Guilderland’s summer celebration of fine dinning includes a little more than the usual fare this year through abbreviated cooking classes that hop out of the dining room and into the kitchen.
Restaurant Week, coordinated by the Guilderland Chamber of Commerce, will run from Sunday, July 21, to Saturday, July 27, and feature 12 restaurants offering a variety of dining options. Each restaurant will offer a special menu, three-course meal for $20.13. The Different Drummer’s Kitchen is also participating for the first time and is offering a “mini-demo” along with three courses of cuisine.
“We started out doing them once a year and the restaurants loved them so much we do them twice a year,” said Kathy Burbank, president of the Guilderland Chamber of Commerce. “We encourage the restaurants to give choices; those are the ones that do well.”
Burbank said on Tuesday night, when a restaurant might typically serve 20 to 30, an eatery might serve up to 100 people. She believes people view Guilderland as a dining destination, with the parking lots of many restaurants filled on weekends.
“I know people come from all over to go to several places in Guilderland,” she said.
Despite two regular restaurant week participants closing earlier this year, Burbank believes revenues are probably starting to increase for many establishments.
Michele Weiser, manager of Different Drummer’s Kitchen, approached Burbank about joining restaurant week as way to reach new customers.
“I thought it would be a little bit different,” Weiser said. “We could not offer a full class but a kind of taste of our class and some wonderful food, so people can get the idea of what we do.”
Recipes for all the food made at the class will be given to people along with their meal, so they can prepare it at home. The meal starts with a salad and homemade vinaigrette before moving to Moroccan chicken tagine. The meal finishes with a molten chocolate mousse cake.
“Often with our classes the price is comparable to going out to eat,” Weiser said. “Here, you are entertained and our chefs are wonderful and you will get the recipe.”
She said the food offered during Restaurant Week could be made by an average to beginning chef.
There will be two seatings each day during the week at Different Drummer’s Kitchen, with the first from 5:30 to 7 p.m. and another from 7:30 to 9 p.m. Each class will host 20 people and there will also be a drawing for a free cooking class.
For more information on classes offered at Different Drummer’s Kitchen visit its website at www.differentdrummerskitchen.com or call 459-7990.
Visit www.tasteofguilderland.com to view the special menus offered at participating restaurants, which include:
- Athos Restaurant at 1814 Western Ave.
- Barcelona Restaurant at 1192 Western Ave.
- Cider House Restaurant at Orchard Creek at 6700 Dunnsville Road in Altamont
- J|A Prep Kitchen at Crossgates Mall
- Mezza Notte Restaurant at 2026 Western Ave.
- Mio Vino Wine Bar and Bistro at 186 Main St. in Altamont
- Peaches Café at Stuyvesant Plaza
- Provence Restaurant at Stuyvesant Plaza
- Sage Bistro at 2050 Western Ave.
- Siver Hills located at Pinehaven Country Club at 1151 Siver Hills Road
- Tesoro Italian Restaurant at 2080 Western Ave.
- The Rustic Gourmet at 785 Delaware Ave. in Delmar
