{"id":19724,"date":"2016-08-04T10:47:55","date_gmt":"2016-08-04T14:47:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2016\/08\/willow-bistro-a-place-for-casual-fine-dining-opens-on-prospect-street-in-ballston-spa.html"},"modified":"2017-11-08T13:35:30","modified_gmt":"2017-11-08T18:35:30","slug":"willow-bistro-a-place-for-casual-fine-dining-opens-on-prospect-street-in-ballston-spa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2016\/08\/willow-bistro-a-place-for-casual-fine-dining-opens-on-prospect-street-in-ballston-spa\/","title":{"rendered":"Willow Bistro, A Place For Casual Fine Dining, Opens On Prospect Street In Ballston Spa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"img-left\">\n<div>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"willow-hc.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2016\/08\/willow-hc.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"222\" class=\"alignleft\" \/>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"img-caption\">\nKiersten Houck, left, and Sandra James are the owners of Willows Bistro, a new restaurant in Ballston Spa, an establishment the owners describe as casual fine dining.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t&copy;2016 Saratoga Photographer.com\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>By Liz Witbeck<\/p>\n<p>Willows Bistro, a new restaurant in Saratoga County, is a casual fine-dining establishment that opened in June.<\/p>\n<p>Owners of the restaurant, at 11 Prospect St. in Ballston Spa, are Sandra James and Kiersten Houck.<\/p>\n<p>Houck previously operated a food truck in Ballston Spa, the Lunch Brake. Before then, he worked at Saratoga Winery.<\/p>\n<p>James served in the National Guard and U.S. Air Force and has a degree in culinary arts. The two teamed up together for their first experience operating a brick-and-mortar restaurant.<\/p>\n<p><!--more-->&quot;It&#039;s always been Kiersten&#039;s dream to open a restaurant. We saw this space was for rent and we decided to go for it,&quot; said James.<\/p>\n<p>James handles the business side of the restaurant. Houck is the main chef and in charge of the kitchen.<\/p>\n<p>The venue bills itself as a casual fine-dining restaurant. Some of the items on the menu include a lobster macaroni and cheese drizzled with a white truffle oil; homemade stuffed meatballs with mozzarella; bourbon brown shrimp on a bed of polenta; and, for dessert, their best-selling lavender honey cr\u00e8me brulee.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;It&#039;s to die for,&quot; said James of the popular dessert.<\/p>\n<p>When the space was purchased, it was a completely empty storefront. The crew worked to build a restaurant that has the ambiance that they desired. Many relatives helped with the creation of Willows Bistro.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;Kiersten&#039;s step-dad built the benches. Her mom helped with the pillows and drapery,&quot; said James. &quot;It&#039;s comfortable. It&#039;s inviting. It feels like home. People don&#039;t feel rushed. There are no televisions. We have light jazz music playing in the background. It&#039;s just a comfy, cozy place.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>Carry-out dishes are available.<\/p>\n<p>Willows Bistro is still waiting for a liquor license. They plan on serving wine and liquor at the establishment.<\/p>\n<p>The eatery runs dinner specials on Friday and Saturday nights, which are announced on their Facebook page. Every other Wednesday, Willows Bistro has a &quot;create your own pasta&quot; special.<\/p>\n<p>Hours are Tuesday through Thursday from 5-9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday from 5-10 p.m. The restaurant is closed Sundays and Mondays.<\/p>\n<p>Reservations are suggested. To make a reservation, call 288-3419.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> Kiersten Houck, left, and Sandra James are the owners of Willows Bistro, a new restaurant in Ballston Spa, an establishment the owners describe as casual fine dining. &copy;2016 Saratoga Photographer.com By Liz Witbeck Willows Bistro, a new restaurant in&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121,"featured_media":26843,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-businesses"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\r\n<title>Willow Bistro, A Place For Casual Fine Dining, Opens On Prospect Street In Ballston Spa - Saratoga Business Journal<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2016\/08\/willow-bistro-a-place-for-casual-fine-dining-opens-on-prospect-street-in-ballston-spa\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Willow Bistro, A Place For Casual Fine Dining, Opens On Prospect Street In Ballston Spa - 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