Good Stuff

On New Year's Eve I had a most excellent meal. Probably one of the best meals I have ever had dining out in a restaurant. (I have to qualify that statement because my mom and grandmother were two of the best home cooks I have ever encountered on my travels, no offense to anyone near and dear to my heart who still feeds me.)  I have eaten in many retaurants over the years (and I have the hips to prove it), in big cities such as Paris, London, Las Vegas, New York City, and San Francisco. I have had great meals in each of these cities, some with a famous chef behind them and sometimes just a small local establishment with good food and a lovely staff that treated me as if I were family. 

To be totally honest, I am not completely unbiased when it comes to this place. But I am a fairly picky eater and often have to settle on sides and appetizers when dining out with family and friends because they choose restuarants that do not serve anything I would eat. I am definitely not what they call a foodie. But on New Year's Eve I found myself in culinary heaven, in the lovely dining room of the Cella Bistro. Dinner was a four course meal with a champagne toast. Each course had a variety of selections. 

I started with house made potato gnocchi with buerre fondue, crispy sage and pecorino romano. Now, I have no idea what buerre fondue is, but the gnocchi was so tasty that I lusted after more and almost forked my husband's hand when he tried to sneak some. (I did relent and let him taste it.) Next up was potato leek soup, something I fell in love with on one of my visits to London many years ago when I stumbled upon a place called the West End Kitchen. My love was amplified a thousand times when the first spoonful of the Cella Bistro version hit my lips. Corny but true. The main course was Gramma Cella’s lasagna, made with spinach, onions and mascarpone sauce layered with parmeggiano reggiano and hand rolled pasta baked with san marzano tomato sauce. This awesome dish melts in your mouth and the tomato sauce cannot be described except to say, yummy. At this point I was pretty stuffed but when I watched my dessert choice walk by to another table I broke down and undid the top button of my jeans. Warm chocolate bundt cake with vanilla bean ice cream and melba sauce. I did my best but sadly had to leave almost half of it behind. 

The reason I mention my New Year's Eve dinner now is because the Cella Bistro was recently featured in an article titled 'Fine Dining 2012' in the print and online editions of The Business Review for the Capital District (the Albany, New York area). To quote the article:

"This week's edition of The Business Review is devoted to the Capital Region's fine dining sector and the ways in which those restaurants and others like them are luring customers in this recession." (Sadly you cannot read the entire article without subscribing, but please feel free to do so!)

The article is complete with pictures:

Meet the Chefs - Cella Bistro images 5 and 6

See the Dishes - Cella Bistro images 5, 6 and 7

I am very glad to see the Cella Bistro getting such awesome exposure, it truly deserves it. And a very big hello to Chef Michael, his lovely wife Julia, chef-in-training Anthony (hey, you never know!), and of course Jim and Cheryl.  

P.S. Rumor has it that Gordon Ramsay will be in our neck of woods this week. If he's hungry, he should stop in for a bite at the Bistro and taste some of the best our area has to offer.