GordonCooks

Went last wed - BBQ ribs were good but the slaw wasn't that fresh, had a Wagyu burger with excellent bacon, wings were good (nice amount of heat in the sauce) Pizzas were both quite good - nice crust, excellent quality tomatoes in the sauce, correct amount of cheese, etc. Chef is formerly of Brio/Pomodoro - many of the servers are Rochester veterans. No liquor license yet - but no corkage either Not a Veneto fan since their move - find their pies rather bland and inconsistent although when they are good - they are good.

I don't see him on the website anymore and what's disturbing is that there is not a mention of the guy who put down the foundation for a great restaurant. Where is he?

Your tenacity is to be admired and I compliment you for that. But, as the Devil's advocate, I must say the issues that jump off the page is your admission of being HIV positive and your less than perfect knife skills. I'm sure there are positions that would accommodate your special situation.

I forgot about Vineland - haven't thought abuot it since Mark Piccone's departure. Thanks for the info. Maybe dinner at the Oban with Tony DeLuca if I run late.

Any chef worth their salt welcomes informed and accurate commentary of any type.

I'll ask around when I'm out there for work later today. What icewines will you be considering? ← Probably Stratus, Cave Spring, Inniskillin, and Jackson Triggs for those handy 187mls. Still making an agenda ← Don't forget Thirty Bench, which to my palate makes as great a Niagara peninsula ice wine as I've had. Inniskillin is not bad, but to my taste unbalanced and overpriced. ← I agree, Thirty Bench I have in my cellar and the Inniskillin is for someone. Maybe a detour to Tawse as well depending on my time and budget.

I'll ask around when I'm out there for work later today. What icewines will you be considering? ← Probably Stratus, Cave Spring, Inniskillin, and Jackson Triggs for those handy 187mls. Still making an agenda

Will be making an Ice wine run and would be interested in any good places for Saturday lunch. I usually stop at Inn on the Twenty which is always good but was hoping to switch it up a little Thanks

The Kessler is generic enough and drinkable and the Chardonnay is a chardonnay that everyone will order by name. Knowing nothing about Slovenian wines, the Tempranillo is good and broad enough in style for red wine drinkers and the Drouhin as the choice for people liking that style of Pinot

Well......rather basic I thought. Most of the rules fall under service in general. It reads like a How to kiss the customer's butt personally. The main purpose a restaurant keeps a sommelier on staff is pairing a wine with your food for the best dining experience. Show me a sommelier that's not passionate about every bottle and why a certain wine makes the best pairing and I'll show you a place I probably wouldn't bother to ask the sommelier anything. More stress on wine education and less "Wine for Dummies" edit grammar

Eating well and tipping well makes up for any missteps.

Grapes (corn, malt, barley, etc) are cheap - it's all about the labor.

Who can eat pizza right out of the oven? The delivery I get from my local favorite is as good as when I pick up a pie or grab a slice on the fly. Edit - I should remember how bad the pizza is at some places and the majority of high quality, independent pizzerias I have within a 5 mile radius. I don't consider Domino's, Papa John's, Pizza Hut, etc.."pizza" more like fast food resembling pizza.

I'm a total food voyeur - alway curious about the kitchen and it's amenities.

The Continental in Old City may be my favorite place. Where else can you get a Maker's Manhattan with your belgian waffle and turkey sausage at 11:00 am

An addendum to my caveat My girlfriend has simple scrambled eggs, bacon and toast that was perfectly acceptable.

[Moderator note: The original StudioKitchen topic became too large for our servers to handle efficiently, so we've divided it up; the preceding part of this discussion is here: StudioKitchen (2002-2007)] What's the 411 on Shola these days? If I make another trip down, he's the most interesting thing culinary wise in Philly.

As a recent lover of craft beers and ales, I must say Philadelphia is truly a mecca for people like myself. I've always loved Monk's Cafe and their huge list but visited a place in Old City on Friday called Eulogy Belgian Tavern - another massive list and excellent food to boot served until 1:00 a.m. Another recommendation for TRIA - a Beer and Cheese bar (wine as well) didn't get a chance to stop but I received multiple recommendations from the locals

Experienced the cocktail stylings of mixologist Katie Loeb on Saturday night at Chick’s Wine Bar. High on my recommendation list would be the Spiced Apple rum rickey and the Apple Manhattan!!! As a huge Manhattan drinker, I wasn’t sure how the Apple would incorporate but the drink was well crafted and complex – I should have gotten a couple more in a To-Go container I loved Chick’s quaint vibe as it reminded me of one my favorite neighborhood haunts back home. We met a few of my girl’s aunts and cousins and such and got a table upstairs. Personal highlights were Anchovy Salad, Cauliflower gratin, Broccoli rabe, Valdeon stuffed dates, and fried calamari. After an order of baked rigatoni, and Seared scallops, we washed it down with a bottle of prosecco, a couple of quartinos of Italian wine (a Pinot and a Querceto Chianti) a Chocolate crème brulee, a chocolate tart, and some Taylor 20. If they had a Chick’s in Rochester, I’m sure I’d visit weekly All in all, the food was tasty and the prices were very reasonable and the service for your large group was stellar. If you go, ask for Stephen – his chubbier, somewhat unkempt counterpart was rather dour and oafish. Stephen made us feel welcome and filled all our requests and met all out needs with aplomb and humor.

Experienced the “Deluxe” tour on Saturday courtesy of Mr. Sandy Smith. My hopes of taking some pics to share where dashed after realizing I had brought my digital camera charger but not the camera L We grabbed some excellent java at Old City Coffee and did the tour. Great Italian fare at Termini Bros. (anywhere that hand fills cannolis is aces in my book.) I grabbed a couple of sticky Apple Walnut bagels for my walk back to the hotel from Le Bus (another recommendation) Lot’s of Penn-Dutch fare – the sheer amount of pickled and jarred items was staggering. The RTM is a nice size to navigate and offers much in the way of prepared foods. I would love to revisit in season to see what the farmers are putting out. I went back to the hotel and my girl decided it was a good place to grab her breakfast on the way to Walnut st. Jack McDavid’s “Down Home Diner” – Being a scrapple virgin, I decided it was as good a place as any to start. I’m a big sausage lover and figured I would enjoy it – not so much the case but not so much because of the scrapple. The order was for poached eggs and scrapple – what I didn’t know it came with a pile of mushy, cooked apples that left your eggs and meat swimming is a pool of apple water. No amount of hot sauce was able to salvage this dish. Another odd thing, they had toasted grapefruit?! Next time, it will be one of those juicy Pork sammies from Toni DiNic’s

The only single malt I would attempt would be Macallan 12 which is pretty light. Otherwise, my Robs and Rustys are made with Johnnie Black are a rule.

I always thought Thurs night was "the" night for the regulars.

I should also mention that the Korean Market in the Henrietta Townline plaza has lots of prepared food. Excellent Kim Bap, and those spicy dried anchovies!!

There is also a place on South Clinton called Ocean Foods - made a stop there last night. It was anything but clean or complete. Not recommended

Run it through a tami and mix 50-50 with unsalted butter and freeze. Use as necessary