Photography by Dan Graham
The next time you want a quick bite to eat after your workout at the Saratoga Springs YMCA, you won’t have to drive all the way into downtown to get it—you can just pop over to Refresh Kitchen, which recently opened in the adjoining Saratoga Springs Senior Center.
Though the concept of an open-to-the-public restaurant inside a senior center may seem strange to some, Owner/Chef Matt Richardson is using the location—in a building with not one but two entities that promote health and well-being—to his advantage.
“There’s a lot of opportunity there, a lot of foot traffic, between the YMCA and the Senior Center,” says Richardson, who before stints at Hamlet & Ghost and 15 Church was a chef at DZ Restaurants for nearly a decade. “Being between those two, it’s like, OK, we’re going to do a lot of cool, healthy food.”
Menu items include a Brussel Caesar salad and chicken shawarma salad, as well as a selection of sandwiches, some of which are healthier than others (vegan fried chicken, anyone?) The counter-service restaurant will be open for dine-in and takeout, with DoorDash delivery on the horizon. “This is a niche that I don’t think is quite filled in Saratoga,” Richardson says. “There aren’t a lot of healthy grab-and-gos. I know it’ll work.”
