Nov. 17-21 Cohoes pop-up for Baltimore bagel shop
Bottoms Up Bagels, a Baltimore-based bagel shop that regularly travels for pop-up events it calls the BUB Roadshow, will bring its bagels, spreads, house-cured lox and egg sandwiches to Cohoes from Wednesday, Nov. 17, to Sunday, Nov. 21.
The retail location will be in the Moose Lodge at 289 Ontario St., and the Bottoms Up Bagels team will use kitchen space at the United Church of Cohoes to hand-roll, boil and bake its eponymous product, which owners Michelle Bond and Joan Kanner describe as "New Jersey style … dense, chewy (and) old-school."
Hours will be 7 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. or until that day's supply of bagels is sold out.
The company started in 2016 with pop-up events around Baltimore, including at farmers markets, art galleries and breweries. Its first brick-and-mortar location opened in June 2020. The visit to Cohoes is BUB'S first out of state since the pandemic began, according to the owners. The farthest the company has gone for a pop-up was Bozeman, Mont., in 2019.
Bond, who said she has spent time in the Hudson Valley for school and work and has visited the Capital Region, said in a statement, “The sense of community and rich history is always something that’s drawn us here.”
Quang's Bistro closes, owner going to Sea Smoke
Quang Tran, one of the area's best fine-dining servers, with a resumé that
includes Michelin-starred restaurants in San Francisco and the former Peck's Arcade, last week closed his Quang's Vietnamese Bistro to take a management position with Sea Smoke Waterfront Grill, opening in early December in the Starbuck Island development in Green Island.
Tran said he wanted to go out quietly with his
little downtown storefront place, on the Collar City's Third Street, which he started in the back of a convenience store and grew to take over the full space.
"The bistro had a nice three-year run, but I am looking forward to returning back to the fine-dining scene, where I feel I truly belong," he said.
Tran will be in senior management at Sea Smoke, said Jaime Ortiz, who owns the restaurant as well as 677 Prime in Albany, Toro Cantina in Colonie and Prime Burger and Shakehouse in Troy. Sheila Burke, a longtime veteran of Mazzone Hospitality who for a few years has been director of restaurants for Ortiz's company, will be the opening general manager of Sea Smoke. Tran will train to take over as GM once the restaurant is up and running and Burke returns to her oversight role with the parent company, Ortiz said.
Oh Corn! closes to find a fresh home elsewhere
Oh Corn! Arepas and More, which opened in a small commercial plaza on Route 9 in Halfmoon five years ago, closed temporarily after business on Oct. 30.
Jose Theoktisto, who opened the restaurant with his wife, Belkis Castro, said they decided not to renew the strip-mall lease and are on the hunt for a new space, preferably in a downtown Albany, Schenectady or Troy location, or Latham or Colonie. In the string of comments that greeted the relocation announcement on Facebook, pleadings also came in for a move to Ballston Spa, Cohoes, Glens Falls and Saratoga Springs, among others, as well as some lamentation from Halfmoon and Clifton Park residents.
An opening in the first quarter of next year is projected, depending on how quickly a new home is identified, Theoktisto said.
Compiled by Steve Barnes. Items to be considered for publication should be submitted to sbarnes@timesunion.com. Twitter: @Tablehopping. Facebook: Stevebarnesfoodcritic.