Susie's spotlight: Can't-miss local dishes

Susie's Spotlight is an occasional feature that showcases some of our restaurant critic Susie Davidson Powell's can't-miss dishes. Her regular reviews will return next week.

The dish: Dessert with your wine

Where: The Shaker & Vine, 221 Harborside Drive (Mohawk Harbor), Schenectady; theshakerandvine.com

Susie says: "Though the savory menu skews sweet, there's a strong dessert game: The miniature eclairs, puffs and cheesecakes aren't made in house — a fact, not a slap — but boards are prettily assembled to order with juicy apple wedges, fresh strawberries, pretzels and graham crackers for chocolate fondue flights and even a coarse, dark-chocolate hummus (embracing the healthy choco-garbanzo trend). You never quite forget the base of mashed chickpeas, but it's a good, off-sweet scoop."

The dish: Most anything from the buffet

Where: Brazilian Steakhouse, 1647 Central Ave., Colonie; facebook.com/steak.brazilian

Susie says: "The buffet can vary slightly, so you might plan to go on Friday for moqueca, the Brazilian fish stew, or Saturday for feijoada, a rich pork and black bean stew with assorted porky bits from trotters to ears, or, on Sundays, feijao tropeiro (beans with sausage and collard greens). It bears saying the buffet lineup of honest home cooking won't overwhelm: flamed meats, some perfectly juicy, some cuts closer to dry, but in the quieter evening hours you'll find staff filling their plates and sharing a late supper."

The dish: Seafood mac-n-cheese

Where: Albany Pump Station, 19 Quackenbush Square, Albany; evansale.com

Susie says: "(Head chef Ian) O'Leary has brought his seafood mac-and-cheese dish over from The Gingerman; a dreamy lobster cream sauce enrobes curly cavatappi pasta, shrimp and fat...