tuttobene's Profile
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Just keep in mind that Honeoye Lake and Honeoye Falls are about 20 Miles apart. |
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The Brown Hound Bistro in Naples is about 20 minutes away and fits your criteria. The only problem is that it is very small and may not be able to accommodate 9 people. They do have a covered veranda and I have seen them put together a large table out there, but I'm not sure. Give them a call |
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Rochester (Greece Area) Restaurant Suggestions It's a little difficult to unequivocally recommend any place on West Ridge Road. Most of the non-chain restaurants are sort of generic places which emphasize portion size over quality. Having said that, if I found myself hungry on West Ridge, there are two places I'd go to. Bernard's Grove is a little further away, but worth the trip. It doesn't look like much from the outside (or the inside for that matter), but the food is real bistro. I've been there a couple of times and have never been disappointed with the food. The service on the other hand is hit or miss.
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Downtown Rochester Dinner Recs Second the votes for both Osteria Rocco ans Eros. ROcco is SOuthern Italian, but not really a "red sauce" place. The food is delicious. The only drawback is that the place is small, and it gets crowded and noisy on weekends. Eros is run by a Greek husband and Sicilian wife, and both cuisines are nicely represented. Around the corner is a more upscale Italian place called 2Vine. It is very popular but I don't really see the attraction. The food is good, but not outstanding, and the vibe is more "scene" than "meal." Back on Main Street is a nice pizza/pasta place called Veneto. I have been there dozens of times and never been disappointed. My only complaint is that the menu hasn't changed much fsince it opened and I've had most everything on it. ----- |
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Good places in and around Canandaigua Lake area? IMHO the best restaurant in Canandaigua is a Mexican restaurant called Rio Tomatlan. It was opened by a Mexican family who originally opened another restaurant in nearby Sodus which was primarily intended to cater to Mexican farm workers who came up to pick the apple crop. The Canandaigua place is a little more upscale, but still authentic and very good. Another place I have enjoyed many times but haven't been to in a year or so is Casa de Pasta. It is an old school red sauce Italian, but well done. MacGregors (across the street from the Wine and Culinary Center) has a nice outdoor deck, a huge selection of beers on tap, and the food is, well, bar food. http://www.macgregorsgrillandtaproom.... I'd avoid Steamboat Landing, Doc's, or the new place Nolan's. The views are nice, the food, not so much. ----- Steamboat Landing |
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Geneva by the Lake - any thoughts? I have never been to Geneva on the Lake, but I've always heard it was living off its prior reputation. If you are willing to travel a little further east, I can recommend a very nice inn on the east side of Cayuga Lake. It's called the E.B. Morgan House in Aurora. We just stayed there last week and it's really quite wonderful. It's owned by the same people who own the Aurora Inn just down the block. The rooms were very nice and the back veranda overlooks the lake. You can eat dinner at the Aurora Inn (on an outdoor deck overlooking the lake) or travel down a few miles to the Pumpkin Hill Bistro. A few miles to the north is Mackenzie Childs ( a kind of whimsical home furnishings place - not my kind of place, but there are those who love it), and further to the north in Seneca Falls is the National Women's Hall of Fame and Women's Rights National Historical Park. The bicycling is also great. ----- Pumpkin Hill |
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I agree about da Campo. We ate there on New Year's Eve. We had great expectations. What a disappointment. The service was friendly but minor league. The food was medicore, at best. $400 later, we walked out feeling like we'd been had. I would never go back. |
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Where to take dad for scallops? Another vote for Ray's. But I suggest you go to the Cafe' upstairs which is a little more casual and a little cheaper, but the food is largely the same. They have an outdoor deck if the weather is nice. |
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Brookings to Bandon....Where to eat??? It's a little late in the game, but I have to add my two cents about Alloro. We just got back from 10 days in Seattle, Portland, Bandon and Cannon Beach. By far, our most enjoyable meal was at Alloro in Bandon. My wife loves fried zucchini flowers. When I saw them on the menu, I told her she had to try them. I don't know if it was a special or the way they are normally prepared, but the blossoms were wrapped around a piece of dungeness crab. Heavenly. I had the dungeness crab bisque. Unbelievable. Next, my wife had the halibut in pesto rub with the arborio rice cake. It was a large piece of fresh halibut, cooked to perfection. I had a special which they called cacciucco, but what I would have called cioppino - fish stew. It was mussels, clams, shrimp, halibut and dungeness crab in the most delicious, thick red-brown soup. We ended the night with vin santo and biscotti. I wish we could go back. |
