Four downtown restaurants will find a summer home in the courtyard of the Saratoga Race Track for the duration of the meet, in an area called Restaurant Row.

Hattie’s, Brindisi’s, Grey Gelding and 1 Caroline Street/Mouzon House will have a few of their signature dishes featured in the courtyard with prices ranging $4-$7 per plate.

“This is a very exciting new initiative. In this economy, it’s good to get people out and about downtown,” said public relations specialist Kristina Krawchuck. “We hope that people will sample food from these restaurants and it will entice them to check out the restaurant downtown.”

What sets Restaurant Row apart from the other food offered at the track besides their original recipes is their plan to “go green.”

The restaurant owners worked together to make a conscious decision to be eco-friendly. All of their products will be recyclable and made out of Earth-friendly materials.

“This is something that is very important to us,” said Jasper Alexander, owner and chef of Hattie’s. “Not only is this a marketing tool for us to be set aside from everything else at the track, it gets out the message that we care about the future and we are willing to pay the price.”

The green products will be able to biodegrade in 100 days if they are put into a landfill or are fully recyclable. The items are supplied through SYSCO but feature three different companies.

Green Wave makes a container which is made out of natural materials such as bamboo, sugar cane and reed. These materials are biodegradable and compostable. They have the ability to completely break down in the environment.

Eco-Products makes a soup cup and the utensils out of corn and paper, both renewable resources. Like the container, they are both biodegradable and compostable. The utensils are said to break down in 90 days in a composting environment.

Finally, SCA makes napkins out of 100 percent recycled materials. They are larger than regular napkins and have a higher absorbency rate, requiring the use of less napkins all around.

“We (the restaurant owners) all agreed this was the right thing to do. Even if things aren’t getting recycled, it’ll have a better impact on the land fill,” Alexander said.

Aside from the environmental benefits of these products, they look completely different from the other products used at the track, giving these four restaurants another avenue for marketing.

“People will see these containers with our food and we’ll be recognized. People will want to come check it out,” he added.

The union of the race track and downtown restaurants will be a positive one, Alexander said.

“It’s a good thing to build a symbiotic relationship with New York Racing Association and the race track. Saratoga Race Track wouldn’t be so special if it didn’t have the fantastic town to go with it.”