When I was a very, very young child my kindergarten teacher made a point of lecturing my class at least once a week about the benefits of eating a healthy, balanced, nutritious breakfast. She would, on occasion, bring in granola bars, juices of every kind, fresh fruit and the like to reinforce her belief that every day needs to start with a good meal or else, in her words, it's that much harder to have a "good day." I enjoyed this greatly as even in my younger and most formative years I had a voracious appetite for free food, but back then I tended to lean towards the more unhealthy selections like doughnuts, Lucky Charms, bacon, ham and bacon; which never made their way into the fray when my teacher brought us breakfast.
"Ma'am," I said, ever the polite young scamp - complete with bowl cut, overbite and blankey sneaked away in my Spider-Man backpack - "how come you never bring in doughnuts or bacon or anything like that?" Without hesitation she said, "Jimmy, just because it tastes good doesn't mean it's good for you," and went back to the business of poisoning my gullet with essential grains and fruits. Sure, I shoveled them into my mouth, chewed and swallowed, because, hey, food, but I didn't enjoy it.
From the time I was old enough to appreciate a good breakfast, my Mom and Dad would sate my hunger with assorted, wholly unhealthy foodstuffs like pancakes, waffles, bacon, ham and eggs and sausage; all made by hand before I stumbled out of bed towards the various, awe-inspiring smells emanating from our kitchen. I remember these mornings more fondly as time goes by and breakfast has become one of those things that my adult life seems to have no time for. Like most people I know Saturday and Sunday mornings are the only time of the week when life has slowed down enough to allow me the joy of a good, solid, incredibly bad for me but oh-my-god-so-good breakfast.
Luckily for me, the City of Rochester has a veritable glut of wonderful places that serve amazing breakfast to choose from on any given Saturday or Sunday morning (or whenever you're able to venture out into the harsh light of day after a night out on the town; most serve breakfast all day). This city loves it's breakfast and the quality and variety of restaurants to choose from shows it.
My girlfriend and I have, over the course of the past 18 months or so, been frequent visitors to the South Wedge Diner (880 S. Clinton Ave.), because we live in the South Wedge and it's within walking distance of our home; which is nice on those mornings when my head feels like it was split in two by Jack Daniels himself and I need the fresh air and moderate exercise to feel like a person again. It's a big, sprawling diner with ample booth seating and plenty of tables which means you're more than likely going to find a comfortable place to sit and nosh the second you walk in. The servers are pleasant and attentive and always ready with a fresh pot of coffee when your cup is just about empty (this, my reader, is a sure sign of a well run establishment in my opinion). They offer a wide variety of specialty omelets and Benedict style dishes that I've never seen anywhere else; which must be nice for people different than me who like to spice it up and order something they've never had before. I'm not like that at all. I walk in knowing I'm getting the delicious Eggs Benedict or the always sumptuous and filling Chocolate Chip Pancakes. Honestly, if you're living in the South Wedge neighborhood of Rochester and you have yet to dine at the South Wedge Diner, you're really missing out on a treat.
Whenever I feel like going "upscale" with my breakfasting I like to head to Charlie's Frog Pond (652 Park Ave.), and I'm really not positive why I think of it as upscale when the food is so affordable and the space so limited -it's often a tight squeeze when it's busy, but damn it's worth it-, but something about eating "on the Avenue" makes me feel like I could be wearing a top hat and monocle while I dig into my side of bacon. I have yet to get to my favorite breakfast spot in all of Rochester, New York, but Charlie's Frog Pond is definitely in the top tier and should be sought out and respected by my fellow citizens at one point or another, if only for the colorful and wholly unique atmosphere. Though, to be honest, the service could be slightly more attentive, but I don't hold that against them since it's always such a crowded house.
