Spirit of Albany: New World Bistro Bar

In 2009 new life came to Delaware Avenue when restaurant New World Bistro Bar opened, helmed by accomplished Hudson Valley chef, Ric Orlando.

The menu introduced restaurant patrons to global fusion cuisine, in a buttoned-down, unfussy manner, and in a bigger sense created a new diction in the way enterprising foodies in the Capital Region ate. The restaurant is also consistently lauded for its impassioned commitment to local and sustainable food sourcing.

For the Spirit of Albany campaign, mix master and bar-keep, Sarah- Jane Mc Laughlin, wields an ambitious cocktail named after the punch-line of a joke, the “That’s All Benny.”

The jalapeno, coupled with the lime and fortified by vodka and apple liqueur, made for a beverage that requires an adventurous palate to imbibe. My appetizer – the Asian Guacamole - displayed an assertive fruitiness in the yuzu-ginger dressing, coupled with the cooling and refreshing cucumber and the buttery heft of the avocado.

The Asian Guacamole

At New World Bistro Bar one has time to notice – and in this case, admire – instances in the gastro-pub where coherency shines through with authentic ease. The physical space is one such example. Unlike lesser restaurants, New World Bistro took a cue from the street on which it’s perched and allowed some of the eclectic edge of Delaware Avenue to inform its dining space. The warm colors, exposed brick and unpretentious space deservedly continues to enhance the value proposition of this establishment; global cuisine and local pride.

Editor's note: We asked some of Albany’s best mixologists to create original cocktail recipes that embody the spirit of Albany, and we compiled those recipes into our 2014 Spirit of Albany Recipe Guide. In this exciting blog series local foodie Brigid Washington, a Culinary Institute of America grad and local restaurant consultant, explores each restaurant – it’s menu, it’s atmosphere, and of course, it’s custom cocktail – and provides her perspective on how it all comes together to create part of Albany’s creative culinary scene! (The ACCVB does not, in any way, condone drinking and driving so please designate a driver as we did for this series.)