About Dano's Heuriger on Seneca

Biographies : Dano Hutnik
Born in the Ukraine, Dano Hutnik was a ballet dancer in Vienna for fifteen years before pursuing a culinary career. After studying in Paris at the Cordon Bleu and receiving his chefs' diploma at the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, Dano went to work in varied establishments including the San Ysidro Ranch, Santa Barbara and The Sea Grill in Manhattan's Rockafeller Center. Dano and his wife Karen settled in Ithaca, NY in 1990 to open Dano's, acclaimed as a haven for fine food in upstate New York. The restaurant has been written up in newspapers in Washington D.C., Philadelphia, and New York City as well as publications such as Getaway for Gourmets, The Mobile Guide, Michelin Guide USA, and Country Inns and Backroads. Luminaries from the world of food, music, film, architecture and art have been taken to dine at Dano's. Dano has been featured in Art Culinaire, Foie Gras a Passion, and The Mensch Chef, all recently published cookbooks. He has been awarded numerous regional awards and honors, and has on many occasions been an invited lecturer at Cornell University's Hotel School. He has been a featured chef at the James Beard Foundation in NYC on nine separate occasions, and as recently as December 2017, promoting Dano's Heuriger on Seneca.

Biographies : Karen Gilman
Karen graduated from Tufts University and The Museum School of Fine Arts with a B.F.A. in 1984. Karen worked in fine dining in Boston, Cape Cod and New York City while pursuing her art career. In 1990, she helped her husband open Dano's. Karen's job description would include business manager, front of house operations and pastry chef. She also exhibits her paintings at Dano's, and had an integral role in the interior design of Dano's on Seneca. Karen has been a featured pastry chef at the James Beard Foundation on seven occasions. Her recipe for Caramelized Quince Honey Cake appears in The Mensch Chef.

Seneca Wine Trail
There are many wineries all over the Finger Lakes. Some of the most successful wineries are on the Seneca Wine Trail. The Trail extends around the largest and deepest of the Finger Lakes, Seneca Lake. Over thirty wineries offer wine made from vinifera varietals such as riesling, chardonnay, merlot, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon and pinot noir as well as native American varieties. Seneca Lake also boasts an ever-growing craft brewery and distillery scene as well!

About the Architecture
"The Heuriger sits amidst an upstate New York landscape of rolling hills, vineyards, farmlands and glacial lakes. The building, like a large barn, brings to mind the traditional volumes of farm buildings. The dining hall introduces guests slowly to the surrounding fields, terraces, rows of vineyards and 'lakescape' beyond. The exterior golden shingles and cork colored interior, like a finely aged wine cask, establish the perfect ambiance for dining within this rural landscape"
--Andrea Simitch, Architect