Jim's Restaurant (233 Winton Rd. North) is a staple for my friends and I whenever someone is home from out of town or just visiting, because it's where we always went in high school and college when the need for food outweighed the need for sleep. I cannot honestly say that I've ever had a bad meal there, but the dining experience has always left me scratching my head. The tables are sparse and close together and, often, depending on when you like to eat you'll be sharing with complete strangers and that has always, always rubbed me the wrong way. However, they make up for that in the service department as the waitstaff is super-attentive and conscientious even when there's barely enough space to breathe, let alone carry a tray full of piping hot Eggs Benedict or two pots of freshly brewed coffee. The politeness and attentiveness of the waitstaff, along with the quality of the food and the reasonable pricing makes Jim's Restaurant a wonderful option for diners in the area searching for a hearty and delicious breakfast.
Now, the heavy hitter, the champ, the one, the only... James Brown's Place (1356 Culver Rd.).
Here, ladies and gentlemen of the Rochester area is the best breakfast in the city and I'm willing to say that because it's never let me down and I absolutely love everything I've ever had there. It get's crowded, sure, and sometimes you've got to wait, but dag nabbit it's worth it! Unlike some diners in the area that make you feel like a sardine trapped in a can when it's busy, James Brown's Place doesn't. When you sit down, even if you're right next to another table, you're not in their lap and that's a great, great thing. The staff is fantastic and friendly and always, always ready with a fresh cup of coffee for you when yours is just about done, and the food is, well, out of this world. I don't make it to James Brown's Place as often as I would like, because I don't want to ruin the experience by becoming a regular (I have a tendency to get bored with places I visit too much), but whenever I do make my way over there it's such a brilliant treat that I can't really begin to explain how good it is except to tell you there is a little bit of drool on my keyboard right now.
The ingredients are fresh, and the bread is baked daily on the premises which is really, really rare for a diner in our area. I love that you can watch the cooks make your food while you're waiting at your booth sipping on coffee and having a nice (usually groggy) conversation with whomever you've decided to dine with that morning. It's breakfast done the way it should be done and for that I commend them. I've never been anything short of totally impressed when I've eaten there and I've never heard a bad word about it from anyone I know that's been there. (In this town, that's really saying something since we have a tendency to complain about, literally, everything) I cannot endorse this diner enough when it comes to breakfast food, because it really is far and away the best place for breakfast in all of Rochester (in my opinion at least, I know more than a few people who will take me to task for not putting Jim's Restaurant at the top of the list).
As always, eat well and often, my reader. You deserve it! See you around town.
6/4/10
Friday Night Bites in the ROC: Tap and Mallet
I'm an unashamed anglophile. I love almost everything British that I've ever had the pleasure of experiencing without actually setting foot in the UK. One of these days, I'm going to take a trip to England with the woman I love and the two of us are going to be the touristy Americans I'm sure the people there probably despise. We'll be easy enough to spot. I'll be quoting "Monty Python" and "Peep Show" about every 3 minutes and she'll be trying to drag me to the popular, "must-see" parts of the country that I'm only vaguely interested in. What I really want to do when I get to England is find a pub with an awesome name like, "The Yellow Fang," "The Pig and Kidney" or "The Fox and Donkey," and just settle in with a nice pint of lager, have a good conversation with some strangers and finally try to understand "footie" or soccer as we call it in the states. Until then, I'm lucky enough to live a block away from what I'm going to say is the best pub in the entire state, let alone the city of Rochester, New York: Tap and Mallet (381 Gregory St., Rochester, NY).
One snowy, February night following open-mic stand up at The Mez (now closed) my girlfriend and my best friend, Matt, decided to pop in for a post set pint or two to help the adrenaline from performing ease it's way out of my body. I was in a fantastic mood because my set had gone off extremely well and produced the most laughs I'd ever gotten since starting up my ill-fated venture weeks before. I can't tell you what beer I ordered, but it was an earthshaking experience. It was like I'd never had a beer before -at least not a real beer- and the bartender that night was so pleasant and conversational we stayed far longer than we expected just tasting the myriad, amazing brews on tap.
