Good places to eat – my short list restaurants in the Finger Lakes
by Fred Hoyle
Published on A Food Experience.net on June 25th 2006.
A colleague of mine has been after me for a while to come up with a list of my favorite restaurants within the Finger Lakes. She is from Chicago, living here for the past eight or nine years, and has had few occasions where she experienced a meal that matched what she had been accustomed to from her home town. What a shock it must have been when one day you’re living in a city where the greatest chefs in the world are within walking distance to the next; to living in rural Western New York where dining out could be an adventure.
It is a challenge to find great places to eat in the Finger Lakes - good restaurants are few, and they are certainly far between due to the north/south zig-zag one must travel to navigate around the lakes of this region. (Although, the scenic drives between the lakes can reward the senses as much as a great meal.) But there are a some that are worth the effort, ones that I’ve come to enjoy for various reasons whether it be the quality of food, the ambiance, service, setting, or some inexplicable emotional tie that saves a place in my heart as a memorable meal with people I care the most for.
I’ll precede my short list of Finger Lakes restaurants with a few opinions on why I think its hard to build a long list of first-class eateries. There are a number of challenges to restaurateurs in the Finger Lakes; some have sorted them out and found ways to overcome, while others struggle along; they come and they go. First, consider the climate – as beautiful as it is here in the summer, it can be equally harsh in the winter. There are four to five months of the year that only the heartiest of souls care to stand, so the tourist dollars disappear and the locals tend to stay inside. It probably takes nothing short of an entrepreneurial genius to figure out how to make money in top-quality dining in a market so influenced by the seasons. The weather creates a ripple that effects the region’s ability to attract the best culinary talent to the area. Good chefs and wait staff need to make a living at their craft, and that’s tough to do when their market goes into hibernation. I also believe that many of the restaurateurs fail to invest the time, effort, and resources towards developing a first-class front-end staff. When I pay good money for a meal I expect not only the food to be first-rate but the wait staff to be equally good. In my experience most of the wait staff in restaurants of the Finger Lakes (with the notable exception of Suzanne in Lodi) are poorly trained and inexperienced in the culinary arts. Now, you should be aware that I recently returned from a trip to Italy, the great kitchen to the world, and this experience raised my level of expectation higher than before. In every restaurant I visited in Italy, from the modest to the elegant, the front end staff were impeccably professional, yet warm and hospitable, they understood the food being served and how it was prepared, and they knew how to pair wine with food. Any restaurateur wanting to create great meals for its customers should first travel to Europe to experience how guests are served and bring that same expectation and dedication back to the Finger Lakes. Create a well-trained, disciplined front-end staff, your front line soldiers, and my bet is you will reap rewards.
I believe attracting new talent into the region is critical to the growth of the restaurant trade. In my opinion the evolution of dining will compare to that of the wine trade here – highly skilled wine makers from around the globe have migrated to the Finger Lakes bringing with them not only exceptional skills but fresh, innovative ideas about creating products that spotlight the best qualities of the region’s grapes and soil. Chefs too are finding the Finger Lakes and discovering that there are world-class food products grown and created by local farmers and small-scale producers. Those who come from outside the area can bring ideas that are tried and true elsewhere but new here, and use our high-quality meat, produce, and processed food products to create great menu items.
The just opened New York Wine and Culinary Center in Canandaigua is intended to serve as a gateway to the Finger Lake’s fine food and wine products. In a most elegant setting visitors can participate in wine tastings, enjoy a meal, learn about the region’s food products through interpretive displays, participate in a cooking class or seminar, or attend a cooking demonstration. This center is exactly what is needed in the Finger Lakes to not only raise public awareness of the region’s great culinary resources but it also makes a bold statement to the culinary professionals that there is a commitment to raising the level of excellence in all areas of food service and resources. The location of the Center is a bit on the fringe of wine country: Canandaigua is located on the western edge of the Finger Lakes region and has become more of a Rochester suburb, shedding some of its core rural qualities. Canandaigua Lake is not exactly a wine tourist destination - there are only two wineries near the lake, Widmer Wine Cellars and Arbor Hill Winery. The Center is perched at the northern end of Canandaigua Lake – good to be near the water, but it is somewhat surrounded by strip malls and chain restaurants from nearby routes 5 and 20. I believe though that the Center will ultimately serve as a beacon, brighter than the lights of the nearby shopping plazas, for culinary enthusiasts to find their way to this and the region’s other culinary points of excellence. The Canandaigua location makes it very accessible to Rochester-area residents, summer lake property owners, and is easy for out of town visitors to find.
It’s time for the list, and thanks for being patient while I rambled on. The list is not definitive or ranked in any way (except for Suzanne – it’s the best), but it should get you started in the right direction.
Suzanne (Lodi) – great food, great wait staff, fresh, regional foods, they tend their own herb and vegetable garden and you can taste the difference. Good selection of Finger Lakes wines.
Port’s Café (Geneva) – from burgers to fresh lamb, Port’s serves great meals at a variety of price points. Good selection of Finger Lakes wines.
Red Newt Cellars Winery & Bistro (Hector) – Chef Deborah Whiting creates seasonal menus that highlight regional foods. They also offer wine flights with meals, a great way to experience how different wines and foods interact.
Stone Cat Café (Hector) – Great little place for lunch. Regional, fresh ingredients, great breads. They do a nice job helping you pair Finger Lakes wine with your meal. After lunch, walk over to the tasting room of Bloomer Creek, it won’t disappoint.
Sheldrake Point Vineyard and Café (Ovid) – Beautiful little winery and cafe on Cayuga Lake. Full dining and tapas-style menu, good selection of Finger Lakes wines, including their own. My wife and I found this place a fews years ago on our way back from one of my bike races and had a most enjoyable afternoon eating and sipping wine on the outdoor deck.
Just A Taste Wine and Tapas Bar (Ithaca) – Tapas restaurant with a huge wine list from around the world. Order up a wine flight and a variety of tastings for a fun, casual, food experience.
Casa de Pasta (Canandaigua) – A little Italian/American restaurant that has a certain coziness that’s hard to find. It’s OK to chat with diners at other tables here. Nothing is truly exceptional here, but there’s a certain unquantifiable quality to this place that makes me want to return.
Edgar’s and Stonecutters at Belhurst Castle (Geneva) – Edgar’s, located within the original Belhurst Castle is a great location, it’s romantic, but the food quality varies. Adjoining the Castle in a new addition that includes a wine tasting room and a more casual dining area, Stonecutters. This cafe is a good place to stop for lunch while you’re touring the area.
Veraison’s at Glenora (Dundee) – A beautiful location that overlooks Seneca Lake, has an adjoining Inn, located at Glenora Winery. The food is good, the ambiance and views are better.
The Pilot’s Lounge, Middlesex airport (Middlesex) – Open only Saturday and Sunday from 6 a.m. until noon, breakfast only. A small building next to a grass-strip runway, with both outdoor and indoor seating. I highly recommend starting your tour of the Finger Lakes at this small airport/restaurant – sit out on the deck, watch the prop planes come and go, enjoy the views of the Middlesex valley. It’s an eggs, bacon, pancakes sort of place that seems just right.
