SUNY Adk debut: Downtown GF restaurant & teaching center

By Cathy DeDe, Chronicle Managing Editor

SUNY Adirondack was to hold a ribbon cutting on Wednesday for its Culinary Arts Center and restaurant, called Seasoned @ 14 Hudson, in Sonny Bonacio’s building on Hudson Street, downtown Glens Falls.

The Chronicle got a sneak preview on Monday afternoon.

The student-run restaurant seats 100.

Dinner will be served on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 5 to 7 p.m., beginning on October 10. Price is $24.95 for the four-course gourmet meal of appetizer, intermezzo, entrée and dessert, with beverage.

They’ll also have a cash bar with four wines on tap, and local craft beers from Mean Max, Davidson Brothers, Common Roots, Paradox and Adirondack Brewery.

That’s a first for the program. They’re still waiting for the liquor license to come through, Culinary Arts instructor Matthew Bolton told The Chronicle.

Rather than the regional themed dinners they’re known for, they’ll start by offering a menu, he said.

“We don’t usually do dinners in the fall, so this is new to us. We’re trying to take it slow and work out the kinks.”

He expects to return with regional themed dinners in the Spring, when he has the advanced classes to support it.

Dinner reservations are preferred. Call, or for questions: 518-832-7725 or email to culinary@sunyacc.edu.

Lunch — “soups, salads and dessert,” available as “Grab and Go” or a la carte — will be offered Tuesdays, beginning October 9, from 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Thursdays from 11:30 to 1:30 p.m.

There’ll be no table service this season for lunch, though customers may sit and eat in the restaurant, Mr. Bolton said.

Lunch is priced at $9.95, or items may be purchased a la carte. They’ll serve baked goods, as available, from the new baking program, and Just Water beverages.

Mr. Bolton said he worked closely with the college, Mr. Bonacio and JMZ Architects to help design the spacious 5,000 square foot facility. It includes a teaching/restaurant-quality kitchen, dining room and bar, separate baking kitchen, two classrooms, chef offices and other amenities. “It was a two-year project,” Mr. Bolton says. “I’ve earned some gray hairs.”

Sixty-nine students are enrolled in the program, “the same as last year,” Mr. Bolton said — though they are now divided between the traditional culinary arts degree and a new baking track.

The menu is as local as possible, Mr. Bolton said, “We have a good partnership with local farms. We want to teach kids to keep it local and in the community.”

Aims to work with GF restaurants

How will they fit in with the downtown Glens Falls dining scene? “We’re not in this to turn a profit,” Mr. Bolton says. “We’re only open a couple of days a week.

He says of other downtown restaurants, “We are training their future employees. As much as we can partner with them, we will. It’s all about the experience, good partnerships with restaurants and internships, and jobs.”

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