On August 21 I attended the final concert of the 2010 Saratoga Harp Colony in Saratoga Springs, NY.
Afterwards, to celebrate the culmination of four years of music school, my daughter and I went to Hattie's, a bustling, brimming and vivacious Southern Food restaurant in downtown Saratoga Springs. We elbowed our way into a corner at the bar in the open patio and found a spot to enjoy a mint julep.
Called to our table we squeezed around a checkered-top table. Here is the catfish: 
The menu hits all the right notes: Jambalaya; Skirt Steak w/ Chimichurri; Red Beans and Rice; Chicken and Dumplings...salivating yet? When the chef came to our table he introduced himself as Jasper Alexander. I mentioned that we were from Seattle and then he countered that he had worked at Ponti in Queen Anne and that he was from Magnolia neighborhood! Who knew that he was a Seattle homeboy?!
Jasper and his lovely wife, Beth, bought Hattie's Restaurant in the Fall of 2001. The restaurant was opened in 1938 by Hattie Gray, an African-American woman from Saint Francisville, Louisiana. Open 24 hours a day the restaurant served up fried chicken, gambling and jazz.
It is my conjecture that Mr. Alexander was drawn to buy Hattie's in Saratoga because he grew up just over the Ballard Bridge which one takes to get to Seattle's iconic restaurant -- Hattie's Hat.
