Cheese, Please
Columbia County’s Bimi’s Cheese Shop has long been a must-visit for cheese fanatics, but now the big cheese of Chatham has gotten even cheesier—in the best way. While you’ve been able to stock up on gouda, gruyere and gorgonzola since 2014, the owners of the shop have a new venture on deck. At press time, Bimi’s Canteen, a new bar and restaurant located right next door to the cheese shop, was scheduled to open in early May. On the menu? Inventive cocktails, reimagined classics using ultra-local ingredients, and—yes, longtime Bimi’s enthusiasts—cheese-forward dishes like charcuterie, fondue and macaroni gratin.
A Dress to Impress
In 2009, 85 pieces of burgundy silk began a 14-year odyssey to become a global, collaborative piece of wearable art. Conceived by British artist Kirstie Macleod, the Red Dress project involved 375 embroiderers from 50 countries all working on what would become the same red dress. The exquisite finished garment has generated a dialogue of self-expression via signature stitching passed down through generations and the fusion of work by both first-time embroiderers and renowned artisans. To see it for yourself, visit Manchester’s Southern Vermont Arts Center, just across the Vermont border, July 1 through September 24.
On the Market
This spring, Palette, a co-working community in Saratoga and Schenectady, launched its Night Market, an open-to-the-public, pop-up shopping experience that highlights products—everything from jewelry and clothing to crystals and cannabis seeds—from a rotating cast of small businesses on select weekend nights in Saratoga through July. Visit palettecommunity.com for the Night Market calendar or to reserve your spot as a vendor.
Movie Night
Did you know that the director responsible for what could be this summer’s biggest blockbuster is a Capital Region native? That’s right: Strays, a live-action talking dog comedy coming to theaters June 9, is directed by Josh Greenbaum, who was born and raised in Saratoga Springs. Starring Will Ferrell, Jamie Foxx and Will Forte, Strays follows an (R-rated) journey of Reggie, a naïve but lovable abandoned dog, as he joins a pack of strays to seek revenge on his owner, Doug. Sound vaguely familiar? A family-friendly version of the trailer played during the Super Bowl—so someone’s putting their money on this reaching Ted-level cult status. Thunder buddies for life, anyone?
Swimply the Best
Need a way to beat the heat this summer, but don’t have a pool of your own? Thanks to Swimply, an online marketplace for renting private swimming pools, you don’t need one! Swimply works like Airbnb; you search based on location and date to find available pools rentable by the hour. You can even filter by those allowing parties or pets, or those that have hot tubs. Swimply is a national company, but a search of “Albany, NY” returns at least 19 available area pools. So dive right in and start searching.
