Friday Night Bites in the ROC: Mise En Place

I'm not a foodie. I love food and I love how certain dishes make me feel like I've just touched the face of God, but by and large I'm just another "steak & potatoes" type of guy who would be more than happy to eat at the same burger shack for the rest of his (short) life. I can't, for the life of me, think of any food more elegant in it's simplicity than a really, really good cheeseburger with a side of really, really good fries. Throw a little ketchup and mayo into the mix, maybe a little lettuce and some nice onion and I may as well be doing drugs at that point.

I used to think the best cheeseburger in Rochester, NY was only available at one place: Oak Hill Country Club's West Course snack bar. When I was just a young, hungry whippersnapper obsessed with golf -which often led to me forgetting to eat while I was practicing or playing- I would spend 10-12 hours a day haunting the various practice areas, playing as often as my junior status would allow and dining exclusively at the half-way house snack shacks that serviced both the East and West Courses. One day, my friend Matt asked if I had had the pleasure of eating a "Tony Burger" yet, and I told him that I did not (this was fairly early on in my family's membership). His eyes widened and I could see him start to salivate at the mere mention of this mystical burger. I needed to know more.

"Tony's been working here since before I was born (I think)," Matt began, "and it's widely believed that he makes the best Cheeseburger in the county, if not the state." I took this all with a grain of salt as even then I knew my best friend had a tendency to exaggerate things like this. Matt has, on no less than 50 occasions over the course of our 15 year friendship, told me he's had the best something-or-other at this-place-or-that within a few days of telling me the exact same thing about something-or-other he'd had at this-place-or-that. Long story short, I needed proof, and I did something I rarely, if ever did: I stopped practicing to go eat a cheeseburger.

The two of us, sweaty and tanned from hours in the sun, trudged up the familiar hill towards the snack bar. Much to Matt's delight, Tony was in fact working and he was in fact one of the oldest full time employees I've ever seen working anywhere, but I could tell immediately he knew his way around a grill. I ordered a cheeseburger. I waited underneath the umbrella of an adjoining picnic table and could tell from the smell -as it wafted gorgeously into my nostrils, firing sensory synapses in my brain I had no idea were there before- that this was going to be an experience.

It was.

I ate that "Tony Burger" slowly, savoring every last bite of it until it was gone and I jumped up and ordered another one and had the same reaction as the last, from that point on, every cheeseburger I'd ever have for the rest of my life would be judged by this one, infinitesimal moment of sheer food based delight.

Tony passed away a few years ago and the burgers at Oak Hill have never been the same. They are still, in my opinion, better than almost any burger I've ever had, but 19 months ago I moved into the South Wedge neighborhood of Rochester about a block away from Mise En Place Market.

I'd heard from my sister that one of the chef's from 2 Vine (possibly the best restaurant in all of Rochester, NY) had decided to leave and start a new venture and that turned out to be Mise En Place (on the corner of South and Gregory), and that it was going to be half market, half restaurant specializing in very fresh ingredients and high quality, but affordable food. I started going there to get their pre-made subs and some of the other, harder to find ingredients and fresh vegetables that came directly from the public market. I would, casually, look at their simple menu and think to myself, "one day." This went on for months until, finally, the love of my life asked if I wanted to get takeout from Mise En Place one Friday night, because she looked at their dinner specials and wanted something they were offering.

For some reason, I was less than enthusiastic about this. There was free pizza at Lux, after all, and the two of us had been frequenting that establish every Friday night for weeks and weeks, and I didn't want to miss out on the fun there and couldn't quite find something on the Dinner Special menu that piqued my interest enough to convince me, but, as they usually do, my girlfriend had a great way of convincing me, "just get the burger, I bet it's good." "Ha," I scoffed, knowing full well that any burger that wasn't a "Tony Burger" was just going to be something to put in my stomach as ballast for the booze that was sure to come later, but I relented. We ordered.

I walked cockily to Mise En Place, sure that I was about to be disappointed by the sub-par cheeseburger I had ordered. When I entered the store, the smells consumed me and I felt, just maybe, that I was wrong about my thoughts and that, somehow, this may actually be pretty damn good. I'd heard from a load of people that the food was really good, and now, being there at dinner for the first time, the smell -oh, such a wonderful smell- seemed to back those claims up. I picked up our food and, before I made it to the register to pay, I could tell this was going to be special, because it looked fantastic, but the proof is in the taste and I was now eager to get home and try what all my senses were telling me would be a fantastic burger.

It was, dear God, it was.

The "Tony Burger" was dethroned as the best burger I'd ever had within two bites of the 11 ounce cheeseburger I ordered that night at Mise En Place. It was like no burger I'd ever tasted before and the side of fries were, to say the least, just amazing. The seasoning and freshness of the meat, the taste of the cheddar cheese and perfectly cooked, crispy fries mixed together so well that I almost fainted. Seriously. I got dizzy it was so good.

Now, it's almost a tradition to get Mise En Place on a Friday night. Though, I have been experimenting with their other, delicious food over the past few months and it's not surprising that a place that makes a damn near perfect burger would make damn near perfect everything else. Just last week I ordered the mussels. When I saw the size of the humongous portion I thought, "there's no way I can finish this," but as I started in on them I thought, "there's no way I can't finish this, it's too good." I've had the same reaction to their steaks, and my girlfriend will tell anyone who wants to listen that their salads and seafood dishes are out of this world.

At Mise En Place you can tell they take their food quality seriously. The freshness is evident immediately as is the care that they put into making all of their dishes. I've been nonplussed by a single meal there, but it wasn't there fault, I ordered something I thought I wanted, but ended up pining for the burger half way through my meal, regretting my decision to "experiment" when I knew what I really wanted. So, my fellow Rochestarians, if you're looking for a great place to eat with high quality food, or a market with hard to find, excellent ingredients from local vendors you have to check out Mise En Place. It's seriously good. It would have to be to upend the "Tony Burger."