We will be changing our hours, refining our menus, and focusing even more on producing wonderful plates using the finest locally and regionally farmed foods. My amazing staff will continue to bring you the very best service, and we will continue to feature beautiful live music, trivia night, and all sorts of other special events. Of course we will also continue to offer our space for parties and events. If you would like to host your event with us, you need only ask!

Beginning April 1, we will be open Wednesday through Saturday from 4:30pm until close of dinner service at around 9 or 10. On Sundays we will be open at 9:00am for our beloved breakfast, with dinner service starting at 2:00pm and continuing through 8:00pm.

These changes will not only allow me the opportunity to be a grandmother, but also to travel more with The Lily and The Rose Catering, to become more involved with the Farm to Table and Slow Food movements, and ultimately to be more creative with our dinners and specials at Fifty South.  I am very excited about traveling more and bringing back new ideas that will help me to expand my vision, while Fifty South continues to serve our community, provide a Farm to Table Experience, and be at the forefront of meeting the needs of our guests, especially those with gluten free, vegan, and other special dietary needs.

Thank you again so very much for all of your blessings, your love, support, guidance, and strength. I look forward to the next chapter of our lives. Thank you for allowing me to include you all in my life and in my vision for good and wholesome sustainable food, wine, family, friends and fun. You make my life wonderful.

Kisses–KK

P.S. We would also like to remind everyone that we are accepting reservations for our Easter Sunday Breakfast Buffet ( Ala Carte available as well) and Easter dinner. We encourage everyone who intends on joining us to reserve a spot now. Please call 518-884-2926 ]]> http://www.kklopstock.com/2012/03/29/spring-has-sprung/feed/ 0 http://www.kklopstock.com/2012/03/04/words-can-be-weapons/ http://www.kklopstock.com/2012/03/04/words-can-be-weapons/#comments Mon, 05 Mar 2012 00:09:29 +0000 Kim Klopstock http://www.kklopstock.com/?p=479

Note: This is a guest post by Thom Kelley. If you haven’t had the opportunity to meet him yet, Thom is one of the chefs on Kim’s team and he also works behind the scenes with her Web and Social Media endeavors.

It’s an exciting and amazing time this age of the internet, smartphones, and social media. A great power has been given to people. They’re networking more, finding a voice they might never have had, and their words are spreading at almost the speed of thought. Folks are blogging about or reviewing products, services, experiences and more. Gone are the days when we would anxiously await the latest review by a resident expert at some newspaper or magazine. Today anyone can instantaneously present their take on things to a vast audience. If it is a positive experience everybody wins, but if the experience leans towards the negative… not so much.

In a perfect world we’d bring our “A-Game” every minute of every day; however, in reality it’s just not going to happen. In moments where we drop the ball there are procedures and protocols in place for us to immediately rectify the situation. We truly want to make things right for our guests. We’re consumers too, and therefore we strive to give you the satisfaction that we expect to receive when we spend our own hard-earned money.

The trouble lately is that more often people are immediately expressing themselves via technology, rather than allowing businesses to make things right for them on the spot. It seems that some folks default to blasting establishments on the internet, rather than asking for a manager or the owner to fix a problem then and there. The unhappy customer walks away without being compensated for a bad experience, and their negative feelings spread across the web. That’s a “Lose/Lose” situation.

It could be much better for all involved if people would be mindful of the power they have when expressing themselves both in-house and on the internet. Let the server, manager, or owner be aware of your needs immediately. You’ll rightfully get what you’re paying for and the place’s reputation will stand strong. That’s a “Win/Win” Situation.

Photo by Kris-Jon Klopstock on location at Union Gables

Here is the official explanation for that: The chef, Kim, well…she loves her food, and she just had an oyster shooter. What started out as “quality control” quickly led to an overt expression of delight. That is all. Carry on…

So, after a wonderful evening of preparing and presenting sensual and wonderful foods, I happened upon my dear Jean, surrounded by two admirers and a HUGE box of chocolates.  What a wonderful site! To see this woman, who has lived such a great and interesting life, continuing to bless us all with her joy, beautiful piano playing, and zest for life.  It is proof positive, and a personal delight to me, seeing how love lives in all of us at any age. Kisses-KK

"Land & Sea" Grass-fed, Antibiotic Free, Humanely Slaughtered Angus Filet Mignon and Wild Caught Colossal Shrimp With Steamed Greens and Kilpatrick Family Farms Mashed Sweet Potatoes

This year the nonprofit Saratoga Film Forum, your local indie movie house, has come up with a creative, intimate, and affordable alternative to its usual big and splashy annual Oscar Gala, and we’re thrilled.  It’s called Oscar Comes Home, a series of thirty dinner parties throughout our community!

