Ed Sheeran and Danielle Hartwyk, one of the owners of BuonaSera on the Lake in Malta, pose for a photo together after Sheeran stopped by the Italian restaurant to grab a drink on Tuesday. “It was a really great experience,” she said.
Courtesy of Danielle Hartwyk
MALTA — Grammy Award-winning musician Ed Sheeran initially went unnoticed when he went to a Capital Region restaurant Tuesday night.
But when a hostess noticed him and another musician, Aaron Dessner, sitting at the bar around 8:30 p.m. and notified the owners, they were both pleasantly surprised.
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“It was a shock when you see someone of his notoriety in your establishment,” said Jimmy Hartwyk, who owns BuonaSera on the Lake in Malta with his wife, Danielle Hartwyk.
Celebrities, from actress and singer Liza Minnelli to TV cooking personality Bobby Flay, have been drawn to the Saratoga Springs area over the years for the Saratoga Race Course, but the Italian restaurant overlooking the lake has only been open for two years.
Danielle Hartwyk says that a hostess, Jackie, is always “in the know” and keeps everyone informed on whether there are any local musicians or prominent figures at the restaurant. At first, she said the news did not register with her.
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“She came over to me and said, ‘Ed Sheeran’s at the bar,’ and I was just like ‘Ok, Jackie,’” she said. Another employee noticed Sheeran shortly after, and she went to take a picture with the musician.
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“It was a really great experience,” she said.
Both Jimmy and Danielle Hartwyk said that Sheeran and Dessner were very kind, gracious, and even video-called with the children of a waitress who did not believe that he was really there. He said that Sheeran took pictures with “anyone that asked him.”
“I’m definitely a fan of his music, but the one thing I do love about him was his role in the movie ‘Yesterday’ about the Beatles,” she said.
The musician stopped in for a beer after a fishing trip, most likely on Saratoga Lake, according to Jimmy Hartwyk, who says an employee at the marina below recommended the restaurant to them. The Daily Gazette previously reported on Sheeran’s visit.
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A recent Instagram post by Sheeran shows the pair fishing on an unidentified lake in slides four and five, potentially Saratoga Lake.
Fans and news outlets have speculated that Sheeran’s local appearance was a pit stop on his way to pop superstar Taylor Swift and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce’s wedding, supposedly taking place over the weekend. The New York Times and Associated Press both reported that the wedding is expected to take place at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Both Sheeran and Dessner have connections to upstate New York, as Dessner, who has helped produce and co-write music with both Swift and Sheeran, owns a recording venue in the Hudson Valley called the Long Pond Studio. Sheeran and Dessner have collaborated on songs for Dessner’s band, The National.
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Sheeran did not say anything about being in the state for the suspected wedding celebration, according to the owners.
“I think they were just enjoying the day outside,” she said.
Dining and Cooking