DeWITT — Some restaurants boast a farm-to-table concept, but not too many restaurant owners can say they also own the farm.

That’s what helps set Stone’s Steakhouse apart from the competition, says April Stone. In addition to owning the restaurant at 3220 Erie Blvd. E. in DeWitt, she also co-owns Green Acres Black Angus Beef Farm in Marathon with her brother, Michael Favaloro. The farm supplies the restaurant’s beef and pork.

Stone, a retired nurse who also owns CNY Infusion Services in DeWitt, was kicking around retirement ideas with her brother. He had always been interested in having a farm. And, “I have always loved good food,” she says.

Together, they developed the idea for a restaurant and farm partnership that would bring dishes made with fresh, top-quality Angus beef to Syracuse diners.

Stone started with a small concept in ShoppingTown Mall in DeWitt. Stone’s Farm Fresh was open for six months, serving burgers and salads made with farm-fresh ingredients.

The concept was a success so Stone moved on to a full-scale restaurant in 2017 — in the nearly 6,600-square-foot building at 3220 Erie Blvd. E. that was formerly home to a Ruby Tuesday’s restaurant. 

In July, Stone’s Steakhouse celebrated its second anniversary and started an expansion project. 

Case Avenue, Inc. of Auburn started work on a 20-by-30-foot expansion at the restaurant that Stone hopes will pave the way for outdoor seating next summer. The addition includes storage space, bathrooms, and provides server access from the proposed outdoor seating area to the kitchen. Stone expects Case to complete the project by September. She declined to discuss the project cost.

“The outdoor seating is not going to happen this year,” she says. However, Stone hopes the town will approve the project and she can add outdoor seating for 50 people next summer. “I think it will just enhance our already beautiful restaurant,” she says.

In the meantime, Stone’s Steakhouse (www.stonessteak.com) has seating for about 150 in its elegant dining room and its Boardroom private room, which seats about 40. Stone employs about 20 people at the restaurant, and the farm has three employees.

The Boardroom, which features its own private entrance, a flat screen TV for presentations, and a fireplace, has helped keep business steady, even during seasonally slower times, with private bookings, Stone says. 

She declined to share revenue figures, but attributes the success of the restaurant to the high quality beef and pork raised on Green Acres Black Angus Beef Farm. Stone handles the business end of the farm, while Favaloro provides the “hard labor” on the farm, which they started in 2014.

“My beef — I know where it’s coming from,” she says. “There are no growth hormones. There are no GMOs in there. There’s nothing added. I think that makes a difference.”

Before starting the farm, Stone and her brother toured a number of farms around the state. They saw some things they liked and some things they knew for sure they wanted avoid. One thing she knew was that she did not want their cows confined to small pens.

“I wanted them to be free-range,” she says of the farm’s beef cattle. Calves get to stay with their mother and all enjoy lush pastures. “I know that my cows are happy. They’re well fed,” Stone says.

In addition to using its own farm-raised beef and pork, Stone’s Steakhouse sources as many ingredients as possible from local growers and producers.

The restaurant uses mushrooms from Fruit of the Fungi farm in the town of Lebanon (Madison County) and cheeses and chicken from Jones Family Farm in Herkimer. Greens and other produce come from a variety of other local producers.

Stone’s Steakhouse Chef Brian Dewey uses those ingredients to whip up daily specials. The restaurant’s menu varies with the seasons and what types of produce are available that time of year.

“People are understanding that food is not about quantity all the time,” Stone says. “It’s about quality.”

Stone’s Steakhouse is open from 5-10 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.               

