Sperry's Restaurant in Saratoga Springs NY

Jul 30, 2011 | From the kitchen of Rose

Saratoga Springs, home of the famous Saratoga Raceway, is a mere 40 minute drive from Lake George so I asked my dear friend Sally Longo (host of upstate NY cable show Dinner at 8) for a recommendation of where to eat. She suggested a newly reopened restaurant named Sperry's, saying that their chef, Dale Miller, is one of 66 Certified Master Chef's in the US!

As it was a lovely summer night, we opted to sit on the outdoor porch overlooking the beautiful backyard bar.

We were greeted with a delicious Kir Royale.

We were also offered a small tasting of main courses as appetizers. We were off to a great start and it kept building with surprise after surprise of deliciousness!

We shared an appetizer of soft-shell crab that was so perfect we wished we had ordered it as the main course to have more of it.

But once the crispy trout arrived, exceptionally moist and flavorful, and boned to boot, we had no regrets!

Sally advised to be sure to order the shoe string fries with garlic aioli. Oh yes! That could have been the main course and left us happy!

The best surprise of all was the dessert. Pastry chef Nancy Iannacone and her
assistant Victoria McCormick presented the lemon curd tartlett with blueberry ginger sauce in person. And three guesses where the recipe will appear! It was a heavenly merging of flavors and textures! Chef Nancy created it for The National Pro Start Culinary Team Competition for which she teaches the curriculum. Vicky will be going to the Culinary Institute of American this Fall (lucky her and lucky them!).

Delightful hosts, Christel and Colin MacLean, recently moved from New York City, to reopen Sperry's which has been a Saratoga tradition since 1932.

Christel worked on Wall Street before becoming a restaurateur.

Colin was involved with Broadway productions before he turned to the restaurant business.

We left the restaurant promising to come back next year when we make our annual visit to Lake George however, when my brother and I returned to upstate NY a few weeks later to visit our dad in Grafton, and realized it was only an hour drive to Sperry's, we brought him there for dinner. On the way back, I asked my dad which he preferred--Sperry's or his favorite Plum Blossom Chinese restaurant in Troy. His answer: "No contest!"

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