A tip of the hat to Albany's Brown Derby

January 4, 3:56 PMUpstate NY Restaurant ExaminerBill Dowd

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ALBANY, NY -- Quite a few downtown Albany nightspots have closed this year, but that may just be a thinning of the herd. The truly high-class operations seem to be thriving.

Based on my first visit there, the Hollywood Brown Derby may join that successful group. It already has garnered national attention from the likes of BusinessWeek magazine, as well as heavy local publicity.

I arrived for cocktails and dinner, and found the new establishment pleasing on many levels. About the only sour note was the attire of half the patrons — sloppy clothes completely out of touch with the ambiance of this cocktail lounge/restaurant. So typically Capital Region. Unfortunately, so typically most communities these days. Refreshingly, the remainder actually looked as if they had some personal style and self respect.

The Derby, located in a yellow brick former Salvation Army building across Clinton Avenue from the Palace Theatre, sets the tone right away with friendly valet parking and an immediate pleasant greeting from the hostess. The interior is upscale without being pretentious, a vast wall of caricatures of Old Hollywood figures snaring your attention before you have a chance to glance around at the clever lighting, woodwork, plants and even a blowup of a star-studded photo from Hollywood’s original Brown Derby.

Every imaginative menu item we sampled was above average: a blackened ribeye steak with buttermilk-battered onion rings, a rack of lamb with a sesame/peanut crust, a tuna au poivre with a quinona cake, an escabeche of scallop,  crab, calamari and shrimp in a curry vinaigrette  ... . The hits -- duck, rabbit, quail -- from executive chef Andrew Otatti just kept coming.

On the matter of drinks, I’ve found a disturbing trend in recent years for new establishments to lavish attention on decor and little on the bar offerings or on staff well-versed in making and serving them. The Brown Derby under beverage manager Peter Brown does not suffer from that misstep.

Its bartenders were at once skilled, professional and friendly. While we awaited our dining partners, I sipped on a Macallan 12 Year Old and Constant Companion enjoyed a glass of The Glenlivet 15 Year old, something we’d probably find difficult to have anywhere but at home or a few scattered local spots. We surveyed the offerings displayed on shelves behind the bar where a wide selection of Scotches, bourbons, rums, gins and vodkas beckoned with delightful possibilities.

Bobby Mallozzoi, of the local Malozzi Group that owns the Brown Derby, moved smoothly around the premises to make sure everything was running smoothly.

The cocktail specials list has offerings ranging from $8 to $12, with most priced at $9. A few examples:

• "Naughty" Shirley Temple ($8): Grey Goose vodka,, grenadine syrup, orange juice, ginger ale.
• Lemon Basil Mojito ($8) Rim, fresh lemon, fresh basil, sugar.
• Derby Cosmo ($11): Grey Goose Orange vodka, 30-year-old Grand Marnier, cranberry juice.
• Vanilla Apple Cosmo ($9): Stolichnaya Vanil Vodka, Apple Pucker Sour, cranberry juice, rum, fresh basil, sugar.

The wine list likewise shows some imagination: a widely divergent bottles list, on which the Derby went to the trouble of describing precisely what part of each country of origin produced the wine, rather than the usual generic country-only description; 23 offerings by the glass, including some real bargains such as a 2006 Red Dust Shiraz ($8) from Australia which I highly recommend.

All in all, if the Brown Derby continues its early performance, I tip my hat to the entire team there.