• Likes
  • Followers
  • Followers
  • Subscribers
  • Followers
Sign in

Welcome, Login to your account.

Forget password?
Sign in

Recover your password.

A password will be e-mailed to you.

  • ARCHIVES:
  • 2009
  • 2010
  • 2011
  • 2012
  • 2013
  • 2014
  • 2015
  • 2016
  • 2017
  • 2018
  • 2019
  • 2020
  • 2021

Nippertown Nippertown - Celebrating Music, Arts, and Culture in the Capital Region

  • Vote Here!
  • Music
    • Concert Reviews
    • Upcoming Shows
    • Photo Galleries
    • Album Reviews
    • The Scene & The Biz
    • Five Firsts
  • Arts
    • Art
    • Comedy
    • Theater
    • Exhibits
    • Dance
    • Poetry
  • Culture
    • Food
    • Craft Beverages
    • Wellness
    • Books/Readings
    • Film/TV/DVD
    • Media Watch
    • Gaming
  • About Nippertown
    • Advertise!
    • Contact Us
    • Nippertown: The Legacy Lives On
      • Submit Band Information
    • Nippertown FAQs
    • Nippertown Store
    • Contributor Uploads
    • Calendar
      • View Calendar
      • Nippertown Open Mics
      • Add an Event
      • Become a Calendar Contributor
Nippertown
  • Home
  • Chris Shaw

Author

Chris Shaw 51 posts 5 comments

Chris Shaw spent the last 40 years singing the songs and telling the stories of the Adirondacks from here to Anchorage, and San Diego to Berlin. 15 years as the International representative of Taylor Guitars, 12 albums, numerous TV specials, and 25 years of "Mountain Snow and Mistletoe" shows later, he retired in 2015 after going back to school at both SCCC Culinary and CIA. He’s now writing about food and life in the Capital District and beyond here at Nippertown!

Food

Chris’s Short Take: The Mercantile

Chris Shaw Sep 12, 2020
We need to remember that exciting options for dining are still out there in greater Nippertown, and The Mercantile in Saratoga right on Broadway is certainly one of…
Food

SUNY ADK Culinary Arts Program is ready for the Fall despite COVID concerns

Chris Shaw Aug 15, 2020
When I went to culinary school there was no pandemic, and it was hard enough under those good conditions. So when COVID hit I tried to envision what the effect would be, and…
Food

Chris’s Short Take: The State of the Restaurant Business

Chris Shaw May 5, 2020
The State of the Restaurant Business: with Vic Christopher (Clark House Hospitality Group), Patricia Pendergast Novo (Taverna Novo), Jay Larkin (SUNY Schenectady Culinary),…
Food

Cookin’ with Chris: Dark and Stormy Cookies

Chris Shaw Apr 29, 2020
We all knew it was just a matter of time until the sweets recipes started to come out!  This is quick, easy, and will please all you ginger fans out there forever... …
Food

Cookin’ with Chris: Asian Peanut Noodles

Chris Shaw Apr 24, 2020
Editor's note: Chris Shaw is normally out and about writing about his restaurant adventures in the "Chris's Short Take" articles. In light of the quarantine, Chris has…
Food

Chris’s Short Take: Something Completely Different…

Chris Shaw Apr 17, 2020
So obviously I won't be writing here about the new places opening up, or the time-proven favorites latest direction, or even a new chef in town. The virus has sidelined…
Food

Chris’s Short Take(out): A whole new ballgame…

Chris Shaw Mar 31, 2020
My, how things have changed since I posted here last. I was on vacation in Florida when this all blew up, and wound up driving back through a country that resembled an…
Events

St. Patrick’s Day: Here and There…

Chris Shaw Mar 16, 2020
Editor's note: How times have changed in a week. Chris Shaw wrote this article a week ago today in preparations for St. Patrick's Day in the Capital Region. He did it early…
Food

Chris’s Short Take: The Hot Dog Ranch

Chris Shaw Feb 23, 2020
On a pretty lousy day last week, I drove out to Pittsfield MA and happened on a place a friend of mine mentioned to me a while back, The Hot Dog Ranch. I know, I know, I…
Food

Chris’s Short Take: Unagi Sushi

Chris Shaw Feb 19, 2020
I waited a bit to go to Unagi after Andy Dong , the founding sushi chef there, left. (Editors note: Andy Dong left in July of ’18.)  Transition is difficult, but what has…
Food

Chris’s Short Take: McAddy’s Pub

Chris Shaw Feb 18, 2020
Back in the ‘80s, and even into the ‘90s, McAddy’s was known as Holmes and Watson, home of the “Around the World” Beer Tour where patrons received a T-shirt and certificate…
Food

