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ARTISANAL BREW WORKS UNVEILS A COLLECTION OF CASUAL COMFORT FOODS THAT PAIR PERFECTLY WITH THE BREWERY'S BELOVED BEER SELECTIONS. BY JEFF DINGLER

Even in the bitter winter, nothing goes better with a cold beer than some salty, spicy pub fare. “Tell me about it,” says Colin Quinn, co-founder and co-owner of the Saratoga-based

Artisanal Brew Works

(ABW). A school teacher at Saratoga High by day, the bearded Quinn looks more the part of a beer-brewer, and took his passion pro in 2015 by starting ABW with Kurt Borchardt. Now he’s excited about adding a permanent inhouse food menu. “This is the very first time in our seven-year history that we have our own kitchen,” says Quinn, who began home-brewing in his 20s. “To be able to pair beers with food items is something that Kurt and I have been talking about for a long time.”

To complete that barroom snacking dream, Quinn and Borchardt tapped culinary whiz Jason Emerson, who grew up in Saratoga and got his first taste of the food scene in high school. “I started out as a dishwasher at the Mexican Connection

dog days Artisanal Brew Works co-owners Kurt

Borchardt and Colin Quinn; (above) Chef Jason Emerson’s Michigan hot dogs served with chips; (inset) ABW’s Total Darkness Stout.

and worked my way up,” he says.

Since then, Emerson has worked for some of the toniest restaurants and resorts in the area: Saratoga National, The Sagamore and The Equinox across the Vermont border in Manchester. He spent the previous six years as a sous chef at the Spa City’s famed artist retreat, Yaddo. “We’re going to rotate some comfy taproom favorites,” Emerson says. “Beer cheese, pizza, panini, and Michigan dogs with chips.” His current favorite item? A marinated mix of sautéed Greek and Spanish olives, tapas style, with Calabrian chilis and garlic. “It pairs very well with our Intermezzo Italian Pilsner,” he says. “The beer complements the spiciness, saltiness and herbaceousness of the marinated olives.” For dessert, he created a chocolate mouse with ABW’s own popular peanut butter stout and plans to add a frosty sorbet utilizing the brewery’s own fruited sours to the menu.

The new kitchen soft-opened on December 17 with a small but scrumptious selection. Since then, the pair of beer-makers has rolled out a full menu, and they’re hoping to toast to a full-fledged ABW restaurant one day. “Unfortunately the slow economy has delayed our 180-person restaurant space,” says Borchardt. “For now, we pivoted to having a smaller kitchen with a focus on making super highquality food. Our focus is on becoming a destination brewery.”

The duo’s beverages have been so successful that Quinn even gets recognized at work. He says, “I get questions from my students like, ‘When can I come in and have a beer, Mr. Quinn?’ I tell them: ‘When you’re 21.’”

For now, a bite to eat will have to do.

From Your Perspective

Saratoga Springs–based architecture firm Balzer & Tuck has been bringing clients’ visions to life for more than two decades.

DRIVING NORTH ON ROUTE 9, just before you get to the entrance of the Saratoga Spa State Park, you’ll pass a car dealership on the right. Sure, “Honda” is displayed on the side of the building, and the lot is filled with new and used cars, but if it weren’t for those details, you might think you were driving by a museum, or maybe a performing arts center.

“We didn’t bring a portfolio of car dealerships to this project, but we did bring a great appreciation for Saratoga Springs and a willingness to listen to what the owner needed to operate a successful business,” says Michael Tuck of Balzer & Tuck Architecture. “The owner of the car dealership knew a corporate dealership identity wouldn’t be well received, so he came to us saying, ‘How do you bridge the gap? How do we give enough of the corporate identity but yet respect the context in which it will be constructed?’” The answer? A signature auto porch for showcasing new vehicles inspired by the sweeping porches found on the historic buildings of Saratoga Spa State Park directly across the street.

Balzer & Tuck’s ability to work closely with clients to determine exactly what they want and need from a project—whether it’s residential or commercial, new construction or a renovation—is something Tuck and business partner Brett Balzer are especially proud of. “What we hear from folks is that we check our ego at the door,” Tuck says. “That means we’re designing for people. We’re not trying to make another signature project or push them in a way that we think is better. It’s the quiet listening, the quiet guiding, and really advocating for what the owners want that sets us apart.” That notion is even illustrated in the firm’s three “pillars of design”: design with thoughtfulness, listen with empathy, and deliver with passion. Thinking of building a custom home and don’t know where to start? “There are folks that say ‘I don’t really know what I want, but I have this piece of land or I have this existing home that isn’t working for me,’” Tuck says. “They need x bedrooms and would like a pool and all these things, but don’t know how to get it all to come together or how much it’s going to cost.” If that sounds like you, Balzer & Tuck should be your first call. “We take that information and get at why they want the house,” Tuck says. “How do they live? What’s important to them? Whether it’s the card games that they play with their extended family on the porch on the weekends, or if it’s gardening—different people have different things, and that all informs our process for designing a unique project for each client’s needs.” ■

518.580.8818 | balzertuck.com

The Balzer and Tuck team prides itself on designing for clients rather than trying to make another signature project, whether it’s a commercial building or a residential home.

FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE

FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE