This is CNY

Touché has officially opened at 309 W. Fayette St., next door to Kitty Hoynes Irish Pub & Rest in Syracuse. Touché is a French-style bistro with Appalachian influences, focusing on whole-animal butchery. While working at restaurants such as Saint Urban and Pascale’s, Chef Jeffrey Deloff taught himself to butcher. The restaurant buys animals from area farmers and cuts the meat in-house. 🥩 Menu entrees range from $12 for a bowl of onion bone broth soup to $29 for steak frites, a classic French dish of beef and fries served with salad greens, roasted garlic, sherry vinegar and French oil. Charlie Miller has your first look: https://lnkd.in/gaENeGiV

Isaac and Stephanie Keefe Budmen delight in the pursuit of answers to impossible questions. What if you could listen to color? Can you taste a star? Could you 3D print a pie? Isaac and Stephanie design and make complex 3D printers and use them to create products, mostly custom jobs for themselves or for clients who bring them a problem with no solution … yet. They are inventors and co-founders of two Central New York companies, Budmen Industries and Think Variant Inc. 💡 The Budmens also comprise the project-based learning team at The Keenan Center for Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Creativity at Le Moyne College, teaching young people and community members their philosophy of creative discovery. We love this quote from Isaac: "Steph and I, in the last few years, have started to really pay attention to excitement. When you feel excitement, that isn’t something to be ignored. And yet we ignore it all the time. … Following your excitement is this really powerful thing because it’s a natural propulsion. … It’s carrying you forward. You don’t have to get the motivation up." Read their full leadership interview with editor Marie Morelli here: https://lnkd.in/eR9Mzpes

When I found out I would be the journalist covering RetroGameCon for This is CNY, I knew I wanted to level up (pun intended) my journalism by doing something other than your typical suit-and-tie newsreel. I took some time to really reflect on what I needed to do to power up my coverage and really reflect the fun, vibrant, nerdy and creative energy of gaming conventions. So…I did the whole thing dressed as Waluigi! By coming into the convention in full cosplay, I was able to build stronger relationships and get better interviews with attendees by showing them that I wasn’t an outsider—I was genuinely here to show those unfamiliar with the gaming community how awesome and inclusive this world can be. This was probably the most fun I’ve ever had reporting, and I couldn’t be happier with the way the newsreel turned out. So thankful to Maxine Wallace for capturing so many great scenes and getting creative with me. And grateful for Katrina Tulloch who put up with our overactive imaginations all weekend. If you liked the video, Maxine and I also worked on several written stories about RetroGameCon that you can check out here: https://lnkd.in/e_ayiiw6

Mike Flynn’s entry into the legal marijuana business in Central New York has been more successful than he expected. Now he wants to take that success statewide. He said his retail business, FlynnStoned Cannabis Company in Syracuse’s Armory Square, generated $30 million in gross sales in its first year, from June 2023 to June 2024. He’s now working to open two other FlynnStoned shops. One will be in the former Pope’s Grove Golf Course on State Fair Boulevard in Lakeland. A second shop is under development in Manhattan. Although the state’s marijuana laws essentially prohibit one owner from operating more than three shops, Flynn has come up with another way to expand his brand. Don Cazentre has the full story: https://lnkd.in/gZdUSEfw

We love to see great CNY breweries grow! 🍺 After nine years of success in its location just south of the Syracuse University campus, Willow Rock Brewing Company is expanding to a second location. Willow Rock’s new taproom is scheduled to open in time for the holiday season at 6200 South Bay Rd. in Cicero. Willow Rock will take the retail space in the former Hot House brewery as a tasting room, said Rockney Roberts, who co-owns the brewery with Kevin Williams. Don Cazentre has the full story: https://lnkd.in/eVXSDPT7

Three new restaurants will open in downtown Syracuse this month! One's a French bistro with an in-house butcher. Another is a Peruvian eatery with a “fusion” flair. One is a venue that serves Caribbean cuisine and doubles as an upscale Latin dance club. Touché, Inka’s and 809 Lounge and Restaurant are all opening their doors in October. 🇫🇷 🇵🇪 🇵🇷 🇩🇴 Coupled with the recent debuts of The Whiskey Coop and the Sugar Grove Cafe & Bakery, we're seeing one of the biggest waves of new downtown restaurant openings in recent memory. And more are in the pipeline. Don Cazentre has all the details: https://lnkd.in/eGM5Siz9

Jennifer Walls and Natalie Hansen opened The Sweet Praxis, their colorful bake lab and kitchen at 203 E. Water St. in November 2016. The shop offers a wide-ranging menu of baked goods, sandwiches and gluten-free and vegan options, created in a women-led, flexible and empathetic workplace. 🧁 In 2022, Hansen was diagnosed with leukemia. She died that October. Walls and her staff kept the shop open so they could support each other in their grief. Two years later, The Sweet Praxis carries on. Walls, 40, of North Syracuse, and her staff of 16 continue evolving, refining and innovating their methods and menus. After all, praxis means “theory put into action.” Read Walls's full interview with editor Marie Morelli: https://lnkd.in/eT2vCiRE

Syracuse’s Empty Bowls Project returns downtown this Friday, featuring a 20-year effort by local artists and restaurants to raise money for a nonprofit working to battle food insecurity in Central New York. For $25, you can get lunch and a handmade clay bowl at the fundraiser on Friday, Oct. 3 at the Nancy Cantor Warehouse at 350 W. Fayette St. Proceeds from the bowls and lunches go to the Interreligious Food Consortium (IFC), an emergency network serving food pantries in Onondaga County. At the event, there are roughly 1,000 unique bowls to choose from. They were crafted by professors and students from Syracuse University and Le Moyne College, and Clayscapes Pottery Inc teachers, students and volunteers. Katrina Tulloch has all the details: https://lnkd.in/evd2btkY

An early-stage venture capital fund established a decade ago in Central New York is making an impact by investing in underestimated regions like ours. Armory Square Ventures, with more than $100 million under management, has funded 17 startups responsible for creating more than 2,500 jobs, and guided five companies to exit via acquisition or initial public offering. One of them was Upstate’s first unicorn — a company valued at more than $1 billion. Somak Chattopadhyay is the soft-spoken managing partner of the ASV team. In 2013, he was a partner in Tribeca Venture Partners, a well-known venture fund in New York City. A group of Central New Yorkers active in philanthropy, business and academia recruited him to start a venture fund here. Chattopadhyay named the fund after the downtown neighborhood that symbolizes Syracuse’s revitalization. Read his full interview with Marie Morelli, opinion editor: https://lnkd.in/gQ4xGn5v

The secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce, whose agency is in charge of giving Micron Technology billions of dollars to locate in Central New York, said today she’s not worried about the latest delay in construction. Micron had originally planned to start construction on a chip plant complex in the town of Clay by June 2024. That got pushed back to early 2025, and now construction is slated to start in November 2025. “Delays in these huge projects aren’t unusual, and I’m totally confident it’s going to go forward,” Gina Raimondo told syracuse.com today in Cicero, N.Y. “We’re working hard with them, so I’m not concerned.” Glenn Coin has the full story: https://lnkd.in/g48C82g7