The Point Cafe

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Category: Restaurant Reviews

Written by Brian

The Point Cafe is located in Schenectady.  I had heard good things from people on another review site, so I was excited to give it a try.  Basically, they were wrong.

Service was really bad from the start, it took way to long to seat us.  There were two people working there, one whose job I have to assume was to stare blankly at the wall while I need a drink refill or need the check, and the other who does all the actual work, but you only see her if there is a baby at your table that she finds cute.  It was so bad, other customers were getting up and grabbing stuff off the storage area because you never saw a server.

Onto the food:  Josie ordered the strawberry stuffed french toast with a side of bacon.  She got the choice of stuffing it with either cream cheese or cottage cheese in addition to strawberries.  (she chose cream cheese).  First off, it wasn't stuffed.  It was two pieces of french toast with a glob of cream cheese in the middle, and a cold strawberry pie filling topping.  The cream cheese ruined it, so she quickly pulled that off, and the french toast got cold quickly due to the cold topping.  There was nothing special about the dish.

I ordered cinnamon swirl french toast (not pictured) with a side of hash browns.  Basically, it was just french toast made with cinnamon raisin bread.  It was a good bread, but slightly overcooked.  The hash browns were cooked well, but had absolutely zero flavor.

The two entrees with sides and two coffees came to $24, which is pretty high for breakfast for two in the area.  Mediocre food and horrendous service earned The Point Cafe 2 Forks.

Strawberry 'stuffed' French Toast	Hash Browns (Cinnamon French Toast not pictured)

Hudson-Berkshire Wine Trail - Mac Attack

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Category: News

Written by Brian

The three of us (and Kent's better half) made a weekend vacation out of the Hudson Berkshire Experience's - Mac Attack wine trail.

The trail consists of 3 wineries (Brookview Station, Hudson-Chatham, and Furnace Brook), 1 brewery (chatham Brewing), and 1 distilliary (Harvest Spirits)

This year, their pasta themed trail event was focused on Macaroni and Cheese dishes.  All 5 participants had creative dishes using their products in the recipe.

All four of us had Furnace Brook as our first or second choice, so I determined them to be the winner from CRFoodies.  I called the trail coordinator, and they have yet to announce the official winner based on ballots, but hope to have a winner by next week

Click 'more' below to view more pictures from the event.

Wines from Hudson-Chatham Winery	Wine tasting at Brookview Station Winery	Passport Booklet and all our votes for Mac and Cheese

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Ambition Bistro Coffee House & Eatery

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Category: Restaurant Reviews

Ambition Bistro, also known as Ambition Coffee House and Eatery, is located at 154 Jay Street in Schenectady. Now, if you're not familiar with downtown Schenectady, allow me to pass along something I learned the hard way. Not all of Jay Street is actually a street! There's a small one block section of "Jay Street" that's actually a sidewalk. This is where you will find Ambition. I don't advise driving down the sidewalk.. I'm pretty sure law enforcement would frown on that. So, cross your fingers and find parking!

Ambition Bistro boasts a menu of fresh made specialty sandwiches, coffees and lattes, cocktails, wine, and pastries. My original plan was to order a couple of sandwiches to go. Then I walked inside. The decor is so quirky, and off the wall that it's actually welcoming. It had that cafe feel of, "grab a seat, grab a latte, grab a sandwich and stay a while." So I did. There are even cafe couches in the far back.

When you walk in, there's a sign saying to seat yourself at any clean table. Now, this admittedly had me worried. Would the wait staff know that a new customer just randomly occupied a seat? Are they really that attentive? They were pretty busy. Well, they really were that attentive. Seconds after I took a seat, I noticed one of the servers poke his head around. A minute later, a server (I couldn't tell if it was the same one) was delivering a sandwich to the table behind me, and told me he'd be right back. Another minute (or two) later, he was back and I had menu in hand. A few minutes after that, a second server came to make sure I had gotten a drink order in. Since I had, I decided to take the opportunity to order my sandwiches.

My meal consisted of the "Brie My Raspberry," and "Jay Walking" sandwiches ($8 each). The Brie My Raspberry is a seasoned, grilled turkey breast (not the cold cut stuff folks!) with warm, melted brie and a raspberry compote served on grilled sourdough bread. This was a perfect balance of flavors. The turkey was fall apart tender, and so juicy. The raspberry compote was perfectly balanced (hardly tart at all), and the brie was warm and creamy. Brie was a good call for this dish, because a stronger cheese might've clashed or overpowered the flavors. The sourdough was hearty, and held the juicyness well. I wonder if it's homemade.

The Jay Walking is a grilled chicken breast with bacon, cheddar, and a house made bbq sauce served on grilled multigrain. When the Jay Walking arrived, I pinched off a piece of the grilled chicken and have to say I was mildly disappointed that the chicken breast wasn't seasoned. Then I took a bite of the whole sandwich. That'll teach me to pick apart my food (not really). The bbq sauce brought everything together. Eating the sandwich, as a whole, added so much flavor that there was no real way to tell that the chicken itself hadn't been seasoned. I can't recall a dish with grilled chicken breast that actually managed to get away with that. My one critique about the Jay Walking was that the house bbq sauce could have used a bit more tang (more worcestershire maybe). It was a little too sweet, and a little too thin in consistency. The multigrain bread, as with the sourdough above, was hearty and really tasted homemade.

The service was impeccable, fast and friendly. I will say that, in my humble opinion, $8 is a bit pricey for a standard sized sandwich; even with the chips. On the flip side, if you're going to do crafted sandwiches, do it right. Ambitions does it right. So, if you find yourself in Schenectady, wanting a meal that's light and tasty; complete with a warm, unique, and friendly atmosphere then you need to visit Ambition.

"Brie My Raspberry"	"Jay Walking"

Hudson Berkshire Wine & Food Festival - May 25 & 26

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Category: Events

Written by Kent

Hudson Berkshire Wine & Food Fest

May 25th (Noon to 6 PM) & May 26th (Noon to 5 PM)

Columbia County Fairgrounds / Route 66 / Chatham, NY

The Berkshire Wine & Food Festival is an exciting culinary event, marrying the best aspects of the Hudson Valley and Berkshire Mountains. The rich fabric of the countryside is home to artisanal bakers and cheese makers, numerous CSAs, organic meats and vegetables, small and large family owned farms, and a host of other small artisnal food producers. The region is also host to a number of wineries, distilleries, and craft brewers.

Directions: From Albany
Take I-90 to Exit 12; go south on Route 9 to Route 203 in Valatie, follow signs to Chatham.

Website: http://hudsonberkshireexperience.com/hudson-berkshire-wine-food-festival/