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Rochester downtown small local good food? Geneva? The Hyatt is downtown on the corner of Main and South. You have a lot of choices within walking distance. About a block south on South is Dinosaur Bar-b-que, not my favorite but others love it. It has its original location in Syracuse and another location in NYC. Two blocks to the west on Main Street is an out of the way Jamaican restaurant called Shirley's. It's only open for lunch, great home cooking, but you can walk in sometimes and not see anyone. It is not at all fancy but the curried goat and curried chicken are great. A few blocks to the east you have a number of restaurants on East Avenue. One of my favorites is Veneto, which is basically pizza, pasta and salads, but very good. Also on East Avenue is Golden Port which is an Asian restaurant combining dim sum, sushi and Thai. It's good but not great. Just off East Avenue on Charlotte Street is a mediterranean cuisine place called Eros. I love it, but it's a little pricey. More pricey is another place off East called 2 Vine. The food is good and it's a bit of a scene. If you do eat on East, stop by the Little Theatre after dinner for dessert and some jazz. |
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Traveling from Boston area to Rochester...TOMORROW RIT is located in a Rochester suburb. There's not much around it except for the usual chain places. Right on the corner of the RIT campus is a retail/office park called Point Park. There is a middle eastern restaurant there called King David's which is pretty good. Downtown Rochester, I'd recommend that you look at the East Avenue area. There are three casual but good restaurants that I'd recommend: Veneto, One and Eros. Hard to be more specific without knowing what kind of food you like. ----- |
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da Campo - Won't be rushing back The Background - We were in Hollywood over the holidays and made reservations for NYE at da Campo. The reservations were made months ago. There was no mention of a special menu on their website. When I called that afternoon to confirm the reservations, I was told it was a four-course prix-fixe at $125 per person (of course that included a complimentary thimble of prosecco.) The person I spoke to said that the menu wasn't on their website, but she would fax it to me if I wished. By that time we were kind of stuck so we decided to bite the bullet. The Setting - The restaurant is literally inside the Il Lugano Hotel. We arrived 15 minutes early for our reservation (the first seating of the night) and were told by the hostess that the dining room was not open yet and we could "have a drink at the bar." The bar is located in the hotel lobby, adjacent to the elevators which take guests to their rooms It was somewhat jarring with diners dressed for the evening rubbing elbows with families returning from the outdoor pool wrapped in towels. We decided against a drink. Dining Room - We were seated about 20-25 minutes later. The dining room is nice, casual, but elegant at the same time. One wall is made up of large windows overlooking the Intercoastal. The opposite wall is the open kitchen area (complete with a brick pizza oven). The ambience might have been better if they had turned off the football game which was on a flat screen TV over the service bar. Menu - The four-course menu consisted of a choice of appetizer ("Antipasti"), a pasta dish, ("Secondi"), a main course ("Primi") and dessert ("Dulce"). Whoever composed the menu transposed "primi" and "secondi" and made the "secondi" the pasta dish and the "primi" the main dish. Our waiter assured us that was how it is done in Italy. Service - The service was attentive (almost annoyingly so). As soon as we sat down a waiter asked for our drink order. We told him we were going to order a bottle of wine, but wanted to decide on our food before deciding on the wine. He left and returned about five minutes later to see if we had decided on a wine. We ordered a bottle of Antinori Peppoli Chianti Classico. At $60, this wine (which retails for around $20) was one of the cheapest bottles on the wine list. Appetizer - My wife had lentil soup with truffle sauce. It arrived in a large bowl which was barely one-quarter filled. The soup was wonderful, however. (A-) I had octopus which was chewy and almost completely devoid of any taste. (C-) A Surprise! - After our appetizers, a waiter brought us a little treat from the the chef. It was a single strand of spaghettini which had been deep-fried into a little cocoon shaped thingy with a sliver of something red (I thought the waiter said "meatball consomme'", but I'm not sure) inside it. It wasn't clear whether they were intended to be eaten or worn as earrings. (D) "Secondi" - I ordered "Ouvo Raviolo". That was not a misprint, since raviolo is the singular of ravioli. What I got was a single raviolo (large, but not especially so) filled with ricotta and a fried egg. It was actually pretty tasty, but looked a little lonely on my plate. (B) I can't recall my wife's "secondo" at this time, but that probably says a little about how memorable it was. "Primi" - My wife had branzino. It was two thin strips of blackened fish. The seasoning was good and the fish was moist. It would have made a decent appetizer. (B-) I had a veal shank. It was quite good, moist and falling of the bone. (A-) Dessert - My wife had a frozen chocolate something served in a drink glass. It was so-so. (B-) I had a bread pudding which came in the size and shape of a small cupcake. (C) I also ordered a double espresso (which I learned after I got the bill cost me $10.) My wife had a glass of the house prosecco. The bottom line for all of this, with tax and tip, was just over $400. While I was driving home afterward, I had a strong urge to stop for pizza. I realize that you shouldn't judge a restaurant on the basis of a holiday menu. But I've had prix-fixe at Ouest and Gramercy Tavern in NYC on New Year's Eve and had much better meals for less money. I won't be rushing back to da Campo |
