And the winners are…
Best Antique Shop/Dealer
WINNER
The Shops on West Ridge
FINALISTS
Greenovation | CP Antiques | Ontario Antique Mall
Best Bike Shop
WINNER
Full Moon Vista
FINALISTS
Tom’s Pro Bike | Bert’s Bike Shop | Towpath
Best Bridal Shop
WINNER
Heart to Heart Bride
FINALISTS
Silk Bridal Boutique | Lovely Bride | 2 Hearts Bridal
Best Smoke Shop
WINNER
Mad Hatter’s Hideaway
FINALIST
The Plug | eLab | Ghost Dog
Best Corner Store
WINNER
Bodega
FINALISTS
Highland Market | 999 Market | Henry’s
Best Fitness Center
WINNER
Midtown Athletic Club
FINALISTS
YMCA | Jewish Community Center | LA Fitness
Best Florist
WINNER
Wisteria Flowers and Gifts
FINALISTS
Stacy K Floral | Arena’s | Kittleberger Florist & Gifts
Best Outdoor Market
WINNER
Rochester Public Market
FINALISTS
Brighton Farmers Market | The Lucky Flea | TheMATA
Best Salon/Barbershop
WINNER
Rock Paper Scissors Salon & Med Spa
FINALISTS
Gallery | Surface Salon | Bare Element | Do or Dye | South Wedge Barber
Best Hotel
WINNER
The Strathallan Hotel & Spa
FINALISTS
Woodcliff Hotel & Spa | Hyatt Downtown | The Lake House Canandaigua
Best Independent Bookseller
WINNER
Lift Bridge Book Shop
FINALISTS
Akimbo Bookshop | Bookeater | Hipocampo Children’s Books
Best Local Media Personality (Radio/TV/Online/Print)
WINNER
Scott Hetsko
FINALISTS
Adam Chodak (News 8 WROC) | Evan Dawson (WXXI) | Don Alhart (13WHAM)
Best Music School
WINNER
Eastman Community Music School
FINALISTS
Costello Music | Submarine School of Music | Hochstein School of Music
Best Musical Instrument Store
WINNER
House of Guitars
FINALISTS
Bernunzio Uptown Music | Sound Source | Northfield Music
Best Place to Buy Kitsch
WINNER
Parkleigh
FINALISTS
Archimage | Record Archive | Sweet Poison Cupcake
Best Record Store
WINNER
Record Archive
FINALISTS
Bop Shop Records | House of Guitars | Needle Drop Records
Best Vintage/Secondhand Store
WINNER
Record Archive
FINALISTS
Little Shop of Hoarders | The Op Shop | Staple Vintage
Best Social Media Account
WINNER
@innerloopblog
FINALISTS
@industrystandard69 | @rocthecitywithhope | @daytrippingroc
Best Day Spa
WINNER
Del Monte Lodge
FINALISTS
Ape & Canary | Woodcliff Hotel & Spa | Bare Element
Best Tattoo Parlor
WINNER
Love Hate Tattoo
FINALISTS
Have Hope Tattoo | Westside Tattoo | Old Friends
Best Hobby Store
WINNER
Dan’s Crafts and Things
FINALISTS
Millennium Games | Rochester Art Supply | Performance Hobby
Best Wedding/Event Venue
WINNER
ARTISANworks
FINALISTS
Arbor Loft | Historic German House | Genesee Country Village & Museum
Best Yoga Studio
WINNER
Breathe
FINALISTS
Tru | Vault | Element | The Reformery
CRITICS’ PICKS
By Daniel J. Kushner, Johanna Lester, Jessica L. Pavia, Rebecca Rafferty, and Abby Quatro
Living handpicked, home-grown gifts (for you or someone else): Sunscape Farms
Rochester has long been known for “you pick” options at various farms across the region. From apples and blueberries to peaches and (the too-short season of, in my opinion) cherries, being able to physically pick your own produce is a great benefit of living here—and maybe something we take for granted. At Sunscape Farms (two locations: Greece, 1530 Maiden Lane; Penfield, 1416 Creek Street), summer “you pick” opportunities have become more exciting. Customers at the Greece location (open again beginning in May) have the option to pick flowers from the extensive (tens of thousands of blooms across nearly a dozen varieties) field located behind the main greenhouses at a variety of price points. (“You-pick” is not currently available at Sunscape’s Penfield location, but it is open year-round for other seasonal, home-grown produce and cut flower bouquets from July through October, per the website.) Is anyone not delighted when they receive fresh flowers as a gift? Has your own mood not been lifted when buying yourself flowers? This is also the best way I can think of to recreate that iconic image of Meryl Streep walking down the street, an enormous bouquet in her arms. Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself—and, if given the chance, she may have picked them as well. —JOHANNA LESTER
Hidden Grocery Gem: R’s Market
My dad was born and raised in Pittsford, and growing up hearing his stories about Rochester, it felt like he knew everyone—or at least knew about everyone. So we were both shocked when, earlier this year, a neighbor told us to check out R’s Market. “It’s the best spot to run into and grab the basics,” they said. We listened.
My dad and I pulled into a small strip mall with only two storefronts visible from the parking lot. Bells rang as we pushed through the door, and we were immediately met with a cross between a New York City-style bodega and an old-school market. Loaves of locally baked, fresh bread. A small cooling area to the left with just enough produce. And a small meat case tucked in the back, the only hint of its existence a low hum from the refrigerator system. A tall, eager man waited to help us. We left that first visit with stuffed bell peppers and premade Italian meatballs, and we’ve been introducing more people to it ever since.
R’s Market first opened in 1964, and has always been in the same spot. It’s a neighborhood name, the kind of business that only survives off a dedicated lexicon of regulars and word-of-mouth. It’s small, indiscernible. Barely there if you don’t know where to look. But stepping inside is like stepping back an era. And even in 2023, people are discovering it for the first time. —JESSICA L. PAVIA
Most unique musical gift: mouth harps
There’s nothing more special for a musician than to play a handmade instrument crafted to exact specifications. For those of us who are musically inclined, the image conjured is that of a violin virtuoso playing a rare Stradivarius. But thanks to local musician and mouth harp-maker Shaun Jones, that kind of opportunity is available to anyone with even the most casual relationship to making music — and at a reasonable price.
The story began in 2019, when Jones’s burgeoning interest in mouth harps, also known as jaw harps, led him to purchase a Snoopy’s Harp. After finding the souvenir both difficult and somewhat dangerous to play, he went down what he refers to as a “continuous rabbit hole of history, physics, and crafting/musical traditions,” in search of a professional-sounding harp that was homemade. On the other side of the rabbit hole was a five-hour instrument-building process — including the fabrication of the frame and the reed, fitting them together, fine tuning, putting on a finish, and carving the carrying case.
Honing the reed inside the harp takes great precision and requires minute adjustments done by ear to place the reed in the ideal location within the instrument’s steel frame. The result is a reverberant, springy sound capable of achieving distinctive melodies using what’s called the overtone series.
In other words, the music made is a cross between a backwoods jam session and an ethereal drone. Jones’s rootsy yet otherworldly mouth harps start at $120 for a standard steel version, while upgrades to materials and aesthetic considerations will cost more. —DANIEL J. KUSHNER
Go-to gifts for the foodie in your life: Henrietta Restaurant Supply
Everyone seems to fancy themselves a chef these days (and has the crocks to prove it), but I’m here to give you the inside track on restaurant grade kitchenware. Henrietta Restaurant Supply (HRS) is a one-stop shop for solid, unpretentious gear. From skillets to sheet trays to stainless steel prep tables, or a deep fryer that you JUST might need at home — they have it all. Last year for soup season, I treated myself to a stock pot so big that I can climb inside it (and have). You pay wholesale prices and don’t need a special card to shop there as you do with similar restaurant supply joints. Boiled down, if you’re gadget-obsessed and looking for the latest trend (spoiler alert: your air fryer is really a convection oven), then this isn’t for you. But If you’re ready to trade in your slap chops and ceramic knives for some proper tools, you can thank me later. Go ahead, fill up your home fridge with quart containers (properly labeled and dated, of course) and you’ll never look at Tupperware the same. You might even get that “yes, chef” callback that you’ve been fantasizing about. —ABBY QUATRO
Most climate-friendly local seed cultivator: Fruition Seeds
If it seems like Naples-based Fruition Seeds treats their seeds like family — in essence, they are. Matthew and Petra founded the organic farm pretty recently (by farm standards), in 2012. The duo, along with a handful of helpers, grow about 60% of their seeds on 24-acres in Naples.
The fruit and vegetable seeds are grown specifically for the Northeast, which means they’re great for a shorter growing season (ahem, Rochester weather). And they’re actually known as being regionally adapted, or grown and cultivated specifically with one environment in mind. (Most commercial seeds are manufactured to grow well in California.) Fruition’s seeds are made for our climate; think early maturity and high success rates. They’re hardy, disease resistant, and beautifully unique—with both historical varieties that have long grown in our region and new takes on classics that Fruition farms themselves.
Plus, it’s just pretty cool to grow your own food in a backyard or community plot with seeds that were developed right down the road. It’s like a whole other level of knowing where your food comes from. As if it couldn’t get any better, Fruition Seeds cares about community the same, if not more, than they care about cultivation. One way they show this is by welcoming people onto their land for large feasts where they share in preparing the harvest and discussing ways to protect our climate. They also ensure Fruition Seeds are open-pollination, meaning they can be saved and shared for generations to come. —JESSICA L. PAVIA
Best skin in the game: Rochester Drum Trade
Neat but narrow pathways between colorful columns of stacked drum kits allow visitors to navigate Rochester Drum Trade, a music shop at 140 Troup St., tucked away in a 20th-century addition behind the historic Hervey Ely Mansion. About 1,300 square feet are filled to the brim with the hollow instruments, and there are more in storage in the basement next door. A sweet elder pup, Snuggles, mostly dozes on the couch but will rouse to greet new faces and gently offer his head for pats before retiring to his spot, allowing shoppers to browse or consult with the shop’s owner, Benjamin Dodge.
The 34-year-old Olean native buys, repairs, sells, and trades vintage and contemporary drums and percussion instruments. He estimates that, aside from his personal collection, he has about 60 full drum sets and about 300 snare drums — some made as early as the 1910s — hundreds of cymbals, and assorted hardware. Treasure hunters can find novelties like a 1920 snare drum patented and manufactured in Rochester by George M. Carnes, or the bass drum head from the kit that jazz drummer Buddy Rich used to record at Manny’s Music in New York City. Dodge hastened to add that the shop doesn’t deal in hand drums — though he does get a lot of requests for them.
Dodge began playing and buying drums when he was 13, scoring kits on estate sale adventures with his grandma, and reselling them to churches. College brought Dodge to Rochester — Monroe Community College for accounting, and SUNY Brockport for business — but he has been buying and selling instruments online for more than 15 years, and crowding each house he has lived in with a dragon’s hoard of drums until he finally opened the brick and mortar in January 2020.
Since then, local business has picked up, which Dodge says includes musicians of all ages and walks, from kids looking for their first kit to members of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and some high profile clients, including local legend Steve Gadd and Kevin Bacon’s brother, Michael. Rochester Drum Trade is open Wednesdays through Saturdays and by appointment. —REBECCA RAFFERTY
This article appears in Dec 1-31, 2022.
