SUNY Adirondack’s Culinary Arts Program is thriving despite the challenges of COVID-19 restrictions.
“We’ve got 59 students in the program right now,” says Chef Matthew Bolton, the senior faculty member for the program. “On average, I think the most I’ve had in the eight years I’ve been here is 72 students. Given the pandemic, you can’t go wrong with 59 students.”
Chef Matthew Bolton at Seasoned
All of the classes are at 14 Hudson in downtown Glens Falls, where SUNY Adirondack leases 8,000 square feet and has its 80-seat restaurant, Seasoned.
“The students have been really receptive and really compliant…We have adapted to the new normal — wearing a face mask every day, all day.
“If the students need to taste something, we’ve made a designated corner where they go, about 15 or 20 feet away from each other, and can slide their mask off and taste. Because obviously they’ve got to taste and season before they can call their dish complete.”
Seasoned is now open for lunch and dinner on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Lunch is from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Four-course dinners featuring local foods are 5:45 to 7 p.m. For reservations, call 518-832-7725, email culinary@sunyacc.edu or go online at www.sunyacc.edu/culinary-arts-center-reservation.
Lunch is $15.95, $9.95 for children 12 and younger. Dinner is $26.95, $18.95 for children 12 and younger.
Meals this week feature appetizers like chilled grilled shrimp with charred peach and spicy pepper relish; roasted root vegetables; pumpkin soup; carpaccio of beef with truffle salted cherry tomatoes, and fresh salad.
Entrees include Moroccan rubbed lamb with sweet potato puree and baba ganoush; citrus-marinated beef skirt with jalapeño pickled carrot puree and roasted potatoes; stir-fried garden vegetables with marinated tofu and rice noodles; and roasted white fish with apple relish and basmati rice.
The restaurant opened last week, and will be open Wednesdays and Thursdays through Nov. 19.
“Usually we do 11 weeks, but it’s only seven weeks this semester,” Mr. Bolton said. “I shaved it down. Normally we go a couple of weeks after Thanksgiving, but given the insight from the scientists, we figured shutting down right after Thanksgiving break would be in our best interest.”
Last week “went well. We did four for lunch and about 16 for sit down dinner and a take out order for [SUNY Adirondack] President Kris Duffy. We are always slow the first couple weeks until the buzz gets out.”
Chef Bolton, a 2004 graduate of the school’s culinary arts program who for 14 years was a sous chef and executive chef at the Friends Lake Inn in Chestertown, says he has a good mix of students this year.
“It’s a pretty diverse mixture,” he said. “One of the many great things about my job is I meet people from all walks of life, and of all ages. It’s 17 and 18 year olds fresh out of high school, and students who are older and who have been in the industry for a long time or maybe looking for a career change. I also get retirees, doctors and lawyers, who always loved to cook and wanted to take some professional classes. It’s very diverse. Our median age range is 18 to 30 but there’s always a couple of older students.”
The restaurant “is the meat of the program. I pushed really hard to make sure we could have in-person classes this semester, especially after going online last spring and the fact that not everyone has the same equipment at home.
“When we’re open and running the restaurant, it gives our students that real hands-on experience. I cycle them through each station so everyone gets a chance to grill a couple of times, sauté a couple of times, do desserts a couple of times. Even if that’s not what they want to do with their career, this way they get the opportunity to see if they actually like it or not.
“…And we get to network with a lot of local farmers and producers. I try to keep everything local in the 518, so all of the ingredients we have, except for the seafood, which comes from Boston every couple of days, are all grown locally. A lot of it is grown right on our main campus in our sustainable agriculture program.”
Glens Falls, he says, is a “culinary town, which provides great opportunity for our students and the restaurants.”
The pandemic has brought about changes in the restaurant industry, which Chef Bolton has incorporated into the curriculum. Things like “double dipping with ingredients, seeing what you can do using the same ingredients multiple times to make it different and interesting. And being adaptable with different ingredients.
“I call on my farmers every Sunday and tell them whatever they didn’t sell at the farmers’ market or their seconds or uglier stuff, just drop it off on Monday and we’ll figure out something to do with it. We’re just really trying to maximize our local economy by buying local. And it’s a great teaching tool.”