Chris’s Short Take: Wolff’s Biergarten Brunch Falls Short

Chris Shaw Feb 11, 2020
Over the years I've seen hundreds of jersey-wearing families and rabid soccer fans descend on Wolff's Biergarten for weekend brunch and the sharing of a soccer match with…
Food

Chris’s Short Take: Seneca, An Introduction

Chris Shaw Feb 5, 2020
When I signed on to cook at Druthers years ago, the kitchen wasn’t open. The bar wasn’t built. Hell, I painted the women’s room waiting for the stove to show up. And as I…
Food

Chris’s Short Take: Saratoga’s Chowderfest 2020

Chris Shaw Feb 2, 2020
Okay... true confessions.  I'd never been to Chowderfest.  Well, sort of... I'd helped cook at it... true confessions Deux, I used to cook at Druthers.  I was fortunate…
Food

The 22nd Annual Saratoga Chowderfest this Saturday, February 1st

Chris Shaw Jan 31, 2020
The 2020 Saratoga Chowderfest is taking place this coming weekend! This Saturday, February 1st, 11 AM to 4 PM all over town!!!    The event is free, family friendly, and…
Food

Chris’s Short Take: Lime Leaf Thai Bistro opens in Troy

Chris Shaw Jan 29, 2020
January 28th marked the Grand Opening of Troy’s latest restaurant, the Lime Leaf Thai Bistro. Mayor Patrick Madden, County Legislator Carole Weaver, Hannah Zinoman from the…
Food

Chris’s Short Take: Little Peck’s (Brunch in Troy)

Chris Shaw Jan 22, 2020
It’s been almost three years since the culinary and hospitality duo of Vic Christopher and Heather LaVine repurposed a space previously occupied by a gourmet shop into what…
Food

Nationally Renowned Nettle Meadow Farm Cheesemaker to Move to Lake Luzerne

Chris Shaw Jan 15, 2020
Regional Nettle Meadow Farm has made its mark in the cheese world and is moving its production facility to the former Hitching Post restaurant on Rt 9N in the near future.…
Food

Chris’s Short Take: More Perreca’s

Chris Shaw Jan 13, 2020
When you’re writing about anything out of town, it’s great to have a couple of buddies who are intimately familiar with the lay of the land. When you’re writing about…
Theater

The Band’s Visit – Proctors Schenectady

Chris Shaw Jan 9, 2020
(Wait a minute,…isn’t this the food critic guy? Yup, it’s me. But in my life before this, I was a singer, songwriter, and storyteller for 40 years, and I love the…
Food

Chris Shaw’s Holiday Shopping Pitstops in Schenectady

Chris Shaw Dec 21, 2019
This last installment of places to grab a great bite while you finish up your holiday shopping takes in Schenectady, a town on a strong cultural comeback, and that certainly…
Best of

Best of 2019: Chris Shaw’s Restaurant Picks

Chris Shaw Dec 10, 2019
I have seen some great years for food in the Nippertown Region, but none better than this one. Not just a few great plates, but a plethora of them! Best New Restaurant …
Food

Chris Shaw’s Holiday Shopping Pitstops in Albany

Chris Shaw Dec 3, 2019
Albany The Olde English Pub683 Broadway, Albany, NY 12207(518) 434-6533 They call this place, “The Little House with Beer In It," but that’s hardly the whole story…
Food

Snowpocalypse Cookin’ with Shaw

Chris Shaw Dec 1, 2019
While cruising social media, I posted a picture of a breakfast I cooked today and suggested others do the same! We got a ton of responses and that prompted this piece, so…
Food

Chris Shaw’s Holiday Shopping Pitstops in Troy

Chris Shaw Nov 29, 2019
You know the drill. Make the list. Check it twice. Run like mad from shop to shop, find parking, remember Uncle Louis’ sweater size. Suddenly you’re starved So where to…
Food

Chris’s Short Take: Oaxaquena Triqui

Chris Shaw Nov 25, 2019
Mexican food has been a real favorite of mine for as long as I can remember. No small feat for a guy raised in the Adirondacks, but between early trips to NYC and points…
Food

A Pig Roast at Riverside Maple Farms & Field Notes with St Croix Farms and Wolf Hollow…

Chris Shaw Nov 15, 2019
To say it was good and cold would be painfully accurate in describing the weather that the crew at Riverview Maple Farms had to deal with for their annual pig roast out in…
Culture

