text: After 34 years in business The Ginger Man in Albany will close. The business and building have been sold by founder Michael Byron to Devin Ziemann and Kaytrin Della Sala, owners of the gourmet-burger restaurant Crave, located across the street.
  
  Ziemann tells me the purchase is scheduled to be finalized on Sept. 18, and he believes The Ginger Man’s last day will be next Saturday, Sept. 16. That date was also mentioned in social-media posts by Ginger Man staffers, who apparently were told the news on Friday. Byron’s daughter Julie, manager of The Ginger Man, later confirmed Sept. 16 is the final day.
  
  Ziemann declined to discuss purchase price. The deal includes the building, at 234 Western Ave., and its parking lot. Ziemann and Della Sala will be opening a Southern-influenced American restaurant, called The Cuckoo’s Nest, in late October. They plan only minor renovations, Ziemann says.
  
  The head chef will be Steve Kerzner, who has held top kitchen posts at Angelo’s 677 Prime and Yono’s in Albany and Salt & Char in Saratoga Springs. He currently runs the restaurant kitchen at Prime at Saratoga National. Ziemann and Kerzner have known one another since culinary school, worked together at 677 Prime and were both in the 2014 class of Rising Star Chefs, a component of the the Wine & Dine for the Arts festival.
  
  The Cuckoo’s Nest will serve “the freshest, most innovative takes on regional Southern fare,” according to the restaurant’s Instagram page. It includes a few food photos, among them the indulgence above: buttermilk fried chicken, homemade sausage gravy, cheddar, crispy Brussels sprouts and fried egg. The Facebook page is here.
  
  Among the appetizers on a not-yet-ready-for-publication menu Ziemann shared with me are grits tots with sausage gravy, hot sauce, aged cheddar and chives; boiled-peanut hummus; and fried green tomato with pimento cheese, Benton’s bacon, buttermilk ranch and chives. Entrées, including chicken and biscuits, stuffed pork tenderloin and fried catfish, will average about $22.
  
  The restaurant will be open for dinner Tuesday through Saturday, lunch Tuesday to Friday, and brunch Saturday and Sunday.
  
  Byron has been trying to sell The Ginger Man and its sibling, Washington Tavern, at 250 Western, for several years. An agreement to buy both two years ago fell apart. The tavern will remain open under Byron, according to Ziemann. He says he intends to offer Cuckoo’s Nest positions to Ginger Man staffers. The Business Review reported that Zeimann and Della Sala paid $413,000 for The Ginger Man building and parking lot; the original asking price for it and Washington Tavern was more than $3 million, and the abandoned deal was for $1.05 million.