MEET: CHEF NOAH FRESE, Noah’s Italian, Saratoga
Noah Frese talks leadership, loss, the art of pizza + going for his James Beard dream.
Interview : Susie Davidson Powell
Photos: Victoria Sedefian/The Dishing
Location: Noah’s Italian, Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
Tastemakers: Noah Frese | IG: @noahfrese51 @freseculinary
Where: Noah’s Italian Chophouse | IG: @noahsitalian | @sirossaratoga
Website: noahsitalian.com/
Hometown: Albany
Current city: Troy
Personal style: Ed Hardy for life! At work, a Chef Works jacket, but I haven’t found a brand of chef shoes that last long enough. Someone’s got to develop a chef shoe that’s indestructible!
Listening to: Usher is always the best; Drake always. In the kitchen we’ll play classic, 1960’s old school like The Four Tops’ “Baby, I need your loving.”
Favorite classic cocktail/non-alc drink: Just a well executed Manhattan
Coffee or tea? What’s your order: Trenta black ice coffee
Biggest industry influence/inspiration: My Mimi. She always pushed me to be the best I can be
Industry trend that should end: That partying and being in the industry go hand to hand. Because they don't!
The Dishing talks with tastemakers in the hospitality industry + trailblazers at the intersection of food, culture + art. Today we’re talking with young executive Chef Noah Frese of the eponymous founding chef of the new Noah’s Italian on Phila Street in Saratoga Springs and the most recent executive chef of Siro’s, the seasonal restaurant at Saratoga race track.
Chef, thanks for talking with The Dishing. Congratulations on the opening of Noah’s Italian. Do you have any takeaways or changes from the soft opening?
Yeah. It was great, we were packed but I made some decisions as well for smoother service for everybody. I’m going to put my executive sous chef Dylan Burkhart and sous chef Julia Evans in the upstairs kitchen to fire entrees there – the steaks, pasta. It’ll make smoother service for everybody since we’re spread across three floors.
And, also, I guess the fact that a week before opening, my Mimi, my biggest supporter, passed away. I needed to deal with that without it becoming a distraction to the goal of opening. But you know she changed my life by taking me in in high school. She taught me my values and about believing in myself as a chef and my goal of being an executive chef. She told me to take chances, encouraged me to move to Charlotte and that really opened my eyes to go learn at different spots. I guess my father is an old school chef so he’d say to stay in one spot for four years and work your way up. My Mimi encouraged me to travel and learn different things.
At just 28 years old, you have accomplished a great deal: A graduate of the International Culinary Center in New York City, you’ve worked at Bar Boulud in Manhattan and Barcelona Wine Bar in Charlotte, S.C. You returned to the Capital Region where you were a sous chef at 677 Prime in Albany before becoming the founding executive chef of The Roosevelt Room in North Troy. Only months after opening, you were tapped to head Siro’s at the Saratoga race track which you have helmed for the past two summers. How did the opportunity to open Noah’s Italian come about?
I think stars just aligned perfectly. After the first season at Siro's, Kevin Decker, Peter Spitalny and myself agreed that my home was at Siro’s and we needed a place to showcase and keep our staff all year. It was all the feedback from the customers, the staff, and Peter and wife Elena themselves – they were there dining every night. The food costs and numbers made sense; a lot of my regulars from The Roosevelt room were coming there in that first summer. And right from that first year we were up a significant amount on prior years. So we had something special and the question was how do we keep everyone here on staff.
You know that a lot of my Siro’s summer staff had been with me at The Roosevelt Room and then at the end of the first summer I had all these people approaching me with jobs. I had an opportunity to re-open Jack’s Oyster House and other people approached me too. The original plan was to be at Siro’s for 2 years but after being let go by The Roosevelt Room, Peter and Kevin came to me and said, “How can we keep you?” If I took something new it would be hard to get a new restaurant to agree to let me leave the next summer. I said the only way to keep me and the staff would be to open something year round and that’s how it got started. I mean, we already had such a good team at Siro’s with Julia Aiello, who was my pastry chef at The Roosevelt Room, Cody Nyugen who joined us from Sea Smoke, Julia Evans who came in from Ilis NYC and my two sous chefs from The Roosevelt Room: Grayson Spittler + Mike Leffler.
I think opening Noah’s Italian was more opportunity to grow and showcase our food and the concept made the menu more approachable as a steakhouse vibe with our spin on it instead of only fine-dining fancy. There's no place better upstate than Saratoga to do it and I found my home here.
Even the delays in opening were okay. We wanted the timing to be perfect, so the extra couple of months to open meant we could open in December for the holidays and open reservations so although it's normally a couple of slower months in winter we’re booked solid and that will take us into spring and into summer. And I didn’t want Noah’s to open to the public during the track season. The locals were waiting so long for us to open that by opening now, this way the local crowd gets first dibs in coming in before track season 2026.
Your father was the founding chef of Ama Cocina Mexican restaurant in Albany. Was a culinary career always on the cards for you or did you have other ideas?
