In between serving cocktails and managing a busy kitchen, Joe Schaefer and Pete Cusato toil in plaster and mortar, dust and decay. The pair are owners of the highly successful Savannah’s at 1 South Pearl in Albany and are about to open a second business.
They purchased and gutted the vacant space next door, formerly the Copy Valet, to make room for a vodka bar they are calling War and Peace.
Neither of them are Russian so the name War and Peace was not decided on because of Tolstoy’s popular tome but because “the two words evoke such strong emotions in people” said Cusato.
The Albany-Tula Alliance are anxious to share their passion for all things Russian so we were offered a tour of the new venue.
Schaefer said that he was familiar with the sister-city organization through a friendship he had with former Albany Mayor, Thomas M. Whalen. Whalen was a co-founder and supporter of the Albany-Tula Alliance from the beginning in 1991. But, Schaefer hadn’t thought how the organization might be able to contribute until today.
With that, founder & board member, Charlotte Buchanan, presented several traditional samovars from Tula, Russia, ideal for both making tea and/or putting on display.
Tea is as much a part of Russian culture as vodka and Buchanan gave a brief description of how the antique containers brew water and how the tea is measured into cups according to one’s tastes.
The gifts provoked the owners to consider putting the non-alcohol beverage on the menu.
Join us when we take a sip of both tea and vodka during the ribbon-cutting ceremony on April 19, 2012.
