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Jack's Oyster House: The ONLY reason to visit Albany, New York
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Fine dining in New York's capital: Jack's
I can’t think of a single reason to visit Albany, NY, except for Jack’s Oyster House.
Well, all right. For me, there is one other reason. I might take a look at the government campus, as most of the modern part (that is, post-1965 or so) was built by my uncle’s company. That’s notable only because, far and wide, he was known by an expletive denoting a horse’s hind end. There was a reason for that, but not a good one. He was a tough man, an engineer without portfolio who ended up owning a large construction company through his wits and toughness. Many in my family had a problem with him; Mr. Congeniality he was not. But he ALWAYS did the right thing, as far as I could see. Even if it was illegal. Huh?
It’s like this; there once were blue laws in New York State about moving heavy equipment on Sundays. But if a company job needed the equipment on Monday, move it he did, accepting the fine as the cost of doing business, and, more importantly, keeping his crews fully employed, all year long, winter or summer. A wimpy man couldn’t have done that. They didn’t necessarily like him, but they respected him.
Moreover, my uncle enjoyed the good regard of my grandfather, and Grampa didn’t give approval lightly. He, too, was a smart man who went for substance and not style. Like my uncle (who was not his son, but his daughter’s husband), Grampa had left college without graduating. It was about 1900, give or take a couple of years, and he was studying chemistry and accounting at Albany College. The story goes that he was a prankster and knocked over an outhouse with a female student inside, and got expelled. I don’t know if that’s true. It doesn’t matter. But it did mean he had intimate knowledge of Albany…. and that, by the way, is how I’m getting back to Jack’s.
Despite the lack of degree, my grandfather became an accountant and chemist in New York State’s dairy industry and traveled a lot. When he was in or near Albany, one of his favorite places to eat was Jack’s Oyster House. I had always wanted to eat there, but never got the chance until I was married and living in Manhattan in the late 1970s. It suddenly seemed reasonable to rent a car (who owns one in Manhattan?) and drive for three hours to eat at Jack’s.
It was heavenly. It was so unlike the trendy restaurants popping up all over Manhattan at the time. We were not expected to dine side by side, as at the chrome-minimalist local midtown places aping French sidewalk cafes, badly. We could eat like humans, facing each other, discussing the trip, the quality of the Oysters Rockefeller, the magic of dining where Grampa had, a decade after his death.
It was like being with Grampa for me, something I had missed badly. I could imagine him there, knocking back a shot of straight Bourbon, dining, knocking back another one, and toddling off to his hotel to read a mystery while smoking a cigar and watching a boxing match on TV, just like at home. And probably making rather blunt pronouncements on everything from politicians to sports figures, but never about real people.
There is something very 1950s about that picture, just as there is about Jack’s dining room, even now. Opened in 1913, during the heyday of my grandfather’s peregrinations around upstate New York, it has updated over the years, but not too much. The interior is dark, woody. White tablecloths, not frou-frou pink or edgy black or clubby hunting green. White. Bentwood chairs, pedestrian artwork hung a bit too high on paneled walls.
Wonderful!
I suppose it has always been a hotspot for politicians and the famous, as it claims. Certainly, the quality of its food and the attentiveness of it service has made it deserving of many awards, including a Wine Spectator award for excellence, and recognition, in 2007, by Distinguished Restaurants of North America.
I’d love to go there for Thanksgiving Dinner. I’d have much to be thankful for. One would be rediscovering Jack’s after many years of not visiting. Another would be the cost of its Thanksgiving dinner, an unbelievable $19.99, prix fixe, for salad, entrée and sides, with dessert extra at $6.99 (and of course, drinks and tax and gratuities are also not included.)
It’s still unbelievable.
If I had my druthers at the moment (and I don’t, having booked Key West for this holiday), I’d drive up there the day before (it’s about 6.5 hours by car, I think, from DC), have dinner, pick up my Thanksgiving Dinner the next day at 11 a.m. and drive back for my Thanksgiving Dinner Party at, say, 8 p.m. Jack’s is doing a Thanksgiving Dinner Take-Out, which I find definitely worthy of a trip, and definitely what I’ll do next year.
After hearing on TV this morning that a Thanksgiving Dinner for ten would cost the average cook $144 to make at home, paying Jack’s Oyster House $139 to feed 6 to 10 is a bargain. Jack’s Thanksgiving Take-Out includes 14 pounds of turkey, 1 pie and all the sides. The sides? Waldorf salad, chestnut stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, orange glazed yams, cranberry relish and selection of breads. For 12 to 16 guests, the price is $189; for 18 to 20, $229. (The amount of turkey and sides increases, of course, as the price-guests rises.)
Putting this in perspective, my best friend’s sister had her Thanksgiving dinner in Alexandria catered locally two years ago, and it set her back $2,500!
I’d much rather have a trip to Albany, a nice dinner, a night in a good hotel, a lovely drive back on a day when most people are not driving (because they’re eating!), and an easy, traditional Thanksgiving dinner for a bunch of friends, fashionably late and excellently cooked.
Actually, I would take a trip a bit north of Albany, to Lake Luzerne, a tiny magical hamlet on a pristine lake, and Glens Falls, a larger town with a keen sense of history and some mighty good autumn attractions. So, maybe that’s it. Maybe take the whole week; leave on Tuesday, head up to Lake Luzerne, stay in a little cottage on the lake, eat at Jack’s on Wednesday, head home on Thursday with a car full of food….
Oh, right. That’s another column. Watch this space!
You can make reservations at Jack’s through Open Table at http://www.opentable.com/single.aspx?rid=13531&restref=13531
Call Jack’s for reservations at 518 465-8854. Located at 42-44 State Street, Albany, NY, Jack’s Oyster House is open from 11:30 am to 10 pm, 365 days a year.
Sunday, Nov. 23 is the last day to place a Thanksgiving Take-Out order.
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