From the Food Vault Dept.: It’s difficult to tell what’s going on at Schenectady’s Van Dyck Restaurant these days. It turned into the Mad Jack Brewing Co. a few years ago, and seems to have weathered Covid in that guise, but the only menu offerings on the website are a few pizzas and, even though its Facebook page sports the famous “Great Day in Harlem” photograph, there hasn’t been any significant jazz near the place in many years. Here’s one of five reviews I wrote of the place over the years, this one from 25 years ago. There’s a more current one, from 2009, that I’ll post in the weeks to come.
BESIDES BEING A CHARMING BUILDING in Schenectady’s Stockade area, the Van Dyck has also hosted appearances by legendary jazz musicians. During my own time in Schenectady, I’ve seen Earl Hines and Red Norvo at the club, among many others. It was sad to see the business close a few years ago, but the decline had been steady and apparent. With a fresh emphasis on food, a new brewery component, and extensive remodeling, the restaurant reopened under new ownership in late March.
Other good ideas include a refurbished bar twice the size of the old one, yet still comfortable and intimate, and moving the jazz room to the second floor. The lineup of players, including upcoming appearances by Marian McPartland and Mose Allison, also gives the reassuring message that music is being taken seriously here again.
I met my friend Claudia at the restaurant one warm evening not long ago. No live jazz was scheduled, but the music piped into our dining room was reassuringly pleasant. We sat in what was the old Van Dyck’s “Victorian Room,” now used for downstairs fine dining. There’s a very comfortable, old-fashioned feel to the room without it seeming oppressively formal, and our only complaint about the ambiance in it concerns the chandeliers – or, more correctly, the circuitry, which has some kind of intermittently operating load on it that causes the lights to dim periodically (I imagine that a refrigerator somewhere in the building is kicking on).
We started with a couple of beers. What with the competition of so many breweries returning to the area, we anticipated something really special. What we got was good, and this mildly disappointing. Hefe Weizen, a German-style wheat beer, had a pleasant sweetness and a good undertone but not a lot of body in the middle flavors. Irish Ale, dark and foamy, was appropriately bitter, but again lacked the complexity I’d like to taste. Still, it’s miles ahead of the commercial pisswater, and I don’t understand how Miller and Bud continue to flourish with good, local brews around. Actually, I do understand it, and there’s a spiritual line running from bad beer through Lewis Grizzard to Branson, Mo.
The appetizer selection is dominated by bar food like chicken wings and french fries, but there’s an outstanding mushroom flan on the list, a custard sweet with tasty fungi and crunchy with walnuts, surrounded by a sauce with caramelized onions floating throughout. I chose the Thai chicken satay, hoping for some heat, and I got it. A mild but pervasive spiciness in the peanut sauce, and great flavor in the grilled chicken slices.
We each ordered a different salad–house for me, a mixture of the usual good greens with a lemon thyme vinaigrette, and a nice touch in the blanched onion slices that moderated the usual onion zing. Claudia had a Caesar salad, one that ducked tradition by adding the anchovies on the side and sprinkling asiago cheese over the top, but it came awfully close.
Ah, but those entrées. From the menu, Claudia ordered farfalle Montrachet, a pasta-chicken combo that’s anything but ordinary. Wonderful herbs, the great taste of goat cheese, more mushrooms, all finished to a fantastic, mouth-filling flavor.
Red snapper was the special, and it was coated with coarse salt and other seasonings, grilled and served over jasmine rice with fresh basil and a little mix of curry spices to set off the flavor, which kept opening up in my mouth long after I’d savored a bite. This is what superior cooking is all about and, as Cruz later told us, it had been a steady seller through the weekend.
Enigmatic notice is given on the menu about “sides,” promising that there’s plenty available. What’s overlooked is that nothing accompanies the entrées unless explicitly stated. A side of at least vegetables would be nice – what is this, Tribeca?
Service was enthusiastic, and Michele, our waitress, knew the menu well and recommended items with confidence. Overall floor style needs improvement, however: tables weren’t reset properly, and nobody but Michele really kept an eye on us. For top-notch fine dining, two people should attend every table. Also, the salads collided with our appetizers: tables should be cleared and reset between courses.
Like good jazz, the Van Dyck is clearly a work in progress. Claudia finished with a strawberry-rhubarb crisp, while I ordered the appetizer cheese plate (“Tavern Taste”) for dessert – which turned out to be a portion we could have shared.
Dinner for two, with tax and tip, beer and dessert, was $88. Metroland restaurant reviews are based on one unannounced visit; your experience may differ.
The Van Dyck Fine Food & Brewery, 237 Union St, Schenectady, 381-xxxx. Fine dining returns to Schenectady’s Stockade as Dimitri Cruz does his culinary magic at the nicely refurbished historic building. Serving lunch and dinner Tue-Thu 11:30-11, Fri-Sat 11:30-midnight, Sun 11:30-10. All major credit cards. * * * ½
– Metroland Magazine, 8 May 1997
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