Classy locale now with classy offerings
1 the pandemic and became head chef in November 2020 — translates smooth confidence to the drinks and food. DeMarco, an industry-trained local chef, has bopped around from Rascal’s in Crossgates to The Merry Monk in Saratoga Springs, but I suspect it’s his more recent years working at Harvest & Wisdom, an organic farm-to-table restaurant in Naples, Fla., with a 4acre farm onsite, that here translates to our plates.
A watermelon-kale salad in its simplest form is everything you want for summer: all juice ’n’ crunch, bolstered by cucumber, torn mint, prickles of anise from shaved fennel and tangy goat cheese. The mussels meuniere are pristine both inside and out in a buttery wine-garlic broth we mop up with crisp crostini spears. Even zucchini “toast,” the sort of gluten-free dish that can go so wrong in less capable hands, is seasoned, griddlemarked and firm enough to hold both fresh and house-dried tomatoes, basil and chevre, all shimmering in olive oil and balsamic gastrique. The single tentacle of octopus confit has us widening our eyes — snow white and extraordinarily tender inside, its crisp outer skin is spiked with togarashi heat. Our only complaint is that the seasoning, along with gochujang (Korean chile paste) aioli and salty edamame-corn succotash, builds and builds without relief.
You might go for simple classics, a Caesar salad or panzanella, crispy Brussels sprouts or truffle fries. These are easy-tospot crowd-pleasers, and DeMarco confirms that The Merc attracts a fairly straightforward crowd, so the menu spends less time pushing the envelope than giving the people what they want. To that point, the list of entrees is anchored by orecchiette pasta, Faroe Island salmon and New York strip steak.
My airline chicken, a cut delivering the best of white and dark meat, is wrapped in the crispiest herb skin, fragrant with thyme jus and nestled in manchego polenta with haricot verts. Who wouldn’t like this? It’s a near-perfect execution of chicken and veg. Though we’re surprised to find braised beef short ribs, the ideal comfort food of fall, they’re flawless in technique with meat falling from the bone like ropa vieja, collagenthickened sauce adding gloss and spliced baby carrots (their green tops intact) as a foil in lighter bites. Add bread if you want more heft: a rustic rosemary pane di casa with whipped honey truffle butter.
There’s a compelling wine list, though we were surprised not to find dry riesling or grüner veltliner by the glass. But our server knew her wine, too, and, though we were ready to placate ourselves with a bottle, she came back with my guest’s Chianti and a glass of dry Heinz Eifel riesling in hand. I’m not suggesting they’ll open bottles, but I sense the list is evolving, and with bottles priced around $30 to $45 you may not care.
We polished off a firm strawberry panna cotta, with tartness from swooshed blackberry compote and the lightest vanilla in freshly whipped cream. For me, this is what dessert should be — a light ending, neither heavy nor cloyingly sweet — though our neighbors clearly loved their pineapple caramel carrot cake. The team behind The Merc has figured out how to make familiar dishes shine. In an often-expensive dining landscape, entrees in the mid-$20s and salads and small plates around $12 make The Merc’s price point a real joy. Service is on point and that all-day brunch is still mighty fine.