Road Trip: Queens Food Tour with Rick Bedrosian

Chris Shaw Nov 5, 2019
It takes a lot to get me out of bed before 6 AM these days. A lot. But when Rick Bedrosian suggested we go to New York City for one of his food tours and make a whole day…
Food

The Enchanted City: A Steampunk Blitz (with a Food Competition)

Chris Shaw Oct 27, 2019
Over the years I have been a very fortunate man. Back in my younger days, I had the opportunity to tour all over the world with my music and meet people in a wide variety of…
Food

Farm to Table Event at Riverside Maple Farms

Chris Shaw Oct 24, 2019
The Farm to Table movement has thrived here north of NYC, from the iconic Blue Hill at the Stone Barns, with it’s Time Magazine’s Most Influential People in the World (2009)…
Food

Troy’s River Street Market: More than a Food Court

Chris Shaw Oct 21, 2019
The River Street Market in Troy is a food hall by its own definition, but this place is far more than that. A bright, airy space in the Hedley Building is home to a half…
Food

11th Annual Albany Chef’s Wine and Dine for the Arts

Chris Shaw Oct 17, 2019
The 11th Annual Wine and Dine for the Arts will be January 16th through the 18th at the Capital Center in Albany. The Grand Gala Reception Dinner dinner will feature the…
Food

Chris’s Short Take: Brazilian Steakhouse on Central Ave.

Chris Shaw Oct 16, 2019
The log cabin at 1647 Central Ave. has been stuck in my memory as Truman’s Restaurant until recently. Now under the new banner of the Brazilian Steakhouse things have…
Food

Chris’s Short Take: Troy Chowderfest 2019

Chris Shaw Oct 13, 2019
An estimated 20,000 hungry participants took to the streets of Troy for the 13th Annual Troy Chowderfest on a sunny Sunday the 13th. Booths and storefronts all over…
Food

2019 Saratoga Wine & Food Festival Grand Tasting

Chris Shaw Oct 7, 2019
A crisp, sunny day was the setting for Saratoga Food & Wine’s Grand Tasting on Saturday the 5th of October, where the music was playing, the wine was flowing, and great…
Food

2019 Saratoga Wine & Food Festival Farm-to-Table Harvest Dinner

Chris Shaw Oct 7, 2019
It was a chilly night that ushered in the first Gala dinner celebrating The Saratoga Food & Wine Festival on the grounds of the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. The…
Food

City Beer Hall Changes Menu and offers Wild Game Dinner October 7

Chris Shaw Oct 7, 2019
The City Beer Hall at 42 Howard St., Albany, NY has unveiled its Fall 2019 Menu, and there are LOTS of new choices for both lunch and dinner.  Their Wild Game Dinner returns…
Events

A Victory Lap for the Troy Waterfront Farmers Market: #1 in the USA

Chris Shaw Sep 29, 2019
There was an unmistakable air of Esprit de Corps at the Troy Waterfront Farmer’s Market today after it won the top award for farmer’s markets in the country. The National…
Food

Chris’s Short Take: Best (And Worst!) Food of Summer 2019

Chris Shaw Sep 27, 2019
Well, folks, this one is your call!  Where did you go eat this summer that really rocked your boat, on the good or bad side?  No place is too big, or too small, too plain or…
Food

Troy Waterfront Farmers Market named #1 in the Nation

Chris Shaw Sep 26, 2019
The Troy Waterfront Farmer’s Market has been named the best in the country, and best in the Northeast by the National Farmland Trust, who have given the market the People’s…
Events

A Taste of Wilton from Farm to Chef

Chris Shaw Sep 24, 2019
A Taste of Wilton: From Farm to Chef may only be in its second year, but once again it drew a myriad of local farms, distillers, crafters and restaurants to share their best…
Culture

Climate Change Protest Marches on State Capitol

Chris Shaw Sep 20, 2019
Audrea Din, a recent Schalmont High School graduate, and UAlbany student lead a protest and march culminating in a rally at 1 PM in West Capitol Park as Albany joined sites…
Food

Chris’s Short Take: Oscar’s Smokehouse

Chris Shaw Sep 1, 2019
As a born and raised Adirondacker, take it from me, there isn’t another place in the Adirondacks where culture and cuisine collide like this place. I’ve been going there…
Food

Chris’s Short Take: Berkshire Palate

Chris Shaw Aug 27, 2019
If you ask most folks from the Capital District what they think of when they hear “ What’s the best thing over in Williamstown”, I’m sure you’ll hear lots of “Theater!” or…
Food