Since then, I've been such an unabashed fan of Tap and Mallet that it borders on an odd form of yet to be diagnosed mania. Whenever I have a friend or friends coming home to visit I don't even give them the option of going anywhere else. It's "Tap and Mallet or bust" in my book, because why would we take them anywhere else? Sure, Lux is fine and dandy for sitting amongst the hipsters drinking PBR, talking about things they really don't understand and feeling like you're nowhere near as cool as the people who run the joint, but picnic tables and a haughty atmosphere only go so far. (Still, some nights, I truly, truly love Lux when all of us are sitting around, shooting the breeze, but I digress...) At Tap and Mallet you get to have a conversation (or not, if you don't want to) and you're not surrounded by distracting television sets or an overly loud PA system playing music you haven't listened to in years. It's a genuine pub atmosphere that, aside from The Old Toad (owned by one of Tap and Mallet's co-owners, oddly enough), Rochester is severely lacking in.
SIDEBAR! The music selection at Tap and Mallet is extremely, extremely awesome. I'm always pleasantly surprised when I walk in there and hear a tune you'd never hear in a bar anywhere else in Rochester. The people who pick the music at Tap and Mallet have oodles of taste and then some. SIDEBAR CLOSED!
Tap and Mallet really is the epitome of a contemporary pub and for that I cannot thank them enough. I love that you can pick a table near the bar and drink the best beer in Rochester with a few friends and that you can actually hear what they are saying and there's no one bumping into you and there's no people 20 feet away getting so rowdy they make the entire pub uncomfortable. Even when its crowded, Tap and Mallet never seems to be overflowing, annoying or out of touch with the customer. Which is remarkable considering how crowded it gets during happy hour.
Oh, the beer. The wonderful, wonderful, out of this freaking world beer at Tap and Mallet is, in my humble opinion, unequaled by any bar or restaurant in town. Sure, some places may have some of the same beers available on a regular basis, but they don't have the selection that Tap and Mallet has when it comes to their rotating list of 30 drafts and, literally, uncountable amount of delicious bottled beers available at any given time. I'm a sucker for anything that Great Divide and Ommegang have to offer and much to my endless delight, Tap and Mallet usually has them both available in some form or another. When I check the draft list online from time to time I start to drool uncontrollably, and if I'm at work when I'm doing so there's a pretty good chance the rest of my day will be spent wondering how I can leave and go have a glass of whatever draft piqued my interest enough to start me daydreaming. (I'm starting to realize I have a "god this is amazing beer" problem, but, whatever, it's worth it.)
SIDEBAR! On tap, right now, at this very second is Great Divide's Espresso Oak Aged Yet Imperial Stout and Ommegang's Rare Vos, both are outstanding beers that I cannot suggest enough. If you are able to venture over to Tap and Mallet to try them out before the kegs are kicked, please do so. You won't regret it at all.SIDEBAR CLOSED!
Shoot, I haven't even mentioned the food yet and this was supposed to be about that, not the wonderful, awe inspiring beers available... there I go again.
Food, right the food, here we go:
Pub food has always had a slightly negative connotation attached to it and I can see why. Lots of bars in the area specialize in serving fried everything and anything that may or may not come with a side of ranch dressing (which may also be fried), but Tap and Mallet is not that kind of bar. Their menu is so diverse and delicious that I'm almost thinking calling it "pub food" is a sort of in joke the owners are playing on the unsuspecting diners. For what it's worth, I've never eaten at a pub that offers Vegan Chili, an Olive Sampler or Shrimp Tacos. Shoot, I haven't eaten at 5 star establishments that offer that kind of food selection. It really is incredible considering the lack of creativity affecting most bar-restaurants in Rochester; which makes it all the more a breath of fresh air when I sit down in a booth and have to decided between the Sirloin Cheese Steak or the Tuscan Chicken to accompany whatever incredible beer I'm sipping on.
