Two restaurants shared top spots in Albany’s inaugural Melba Madness tour that took place Saturday, promoting a tasting of more than a dozen dishes featuring the known Capital Region raspberry sauce.
The Downtown Albany Business Improvement District announced Monday that The Hollow Bar won the People’s Choice first place award with its cream cheese-stuffed jalapeno (traditional or vegan) with blackberry melba sauce. For the judge’s choice, Jack’s Oyster House topped the list with its pan-fried duck dumpling with melba teriyaki. The Hollow won the judge’s second-place choice, and Jack’s won the second People’s Choice spot.
Rounding out each of those rankings, A Slice of That’s melba-infused pizza bites won third place for People’s Choice, and the Hilton Albany had two offerings that swayed the day’s judges with candied pistachio panna cotta topped with melba as well as a foie gras crostini with mela gelee and Marcona almonds.
More than 180 ballots were cast by visitors on the Melba Madness tour during the weekend, with 350 tickets sold, the BID said. The three judges on the panel included Nellie Ackerman, the woman behind Feed Me 518; Dominick Colello, who conducts @DomCReviews on social media; and public relations coordinator Leanne Ricchiuti.
The entire list of participating restaurants from the event’s first announcement was: