My winter hunt for cuisines that remind me of summer
continued the last week of 2019, with a slight complication: holiday closings. The
season can be a bit difficult for me to navigate anyway — I don’t really have immediate
family, and I wasn’t planning to go to my hometown to see old friends. Most of
my local friends were off to spend time with their families, and I am not one
to intrude (and likely witness arguing with curmudgeon uncles).
Were I back in Baltimore, I’d be cozied up to a bar,
chowing down on fresh seafood dishes in a pub that was converted from a
bicentennial-era bed and breakfast in the Canton neighborhood (AKA the
non-touristy version of Fell’s Point). Sadly, we don’t have Chesapeake Bay
here, but we do have Lake Ontario. So on Christmas Eve, I met some friends who
hadn’t yet started their mini-family reunions, and we ventured up to the lake
to try out a new restaurant on Culver Road.
Marshall
Street Bar and Grill owners Don and Kelly Bush bought the former Reunion Inn
and re-opened it as Union Tavern this past summer. It’s located directly across
the street from Seabreeze Amusement Park, but that’s
not the first thing I noticed. As I drove up Culver, I could see a shimmer of
the early afternoon sun bouncing off the surface of Lake Ontario. I was so
enchanted by the sight that I nearly missed my turn to enter the tavern’s lot.
I parked and
stood before the solid-looking, two-story brick building, painted white with
hunter green trim, which resembles a wharf-side village tavern from the 1800s.
Incidentally, I later learned from the owners that the structure sits on land
with 200 years of significant history (including rumors of involvement with the
Underground Railroad and Prohibition-era bootlegging), so my hunch was actually
on target.
Atop the tavern
is a widow’s walk, or more positively, a good view of the lakeshore scene. The
first floor interior is nearly all lacquered wood, including the bar, and despite
the dark hues of the walls, the space was warm and welcoming. I half expected
fishing crews to fill the bar and treat each other to rounds of beer and
embellished tales of their marine adventures. The upstairs is almost a different
world, with light green walls, tan wood floors, and flowery art hanging on the
walls. It resembles a New England bed and breakfast dining room on a spring
morning, illuminated by a glowing sun. My friends and I got a table in the
corner so that we could take advantage of as much natural light as possible.
The menu is
a decent mix of pub fare and fine dining, including fries, burgers, and wraps,
but also calamari, steak, and swordfish. We decided to start with the pub fries
($6), coconut shrimp ($9), crispy calamari ($9), and Calamari di Roma ($11). I
normally wouldn’t order two of the same type of item, but both calamari dishes
intrigued me. The crispy calamari is made the way most
folks recognize: breaded and flash fried. It’s quite delicious, but the
Calamari di Roma is a unique treat, sautéed with cherry peppers, onions,
garlic, and tomato sauce and served in a bowl with a grilled lemon and a piece
of bread from Seabreeze neighbor Giuseppe’s
Restaurant. The rings of squid absorbed the flavors of the peppers, onions, and
garlic, and the tomatoes and lemon juice added a zesty finish. For those who
don’t eat calamari, the tavern offers the same preparation with hearts of palm.
The coconut
shrimp was sweet and crisp, and the pub fries are in the running to be a
mainstay for my future visits. I cannot resist a decent fry, and these were
nearly potato wedges in size, and neither undercooked nor fried to oblivion. My
main course was the Seafood Tuscany ($16), a dish of swordfish and fatty tuna
belly cooked with asparagus, onions, and tomatoes in a butter-wine sauce.
I’m usually
skeptical of anything too buttery, it’s usually too rich for me to enjoy. But
this sauce was light, almost clear. The tuna was cooked rare and soaked up the
flavor to yield a combined mild and sharp flavor. The swordfish took up the
flavors as well, but there was no denying its signature sweet and hearty nature.
My friends
ordered the Asian glazed salmon ($18) and the ribeye steak ($23). Though I did
not sample the steak, I can say that it’s a large portion that I would not have
expected for the price, and its accompanying potatoes and green beans were
delicious. The salmon was a huge steak of fish with even larger flavor. Eating
all of this good seafood brought me back to Canton; I could almost smell the
Inner Harbor air with each bite. The chef who created the menu, Andrew Bush (no
relation to the owners), attended culinary school in Rhode Island and traveled
around the world, training and honing his craft.
As we
descended the stairs to the exit, the bar area was filled with folks reuniting
with friends and family from out of town. Whether you’re from the coast and
want a taste of home or an inlander and like a good
meal reminiscent of a seaside wharf, Union Tavern is a good bet. On top of
that, it’s a great place to get together with family, related or not.
Chris
Thompson is a freelance writer for CITY. Feedback on this article can be
directed to becca@rochester-citynews.com.
This article appears in Jan 8-14, 2020.
