Rochester is OK!

A restaurant I’m eagerly awaiting to eat at should be opening in the next week or so, according to my inside sources… and their Twitter feed (@theowlhouse). I’ve followed The Owl House’s progress on Twitter and Facebook for several months now, and mentioned it several times. I’m really excited, and their menu looks great. You can check it out at http://www.owlhouserochester.com/. I will definitely share my experience with everyone after I’ve had a chance to visit.

I’ve been out of town a lot this summer. Been to a lot of big cities and all over America. I’m still happy to come home to Rochester though.

Anyways, I just wanted to get in a quick update so people don’t think I’ve given up or died. I’m here. I’m just REALLY busy.

I also want to plug another web project I’ll be part of. Greenovation at http://imagecitygreen.com/ is a new project started by my good friend Jason Rowe. While the site’s idea is globally focused, all the talent is local (so far). This is also a business venture for Jay, as he does consulting work to bring green concepts and technology to the homes and businesses of his clients. The site will also be selling a lot of great items to help you lower your environmental foot print and save money on your utility bills. The site is still in its infancy, but I have a good feeling about it.

Stop on over and let your presence be known in the comments section.

Have a good night, and stay cool. Although I’m really psyched that we’ve had an actual hot summer after the a few duds in a row.

The Tap and Mallet rolled out their spring menu this past week. A lot of old favorites return, but there’s plenty of new to sample.  For an appetizer, I had the Crab, Corn, and Red Pepper dip, which is a thick flavorful dip with pita bread. It was fantastic. I almost filled up on, but left enough room to try out their new Reuben sandwich, which is served open face. I’m a big fan of Reubens and I try to eat them wherever they’re served, and the Tap and Mallet’s is excellent.

I’ll probably be back in the next week or so to keep trying new stuff.

Also note that they will be closed this Saturday for a wedding (congratulations to Jeana and John).

You can check out their new menu on the web, or if you have an Android phone or an iPhone, you can get the menu app for either, which will allow you to keep tabs of their ever revolving beer taps from anywhere.

I hope everyone has had a chance to make it up there this week. I haven’t had a chance yet, but I live in the neighborhood and traffic was pretty consistent all weekend. The weather looks like it will continue to hold out this week, so attendance should be pretty high. Hopefully there are still some flowers left, but there’s plenty of other things going on as well.

I should be getting back to posting more regularly. I’ve been pretty busy lately with my other two sites and life in general, so it’s been tougher to check out new places to eat.

I’m looking forward to The Owl House opening up on Marshall street, off Monroe Ave.  Check out their Twitter and Facebook feeds for more information. I’m pretty excited. They have a good crew on board and have been pretty transparent about what they’re doing to the place, and what they will be doing when the place opens. They casually mention some of the food they’ll be serving, and my interest is definitely piqued.

Also in the next few weeks is the Roc City Rib Fest! It’ll be up at Ontario Beach Park again and there are even more people competing this year, including a couple of good friends of mine (Go GCI!). There will be plenty of vendors, plenty of smoked food, and a lot of folks competing for a multitude of titles. It’s sure to be a blast.

I’m still looking for other people who want to help with the site’s momentum. It’s not a paying gig, but if you’re a foodie or a festival head with a positive attitude, I would love to have you write for the site.

The Gate House in the Village Gate opened last year and has become one of my favorite local burger joints. They offer a full menu of personal pizzas and gourmet burgers, all with a local flair. The burger selection is named after some of Rochester’s more prominent public figures and folks who have struck it big who are from our fair city, where as the pizza selection takes their names from some of our areas more popular areas.

I’ve only been a small handful of times, but I’m slowly working away through their burger selection, and nothing has left me disappointed so far.  My favorites so far are a battle between The Duffy and The Wease, but it’s still too early to pick a favorite. They have a pretty robust drink menu, as  they’ve just recently gotten approval for serving liquor. They also have a very respectable beer selection as well, with the local Rohrbach’s Sotch Ale being one of my personal favorites. In the picture above is their white sangria which was one of the specials of my last visit.

The atmosphere is nice, and I especially like the booth seats. I spent a lot of time looking at the construction of the bar and the booths, and the wood slats that hang from the ceiling. It gives the place a homey, warm feeling, and is a good contrast to the more industrial look of the village gate as a whole. We got there relatively late on a Saturday evening, and while the place was pretty full, our wait for a table was less than 10 minutes. There was a relatively steady stream of people in and out while we were there, but none of the waits seemed any longer than ours. I have walked past the place during peak dinner hours, and there were a lot more people waiting, so your experience may vary.

They have a pretty decent website as well, http://www.thegatehousecafe.com/, with their full menu and it’s mobile friendly with no annoying Flash.

The Gate House is located in the Village Gate mall at 274 North Goodman Street. They’re open for lunch and dinner, and have brunch on the weekend. Check them out and tell them we sent you!