Dinner guests will be asked to donate a minimum of $35 per person by check made out to the Saratoga Film Forum. All proceeds from each of these six meals will go towards general operating costs of the Film Forum.

Kim Klopstock’s Fifty South Restaurant will host one of these dinners for up to six guests in their Gold Room on Oscar Night, Sunday February 26. Reservations are required and limited to the first six people willing to donate $35 or more to the Saratoga Film Forum and experience a fantastic meal in a lovely, elegant setting. Call 518-884-2926 to make your reservations soon.

What’s the Gold Room?

It’s a special place in Fifty South that has been set aside for weekends during the winter months, and every evening during the other seasons. Offering a slightly different atmosphere than the other portions of Fifty South, the Gold Room features elegant dining with silver service, candlelight, and it’s very own dinner menu. Children 12+ are welcome in the Gold Room and it can be reserved for parties and special occasions. Make your reservations today and experience the ambiance!

What’s the Film Forum?  The Saratoga Film Forum is a nonprofit, member supported, board-run arts organization that has been showing great independent and hard-to-find films in a range of genres in downtown Saratoga Springs for almost twenty years. It is the only movie house doing this sort of thing from Albany to Indian Lake. With minimal part-time staffing (a projectionist, and an office manager/film booker), the Film Forum shows movies at least three nights a week, eleven months a year. Many of these films are accompanied by forums or post-film-discussions.  The Saratoga Film Forum also sponsors kids’ movies, as well as free classics. Tickets prices are a 33%-50% less expensive than at a typical theater, and our concession items are cheaper too! We even feature coffee from Uncommon Grounds.

Why Support the Saratoga Film Forum?  Because a vibrant and diversified downtown arts scene is part of what makes Saratoga such a healthy and attractive city. Movies are a valuable and wonderful expression of art, and good art needs good support! We believe that good film deserves the same support as ballet, theater, symphony, jazz, literature, and painting.  No other arts group in the city produces as many events as the Film Forum, and if it weren’t around, the local arts scene would be woefully diminished.

The loyalty, interest, and attendance of our patrons are greatly valued throughout the years, but we need an extra boost to pay the bills, something everyone can understand in this economy. The general operating expenses of the Film Forum are significant, and as with every  non-profit, our gate, membership and ad revenues only go so far. General public arts funding (NYSCA) is down this year; and the Film Forum, like many arts groups, took a hit. Each donation to this annual fundraiser helps make up the difference. The Film Forum is a tenant of the Arts Center, and the two groups occasionally collaborate; however, a gift to the Arts Center is not a gift to the Film Forum. We are separate organizations

Where will your tax-deductible $35 donation go?  The great thing about Oscar Comes Home is that every dime of your donation goes directly into the general operating budget, and helps position the Film Forum for sustainability and growth.  Meaning: better sound, better seating, better projectors, more speakers — it’s all good!

Valentine’s Day, which is just around the corner, is for the most part a time for lovers to indulge all of their senses with one another. This is something we often put on the back burner in our daily lives; however, paying attention to the one you love is really of the utmost importance, and in my opinion, should be done more than just once a year.

There are many ways to express our love all year long: keeping in touch, writing love notes, telling and showing that special person in our lives how much we love them. We can also practice random acts of kindness. We can cook for them, or take them out for a special night of conversation and romance.

For me personally, Valentine’s Day is a time that gives me the opportunity to work with and present foods that are decadent, aphrodisiacal in nature, sexy, sensuous, tasty and satisfying. This gives me such a thrill, creating with my team beautiful meals in the spirit of passion, love, and sex.

This passion is always a part of what my life is like in the kitchen. For those of us who love to create and cook there are certainly other dimensions to our lives and art beyond the connotations of Valentine’s Day. It’s always about the art of the experience.  I was just talking to my nephew Kyle about this recently, about how it can be delightful to have material things, but it’s really experiences that live with you forever. Experiences like breaking bread with those that we love. For me, that is a turn on!

