September Song
Article By: Vice Chargée de Presse Ilona Weisman
Photos By: Bailli William Harris and Vice Chargée de Presse Ilona Weisman
Hollywood film lore portrays time travel with elaborate contraptions that whir at the speed of light, hurling their hapless passengers into the future. But for the Albany Chaîne the trip from late summer to first snow in a single evening required only a seat at the table of Chef Christopher Smith of Regent in Saratoga Springs. His poetic menu Harvest into Winter charted the way from September to December in a culinary metaphor for the passage of time.
Before the 41 members and guests climbed aboard Chef Smith’s time machine, we stopped for drinks and small bites in the chic lobby of Hotel Brookmere, the latest addition to the Saratoga hospitality scene, and home to Regent. A charcuterie board proffered cheeses and cured meats, dried mango and diced guava paste, spiced pecans, dips and condiments. Passed hors d’oeuvres were neatly sized to pop in your mouth—petite crab cakes with crème fraîche, gruyère gougères, and caramelized onion on yogurt tart.
Call it ‘embarkation.’ We entered Regent’s posh dining room to find a marvelous salute—the culinary version of a saber arch. Sans épées, of course, a dozen members of the wait staff impeccable in black and white was assembled in two facing lines to welcome us to our adventure. It was a gesture that augured the elegance—and excellence—they would display all evening long. As I walked between them, I couldn’t help but smile at the warmth of the moment.
Dinner began with Footprints in the Sand, an homage to late summer that staged chilled shellfish in the guise of table decor. Centered along the length of a striking 20-foot table were young birch trunks surrounded by pine branches, driftwood, seashells, and a drizzle of pine salt to crown the beach scene. We flew in the face of Miss Manners, reaching across the table to snag raw clams on the half shell and scallops in their fan shells as they hid in the centerpiece. A classic complement to shellfish, Domaine du Haut Bourg Muscadet, Côtes de Grandlieu Sur Lie 2023 added its crisp profile—salinity with a creamy finish.
While we sampled fruits of the sea, we hardly noticed birds flying south, but September had turned into October. In the second course Southern Migration, Chef Smith served up vivid flavors of autumn: silky purée of foie gras accented by hazelnut bits, diced apple, and cracklings paired with Chateau Rieussec “Carmes de Rieussec” Sauternes 2016.
October proceeded, and so did we, arriving at Late Harvest of the Fields. An autumn palette of roasted root vegetables nestled in show-stopping brown butter emulsion paired its earthy sweetness with the robust Harken Wines Barrel Fermented Chardonnay, California 2025.
By now we must have reached November because Coming in Out of the Cold featured tortellini in duck consommé served cozy-style in coffee mugs. The aromatic broth proved equal to red and black fruits, spice, and peppery barnyard in Domaine Joseph Faiveley Nuits St. George, Burgundy 2007.
We kept moving through time, passing next into hunting season. In Forest Stroll, seared elk slices with buttery mustard greens and wild mushroom luxuriated in huckleberry sauce, elevated further by notes of cinnamon, smoke, and chocolate in John Duvall “Plexus” Shiraz/Grenache/Mourvedre, Barossa, Australia 2019.
Falling of the Final Leaves told us the trip was nearing an end. Tree branches and twigs crafted in chocolate stood upright on the plate, and with it a confection of orange leaf detailed to show even its midrib and branching veins. Grains of chocolate sprinkled beneath evoked a bare woodland floor, this one dappled deliciously with marshmallow and tart sea buckthorn, paired with fruit-driven Warre’s Warrior Porto Finest Reserve, Portugal NV. The port gave way to berries and white meringue which appeared in the most diminutive of ramekins. Titled First Snow, it confirmed we had indeed arrived at our future—winter.
The Chaîne crowd roared its approval when Chef Smith, Food and Beverage Director Patrick Toomey, and the kitchen and wait staffs emerged to take a bow. As the lyric goes, ‘the days dwindle down to a precious few.’ But for the Albany bailliage, the days from September to December dwindled down with some pretty precious food.
