12 hours Ago
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Zac Denham and Clark Gale are doubling down on Phila Street. The owners of Bocage Champagne Bar plan to open a restaurant called Standard Fare across the street at 21 Phila St. Slated to open this spring, they plan to offer elevated comfort food, as well as cocktails, wines and non-alcoholic options.
“Our objective was always to invest in the community that we ultimately wanted to call home,” Denham said. Clark and Denham recently relocated to the area full time after spending much of their careers in the New York City area. They’ve opened and operated venues in New York City, as well as Los Angeles, Detroit and London.
They opened Bocage in 2022 and knew they wanted to run a full-service restaurant in Saratoga Springs. They considered several other Spa City locations, including the former Farmers Hardware and Sperry’s. However, they ultimately decided to stay on Phila Street.
“We love Phila Street. We have great neighbors. We're surrounded by an awesome, diverse group of businesses here,” Denham said.
Standard Fare will take over from Trattoria Fortunata, an Italian restaurant that closed late last year. For two decades, it was Ravenous, the popular Spa City creperie, which closed in 2020. “We're just doing simple, classic American fare that, frankly, we all secretly crave and seek in an environment that's going to be really chic and cool,” Denham said.
The menu will be led by consulting chef Linda Japngie, who was the executive chef at CAFETERIA in New York City. While plans are still being finalized, it’ll offer meatloaf with homemade tomato relish, haricot verts and sour cream mashed potatoes, double-cut Berkshire pork chops with apple sauce and potato pancakes and homemade mozzarella sticks with a caviar supplement — a nod to Bocage. There will also be decadent desserts, including “big dumb milkshakes” and over-the-top pies and cakes.
It’ll operate seven days a week and the kitchen will be open late — until midnight during the week and 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
“I hope to cultivate a place where industry professionals and travelers are able to come in and have a solid meal regardless of what time you get off of work or what time you arrived in town. Everybody deserves a hot meal at any price point on any given day,” Denham said. It’s in some ways the antithesis of Bocage in that it focuses more on the everyday.
“Because of what we've done at Bocage, people have come to expect a certain level of detail. People have come to expect a certain level of sophistication and comfort and we are going to take those core elements, and bring that over to Standard Fare and bring it to a space and a concept that is chic and approachable for the everyday customer,” Denham said. The team will be renovating the dining room and kitchen over the next few months, though Denham is tight-lipped about the design plans.
“We are going to maximize the space in there, and hopefully be able to have a dining room that will land with seated space for around 40 to 45 people, while still having a really chic showpiece of a kitchen that is going to have some really great surprises, not only for culinary professionals but also our guests as well,” Denham said. Sign Up: The Daily Gazette's 518 Plate food newsletter in your inbox weekly They aim to open around Mother’s Day. For updates and more information, visit Standard Fare on Facebook and Instagram .
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