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Question on a Type of Italian Food. What you call "Gabba-la-dine", or as my MIL calls it, "gabbanadine", is a Southern Italian corruption of the word caponata. The main ingredient is eggplant, but it also as tomatoes, capers, celery and olives. I haven't seen it with peppers but that could be a regional variation. |
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FWIW, Glenora WInery (which is beautiful) is on the western side of Seneca Lake, not Skaneateles. I also think you'll find that white wines, especially Reislings, are generally better than the reds in the Finger Lakes region. If you must choose a red, try cabernet franc. In my experience, the merlots and cabernet sauvignon are way over-priced and not particularly good. |
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India House is OK, but I think Thali of India is the best Indian restaurant in the area. |
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Road Trip Suggesions - NYC to Buffalo I'm a little confused about your proposed route. You say you are taking "287 (do you mean the Cross-Westchester across the Tappan Zee, or do you mean 287 in NJ?) to 81N" Neither 287 connects with 81N. |
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Rochester - Tony D's in Corn Hill Landing I've eaten there three times now. It is fantastic. The pizza is great. I'm told that some customers have a hard time getting their minds around a crust that is partially burned, but they've obviously never been to Pepe's in New Haven. |
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Late Weeknight Dinner in Rochester, NY Not my favorite place, but Dinosaur Bar-B-Que is open until midnight on weeknights. It's about a five minute drive from Eastman. I should say that others love it. |
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Trattoria D'Abruzzo has changed ownership and the quality of the food has definitely suffered. I can no longer recommend it. |
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If you are staying in Canandaigua anyway, you should visit the NY Wine and Culinary Center in Canandaigua. You'll get a great sampling of not only Finger Lakes wines, but also Hudson Valley and Long Island. Not to mention a number of NY microbreweries, cheeses, and other foods. |
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Second the vote for Brown's. Bring your own appetizers, wine (or beer), table cloth and candles. Sit outside and watch the sun go down over the inlet. |
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Best Waterfront restaurant near Ithaca? Haven't been there yet but have been dying to try Suzanne in Ovid, NY. If you go let me know what you think. |
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Anything good to eat in Canadaigua ,NY? Two places jump out as not-to-expensive but very satisfying: |
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Anything good within walking distance of the Hyatt Regency in Rochester? Saturday night shouldn't be a problem for dinner. But breakfast on Sunday could be a little tricky. If you go out from the Hyatt and head east on Main Street you'll come to East Avenue. There are a number of choices there. Golden Port is a pretty good dim sum and sushi place. http://www.thegoldenport.com/ Further up on East Avenue is a bar named Matthews which has okay burgers and bar fare. One block north on the corner of Mathews and Charlotte Streets is an excellent Greek/Sicilian restaurant called Eros. I love this place, but my wife is a little less enthusiastic. http://rocwiki.org/Eros_Restaurant_&_Bar |
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Rochester area deli platters delivery or pickup Two other possibilities are Lorraine's Food Factory (formerly Lorraine's Food Basket) and Plunkett's Fabulous Food (run by the former owner of Jazzberry's . http://www.lorrainesfoodfactory.com/ |
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Ristorante Lucano in Rochester NY? Perhaps the reason favorable reports about Lucano are a bit dated is because the restaurant changed hands a few years ago and IMHO is not nearly as good. Also, FYI, I just read earlier this week that Lucano is closing for a few weeks and reopening in March, but I'm not sure exactly when. |
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Canandaigua Lake and road trip there I'm not sure where on Canandaigua Lake you are staying (it's 16 miles long), but if you are staying on the north end (in Canandaigua, itself), you should definitely stop into the Wine and Culinary Center http://www.nywcc.com/ and might also get some authentic Mexican food at El Rincon Dos http://www.elrincon.downtowncanandaig... Rincon is BYOB. |
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While you're at it, here are two more excellent choices (a little more expensive): |
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I'm not such a fan of red sauce places, and find the Northside Inn overpriced and boring. But a friend's father maintains that the quallity of the food at a red sauce place is inversely proportional to its "ambience." A perfect example is Trattoria D'Abruzzo, 1770 E. Ridge Road. The dining room looks more like a dining hall. But the food is consistently great. And moderately priced. But get there early. We arrived once at about 10 minutes to 9:00 p.m. and were told the kitchen was closed. Our pleading with the owner was to no avail. |
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Advice for a Stony Brook student? If you've got a car, there are two places in nearby St. James which are definitely worth the trip;. Not sure if they are within your budget: |