So, without further ado I invite you all, my dear friends, to join us at the restaurant for our Special Valentine’s Day Menu  available Friday through Sunday and again on Tuesday the 14^th. Tantalize your lover with our Oyster Duet, a Shooter served with a spicy tomato and horseradish sauce and two lightly fried oysters with our remoulade sauce. Delight  your special person with the Lover’s Duo, a 6 ounce line caught pan seared tuna (Rare Only), two grilled colossal wild caught shrimp served with a light Asian sauce on a bed of mashed Sheldon Farms potatoes, with wasabi cream and steamed local greens. Finish your meal and set the tone for the rest of your evening with Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate! Indulge in KK’s choice of Chocolate Decadence.

Kisses-KK

New Zealand Lamb on Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Demi-Glace. Image Copyright 2012, David A. Elias. All Rights Reserved.

Hi everyone. I am embarrassed at how long it has been since I have written. You could actually say that about so many things in my life. That being said, my New Year’s resolution (Hahaha!) actually came when I realized that my oldest daughter is pregnant and I’m going to be a grandmother! This glorious thought has inspired me to be more prolific with my writing, here on the blog and otherwise.

Another amazing thing that happened is that I now have a colleague who is helping and inspiring me to write. Maybe he is a ghost writer, or perhaps just a friend that is a bit more tech savvy than I. Together we are both keeping the love of what we do alive. We’ve even created a Twitter account for Fifty South Restaurant and have integrated it with our Facebook Page.

So much excitement already this year! So I welcome all of you, my dear friends, back here at the blog. I plan to share with you some more of the crazy/fun that we all have in this industry.  As always, I continue to share with you our love of our farmers (especially during their plight after Irene’s wrath) and the importance of food, friendship, health, and love.

Talk to you soon.  Kisses-KK

Friday night we went to Arthur Avenue for some great Italian food.  www.nymag.com>restaurants Dominicks.  It is right out of a movie, long tables, jammed packed with loud fun loving people of all ages, drinking and eating masses of food.  The waiter less than hospitable, but is probably part of the shtick….could it be that we were not regulars and we looked like tourists….. ya think!  Friday night there were 9 of us, and the food kept coming, the antipasto plate and salad were typical and perfect.  Part of my Arthur Avenue ritual is to go to Teitel Brothers www.Teitelbros.com a family run business since the early 1900′s.  As a matter of the fact one of the brothers actually came to the “fun raiser” with his family to the party at the Bronx Zoo.  For me this makes all of the hard work that we do in the catering business worth it….family, community and generosity.  How blessed am I!!!!

Saturday was a great day.  Perfect weather, the zoo, newly renovated,  is just amazing!  450 guests came from all over.  Robin and her team so beautifully orchestrated 3 buses from Saratoga and the rest of the guests traveled form the surrounding area.    Newman’s Own www.newmansown.com and the generosity of many other vendors made this event affordable for so many people to gather and celebrate the beauty of Double H Hole int he Woods.  For me much of the fun is also being reunited with many of my “young ones” who have moved on to the big city and are working on their careers.  Thankfully they still make the time to come and play with us. Not to forget my dear friend and chef extraordinaire, Ben Niece,  who took time off from his real job to come and be one of the celebrity chefs.  Yes I am blessed.  On that note.  Happy Thanksgiving and more adventures to come.  kisses kk

As I reflect i am overwhelmed at the number of lives that have touched me. Just recently one of my couples, who’s wedding I catered years ago, brought their new born daughter in for her first restaurant experience.  This past Friday it was  his birthday, so, in they come ready for a “romantic” night out, with daughter in tow and of course, halfway through the meal, the cry of I’m hungry and I want mom was loud and clear.  As you can imagine there is no place to be quiet on a hopping  Friday night, with live music playing.  So the next best place is my office, affectionately called the  “clowncar”.  What a joy to have a nursing mom in our office,  Lynn (bookkeeper extraordinaire)  and I were in HEAVEN, (Lynn just recently became a grandma and I am waiting patiently) The sounds, the yumminess of perfection just love and comfort.   What a gift.  See for me, that is the sweetness of life.  The bills the strategies of how to stay alive through the winter, all just melt into oblivion with the presence of innocence and beauty.