Chris’s Short Take: Ferry St. Night Market in Troy

Chris Shaw Aug 14, 2019
If you’d like to graze your way through some fun Asian cuisine, talk with some cool folks, and sip a glass of wine, come on down to the Ferry St. Night Market on Thursday…
Food

Chris’s Short Take: Oh Corn! Arepas and More

Chris Shaw Aug 11, 2019
I’m a fool for a good rhythm section, and whoever the band was playing on the sound system at Oh Corn!- Arepas and More had everyone in the room swaying, working, or ordering…
Food

Lunch with… Rex Smith @ Quang’s Vietnamese Bistro in Troy

Chris Shaw Aug 8, 2019
Rex Smith, Editor of Times Union, and I headed to downtown Troy on a steamy 90° day for lunch at Quang’s Vietnamese Bistro, one of Troy’s latest culinary offerings. The…
Food

Chris’s Short Take: 2019 NYS Food Festival @ Empire Plaza

Chris Shaw Aug 8, 2019
Food trucks and purveyors from all over the state converged on the Empire Plaza to show their wares, despite the threatening thunderstorms.  Locals flocked to the open-air…
Food

Chris’s Short Take: Ala Shanghai Chinese

Chris Shaw Aug 6, 2019
About two football fields off the Latham Circle headed east toward Watervliet, Ala Shanghai sits in an unassuming building just off the road. The menu is extensive, and runs…
Miscellaneous

NYS Food Festival at Empire State Plaza on August 7th

Chris Shaw Jul 26, 2019
It’s summer in the Capital District, time to enjoy the food, music, and culture of the season right here on our own doorstep! In excess of 15,000 people come to…
Food

June Farms Jamboree set for August 3rd

Chris Shaw Jul 25, 2019
Food and drink, a cake-baking contest, farm animals, and kids activities abound when Matt Baumgartner, (owner of June Farms, the Biergartens, and partner in the Olde English…
Upcoming Events
Mar 12

The Fab Faux

March 12 @ 8:00 pm - 11:00 pm
Levon Helm Studios
Woodstock
Apr 16

Marco Benevento

April 16 @ 8:00 pm - 11:00 pm
Levon Helm Studios
Woodstock
Apr 17

Marco Benevento

April 17 @ 8:00 pm - 11:00 pm
Levon Helm Studios
Woodstock
May 06

Suzzy Roche and Lucy Wainwright Roche

May 6 @ 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Caffe Lena
Saratoga Springs
May 08

Dave Mason: Feelin’ Alright Tour

May 8 @ 8:00 pm - 11:00 pm
Levon Helm Studios
Woodstock

View More…

The Sanctuary for Independent Media – Generic
Old Songs Music with Roots – Generic
Capital District Habitat for Humanity – Generic
Albany Poets – Generic
Arts Center of the Capital Region – Generic
Berkshire on Stage – Generic
Archives
  • Facebook Join us on Facebook
  • Twitter Join us on Twitter
  • Instagram Join us on Instagram
  • Vote Here!
  • Music
    • Concert Reviews
    • Upcoming Shows
    • Photo Galleries
    • Album Reviews
    • The Scene & The Biz
    • Five Firsts
  • Arts
    • Art
    • Comedy
    • Theater
    • Exhibits
    • Dance
    • Poetry
  • Culture
    • Food
    • Craft Beverages
    • Wellness
    • Books/Readings
    • Film/TV/DVD
    • Media Watch
    • Gaming
  • About Nippertown
    • Advertise!
    • Contact Us
    • Nippertown: The Legacy Lives On
      • Submit Band Information
    • Nippertown FAQs
    • Nippertown Store
    • Contributor Uploads
    • Calendar
      • View Calendar
      • Nippertown Open Mics
      • Add an Event
      • Become a Calendar Contributor
© 2021 - Nippertown. All Rights Reserved.
Website Design: Jim Gilbert
  • Vote Here!
  • Music
    • Concert Reviews
    • Upcoming Shows
    • Photo Galleries
    • Album Reviews
    • The Scene & The Biz
    • Five Firsts
  • Arts
    • Art
    • Comedy
    • Theater
    • Exhibits
    • Dance
    • Poetry
  • Culture
    • Food
    • Craft Beverages
    • Wellness
    • Books/Readings
    • Film/TV/DVD
    • Media Watch
    • Gaming
  • About Nippertown
    • Advertise!
    • Contact Us
    • Nippertown: The Legacy Lives On
      • Submit Band Information
    • Nippertown FAQs
    • Nippertown Store
    • Contributor Uploads
    • Calendar
      • View Calendar
      • Nippertown Open Mics
      • Add an Event
      • Become a Calendar Contributor