Great Food, A Special California Red and Live Music - This Friday!

Special California Red Wine and Live Music This Friday Night Join us for a special October Friday night at Grappa 72 - the Capital Region's Best New Restaurant!  Relaxing live music from Sonny and Perley and a special California Red - hand picked for this special evening.  Make your reservation now! Visit Facebook.com/Grappa72 and tell us how much you Like us! See the remodeled restaurant on Flickr!

Taste of home: Mexican grocery packs forgotten favorites

Emmanuel Santa Cruz opened the Mexican Market located at 656 Central Avenue, near North Allen Street, so he could get a taste of home. When he couldn't find any food from his native land, he and his wife decided to open a grocery store carrying favorites he remembers from childhood, as well as homemade burritos and tamales.

Beginning November 1, they will open a small taco shop at the back of the store, making homemade food for takeout. His wife, Placida make the burritos and tamales, and Santa Cruz makes the tacos. He will also stock cotijo cheese, chorizo, queso fresco, and beginning in November, he'll also have produce. Right now, he carries a selection of dried chile--the widest this side of the Rio Grande, including chile costano, chile morita, chile d'arbo, chile ancho.

Open for three weeks, the store is doing well, catering to a growing crowd of transplants hungry for a taste of home. He points out the cooler of soda, all in glass bottles. "Nobody can find this anywhere," he says proudly. One customer came in and said he hasn't seen the glass bottles in 40 years, he says. "In Mexico, they never change anything like this. They don't change anything. I think it's for tradition," Santa Cruz says. "Any party you go in, they have the glass bottles. Any birthday party, any occasion."

He points to the shelf of cookies, including Marias and Arcoiris, and says he remembers eating them when he was four-years old. As we talk, one customer comes in and selects a soda--all are sold in glass bottles, just like in Mexico, Santa Cruz says proudly. As he walks to the register, his eyes fall on a package of cookies. "Marias!" he exclaims, as though greeting a long-lost friend. He grabs a package and sets it on the counter with the soda.

"I just tried to open it because there's not a store like this around," Santa Cruz says. He points out that there are a number of international markets in the area, including Indian and Asian, but none from Mexico. "I just tried to bring something to everyone," he says.

Burgers and nostalgia: Landmark diner reopens

Wilfredo Ruiz holds up the new Jack's Burger. Piled high with bacon, ham, fried egg, corn, and french-fried potatoes, it is a hefty sandwich--and that's before you take into account the burger itself!

Ruiz, the new owner of Jack's Diner, created the burger to celebrate the restaurant's grand reopening, and today, the diner's waitresses are parked on stools all along the counter giving the burger a test-run. Judging from their exclamations, the burger is a hit. In fact, the new sandwich is a veritable feast by any standards--delicious, with a smoky flavor from the bacon and ham and a sweet pop from the corn--and it bodes well for the newly reopened diner. If this is the new Jack's, I'll take seconds!

Jack's is a landmark on Central, and a landmark nationally. With its gleaming silver sides and fabulous Art Deco insides, Jack's is one of the few remaining Comac-designed diners in the country--and it's all ours. The diner has been located at the junction of Central and Clinton for 62 years, watching the world pass by its windows. This spring, Ruiz and a partner purchased the diner from Jack Murtagh, who had owned the diner for more than 40 years. Murtagh was also on hand that day, having lunch and sharing stories about the diner's infamous waitresses, surly short order cooks, and murky office. It clear that the diner has been loved, and Ruiz is excited to return it to its former glory.

"I'm very proud," Ruiz says. "I have a little piece of history."

The diner was closed for a short time after Ruiz took over ownership. During that time, he made some changes to the interior, remodeling the kitchen and and closing it off from the dining area. He repainted and refurbished the exterior. The menu has also been revamped, but customers will still find some of the food they remember, he says. After all, many of his customers have been coming for years. Ruiz says they are happy to see the doors open once more. "Many come in every single day," he says. "The love the old-fashioned diner." So does Ruiz. "I love it. It's peaceful. I have great customers, great people. I would say 'great.'"

Jack's Diner is located at 547 Central Avenue. Takeout is available. For more information, call 482-9807.

Townsend Park Bakery Cuts ribbon

Mayor Jennings of Albany was on hand today to cut the ribbon on the re launch of Mark Smiths renewal of the bakery

Small Business Branding Work Shop Flyer

Attached: Branding 10.19.10.pdf

Google Docs makes it easy to create, store and share online documents, spreadsheets and presentations.

Check out the 2010 Fall Calendar for Small Business from the CDCLF

Attached: 2010 Fall Calendar Flyer.10.10.pdf

Message from anthony@centralbid.com:

Capital District Community Loan Fund Small Business Programs PDF Calendar/Flyer

Google Docs makes it easy to create, store and share online documents, spreadsheets and presentations.

