INTEL: All Change in Saratoga — 7 Chefs On The Move

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Feb 17

Written By Susie Davidson Powell

Chefs Gabi, Andy, Lyndsey, Elliott, Dillon, Dylan + Brady: From local Saratogians to a shake up of area head chefs, these 7 chefs are making moves.

Story: Susie Davidson Powell

In an early sign of spring fever, the industry tipline has been absolutely on fire. — Susie Davidson Powell dives into the career moves playing for 7 chefs in Saratoga.

🫒 Headlining this week’s news, veteran head chef Elliott Vogel who left The Delaware in Albany in November 2025 for a wellness-focused care home position has accepted the role of Executive Chef at Panza’s Italian in Saratoga. Of course, Vogel, whose wide-ranging career includes Daley’s on Yates and Jack’s Oyster House, was previously head chef of Italian restaurant, Mezza Notte, in Guilderland. Addressing his return to a public-facing restaurant, and an Italian menu, Vogel admits to feeling excited and happy about the change, saying “it could be a really nice fit” and is “hoping to make the food really great.”

🫒 Also making waves, Chef Gabriella O’Neill, a CIA-graduate and 2021 Chaîne de Rotîsseurs competitor under the supervision of Yono Purnomo, has left her longterm role as chef de cuisine at 15 Church for a new position as executive sous chef at Noah’s Italian under Chef Noah Frese and alongside Julia Evans, Noah’s newly minted chef de cuisine. The trio who collaborated on Noah’s multi-course Valentine’s Day Chef’s Table dinner appear to be a perfect fit, especially with plans for the team to collectively headline Siro’s this summer.

🫒 All change at Kindred on Henry Street in Saratoga. Chef Andy Palmisano has slipped across Broadway to join the culinary team at The Adelphi Hotel as sous chef for both Morrissey’s Lounge and Salt + Char, but currently focused on Morrissey’s. Palmisano is working alongside Executive Sous Chef John Quinn who was formerly chef de cuisine at Osteria Danny in Saratoga.

🫒 Replacing Chef Andy at Kindred is the only newcomer in the mix, and even she is technically a returning Saratoga local. Chef Lyndsey Simone, who attended Saratoga High School and worked at familiar past Saratoga restaurants Lillian’s, Scallions and Professor Moriarty’s, moved to Hawai’i in 2009 to visit a friend and stayed. From an early position as a line cook at Roy’s Waikiki (by James Beard award-winning veteran chef Roy Yamaguchi), she rose up through the ranks to become Executive Chef. Her return to Saratoga now, 17 years on, injects some new life into Saratoga’s heavily Italian scene with a fresh culinary perspective. Simone, who is Korean by heritage, started at Kindred on February 3 and anticipates keeping customer favorites in place on the wood-fired menu while putting her own spin on dishes with bold flavors and trialing specials before launching a new menu. I recommend stopping in during the transition phase to see what she has in store.

🫒 Two more crew members from Noah’s Italian—which is proving to be something of a culinary staff incubator—are also on the move. Dillon Keeney, former sous chef at Noah’s, is already in his new position as chef de cuisine at Jack’s Oyster House in Albany. And while Frese has been tapped to oversee the re-opening of Wild Horse, his current Executive Sous Chef Dylan Burkhart (previously executive chef of Black & Blue in Albany) will be heading over as their new executive chef. They hope to open in late spring before the start of The Belmont races.

🫒 Rounding it out, veteran Saratoga chef Brady Duhame, formerly executive chef of The Patio at 15 Church (Saratoga) and known for his solo venture as Buddha Noodle, joined Jack’s Oyster House last year as founding executive chef. But with the breathtakingly fast changes to front-of-house and back-of-house management, Duhame has left Jack’s and moved literally around the corner to Green Street where he has assumed the role of consulting executive chef for The Greenhouse Social Club at La Serre, a planned private member club that is expected to revive the historic La Serre restaurant while handling private member events, catering and political functions.

[— Of course, last week I wrote about young chef Arvin Clemente departing Familiar Creature to assume the head chef position at Little City Luncheonette in Albany.]

And that’s the Saratoga round-up for the week of February 17, 2026. — SDP.