The next day, I happen to greet a couple at the door, who were deciding whether they wanted to dine here.  More importantly could we help them with something vegetarian/vegan with out is being pasta primavera.    Not that there is anything wrong with pasta primavera, but real vegans and vegetarians what alternatives that also have protein, such as tofu and tempeh.  Since this is my thing, I too want to know how vegan are they!  Was this a fad or are they well seasoned so to speak.  Turns out, we are kindred spirits, kids born at home(well Talara was born in a van, but at the time that was home!), no vaccines, nursed for two plus years and the list goes on.   So how cool was that.  They brought back such great memories, plus they are local.  Welcome to the family.  Actually it turns out she is probably a great cook, so I am sure we will have some recipes and stories to share.  This may actually be the impetus that I needed to gather my nursing moms for a “bonding” / support session!  Plus for me just the pleasure or being around mothers and their children!

Then last night after years of begging, my dear friend Michael Panza, designer extraordinaire, not to mention a voice and stage presence that melts your heart.  www.fineaffairs.com.  He performed here with the Chris Dollard trio, my god I felt like I was in the city at some cool lounge listening to this amazing group of musicians.  www.myspace.com/chrisdollardmusic.

So as much as I want to share with people that this business is a whole lot more demanding and difficult to maintain.  all of the long hard hours, worry and stress all melt away when my thoughts navigate to the beauty and joy that I get from the goodies of my life as a restaurateur and caterer.  The team/family that you surround yourself with,  the food and farmers that you use to create dishes that sustain your patrons/families bellies and soul, and the experiences you help to create not only for them but for yourselves, seem to mean the most with the path that I have chosen.  Trick or treat?  kisses kk

I can’t tell you how quickly my summer flew by.  It was the spring time, my garden was doing beautifully, July came, the ballet got to town, and now it is mid October.  The weeds over took my garden but my herbs endured.  Everything in between is not really a blurr, but I certainly jammed a ton into a few short months.

Having the culture of The NYCB in town www.nycballet.com, those creative athletes, musicians and all the folks that make it happen both locally and regionally are just a joy.  Many of them actually came to my place, Fifty South www.fiftysouth.com, came and experienced their first polo match, and now many are completely hooked.   I can’t say I blame them.  Years ago I was the exclusive caterer to Saratoga Polo, it changed hands, one of the partners was a chef, so after they parted ways, I am  back and LOVING every minute.  Besides the world class polo that is played on the fields,  www.saratogapolo.com, we cater private events for all types of people and organizations.  For me I am lured by three aspects, the owners and their families, the serene space that Polo encompasses, and the excitement, athleticism and culture that we all experience by being a part of the Saratoga polo scene.  It is for everyone, dogs, children, from the very wealthy to just the folks that want to experience something different, to be outside and be part of such a great sport.  Ok enough of my love affair with Polo.

One of my most favorite experiences was the participating in the Feats of Fields event the 23rd of September 2010.  what a beautiful display of the bounty of our most beloved local and regional farmers and local chefs having the privilege of cooking with these beautiful organic products and serving this feast to many guests who came to support Saratoga P.L.A.N. www.saratogaplan.org In my next blog I will share more details.

I have had many great places this season to work, besides Saratoga Polo.  Hildene, www.hildene.org, the estate of Robert Todd Lincoln,  in Manchester Vermont, they are actually raising and making their own goat cheese and it is FANTASTIC.  The Fenimore www.fenimoreartmuseum.org was a wonderful place to visit, beautiful drive in my 24′ truck, I definitely will go back as a visitor.  and in November we are doing a benefit for Double H Hole in the woods www.doublehranch.org down at the Bronx Zoo www.bronxzoo.com so it will be a ton of fun, and many visits to Arthur Avenue to eat and buy lots of authentic Italian goodies.  Field Trip.

Anyway, there is so much more to tell.  But that will need to wait till later.  A special thank you to my friend David Elais www.eliasweddings.com, good friend and without David’s relentless reminding of how important blogging is, I would never even know what a blog was.   He is not only a dear friend he is an excellent and accomplished chef and photographer extraordinaire.  His wife Charl is a goddess, who with a loving way can make even the most uncomfortable feel at ease while having their intimate picture taken. www.charlelias.com

I will be in touch soon to share more tails of the summer fun and what is in store for us in the fall working into the holidays and winter.  Keep well, remember to breathe and kisses to all. kk

The pastel colors and fruity drinks were a great pairing along side the museum’s marvelous display of woody style wagons.

There is a larger gallery of photos at http://eliasweddings.photoshelter.com/gallery/Lily-and-the-Rose-Catering-Auto-Museum-Party/G0000oXXHzinxOX4/.

The Auto Museum also makes a great venue for  weddings and the guests always love to see all of the fabulous cars on display.