Fwd: 2010 Hudson Valley Region Small Business Forum

Good morning,

Enclosed is the agenda for Tuesday, October 12 Small Business Forum at SUNY at New Paltz.  The purpose of this forum is to provide guidance to aspiring and existing businesses with federal & state tax responsibilities, tax credits, access to capital and free services.  Representatives from federal & state agencies will be speaking on Hiring Incentive to Restore Employment Tax Credits, Small Business Health Care Tax Credits, Small Business Administration Programs, Services and Loan Guarantee Process, Free Assistance for Starting & Existing Entrepreneurs, Finding Access to Capital, State Credits, Programs and Services for Small Businesses and more.  Please share this invitation and enclosed agenda with your clients, members and customers to attend this forum and learn more about federal and state agencies free services for the small business community.  Attendees will also have the opportunity to raise any issues and questions to the respective agency representative during the forum.  

 

To register please call (845) 257-2930 or e-mail Dr. Hadi Salavitabar at salavith@newpaltz.edu with your name, address, telephone number and email address as soon as possible as seating is limited.  Here is the link to the campus map www.newpaltz.edu/map and the best parking areas are parking 6, 7, and 8 which are behind gym.

 

Thank you for your continuing support.

 

Richard Torres

Senior Stakeholder Liaison

CL & D, Stakeholder Liaison Field

1 Clinton Avenue, 6th Floor

Leo O'Brien Federal Building

Albany, NY 12207

518-427-5460 office

518-427-5480 fax

518-858-7511 cell

Fwd: OCT 5th SBAC: PLEASE RSVP BY 9/27/10

If you are an employer who wants to retain valued employees…

If you are an employment services provider or advocate who strives to promote successful employment experiences for job seekers and newly-employed individuals…

If you are looking for strategies that will support your efforts to be successful at work…

Please join us on Tuesday, October 5^th, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at our Statewide Business Advisory Council meeting. 

TOPIC:  Self-Disclosure and Reasonable Accommodations: 

POTENTIAL IMPACT ON AN EMPLOYEE'S ON-THE-JOB SUCCESS

Meeting will be held at Seton Health/St. Mary's Hospital, Conference Room A & B, 1300 Massachusetts Avenue in Troy.

Lunch will be served.

PLEASE RSVP BY SEPT. 27^th 

 For program details, see attached notice.

 

Marsha

 

Marsha Lazarus, MBA

Director of Consumer and Business Outreach

Mental Health Association in New York State, Inc.

194 Washington Ave

Albany, N.Y.  12210

(518) 434-0439 ext 224

www.MHANYS.org

 

Register online at www. MHANYS.org to attend MHANYS' 2010 Awards Dinner and Conference on Wednesday, October 20 & Thursday, October 21st...Theme is HEALTH CARE REFORM;  HEALTH/MENTAL HEALTH INTEGRATION

 

Mental Health Matters in all facets of our life, including the Workplace!

 

Event at Grappa '72

More Live Music Friday Night @ Grappa '72 Ristorante

This Friday September 10th from 5:30pm-8:30pm we will have
"Sonny and Perley" playing live outside on our patio.

-----The Chronogram Magazine says they are "Harbingers of aesthetic jazz...and romanticism"

Visit sonnyandperley.com for more information about their duo.

$3 Beer/ $5 Wine/ $5 Well Drinks/ Great appetizer specials!!!

Click the Grappa logo to make reservations online or call (518) 482-72

Family Fun: Greco Bros. amuses for 50 years

Poker tables. Pool tables. Darts. Foosball tables. If you're looking for fun, look no further than Greco Brothers. The family-owned business has been selling games for 50 years--and for the past 10 years, they've been doing it from their Central Avenue store.

Thomas Greco and his brother inherited the business from their parents. Initially, they sold the arcade equipment business to business, operating the business from a large warehouse, says Debbie Greco. But 10 years ago, they decided to purchase a showroom on Central, opening the business to families and individuals. Today the business specializes in family room equipment, and the store is packed with items--everything from pool cues to bar stools. A full-size pool table takes center stage, and one whole wall is covered with dart boards. The store even sells neon signs for man caves; of course, over the last year, people haven't been building man caves, or equipping family rooms.

"Business has been very bad the last year," says Greco. "People are not spending money on the extras." Greco says the recession has hit the amusement industry hard, and that the already-difficult task of running a business has been made that much more difficult. One of the big challenges has been finding and keeping help. Small businesses can only afford to pay employees so much, Greco says, and after a while, employees get frustrated. After losing a number of employees, the Grecos resorted to manning the front counter themselves, locking the front door so they can work in both the front and back of the store. "We can't afford to have someone just sit out and do nothing," Greco says.

Of course, summer is also a slow season. "You don't think about putting stuff inside your house in the winter," Greco says. The Grecos are looking forward to colder weather, and hope that the new year improves the economic outlook.