Culinary was not always my first plan! Believe it or not, my first option was going to school to be a cop and I was majoring in criminal justice. I always was interested in being a detective and helping change people’s lives! But then I started to work in the kitchen with my father and quickly just realized cooking is in my blood and fell in love with it. I loved the people I met along the way.
What made you decide to return to the Albany area and what was it about The Roosevelt Room opportunity that enticed you to take on the role of founding chef designing an ambitious, upscale and creative menu at 26-years old?
Returning home was always part of the plan; this is where my friends and family are. I think I wanted to take a chance on myself and prove I could do it and I think the opportunity of being able to create my own menu was enticing and it paid off. Always, believe in yourself! I remember in culinary school I would buy 50-pound bags of onions and cut them in my dorm room to try and better my knife skills. I always knew I had what it took. It just sometimes depends on being in the right place at the right time and manifesting has always been something I believed in.
At Noah’s, it feels as if you are leaning into your Italian roots. I know some were surprised that the concept for Noah’s was Italian. What was your inspiration?
I think I just wanted a more approachable dining experience. I have done fine dining my whole career and I wanted to go back to my roots and do comfort food that my family and I would make on Sundays. My father’s side is Sicilian – it’s all his family in the photos on the wall opposite the bar – so either making Sunday sauce or my grandmother making Italian pastries (that’s where I got the struffoli dessert idea because that’s my favorite.) My grandfather loved linguini and clams so that’s the inspiration behind “Pop’s spaghetti” (I called him Pop) and you know my vodka sauce – that’s my father’s recipe that I tweaked, and then my Mimi’s meatballs and sauce.
I have dined at and reviewed the three prior restaurants in Noah’s location at 43 Phila Street. How do you feel you have made the space feel different?
I mean the renovations for the space kind of speak for itself! I had looked at different spaces. My first thought walking in here was that it has the biggest bar in Saratoga – 27 seats. So my idea when I walked in was to create different dining experiences downstairs and upstairs. Upstairs, the mezzanine idea came when I was looking up at the windows, and I thought we could put dining tables up there to maximize the space. And then having the chef’s table for the upstairs kitchen. The kitchen and floors were slanted and needed work, but I wanted to have something where I could do cooking classes in front of guests.
While we’re on Italian food, can you talk about the signature dish named for your son:
Well, the pasta, sausage and broccoli rabe is personally my favorite Italian dish of all time and my favorite pasta to make at home. That sausage and broccoli rabe combination - for my taste buds, it’s a flavor bomb with sweet sausage, the rabe, white wine getting reduced just right – so simple but it can be messed up… like how much garlic to use. It’s special to me, because that’s one that I would make all the time before my son was born. I had a little period after Siro’s before Noah’s Italian came about when I was making it once or twice a week. It just reminds me of my son, Tony. He’s named after Tony from The Sopranos – and my cat is named Carmella! [Laughs]
Not all chefs are great leaders but I have noticed you not only inspire your BOH team, but inspire loyalty. Your kitchen staff includes experienced executive chefs from a host of area restaurants. You are the fearless leader and the glue. What do you attribute it to?
I think it’s the way I push them and hold them accountable. We strive for perfection and I think the best part of this staff is they want to be perfect so they go home and think about it. It is not just work to them, it's our life being in the kitchen. We love it. I also think the special part is that our kitchen is truly like a family here. We know how to pick each other up when it's an off day and hold each other accountable. I think I try to teach the chefs that being a chef is not just cooking; I try to show them how to operate a restaurant, not just cook. If you walk in our kitchen during service you will see all of us dancing. It is something special.
Also this is the most gifted kitchen staff I have worked with in my career! Cody Nyugen was executive chef at Sea Smoke; Jules (Evans) is back having been executive chef at The Wild Horse (Saratoga); Dylan Burkhart, who was executive chef at Black & Blue (Albany), is my executive sous chef, Mike Leffler - who’s my childhood best friend - has been with me forever and knows my cooking better than anyone, and Dillon Keeney from 677 Prime, Siro’s, was at my dad’s deli… Danny Petrosino (former executive chef-owner of Osteria Danny in Saratoga Springs) has been a mentor from the moment he started and taught everyone in the building something.
I’d like to say I bring out the best in people because I am a straight shooter. I tell them things I feel right away and try to bring out their max potential to make them into the best chefs, employees and people they can be.
After Roosevelt I became the zip recruiter of restaurants. Chefs or owners would come to me looking for chefs or people I had trained. Like, maybe someone who’s a young chef but had an alcohol issue would come to work for me and I’d get them back in shape. I’d say, let’s get you there. Or chefs who are used to doing everything themselves – I teach them that delegating is the best art. Cooking is only a quarter of being a chef. You need your eyes to look where they normally wouldn't. You need to know if the bathrooms are clean. I’m not training you to be a chef, I’m training you to be an operator. If you want to be a chef then go work corporate, you know? If you want to open a place, let’s get you there. It’s something my father instilled in me from a young age.