Gluten free food. This may be a term you’re familiar with, or at the very least heard it in passing maybe more than once in recent years. Gluten is a composite of proteins found some grass related grains, such as rye, barley, and especially wheat. It seems that there are more and more people who have a sensitivity to Gluten based products, or full blown Coeliac disease, which as an auto-immune reaction to gluten. The intolerance can manifest in different ways in different people, from a gastro intestinal reaction, akin to irritable bowel syndrome, or to a skin reaction in the form of eczema. It often is misdiagnosed for other things, and one of the only real ways of diagnosing it is an elimination diet. An elimination diet means nothing with gluten in it, and when you try to do that your options become very very limited. Go to Wegmans and start reading labels. You will see gluten is in a lot more than you realized. If you want to do an elimination diet, that means no pasta, no bread, no cookies, some cold cuts have gluten in them as a binding ingredient, etc, etc. If you have coeliac (which is rarer than a basic intolerance), you need to really careful and really check your labels.

Over the years though, there are a lot of companies who have come out with gluten free products for this market. Rice noodles make a decent substitute for wheat flour noodles. There are gluten free breads, and cookies, and all sorts of stuff. The problem with a lot of them is that most of them are pretty awful. I couldn’t understand why these companies couldn’t at least put out something that tasted good and was gluten free.

And then Eco Bella opened up down the street from me. Now, I only have a mild intolerance for gluten products. I deal with it as I hate having my diet limited, but if I can get something in gluten free that is equal to what I’m already used to, then bring it on. I was skeptical at first when I walked into Eco Bella, which is a tiny store front at 732 South Ave. There are a multitude of things in their display cases, but what I was most interested in, and most hopeful for, was finding a gluten free brownie that actually tasted good. The first thing I ordered was a brownie with chocolate frosting. It was awesome. It actually tasted like a normal brownie. It was chocolaty and rich and the texture was spot on. Cooking without gluten is one thing, but Eco Bella is also vegan. I’m not a vegan, but I do enjoy vegan and vegetarian food just as much as anything else, and vegan food can be a lot like some gluten free things can be; bland and weird. Eco Bella dodges this bullet as well, because I always seem to forget that I’m eating something that’s not just gluten free, but also vegan. I don’t know how they do it, but they do it pretty awesome and I recommend that you definitely check them out.

So if you have issues with gluten,  or are a vegan, or perhaps both, this is your new dessert mainstay. Eco Bella Bakery is again located at 732 South Avenue. They have a website that has their hours on it, as well as their menu and prices. You can check that out here, at http://www.ecobellabakery.com.

I’ve talked about Sticky Lips before, which in itself was an entirely different experience than a “regular” visit to one of my favorite local barbecue joints. This was just a nice quiet dinner. No timers. No four pounds of food. Just me, my girl, and a hardy dinner.

The beauty of barbecue is that there’s not just one way to do it. Any one you talk to that has a passion for barbecue talks about it in a way that’s more akin to discussing an athletic event. They talk of preparation, practice, and technique. As you get deeper into the subject, it moves from athletic endeavor to more of a mad science. People have their secret formulas, their special sauces, their secret rubs. It is a subculture unto itself, so much so that Rochester even hosts a rib fest now (more on that later in the year). Sticky Lips Pit BBQ is no different, as they have their own way of doing things, and I love it.

I find myself at Sticky Lips quite a bit. Assuming that on average we go out to dinner twice a week, we usually make it to Sticky Lips at least once a month. The last time before Saturday was right before I decided to start Rochester is OK back up again, so by the time I had gotten it moving, I didn’t think it was fair to right too much based on my memory of the experience. It was more fitting that I had to go back, have a proper dinner, and then do a proper write up.

Sticky Lips has a huge menu. It takes a few visits to fully appreciate it and take it all in. The problem with a joint like Sticky Lips is that if you’re going there you generally have one thing in mind, and that’s what you order. I’m telling you to put that out of your mind right now, and spend an extra few minutes with the menu. There’s something on there that you haven’t had before, and you should try it. My immediate recommendation would be the Carolina Clipper pulled pork sandwich. It’s a gem, and a realm of flavor beyond a straightforward pulled pork sandwich.

Another thing I really love about Sticky Lips are the combo platters. Feel like pulled pork, but you also want some brisket? There’s a combo for that. How about pulled pork, chicken, and ribs? There’s a combo for that too. There are a lot of combos, all across the full spectrum of barbecue. My personal recommendation is for the B29 Superfortress, which is their awesome chicken, with a mound of pulled pork, and a whole lot of Brisket, AND two sides of your choice. It is a TON of food, and for a very reasonable price.

Now if we talk about sides, my favorite is their mac salad. I love mac salad. Every where I go, I always try the places mac salad, and Sticky Lips’ doesn’t disappoint. It is tangy, and sweet, but also has a slight spice kick. I love it. They also use shells instead of plain old macaroni, which is a welcome change from the standard elbow. Their Macaroni and Cheese is also excellent, and their fries are lightly breaded and very good as well. I haven’t had an opportunity to sample most of the sides menu, as I usually prefer the Mac Salad/Fries Combo, but I will make a more concerted effort in the future to try more.

Sticky Lips is located at 625 Culver Road, on the corner of Culver and Atlantic in the city. They have a website here. Their menu is published on there as well, but fair warning to all the iPhone people out there, their menu is flash based, so if you’re looking to take a peak before you get there, do it from the desktop. If you go on a weekend night expect a pretty significant wait. Grab a drink from the bar counter downstairs and just wait it out, because the food is completely worth it.

Sticky Lips, another reason why Rochester is OK.

There are times when there’s something I really want to eat, and usually it meshes with my lady’s, but not all the time. I wanted sushi. She wanted steak. Compromise is usually key, but it’s best if you can find a place that has both options. My other criteria was that it had to be some place I’d never been before for the sake of having something to write about this week. I didn’t want to phone it again like last week (sorry!).

So Saturday was going to be our night on the town and it started out a few blocks away at Shiki Japanese Restaurant. It’s located on the corner of South Clinton and Beaufort Street. It’s a place you may have driven by many times, but never noticed. Or at least that’s my excuse. I didn’t realize I had sushi practically in my own neighborhood. Awesome.

We got there around 6:30, and the place was pretty full. The waitress told us there would be about a five minute wait, and it was probably less than that and we were seated. The interior is small, and most tables are doubles. I would say that it’s a good place to bring a date. Small, cozy, and laid out well enough that other people’s conversations don’t overpower your own.

We started our meal with an appetizer, the Gyuza, which are pan fried pork dumplings. They were very tasty, and made me even more excited for the main course. Bianca ordered the beef teriyaki as her main course, which also came with soup and a salad. I ate half her salad. It was pretty good. I ordered an assortment of rolls and several pieces of Sushi. I had a Spicy Tuna, Spicy Salmon, an Alaska, and the Philadelphia rolls as well as a Sawara (Spanish Mackerel), Maguro (Tuna), and the classic Kanikama (Crab Stick). You can see my sushi platter in the above picture. It was fantastic. All the rolls were fresh and delicious. I tried to have a mix of somewhat traditional rolls as well as Americanized sushi rolls. I love both. If I could afford it,  I would definitely eat sushi every night of the week. I sampled Bianca’s steak as well, and it also was pretty good, but I feel I made the better menu choice.

For desert we shared some tempura fried ice cream. I’ve had mixed experiences with fried ice cream, and I like it most when it’s served Japanese style. The tempura shell has a great flavor and consistency.

I’d recommend checking out Shiki. If you live in the neighborhood and you haven’t been, give it a shot. If you’re looking to take a special someone out on a first date, it’s great place for that. Even if your date isn’t into sushi, their menu offers enough to satiate the most picky eaters.

Shiki Japanese Restaurant is located 1054 S. Clinton Avenue. They are open for lunch and dinner, but not in between. They also have a website with directions and their lunch and dinner menus. You can check it out here.

Ah boy. I write this as I’m more stuffed than one should be stuffed. We found out about the Atomic Bomb Challenge about a month and a half ago, just before I decided to relaunch the site. I thought to myself “Hey, that’s a great idea for an article topic!”

A little background first. Sticky Lips is one of my favorite joints in the Roc. I love their food. The place is fantastic, and I recommend you all run over there right now and eat their amazing barbecue.

The challenge details are in the top right picture. One pound of hamburg, one pound of pulled pork, one pound of french fries. A quarter pound of cheese and four strips of bacon. That is a monster sandwich.

I watch a lot of Man vs. Food, and it’s fun watching take these challenges. My friends and I wanted a challenge. We wanted our Man vs. Food. Last time I was at Sticky Lips, our friend Brian thought it’d be a good idea to ask our waitress if they offered anything like that. I was surprised to find out they did, and we vowed that we would return and  take on the challenge.

Tonight was the night. Five boys walked into Sticky Lips, only one came out a man.

There’s my big boy right above. A monster helping of almost 4 pounds of food. I thought I could handle it. I was naive. I got about a quarter of the way, maybe a third if you feel like being generous, but I hit the wall and I hit it hard. Three of us bowed out, making a dent, but we couldn’t muster the strength or the stomach to move on. It was down to Vernon and John. With the strength and stomachs of ten men, they trudged onward. John saw his way to the end, and triumphed. Vernon put up a good fight, but in the end, the french fries won.

So, at the end of the night, Man: 1, Food: 4. John Champlin, you are my hero.

Check out the rest of the gallery after the cut.

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After all the snow last week, I didn’t have any real opportunity to get out and check out some new places to write about.  I was hoping to get more articles out during the week, but that hasn’t really worked out. Hopefully the people out there in Internet-land haven’t given up on us yet. The weather’s getting warmer, and as far as the site goes, we’re only just warming up too.

Last night we went to Sinbad’s Mediterranean Cuisine for dinner. They’re located at 719 Park Ave. in the prime business district of the area. This was my first time going there, and I love Mediterranean food so I was pretty psyched to try something familiar and new.

For a Friday night, parking was pretty tame, and we were able to get a street spot close to the restaurant, which is around the time I noticed there was a sign advertising parking in the back. Happy with our street spot, we walked into the restaurant. Heavy curtains hang down to block the draft from the outside from the rest of the people eating, which I thought was both neat and a good idea. Once you step through the curtains, a cute cafe style restaurant is there to greet you. Sinbad’s isn’t the only business in the building and I wasn’t sure how their floor layout would be from the outside, but it is a long and relatively narrow and everything is open, giving you a clear view of the kitchen. We were quickly seated and the wait staff was very friendly and accommodating.

After placing our drink order, we decided to start with an appetizer. I’m a huge falafel fan, and I decided that would be my litmus test for the restaurant. I was not disappointed. Falafel can go two ways, it can either be light and crispy or too heavy. I’m not a huge fan of it when it’s dense and heavy, so I was happily surprised that it was light and super crisp, and the flavor was fantastic.

For dinner, I ordered the Ganbari, which is a pasta dish with shrimp and artichoke hearts. The pasta was cooked just right, and the sauce and seasoning was fantastic. The portion size was just right, leaning more towards on the almost too large size, but since I’m a big eater, it was no problem cleaning my plate. Bianca ordered the halibut for dinner which was equally excellent. The food was very fresh and flavorful and this is a place I’m definitely going to try to visit way more often.

If you enjoy Mediterranean food and haven’t had a chance to go, I definitely recommend it. Their pricing is very reasonable, and they do offer plenty of dishes for vegetarians as well. It also is a good atmosphere whether you and a group of friends are dining, or if you’re bringing someone on a date. Again, I’d like to give a shout out to the wait staff, as I thought they did a really great job in making us feel welcome and answering any questions we had regarding the menu.

Sinbad’s Mediterranean Cuisine is again located at 719 Park Ave. They don’t have a direct web presence, but their full menu is available here. Definitely check them out!

I love barbecue. I love pulled pork. I love brisket. I love ribs. Lucky for us, we have some good local options when it comes to barbecue.

The Beale Street Cafe has two locations, one in Webster, and one at 689 South Ave. in the city of Rochester. I’ve personally never been to the Webster location, but I dine at the South Ave. quite often. My standard restaurant routine for places I go to often is to try something I’ve never had before on the menu each time. Unless a place has a rotating menu, after awhile you’ve eventually had everything on there. I can almost safely say that I’ve had just about everything on the Beale Street menu at least once. On my most recent trip, which would be this past Thursday, I had the Piedmont Pork dinner, which was their pulled pork marinated in vinegar and topped with coleslaw, with sides of cajun fries (go cajun or go home!) and their macaroni salad. The dinner special is larger than the sandwich meal, almost to the tune of twice the amount of pork you’d get from a sandwich. It is a lot of food, and I ate every bit of it. The vinegar gives the pork a bit of a tangy kick, but it doesn’t over power the flavor of the pork. For some reason coleslaw goes really well with pulled pork, as evidence by one of their other sandwiches called The Pittsburgh, which is pulled pork, topped with coleslaw and french fries on French Bread. The Pittsburgh is my staple meal. If I’m not feeling adventurous or in the mood to experiment, this is what I order, and it is awesome. I’d also recommend making sure the fries are cajun, as it gives the sandwich an extra spicy kick.

I’m a big fan of Brisket and I love trying Brisket where ever I go, because it’s always different, but it’s not always good. Honestly, Beale Street has some of the best brisket I’ve ever had. I recommend the dinner of the sandwich, because the bigger the pile of brisket, the happier you’ll be. It’s sweet, moist, and smoked to perfection.

And of course it wouldn’t be a barbecue place without ribs, and their ribs are definitely notable. Their barbecue sauces are what really makes all their food stand out from other places, especially their ribs. Like any good rib should be, they’re sweet and moist and are easily pulled off the bone.

Beale Street also has a full bar, if you’re just in the mood for having a cocktail. Heidi makes a killer Mojito. They have live music Tuesday, and Thursday through Saturday.

The Beale Street cafe is located at 689 South Ave. on the corner of Gregory and South. Parking is on the street, but it’s usually not too hard to find a spot on a Friday night. Menu and directions are available on their website at http://www.bealestreetcafe.com.