The Fort Orange Club, Albany, NY
Article by Ilona Weisman, Vice Chargée de Presse
Photos by William Harris, Bailli and Lou Agostinello, Maître Rôtisseur
13 July, 1789—Fauborg Saint-Antoine
Just outside Paris, two members of the Royal Guild of Rôtisseurs toil over a spit laden with poultry.
“Eh, Guillaume,” says Jacques to his co-worker, “I hear there’s a big do at la Bastille tomorrow. We should quit these chickens and go.”
Brandishing his larding needle Guillaume sighs in reproof, “Ah, mon Dieu, you know how those parties in town go down.”
“Oui, mon frère,” whines Jacques, “But this one is different. Not just gâteau, but wine and pitchforks.”
Some 235 years after the soirée at which Guillaume and Jacques were no-shows, the Albany Chaîne celebrated France’s fête nationale at the venerable Fort Orange Club. On the eve of Bastille Day, arriving members were beckoned into the club’s Craftsman style West Lounge by mime Michael Inserra, clad in beret and vintage jersey of marine blue and white stripes like a Seine boatman ushering rivergoers aboard.
The Fort Orange Club opened in downtown Albany in 1880, shouting distance from the seat of New York State government. The club occupies a brick mansion built by local merchant Samuel Hill in 1810, the building later used as a boarding house that counted Aaron Burr among its guests. Ulysses S. Grant, Grover Cleveland, and Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt were honored in presidential receptions at the club, which also owns a sizeable collection of art and Americana.
On this evening the atmosphere at the Fort Orange Club was unmistakably festive. A cocktail reception with an elaborate hors d’oeuvre table sported a platter with France’s flag rendered in blueberries, meringue and raspberries. In the main dining room high ceilings were festooned with banners bearing scores of small French flags, the tricolore reprised on each table in miniature. The Musicians of Ma’alwyck, a chamber music ensemble, entertained with classical French works during dinner—Anne-Marie Barker Schwartz on violin, Norman Thibodeau on flute, and Max Caplan at the piano.
Maître Rôtisseur and Fort Orange Club Executive Chef Lou Agostinello created a supremely French menu of seven courses – one for each of seven prisoners lodged in the Bastille when the mob swarmed the fortress. Bouillabaisse was first – clams, mussels, prawns and Chilean seabass wading in aromatic saffron broth. Two wines accompanied the course: Domaine du Haut Bourg Muscadet Côtes de Grandlieu Sur Lie 2023, poised between melon and citrus, and Château Carbonnieux Blanc Pessac Leognan 2017, the Bordeaux’s fruit resolved in a taut finish. Bailli William Harris asked for a show of hands; the room favored the Muscadet pairing but allowed that the Carbonnieux was sublime on its own.
On behalf of Bastille prisoner number two came Coquilles Saint Jacques, a generous King Scallop steeped in chanterelle double cream and paired with Domaine Sangouard Pouilly Fuissé “Quintessence” Maconnais 2021. The top-rated wine from Sangouard’s oldest vines was oaky and round and set off the opulent dish. Next came a surprising match – grilled quail and hazelnut foie gras farce paired with Karina et Guillaume LeFevre “Pomponette” Rosé Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence 2023, a lively wine with fruit sufficient to embrace the singular flavors of grilled game and foie gras.
In yet another foray into the French culinary landscape, Chef Agostinello’s Sauce Foyot tinged with mint rested beneath sliced lamb loin and truffled pommes Anna, amplified by red fruit, herbs and a sturdy finish in Domaine du Crayon Gigondas 2020. In one last scene before the curtain fell, a dessert the chef dubbed “La Victoire” materialized—the oh-so-French Tarte Tatin with apples tart yet caramelized, and French (of course) vanilla ice cream chased by redolent nut and peach in Les Remparts de Bastor-Lamontagne Sauternes 2018.
Maître Rôtisseur and U.S. Certified Master Chef Dale Miller had the following comments:
“The Bastille Day Chaîne event at the Fort Orange Club was epic as ‘the whole was greater than the sum of all its parts!’ Each course was a gustatory experience gracefully bringing the palette to new levels of joy. That together with perfectly paired wines, elegant ambience, blissful music, camaraderie and superlative service created the most memorable of dining moments. The culinary team and service staff created a truly outstanding dining experience and have set the bar high for future Chaîne dinners.”
These sentiments were forcefully echoed by numerous attendees, many calling it the best Chaîne dinner in recent memory. Special thanks to Chef Lou and his culinary team, to Clubhouse Manager Jared Millwood and to Maître d’ Chris Cropsey for his vigilant supervision of the club’s talented and efficient service staff.
Charles Dickens’ saga A Tale of Two Cities set during the French revolution opens with the iconic phrase, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Uh, ‘scuse me, strenuous “No” to the second part. When the Albany Chaîne met to celebrate Bastille Day, it was undoubtedly, indubitably and irrefutably the very best of times.


