When I interviewed you in 2023, you were imagining your next move might be your own restaurant in South Carolina. What are your thoughts now?
My next move is focusing on Noah's and Siro’s to make them perfect. We’ve got our hands full here. It’s why I did a chophouse concept because with the right fundamentals, tools and ingredients we can really make this concept kind of like Quality Italian (NYC). If I can do that well then hopefully opening more Noah’s down the line will be the main goal. Also I wouldn’t mind someday doing a small 20 to 30 person place and a tasting menu concept and going real fancy as a James Beard Award has always been a goal of mine.
You have a reputation as a hard worker and at 26-years old you became a young father. How do you balance the pressures of long hours, opening a new restaurant, being a father, and your mental and physical health?
I think taking care of myself and not drinking and eating crappy food has been something I have tried to hammer into myself for the past 4 months. I think having a positive mindset is huge; not being negative about anything. Life is hard, it's meant to be, and just finding solutions for every possible outcome is huge. Over-preparing and being organized has been something I am trying to be on top of. I always try to think of everything that could go wrong and be two steps ahead. Not bringing my emotions or outside life problems into work; getting people to buy in, and leading by example.
One thing I would like to touch on is the growth of my kitchen staff and how talented and locked in they are buying into the culture we’re trying to establish. I think it has to do with me preaching about taking care of their bodies after work, not drinking or partying on “school nights” as we call it! Kitchen life is associated with partying and one thing I always say is those party friends are not paying your bills. You have to stay focused on the end goal. Also listening to staff members' stories is crucial and can help teach you things about life. I always tell my staff to talk to me about anything: I want to hear your story because that can help change someone's life. Everyone's journey is special and I love being a person they can talk to about them.
We often ask chefs and bartenders about their tattoos. Can you tell us about a few of yours?
Yes, I have my Mimi’s signature tattoed; C1 is for my best friend who passed; the knife I got in NYC while going to culinary school, and I have an Anthony Bourdain quote: “You learn a lot about someone when you share a meal together.”
What are some of your childhood memories of food whether it’s who was cooking at home or going out to eat?
My father was always big into having me try new things. And my Mimi would take me to Maine every summer. Having that first lobster with my Mimi there when I was about 2 or 3 years old – I can just remember the freshness of it. When I was 4-years old, I’d get my own 3-pound lobster! The green stuff was my favorite part. Eventide in Portland, Maine, is always amazing – the best lobster roll of my life! Homemade sticky bun, lobster, brown butter.
I know that you like to travel and eat at some of the top restaurants. What has been your most memorable dinner to date and is there any restaurant that you’re dying to try?
Per se in NYC is definitely the best place I have gone to lately! On my list is Ceres pizza, believe it or not. I've been dying to try it! [Ed. note: Ceres, founded by two chefs from the three-Michelin starred Eleven Madison Park in Manhattan, is known for its artisanal pizzas and high price point.] As a chef, travel as much as you can - it’s all R+D at the end of the day.
I’m still working to perfect my pizza dough and that’s why the Ceres people intrigue me because we have the same oven and they have a fine dining background too. They have this approach: we’re starting off with this amount of dough and sell until it’s gone. And anyone who has the balls to put a $60 pizza on the menu, well…! Pizza is really an art. So that price speaks to the effort it takes to make. It’s a 3-4 day process. But since the friends and family event, I decided I’m not going to launch Noah’s pizza until next track season. I want to perfect the rest of the menu before we add on another big project. So we’ll still be working on it and don’t be surprised if we do a pizza day or night as we work on it.
What are three of your favorite places for breakfast, lunch or dinner anywhere in the Capital Region or Hudson Valley?
Breakfast is easily Comptons in Saratoga. Lunch: Taiwan Noodle is my favorite spot. Dinner: I will go with A La Shanghai – it’s just delicious every time.
When you opened dining reservations on Resy, they booked up immediately for the next two months. What do you hope people will take away from the dining experience?
I think just the vibe it feels like you're in a different city when you step inside because the space is so large. And also that people will realize how much love goes into the food. Everything is homemade and all pastas are made in house and even gelato. It's a special place! People associate my name with fine dining because of Roosevelt and Siro’s so with this concept we’re still using the same good ingredients, same products, but I wanted to see how I could deliver it on a more home-y, comfortable scale. It’s designed so you can come in for dinner a couple of nights a week. We’re not trying to make another Siro’s in town.
Where do you hope to see yourself and/or Noah’s in five years?
I don’t have a crystal ball, but in five years I am hoping to have a couple of Noah’s Italians opened. In this region, maybe Boston is the first area that pops into my head. I love Boston. Or maybe somewhere warm – Florida? Las Vegas? Also kind of establish myself in the Food Network world by doing some shows - and a James Beard Award is the goal too.
Thank you so much for talking to The Dishing, Chef. Congratulations on the official opening of Noah’s Italian. We’ll be waiting for that James Beard nod.
