amtrak Station, but once you’ ve arrived, you might think you wound up in Greenwich Village. The brownstones, wide stoops and cobblestoned, tree-lined cross streets make it easy to see why this neighborhood has been nicknamed“ the Village in Albany.”
Lark Street’ s intimate scale and turn-of-the-century architecture isn’ t the only reason for the comparison. It’ s also the Capital District’ s premier neighborhood for artists, musicians and the LGBT community( the Pride Center of the Capital Region, America’ s oldest continuously operating LGBT center, is nearby on Hudson Avenue). Coffee lovers have a choice of old-school coffee shop Daily Grind, which has roasted its own beans since 1976; newcomer Stacks Espresso Bar, where every cup is served atop a miniature wooden cutting board next to a glass of sparkling water; or Brew, which not only roasts its own beans, but sells a staggering array of craft beers as well.
Diners can travel the world over the course of just a few blocks, with Greek, Japanese, Thai and Italian restaurants, and there’ s even a vegan deli. Plus, there’ s Chinese for every budget, from the 100-seat Cantonese restaurant Rain, which serves dim sum on weekends, to the equally popular, miniscule take-out joint Amazing Wok, a neighborhood staple for over 20 years. But the best value can perhaps be found at Bomber’ s, which serves brick-sized burritos filled with everything from Southern fried catfish to red-stripe marinated pork. Getting the biggest bang for your buck isn’ t just Bomber’ s mission statement, it’ s its origin story as well: It was founded in 1997 with the winnings from a particularly spectacular run at the poker table in a nearby casino.
Lark Street’ s galleries and studios stay open late on the first Friday of every month, but those looking for a bigger party should stop by in June for the annual Art on Lark Street Festival, when the street is turned over to artists, painters, sculptors, crafters and 20,000 eager patrons. It’ s New York State’ s second-largest street festival, but it’ s dwarfed by the biggest one of them all, which is also held on Lark. LarkFEST manages to cram up to 80,000 people on its blocks on a September Saturday for national indie musical acts like Matt and Kim, Moby and Lower Dens.
The crowds and talent for LarkFEST may seem like they’ d be more at home in New York City, but for the Empire City, it’ s just another warm-weather Saturday night, and everything will be over in time for another quiet Sunday morning of fresh roasted coffee and dim sum in one of the state’ s most beloved neighborhoods.
New York By Rail | 47