The plate full of lamb tagine and cauliflower risotto I’m having for lunch cost me roughly $10. The loaf of raisin-fennel bread sitting on my counter at home set me back about half that. My son is addicted to $4 orders of braised pork-belly buns. All of that adds up a bit over time, but […]
Dining Reviews
Posted inCulture
DINING FEATURE: Rochester’s food challenges
For some people, food is just that: food. Fuel – ideally tasty fuel – that
keeps the body plugging along. But for an increasing segment of the population,
food and eating have become something else: a challenge. Another arena in which
to test who is the top dog, leader of the pack, or king of the hill.
Posted inCulture
Pork barrel
One recent morning I was on South Clinton Avenue heading toward downtown when I noticed a sign tacked up on the side of a nondescript building just past Goodman Street: “Georgie’s Bakery makes the best Cuban Sandwich in Rochester.” Liz Ruiz, who has owned Georgie’s along with her husband, George, since 2005, was against putting […]
Posted inCulture
Joys for tots
If you are a teetotaler, or you haven’t yet abandoned your New Year’s resolution to eat a better, more rounded diet, you should probably stop reading right now. Nothing that follows this sentence will do anything but upset you or potentially shatter your resolve. For those of you who are still with me, I want […]
Posted inCulture
The joy of Mex
Mex 295 Alexander St. 262-3060, mexrestaurant.com Dinner Tue-Thu 5-10 p.m., Fri-Sat 5-11 p.m.; bar until 2 a.m. Paul Brewer is a chef on the move. He has been since he started his career as a cook at a Cracker Barrel restaurant when he was 14 years old. In the intervening 21 years, he has worked […]
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Wise decisions
The Owl House 75 Marshall St. 360-2920, owlhouserochester.com Tue-Sun 11 a.m.-4 p.m. (lunch) & 5-10:30 p.m. (dinner) When is a vegetarian restaurant not a vegetarian restaurant? The fact that it serves meat would be a pretty good clue. It would seem, then, that The Owl House, which occupies the space on Marshall Street that was […]
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Optimal Prime
Here’s an exercise in advanced parenting for you: try taking your kid with you to the kind of restaurant where the tablecloths are white, the waits are long, and the service is formal at best, snotty at worst. With all but the best behaved of children, this is an exercise in hubris, and your fellow […]
Posted inCulture
Primary flavors
I’m always grateful to restaurants that give me something to nibble on while I’m mulling over the menu. Sodam Korean in Henrietta, like all Korean restaurants, offers you a full meal while you think about what to order for dinner — an assortment of small dishes known as banchan. These tasty offerings, which walk the […]
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The difference a week makes
I picked Max at the Gallery for review this week in part because it was a sure thing: with any of the restaurants that bear the Max name you can be certain you’ll have a good, perhaps even great, experience. The brand, established by chef and restaurateur Tony Gullace with the opening of Max at […]
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Make momma proud
Mother’s Day is right around the corner, and if a bowl of cereal and a cup of coffee delivered to Mom’s bedside isn’t cutting it anymore, it’s time to consider going out for brunch or dinner — with the whole family. Finding a restaurant that’s accepting of (well behaved) children, yet nice enough to retain […]
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Out of the ashes
At the risk of invoking a tired clichรฉ, Henrietta’s newest Indian restaurant really is a phoenix from the ashes. Brothers Gurpal and Harcharnjid Singh opened their first restaurant, Namaste Diner, on West Henrietta Road in July 2008, an outgrowth of their successful Indian grocery store down the road. A bit over three months later, a […]
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Immigrant restaurants: a taste of home
Romy Sial, owner of the Bombay Chaat House in Henrietta, is watching anxiously as I bite into a creamy, cardamom-scented ball of gulab jamun. A few moments ago, after I’d already eaten a plate of bhel puri (curried rice crispies topped with tamarind and mint chutneys, raita, and a generous shake of chili powder), two […]
