AOA birthday drawing: A Taste of Albany, Lark + Lily, Capital Wine

AOA8 drawing taste of albany composite

Drawing's closed!

It's AOA's birthday week. And you could get the presents! To celebrate eight years of AOA, we've pulled together a whole bunch of great Capital Region stuff and we're holding a different drawing every day this week.

Today's drawing includes a bunch of food-related prizes:

+ A pair of tickets to A Taste of Albany at the State Museum April 21. The Capital Region culinary showcase includes wine, food, and entertainment. Proceeds from A Taste of Albany benefit Interfaith Partnership for the Homeless (IPH). Tickets are $75.

+ From Lark & Lily on Lark Street in Albany: a bottle of Charles & Charles Rose and a cheese plate

+ Two $25 gift certificates from Capital Wine in Albany.

To enter the drawing, please answer this question in the comments:

What is the tastiest thing in the Capital Region?

Maybe it's your favorite cocktail or dish at a local establishment. Maybe it's something someone cooks at home. Maybe it's something produced by a local farm.

We'll draw one winner at random. That person gets the basket of prizes.

Important: All comments must be submitted by 1 pm on Wednesday, April 6, 2016 to be entered in the drawing. You must answer the question to be part of the drawing. (Normal commenting guidelines apply.) One entry per person, please. You must enter a valid email address (that you check regularly) with your comment. The winner will be notified via email by midnight on Wednesday and must respond by 10 pm Thursday, April 7.

Taste of Albany photo: Bennett Campbell

Comments

The summer produce from local farms

Ramps

Thai BBQ Salmon at the New World Bistro Bar.

apple cider donuts!

Nine Pin cider - without a doubt!

The lobster mac & cheese at the The Ginger Man is heaven!

Outside of NYC, we know how to do real New York pizza around here.

Fountain Pizza

Veal Francese from Laine's in Colonie.

Pie! Mom's homemade strawberry pie, made from the very berries we hand-pick at Ariel's farm in Saratoga! Mom's homemade apple pie is a close second, but that refreshing summer treat is too good.

Chesapeake Beni at Cafe Madison

Apples! Cider! Donuts!

Local brews and signature cocktails -- we sure know our booze around here ;)

A Bacon Bad sandwich from The Brakes. :'(

Apples fresh off the tree.

Ric Orlando's Jerk Chicken

Roxbury Farm corn!

The Brown Lentils dish at Tara Kitchen.

Purple Pub Pizza!

The "Tom's Turkey" sandwich from The Placid Baker.

Anything from NWBB

Clam chowder at Reel Seafood.

I have to go with the Santa Speedo Sprint.

Good to the last Speedo!

Cider Belly Donuts

Blaze Pizza

That cheddar burger from the Merry Monk... with the fries and dipping sauce.. and a flight...

So it's a bit of a stretch for the Capital Region, but the duck rillettes or korean BBQ wings at bar vino in North Creek.

Wings at the Ruck

The Kao Soi at Sadudee in Watervliet!

Ice cream from the Snowman!

Cider donuts!

Avacado Fries from Slidin' Dirty, washed down with a Nine Pin!

Anything from Bake For You!

Gus's Hotdogs.

Veggie Tacos at Ama Cocina

The Spicy Chicken soup from Taiwan Noodle!

Pesto burger from Juicy Burger

Grandma's meatloaf

The duck Rueben at Merry Monk!

The Surf and Turf Burger at the Hollow and/or their gnocchi.

Farm veggies from my CSA!

Country Drive In Ice Cream

The fish and chips at Finnbar's pub in Troy - served on the sidewalk patio on a warm summer evening, with a pint of cold blueberry beer. Mighty tasty!

Van's on Central Ave.

Provence-style braised lamb leg with Moroccan spices and cous cous from Jake Moon's Restaurant.

Cocktails at the Speak Easy!

This is really hard, but I'm going to go with "The Sweet Sue": brie, merlot poached pear, fig jam, and candied pecans, toasted on Our Daily Bread's croissant - from Sweet Sue's of course. Oh man, I need this now.

the gluten free goodies from Crisan's newly opened cafe at AIHA!! ya-hooooo!

The Perfect Storm Mac and Cheese from Valente's in Watervliet. Hands down best.

Mozarella sticks with raspberry sauce at Cafe 217 :)

Marino's Pizza

Hazelnut Porter from Chatham Brewing.

Mont Pleasant Porter from Mad Jack Brewing

Local strawberries

Indian ladder farms cider donuts forever

I have to go with something that I can no longer get, but used to be a mainstay in Albany. At Quintessence, the Chicken Teriyaki with Spinach noodles and their delicious salad dressing. SO good.

Peanut butter pandemonium!

The meatball parmesan bake along with the house salad dressing at Testo's Restaurant in Troy

The upstate burger at CRAVE! So freakin' good!

Anything from Crisan Bakery!

Cider Belly! The cappuccino cider donut is my favorite.

That first soft serve twist with chocolate sprinkles of the season from Jumpin Jacks!

All the wonderful offerings of the farmer's markets!

apple cider donuts!

Capital Q BBQ

Spindles on Remsen...makes the best chicken piccata ..lemon capery perfection!!

