Welcome to the Rochester food scene. I write full reviews of different restaurants every other week in City, but here is a bit of a primer, by genre, to acquaint you with the area’s amazing variety of dining options. Burgers and hots ($4-$10 per person) Tom Wahl’s: Our second biggest regional chain has at least […]
Adam Wilcox
Posted inNews & Opinion
The mysteries of Mr. Hun
“I am the operator,” explains Hun, the mysterious chef at Bay Tree Cuisine. He refused to spell his full name, insisting on the single moniker, like Cher. He would occasionally use “we,” but wouldn’t name his partners, owners who prefer to remain silent. Hun did share a bit about himself. A Korean, he came here […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
500 tortillas and chorizo that rocks
There are phrases you almost can’t use because their meanings are so particular to the receiver. “God” is like that, or “Scott Norwood.” A food writer has to be careful saying “Mexican cuisine.” To some, it engenders visions of giant, flour tortillas stuffed full of rice and other fillings. For those who’ve traveled in Mexico, […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
The reaper and the smoker
Today, we try to answer the age-old question, “Is it possible to enjoy a restaurant while watching the New England Patriots on a giant TV screen?” You could go farther, and simply consider the giant TVs, regardless of programming, but let’s focus. You’re at the new Merchant Street Smokehouse in Brockport, opened by owner Jonathan […]
Posted inSpecial Sections
Who needs California? The winter pantry
It’s become a dull cliché to say that the best cooking is that which cooks least, starting with the finest, freshest produce. It’s kind of a French idea ripped into California overdrive by food gurus like Alice Waters of Chez Panisse fame. And well, yeah, great produce handled with a light touch usually results in […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
A pie is just a pie
It’s just coconut cream pie, and besides, I’m awfully full, having just eaten. I’m interviewing Flour City Diner owner Jerry Manley, and he’s insisting that I try his pie, a type of which I am not especially fond and at a time when, as I said, I’m stuffed to the gills. A bite to be […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Bring the family
Taking the family out to eat is the point at which my two City Newspaper beats intersect. What is it, exactly, that makes a restaurant “family friendly?” And which local restaurants do the best job handling children, and thus make going out with children a pleasant experience for parents? Most local food lovers wouldn’t be […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Time in a kettle
When Hugo’s toenails brought the faint hint of trauma, and decay began its turn, the Marrons’ copper apple butter urn stood focal, three generations distant from its casting in West Pennsylvania. Uncle Manly commands the governing chant that soothes and chides the stirrers through their scant turns. Canning is when the real mania hits; four […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Sylvia’s Southern Italian style
One test of a restaurant is whether you can do better at home without killing yourself. In regard to pasta and sauce, my answer is usually an emphatic “yes.” Making a slow-cooked sauce isn’t hard. A fresher sauce — what some might call a “marinara” — is even simpler. There are good brands of pasta […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Pan-Asian not panned
Generally, restaurants that specialize are best. It’s difficult to do more than a few things very well, and often, places that serve too many things — too many types of things — end up not doing any particularly well. We’ve had a number of local restaurants try to serve various Asian cuisines, but Asia is […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Eel, eggplant, and octopus, oh my!
It’s fascinating how an ethnic cuisine becomes part of the American fabric. It usually starts with a small place run by a native (think Ly Lou’s Pearl of the Orient for Philippine food). If it catches on, others open, and an Americanized version of the food develops. With Chinese food, for example, it’s now difficult […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
At the market with… the Max chefs
When Max owner and chef Tony Gullace met me and his other chefs, Dan Eaton and Mark Cupolo, he’d already been at the Public Market an hour. Tony agreed to 7 a.m., but a creature of habit, he’d been up and about well before 6. He’s loved the market for years, but it’s all business […]
