Rochester is OK!

Cross posted from Greenovation

As more and more people become technologically savvy, they eventually acquire more and more computer equipment. That old 386, 486 and early Pentium may still be sitting in your basement or your garage.  You know you can’t throw it out, but what can you do with it? It’s too old for anyone to find a reasonable use for it, or perhaps one of the components is burned out and it’s just not worth it to fix. You can’t throw it out. PC’s, especially older ones, are filled with all sorts of unfriendly metals and components with  mercury being one of the more poisonous. Odds are there’s also quite a bit of metal components in the machine, and metals are some of things more easily recyclable. The question that remains is where and how?

The good news is that if you live in a major metropolitan area there are probably several organizations that will take that old stuff off your hands. Most of them for free (they sell it for scrap), and some will charge you for certain items (older tube TV’s). If a machine is still viable, check with your local school board to see if they accept donations. A lot of inner city schools would love to add more computers to their classrooms.

Here in Rochester, we have our own recycling giant. They’re called Regional Computer Recycling and Recovery (RCR&R for short). They have drops all over the area, and most local computer retailers will accept your junk on their behalf. Anything under 5 lbs is free, and for anything over there are reasonable fees. If security is your concern regarding you old hard drives, most are either destroyed or sanitized. They can guarantee your drive has been sanitized in writing for an additional fee as well, which should help you sleep better at night knowing that any residual personal data won’t fall into inappropriate hands.

I work in the financial services industry (in IT), and once or twice a year we offer our customers a unique experience. We team up with RCR&R and our local shredding company to provide recycling of our clients old hardware (and shredding of their old documents). An RCR&R truck and a shred truck (unrelated to RCR&R) will be parked outside and our clients will filter in throughout the afternoon dropping off old stuff to be recycled. We foot the bill for this, and it allows us to put our clients at ease by offering this unique service and making sure their old hardware doesn’t end up in the wrong hands or in a landfill.

If you want to learn more about the corporate and residential services that RCR&R offers for the Greater Rochester region, check out their website at eWaste.com.

If you want to check out other options for recycling in your area, check out your local municipal web pages for information. If you’re a Monroe County resident, you can find a list of possible alternatives here.

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.

Hey everybody. It’s been awhile, and I’m still entirely too busy. I’ll be getting back to more frequent restaurant visits at the end of July, but July is already shaping up to be a pretty crazy month.

I want to give a quick shout out though, because I feel things like this are important. I bought my car from Van Bortel Subaru in 2004. I’ve haven’t  had any of problems with it, other than basic maintenance stuff,  most of which I can do myself. However, I do have my limitations, whether they be lack of experience or just a plain lack of equipment, sometimes I need to take my car some place. I take mine to the dealer. Now, I’m sure there are a lot of great auto shops in Rochester, and honestly, I’ve always considered dealerships to be “stealerships”, but Van Bortel has really come through for me. Last night I had the genius idea of rotating my own tires. Something that’s not terribly difficult, but I ended up with a problem on my way to work this morning. Apparently my front tires were now horribly out of balance and the car was shaking pretty violently at 65. I got to work, called Van Bortel, and the always pleasant and knowledgeable people in the service department that take my call  were able to get me in that afternoon. Cool. Good deal. I bring my car in, and I wait, and I wasn’t sure what to expect from a bill. Generally tire balancing averages at around 12 dollars per tire, but Van Bortel’s pricing has always been fair in the past, so I was unsure of what to expect. After about 40 minutes I paid my bill. 20 bucks. Not bad. My car has been fine since, and I’m a happy customer.

Van Bortel’s service staff has always been super professional, and all the people that work at the desk are well trained, and familiar with their products and services. In the event you have to leave your car for the day, they offer a loaner service… for 5 bucks. I pay 5 bucks to drive around a relatively new Subaru for the day. Pretty cool on that front too.

I can’t speak highly enough about Subaru as a brand in itself (love my car), and it’s great to know that they have a great dealership. While not Rochester, Van Bortel Subaru in Victor is definitely A-OK.

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.

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.

continue reading…

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!

About two years ago I’d reached a point in my life where I decided I’ve neglected my body long enough. I’ve never had a weight problem, but I wasn’t getting any younger. My eating habits were terrible. For a tall thin guy, I had a disproportionate beer gut. I didn’t want my lead in to the 30′s to set a bad precedent for the next decade of my life. It was time to get fit, or at least fitter. So it was time to join a gym.

It was a decision I wasn’t going to rush into. I had some criteria as to what was important to me. I’m a creature of routine and habit. I had to find a place that was close to home and that wasn’t too far out of my way of my normal work commute. Some place that I couldn’t easily make excuses for to not go to. Second, the place had to have a good vibe. Now that can mean a great deal of things to a great many people, but to me it came down to a few things. One, I didn’t want to be involved in a place where people were always trying to sell me something. I didn’t want the walk from the door to the locker room be a constant battle of someone trying to sell me something. Two, the people that work there have to be friendly and approachable. That’s not too much to ask in any kind of service industry, but you would be surprised. I looked at a few places, and I came out discouraged as they weren’t what I was looking for.

I got my list of places to check out via Google Maps. I went in, typed gym with the map focused on where I lived, and went in order of places that were on my route home from work, or at least close to it. The last place on the list was The Downtown Fitness Club. I saw that they had a web page, I checked out and I shot them an e-mail asking when it would be a good time to come in and check things out. I figured maybe if I made an appointment, someone would be more apt to answer any of the questions I had and show me around. Someone responded to me pretty quickly and I had something set up for one of the first weekends in January of 2008.

It was a Sunday afternoon, and I was able to get street parking and I walked over. I was told to ask for John, so I asked the young lady at the desk if I could speak with John, and she got him. John came in and shook my hand. He walked me through the club, explained to me what they had to offer. He wasn’t pushy or condescending. He was excited about what he did and was sincere in his approach to being there. He also turned out to be the owner. I thought that was pretty cool. A few of the places I’d stopped in at probably had owners out of state or part of some conglomerate, but this guy was here on a Sunday afternoon to show me around. You have to respect that. The gym had a good feel to it, and I felt comfortable there. Parking was one of my concerns, but if you can’t park on the street, you can park in the garage at East and Scio and the gym would validate your parking for up to 2 or 3 hours, I can’t remember which, but either way to me it was definitely more than enough time. My favorite analogy to use in describing this place is comparing to Vince Vaughn’s gym in Dodge Ball, in comparison to Ben Stiller’s mega corporate gym. I’m not sure if John would totally appreciate that analogy, as the DFC is far nicer than that, but the feel to is the same. It’s familiar, it’s friendly.

So, that was over two years ago. I’m still a member, and I still go there 3-4 times a week. As far as a gym routine goes, I’m more of a meat and potatoes kind of guy. I go for the weight room and cardio. I’m using a small percentage of what they have to offer. They have racket ball rooms. They have a pool. They have a full class schedule with everything from Yoga, Pilates, Spinning, etc. The full schedule is on their website. There’s a lot of value there. I probably should take more advantage of it, but I’m doing well in my own routine.

John and The Downtown Fitness Club exemplify a lot of why I think Rochester is OK. It’s a local business that supports a lot of what happens downtown. They work with other businesses in the area to help each other out with cross referrals. Your DFC membership can even net you discounts at other supporting local businesses. It’s that kind of networking that brings our community together and helps make Rochester stronger.

If you’re thinking about making a change to your life, give this place a look. The Downtown Fitness Club is located at 50 Chestnut Street, across from the old Cadillac Hotel. The entrance to the club is around the corner on Lawn St, to the right of the Montage Grill.

You can find out more details and their hours on their website: http://www.downtownfitnessclub.com/

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.

That my friends is a burrito. Keep in mind that the plate is a standard large dinner sized plate. This is no fast food hastily put together burrito, this is a football of flavor.

On my way home from the gym, I drive by this place. I go there often, but not often enough. I’d probably eat out every single night if it was economical. Bianca was going to be in class till 9. I didn’t feel like cooking myself anything, and the left overs in the fridge weren’t really what I was craving. I wanted a burrito.

The place is John’s Tex Mex, and it’s located at 489 South Avenue, on the corner of South and Alexander. John’s Tex Mex features eat in or take out, and last night I opted for take out. I got myself a giant burrito, and Bianca a taco and chips and salsa to wait for her when she got out of class.

I love these burritos. I’ve had a lot of the other stuff on their menu. I’ve tried most of the tacos, and everything is great, but the burrito really stands out. You have a choice of meats (chicken, beef, etc.) and between black beans and re-fried beans, as well as 4 extras. I chose cheese, sour cream, jalapenos, and salsa, with beef as my meat, and black beans. It is awesome. You know it’s going to be awesome when they first hand you the bag with your food in it, and it feels like they’re handing you a small baby. And then you take the burrito out of the bag, and it’s wrapped in tin foil, and I didn’t weigh it, but it definitely feels like a couple pounds. You can choose to attack your burrito any way you like. You can pick it up and try to shove it in your face, but most of the time, the epic force of the monster burrito will win over you, and whatever you’re wearing. I recommend forking it. And fork it you shall, as every bite is an explosion of flavor. The seasoned beef melts in your mouth, it’s garlicy, but not overpoweringly so, and man, it’s heaven.

If you haven’t been here yet, check it out. They have seating in doors, and in the warmer months, they have a little patio to eat out on. You may want to call ahead and see if they have any room inside if you plan on eating there, as they get pretty crowded during the dinner rush and on weekends. Take out is available, so either way, you won’t have an excuse to miss out on their excellent menu. They also have a web presence with their full menu available online.

Check it out, and tell them Rochester is OK sent you.

John’s Tex Mex

489 South Avenue

http://www.johnstexmex.com/

I wish I had a better picture, but sometimes I don’t feel it’s appropriate to whip out a camera with a flash in a public place. It’s distracting to the other folks around me, so my trusty iPhone’s camera gets the job done. What you see on the left is a glass of Magner’s Irish Cider at the Tap and Mallet, located at 381 Gregory Street, between South Ave and South Clinton. I apologize to the Tap and Mallet now, as my iPhone’s camera isn’t doing it the justice it deserves. I met up with a few friends last night, and decided it was time to profile another one of my favorite spots.

The Tap and Mallet, in my opinion, serves two important markets. The first is in regard to their beer selection, which is the finest in the city. If you want it, they probably have it. On tap. If not on tap, they have it in a bottle. Not into beer? They have a decent selection of ciders and fancy soda’s. Their beer selection is constantly revolving, evolving, changing. Taps and casks are changed almost weekly, and their menu is constantly being updated. If you really want to stay on top of it, their website is always up to date. If you’re really hardcore, they even have an iPhone app, which encompasses their website in an easy to read format. If you want to delve more into the beer aspects, my friends over at Beercraft are far more qualified than I am. My favorite aspect of going there is that I’m able to try something new each time. Their bar staff is very knowledgeable of the products they peddle, and can make a great recommendation depending on your mood. Crisp lager? Fruity ale? Chocolatey stout? Let them know what you’re feeling, and they’ll pour you a glass of happiness.

Their second market is definitely for the foodie. Their menu is fantastic. This isn’t simple bar food by any means. although they do supply the staples (wings and chicken fingers), and they are awesome. Most of my eating there has been exploring the revolving sandwich menu. I’m not 100% sure of how often things are rotated on and off, but there’s always something new to try, or something I may not have noticed the last time I was there. I believe the last several times I went for the Steak Chimichurri and the Tuna Wasabi, both of which were absolutely to die for.

Typically, I walk there, but if you’re not from the neighborhood, there’s parking in the back, and plenty of street parking in the surrounding neighborhoods. They have streetside tables in the summer, and a deck in the back for outdoor dining and beer enjoyment.

If you’ve never been and love beer, check it out. If you’ve never been and love good food, check it out. If you love both as much as I do, it will definitely be one of your top places to visit.

Tap and Mallet

381 Gregory Street
Rochester, NY 14620
(585) 473-0503

http://www.tapandmallet.com/