Lake Ridge Restaurant

By Mary Pratt

Top quality local restaurants give huge compliments to many Saratoga Farmers’ Market vendors by using their products. Vendors make sure they also have plenty of products for the Market.

Kelley Hillis, from Puckers Gourmet, explained that Saratoga Springs restaurants approached them for their pickles. They sell Kim Chi and Pak Dong to Thorn + Roots at the Fresh Market Plaza, and five-gallon pails of Kim Chi to Kraverie on Beekman Street. Their pickles have won several awards, including first place at the International Rosendale Pickle Festival.

Amy Smith from Saratoga Arms B&B first approached Elihu Farm for their eggs. In addition, The Mouzon House uses their eggs, as well as lamb. In June, Mouzon bought several boneless butterflied legs of lamb. Elihu Farm also sells lamb to Amuse on Broadway, and eggs to 15 Church, Adelphi Hotel, Comfort Kitchen, and Whole Harvest.

The Mouzon House, a Farm to Table restaurant, buys products from many farms. Dave Pedinotti said they use vegetables from Gomez Veggie Ville, including their heirloom tomatoes for Caprese. A recent article in Saratoga Living discusses three new cocktails Mouzon makes with tequila, one which uses Gomez’s strawberries for “Strawberry Rhubarb Sparkler.”

Dave and Marge Randles, from the award-winning Argyle Cheese Farmer, sell their yogurt to Dizzy Chicken Barbecue in Saratoga, cheese curds to Northway Brewing in Queensbury, buttermilk to Common Roots Brewing Company in South Glens Falls, and Unified Beer Works’ café in Malta.

Nettle Meadow Farm, based in Thurman, makes cheese from milk from goats, sheep, and cows. Their varieties have won many awards, especially in 2018 and 2020 from the Good Food Foundation for Kunik. That award was special for Sheila Flanagan and Lorraine Lambiase because the Foundation also considers care for animals, the environment, and staff. Distributors send their cheese to all states, except Alaska.

Another vegetable farmer, Leaning Birch Farm, sells to Hamlet & Ghost in Saratoga. Nic Fera said they use their salad mix, pea shoots and tomatoes. Bobby Chandler noted that Mariaville Mushroom Men sells to Jack’s Oyster House in Albany, and Common Roots. And Laurie Kokinda sells Kokinda Farm’s French beans to Lake Ridge Restaurant in Round Lake.

This week’s recipe: Cucumber Salad with Greek Yogurt