Written By Maureen Werther | Photos by Susan Blackburn Photography
[From the 2026 Spring Magazine]
Every year, starting in early February and running through April, the city of Glens Falls becomes the beneficiary of a new ethnic restaurant that changes weekly, thanks to the skilled culinary arts students at the SUNY Adirondack Culinary Program.
Seasoned Restaurant, at 14 Hudson Avenue in downtown Glens Falls, opened in 2018 and is the first of the Glens Falls Downtown Revitalization projects completed to date. The concept of the place is simple, beautiful, and delicious. Provide students with invaluable hands-on experience - quite literally from ‘soup to nuts’- operating a restaurant. From the freshmen toiling behind the bar, to the seniors participating in their final projects as sous chefs before moving on to professional careers, everyone involved is either a student or an instructor.
The space is perfect - open and casual, with the right balance of color, warmth, and contemporary style that makes for a relaxed and friendly dining experience. We were lucky to secure a table on the opening night of this year’s program. Our Chef de Cuisine, student Jenna Fantasia, chose Italy as her culinary region. She explained that a different senior acts as sous chef for the week, and is responsible for choosing the culinary region, developing the complete menu, including pairings, designing their own menus for the week, and any other tasks that come with running a fine quality restaurant.
After a delightful and delicious dining experience and a (very) brief pow wow, Susan and I both agreed to give Jenna and the team an A-Plus for their efforts.
With no advance idea about what dishes the kitchen would serve us, Susan and I gave a thumbs up to all the selections. The first course was a simple, creamy, and elegant chicken and gnocchi soup - a great opener, according to Susan - and a bruschetta ricotta crostini that was so good, I brought an extra one home and gobbled it the next morning for breakfast! One word suffices. Yum.
Our main courses were a penne a la vodka with a beautifully balanced and spicy sweet Italian sausage made by Ms. Fantasia. Brava! The second entree was a pan-seared branzino with perfectly grilled and seasoned asparagus, surrounded by a lovely creamy expanse of lemon beurre Blanc. Kudos to the student managing the grill for hitting this one out of the park. And whoever made the lemon beurre Blanc, please may we have some more!!
Dinner was followed by a dessert sampling of a lovely tiramisu dusted with cocoa powder, and a surprising (for us, at least) pistachio panna cotta with candied cranberries and a discreet honey drizzle. We love it when the kitchen selects our dining choices for the evening. It’s a wonderful way to sample and learn about new flavors, textures, and combinations of the two. I would not have gravitated toward a pistachio desert, but I learned how wrong I would have been to pass this one up.
Did I forget to mention the wine?
Our wine for the evening was a new release from Josh Cellars - Seaswept. A crisp, citrusy sparkling wine, it was the perfect accompaniment to both entrees. Joseph Carr, the founder of the brand, is a supporter of the SUNY Adirondack Culinary Program and Seasoned is thrilled to offer the vintners’ new wines - and old favorites - throughout the duration of the program.
The Culinary Center project is run by Chef Matthew Bolton, Executive Chef Instructor and Director of SUNY Adirondack Culinary Arts, Chef Dynia Mariano, Instructor of Culinary and Baking Arts, and Emily Petersen, Adjunct Instructor and Program Assistant.
Following the meal, Chef Bolton was kind enough to offer a tour of the facility, which boasts a state-of-the-art kitchen, bakery, and three classrooms. Seasoned sources its ingredients from local growers and producers. They also have their own composting operation, which develops the soil for each year’s vegetable gardens farmed by the Agricultural Business students.
All in all, Seasoned is an impressive facility and a well-run operation with a talented group of students and teachers that offer diners a true “sampling” of the future talent coming out of the SUNY Adirondack program.
If you’re interested in experiencing Seasoned, reservations are preferred; walk-ins are a roll of the dice, especially for the International dinners (Thursdays), which are on a waitlist for this term. Lunch is served Tuesdays, with classical cuisine dinners served Wednesdays between now and April 30. For full details, visit them here: sunyacc.edu/campus-life/our-campus/additional-facilities/seasoned
SUNY Adirondack also offers non-credit baking and cooking courses throughout winter and spring. For more information, contact them at