Part of me wants to say a beer (or 4) and wings at the Ruck. A few years ago...anything from All Good Bakers. Cheesy garlic bread from Bacchus is tempting. But I think I'll have to go with all the banter from the local characters in news and blog comment sections.

Sukkothai's rice plates!

Moonshine wings from Juniors

Hot dog with melted cheese from Jumpin Jacks

mint brownies from the Spectrum 8

Tastiest thing in the Capital Region has got to be Hattie's fried chicken -- atop a waffle and with a glass of cold sweet tea when you're in the restaurant and, if at the race track, a half chicken eaten with your hands while you melt on the blacktop.

Piggy Nachos at New World!

Apple pie baked in the fall from freshly picked apples with some cider on the side! yum!

Gelato at Crisan. Thank heaven it's back!

My wife!

DeFazios Sausage (on their Pizza) or in do-it-yourself Sausage Peppers and onions on a mastriani roll

or Lobster Roll & Fresh Oysters at the beer belly!!

On the early side:
Any special Benedict at Cafe Madison!

Good Luck all and thanks AoA

677 carrot cake

Stewart's Crumbs Along the Mohawk ice cream

Donuts from Cider Belly - the German Chocolate ones are a person favorite :)

The cider doughnuts at Riverview Orchards.

I love the Blackened String Beans from The New World Bistro. Dipping them in the sauce is perfect! Who knew green beans could be so fun!

Brunch at Umanas. Red velvet waffles & fried chicken!

Tanpopo Ramen! With First runner up of Nine Pin Cider, and honorable mention to Cider Belly Doughnuts.

The mushroom and fregola small plate at Peck's Arcade. Definitely our favorite Capital District restaurant right now.

Pho-to-go at Van's!

The Baker's Daughter's brownies at the food co-op. Pricey and well worth every penny!

Gershon's Deli corned beef

Breakfast sandwiches from the Psychedelicatessin

Still Kurver Kreme. And also the Dirty Pig from Slidin Dirty

The Dare at Druthers!

Indian Ladder Farm,s donuts

Chester's smoked meats

Cider donuts from Indian Ladder Farms!!

Altamont Orchard strawberries, picked and eaten in the field.

Pizza and pasta at defazio's!!

So many tasty things here... How about one that lots of people don't know about: cannoli at cappiello's in schenectady. So good!

The Dare ale at Druthers.

Slice of cheesecake from Cheesecake Machismo!

Oysters from Jack's!

I love Flavors of India restaurant on Washington Ave, across from Townsend Park- so sad that they are moving Wolf Road.

a marg from El Loco!

Any type of cheesecake from Cheesecake Machismo, hands down.

Corn fritters from the shop!

A BLT with cheese on an everything bagel and a large iced coffee from Uncommon Grounds!

Hawaiian pizza from The Fountain

The amazing bounty of great fruits and vegetables from my garden and all of the local farm stands and farmers markets.

Honeycrisp Apples!

Cider Belly! Any of the flavors - all so good

Donuts from Cider Belly!

The Soppressata Pizza at the Gastropub. Honest to god, there is nothing better on this earth. It is the best pizza in the CapReg.

Valentina pizza at Restaurant Navona :)

Fountain Pizza!

I love all things served at Tara Kitchen

The wings at the Ruck

The new rack of lamb entree with a glass of zin at Lark & Lily!

Spicy ramen at Tanpopo!

Grilled octopus from Athos

Sweet Corn from Oreshan's

Breakfast burger at Druthers

A fresh off the tree empire apple is good. And very NY.

Tomato pie from Perecca's!

50/50 Burger at Mohawk Taproom.

Sausage sandwich with onions and peppers at Gus's.

Jack Burger from Jumpin' Jacks

Druthers Mac N Cheese

Cider donuts from Indian Ladder

Hot dogs w/ the works from Gus's

Pineapple curry from Kinnaree on Lark!

Apple cider donuts, for sure!

A glass of wine in Andrea's garden on a summer's night.

After reading down the list I'm drooling.

My current delicious favorite is Soul Kitchen's fried chicken.

The best breakfast sandwich that I have ever tasted is from the Daily Grind on Lark. I prefer mine with fresh mozzarella and an english muffin with andouille sausage. I pair it with a PB & Banana smoothie and a coffee with beans roasted just upstairs. Delicious!!!!

Mac & Cheese w/Jalapeno at Capitol Q..

Impossible. But what have I ordered more than any other single item? The calamari at New World.

Hong Kong Bakery

Cider Belly Donuts!!!

Jerk Chicken at New World!

Gelato from villa Italia!

Gosh so many tasty things in the capital region; but, I'll say one of the tastiest in the coleslaw at Jumpin' Jacks - it's the only coleslaw I'll eat!

Veggie burger at The Daily Grind

Cheesecake Machismo cheesecakes... any of them!

So my favorite thing to sample has been the awesome local craft beer, like Druthers and any pizza because it is so much better up here versus down south!! I just moved to the area and hoping to try so many different places!!

Easy. A big bowl of Gatherer's Granola's Squirrel Bait from the Troy Waterfront Farmer's Market. Yum!

Corned beef hash at New World Bistro brunch

Druthers Mac & Cheese

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