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By Christine Graf
Two weeks after celebrating their October 2021 wedding at the Adelphi, Clark Gale and Zac Denham signed the lease for a 500-square-foot space at 10 Phila St. The New York City couple, both veterans in the hospitality industry, will be opening Bocage Champagne Bar in the former home of the Falafel Den.
Clark, a native of Massena, has family in the Saratoga area. Denham is from Baton Rouge and fell in love with Saratoga after Clark introduced him to the city.
“Saratoga to some degree has a bit of a southern flair like Baton Rouge, and for Zac it felt a little like home,” said Clark.
The couple share a passion for champagne and followed through on their dream of opening a champagne bar after they stumbled across the space on Phila Street. Although new to Saratoga, both men have extensive hospitality industry experience.
Denham is the general manager at Manhattan’s Casa Dani, a restaurant owned by celebrated Spanish Michelin-star chef Dani Garcia. Gale recently left his position as director of operations for Barcade, a company with restaurants in six different states. In addition to working as project manager for Bocage, he works as a hospitality industry consultant.
“We’ve always wanted to do our own projects. Bocage has been a brainchild of ours, and it’s been a long time coming,” said Denham.
The Phila Street space had to be completely gutted, and construction is expected to be completed by the end of March. If everything goes according to plan, Bocage will open its doors in April.
The champagne bar can accommodate 20 to 30 people with mixed seating and standing space. Bocage features French country décor and was designed to feel welcoming.
“We wanted to design it like you are entertaining in someone’s home,” said Clark. “It has that kind of intimate feel, and the bar is designed more like a kitchen island.”
Although called a champagne bar, Bocage’s drink menu will be extensive and will include 14 different sparkling alcoholic beverages available by the glass. By using the Coravin wine preserver, they will be able to serve individual glasses while preserving the bottle. Bocage will also carry an extensive selection of New York state wines as well as a limited selection of liquor.
“We want to have something for everyone,” said Gale.
Having something for everyone means that they will be offering beverages at a wide variety of price points.
“When people think champagne, they think luxury, they think expensive. But the world has a lot of very beautiful sparkling wines available, and our glass list will start at just $12 a glass which is super reasonable. Our most expensive glass is $30. We will also have bottles starting at $30,” said Denham. “We aren’t necessarily catering to the Caroline Street crowd, but our doors are open for anyone who wants to stop by for a round.”
Bocage will also offer a limited menu that will include caviar, oysters, foie gras, pressed sandwiches, and a selection of local meats and cheese. In the future, chef dinners and tasting menus may be available. Bocage can also be booked for private parties, and several private events have already been scheduled.
“What’s appealing to us about the space and the way that we designed it is that there aren’t a lot of places where you could take over a whole spot and have a whole little restaurant to yourself,” said Gale. “There’s already been a lot of interest in that.”
Clark and Denham plan to hire six employees but expect that number to increase to 10 during track season. Normal business hours will be from 4 p.m. to midnight, but these hours may be extended during the summer to include lunch service.
The new business owners have found Saratoga to be very welcoming and believe the city is the perfect location for a champagne bar.
“We feel like everyone seems to want us to succeed, and we think this really makes sense for Saratoga because there is always something to celebrate. Whether it’s a bachelorette party or a wedding or a smaller moment,” said Gale.
The couple are so bullish on Saratoga that Bocage will likely be the first of their local business ventures. They plan to eventually relocate to the area.
“What makes downtown Saratoga so special is that there is a niche for everything. Bocage is going to contribute to that fabric of downtown by giving visitors something that is unique to Saratoga, and we also have our eyes on some other properties in Saratoga for a couple of other projects down the pipeline. Stay tuned for that,” said Denham.