By Brittany Svoboda
The owner of the Village Pizzeria and Ristorante
in East Galway for the last 25 years will soon open a
new place on Ballston Lake in September.
Sandra Foster said is converting the former
Good Times Lakeview Restaurant on Ballston Lake
to a more modern version of Village Pizzeria. It is
expected to open in September.
The new restaurant, which will be called Villago,
was the next logical thing to do, Foster said, since
the restaurant in Galway could not be expanded
anymore.
She and daughter Jessica Marcione will work
with construction partner Kurtus Zarnofsky to
convert the building. The vision their going for,
Foster said, is “classic, contempo Italian cuisine.”
“It’s a group effort,” she said.
Many renovations will take place, Foster said,
both inside and outside the restaurant. Her goal
is to “embrace the lake,” which means adding
more outside deck seating areas and replacing
the font windows of the restaurant for better lake
views, she said.
Settling on the Ballston Lake location was the
most practical, Foster said, because of all the
development in the Malta area. “The area is alive,”
she noted.
Behind the restaurant’s property are several
developments with hundreds of homes, she said,
which should bring in customers.
Although Villago might look different than
Foster’s current East Galway establishment, she
said the recipes that everyone has come to know
and love, like the award-winning wood-fired pizza,
will remain the same. Several new menu additions,
however, will be added.
“Along with our (regular) menu, we do a lot of
gluten free and whole wheat (meals),” she said. Locally
grown produce will also be used to create the
popular homemade dishes, which is what Foster
said is currently done at Village Pizzeria.
Seasonal appetizers, sandwiches, Panini’s,
hamburgers, turkey burgers, bison burgers and
veggie burgers will be on the menu, she said, and
customers can expect to see more fish and seafood
choices as well.
The new Italian family eatery will have a full
bar, Foster said, unlike Village Pizzeria, which only
serves beer and wine. Customers are welcome to
come and have a “mojito on the deck,” she said.
People can preview Foster’s wood-fire pizza at
“A Taste of Malta” event on July 17. Several area
restaurants will be serving samples of their food
at Hudson Valley Community College’s Tec-Smart
campus in Malta, 345 Hermes Road, sponsored by
the Malta Business & Professional Association and
The Adirondack Trust Co.
The event takes place 5:30-7:30 p.m. Foster said
it will be a great opportunity to meet and greet
people in the area who she hopes will become
future customers.
For more information about Village
Pizzeria and Ristorante or Villago, visit
www.villagepizzeria.com.