Jimmy Zaccagnino, left, and Jeff Browne, right, both of Williamsville in Erie County, show off their catch after a beautiful day on Lake Ontario aboard Capt. Troy Creasy’s High Adventure sportfishing charter out of Oswego last summer. Fishing is one of the major tourism attractions in Oswego County, but the region also offers historic sites, museums, festivals and other events, campgrounds, restaurants, and more. The Oswego County Visitors Guide offers a wealth of information about the best places to visit and events to experience in Oswego County. It is available at: http://visitoswegocounty.com/wp-content/uploads/2019_Visitor.Guide_Digital.Version_Small_FINAL-1.pdf. Visitor spending in Oswego County totaled $157.7 million in 2017 (the most recent numbers available), an increase of 8 percent over 2016, according to the Oswego County Department of Community Development, Tourism and Planning. The tourism industry supported an estimated 3,000 jobs in 2017, generating $69.1 million wages across the county. This year has been challenging with high water levels on Lake Ontario. That affected fishing charters out of Oswego and also resulted in the closure of some marinas in the northern part of the county for several months, says Janet West Clerkin, tourism & public information coordinator at the Department of Community Development, Tourism & Planning. Lake waters have come down, which has allowed affected marinas and charters to resume operations. Fishing on the lake has been “excellent and the reports are getting out [to anglers], which has helped with the recovery,” she says. The state on Aug. 1 launched a new campaign seeking to promote tourism in the Lake Ontario region, including TV ads that reach markets across New York, the Northeast, and into Canada that Oswego County tourism officials otherwise wouldn’t reach, says Clerkin. For fishing conditions, events, and more Oswego County visitor information, visit http://www.visitoswegocounty.com. (PHOTO BY MAX INCHAUSTI (SUBMITTED BY OSWEGO COUNTY PROMOTION AND TOURISM OFFICE)

SYRACUSE — The general manager of Marriott Syracuse Downtown, the former Hotel Syracuse, called 2019, so far, “definitely an active year” for the hotel. 

“Anybody who’s grown up in Syracuse has been to this hotel for an event at some point in their life, whether it be a social event, a wedding, a graduation,” says Todd Plouffe, the hotel’s GM. He spoke with CNYBJ on Aug. 8. 

The hotel is located at 100 E. Onondaga St. in Syracuse. It reopened to the public in August 2016 following an extensive renovation project.

The Marriott Syracuse Downtown in June served as the host hotel for the New York State Association of Fire Chiefs, which held its annual conference and fire expo in Syracuse.

The hotel also has also hosted proms and weddings. 

The Marriott Syracuse Downtown had a “great draw” for its brunches on both Easter and Mother’s Day, he adds.

Plouffe has been the hotel’s general manager since December 2017. He succeeded Paul McNeil, who vacated the role in June 2017.

Plouffe, who grew up in the Rochester area, previously served as general manager of a 400-room Marriott hotel outside Chicago.

“[I] was looking to move back. This opportunity was available and thought it was a great fit,” says Plouffe, who spoke with CNYBJ on Aug. 8.

He declined to share any details on revenue at the Marriott Syracuse Downtown.

Besides proms, weddings, and conferences, the Marriott Syracuse Downtown also hosts additional public functions. It closes down South Warren Street three hours prior to home football games for a tailgating and pre-game event that includes food trucks. 

“We’ll continue to do that again this year,” says Plouffe.

It also held a “Rock the Block,” a six-event summer concert series on South Warren Street, a series that concluded Aug. 6.

It will also host a Black Friday tree-lighting event, says Melissa Oliver, director of sales & marketing for the Marriott Syracuse Downtown. 

“The day that they light the tree [in Clinton Square], we do a huge community event here. It’s free to the public,” says Oliver, who joined Plouffe for the Aug. 8 CNYBJ interview. 

The event includes dancers, cookies, and a visit from Santa Claus before those attending walk up to Clinton Square for the tree lighting. 

It’s also the time when the hotel staff is preparing for holiday and year-end gatherings, including New Year’s Eve, according to Oliver. 

The number of leisure and hospitality jobs in six Central New York metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) grew by 3,200 or 4.7 percent, in June 2019 compared to the year-ago period, according to statistics released by the New York State Department of Labor in July.

The figures showed that jobs in the leisure and hospitality sector statewide during that 12-month period increased by 10,400 positions, or 1 percent. 

Among the CNY MSAs, Syracuse had the highest growth, both in terms of total jobs added (2,200) and percentage growth (7.1 percent). The Syracuse MSA is composed of Madison, Onondaga, and Oswego counties.

The Utica–Rome MSA, encompassing Herkimer and Oneida counties, had the lowest rate of growth in the region with a 1.7 percent change, or 200 net jobs added in the industry.

The leisure and hospitality sector includes service-providing jobs in the fields of arts, entertainment, and recreation as well as accommodation and food services.

The Department of Labor indicated that the jobs data are not seasonally adjusted, noting, “non-seasonally adjusted data are valuable in year-to-year comparisons of the same month.”