ALBANY — The former chief operating officer of the company that revived Jack’s Oyster House and opened several other concepts and brands in the past nine months is developing two all-you-can-eat restaurant concepts of his own barely more than a block away, in the former Dale Miller/Taste space. In their scope and menus, they are locally unprecedented.
John Hwang, who left Jack’s owner NeoVista Hospitality in June, citing medical issues, is working to open J.C. Hwang’s Albany, which will serve breakfast and lunch buffets from six global cuisines on weekdays and a table-service, largely Sichuan dinner menu Monday through Saturday, in the renovated Taste dining room and lounge areas, where the bar has been removed.
On the large terrace at the rear of 30 S. Pearl St., with the formal address of 45 Beaver St., will be Robata Albany, with communal tables and a bar under a pergola and a waiting/cocktail area around a fire pit. Wind-resistant curtains and heaters will allow Robata to operate year-round, Hwang said Tuesday. Each table will have a small charcoal grill — called robatayaki, meaning “fireside cooking” — at which diners will grill their own food from an 88-item menu divided into categories including “Welcome bites,” beef, pork, chicken, seafood, vegetables, starches and desserts, according to a menu shared with the Times Union and due to go online on Wednesday. It will be priced at $48 per person. The terrace waiting area will also feature free game machines, Hwang said, as well as a paid laser machine that will etch images of choice into items customers bring including stone, metal, leaves and more…