Let's talk about the service at Tap and Mallet while I'm at it (rhyming!), because whenever my lady love and I go in late on a Saturday afternoon we've always had the distinct pleasure of being waited on by Jeana; who just may be the best waitress I've ever had or ever will have. I'm pretty sure she's see's us coming and puts the order for Poutine in before our butts hit the seats of the super comfortable booths in the dining area. Not to mention she puts up with my dawdling over the beer selection with grace and aplomb and is so knowledgeable about the different types of beer and their distinct flavor I'm sure she could write her own guide. Impressive, impressive stuff.
It doesn't matter if I'm there with my girlfriend or a group of guys, the waitstaff and bartenders are always attentive and polite and ready to help us out. We can be sitting at a booth on the inside or at a table on the patio outside, it doesn't matter. Someone always stops by to see how we're doing and if we need anything, and a lot of the time, there not even our waiter or waitress. How awesome is that? (Answer: Very.)
Now, what I'm going to say next is somewhat of a daring exclamation on my part, so be prepared: Tap and Mallet has the best desert I've ever had. Period. Full stop. It's the Scotch Ale Creme Brulee and it's quite possibly the last thing I'd ever want to taste before shuffling off this mortal coil once and for all. Some days I day dream about it while I'm working, while other days I text my friend Matt just to remind him of how unbelievably awesome it is.
So, my friends and readers, I wholeheartedly endorse Tap and Mallet with all my might and encourage you to go there any day of the week to partake in some of their fine beers or amazing cuisine.
Cheers!
One snowy, February night following open-mic stand up at The Mez (now closed) my girlfriend and my best friend, Matt, decided to pop in for a post set pint or two to help the adrenaline from performing ease it's way out of my body. I was in a fantastic mood because my set had gone off extremely well and produced the most laughs I'd ever gotten since starting up my ill-fated venture weeks before. I can't tell you what beer I ordered, but it was an earthshaking experience. It was like I'd never had a beer before -at least not a real beer- and the bartender that night was so pleasant and conversational we stayed far longer than we expected just tasting the myriad, amazing brews on tap.
Since then, I've been such an unabashed fan of Tap and Mallet that it borders on an odd form of yet to be diagnosed mania. Whenever I have a friend or friends coming home to visit I don't even give them the option of going anywhere else. It's "Tap and Mallet or bust" in my book, because why would we take them anywhere else? Sure, Lux is fine and dandy for sitting amongst the hipsters drinking PBR, talking about things they really don't understand and feeling like you're nowhere near as cool as the people who run the joint, but picnic tables and a haughty atmosphere only go so far. (Still, some nights, I truly, truly love Lux when all of us are sitting around, shooting the breeze, but I digress...) At Tap and Mallet you get to have a conversation (or not, if you don't want to) and you're not surrounded by distracting television sets or an overly loud PA system playing music you haven't listened to in years. It's a genuine pub atmosphere that, aside from The Old Toad (owned by one of Tap and Mallet's co-owners, oddly enough), Rochester is severely lacking in.
SIDEBAR! The music selection at Tap and Mallet is extremely, extremely awesome. I'm always pleasantly surprised when I walk in there and hear a tune you'd never hear in a bar anywhere else in Rochester. The people who pick the music at Tap and Mallet have oodles of taste and then some. SIDEBAR CLOSED!
Tap and Mallet really is the epitome of a contemporary pub and for that I cannot thank them enough. I love that you can pick a table near the bar and drink the best beer in Rochester with a few friends and that you can actually hear what they are saying and there's no one bumping into you and there's no people 20 feet away getting so rowdy they make the entire pub uncomfortable. Even when its crowded, Tap and Mallet never seems to be overflowing, annoying or out of touch with the customer. Which is remarkable considering how crowded it gets during happy hour.
Oh, the beer. The wonderful, wonderful, out of this freaking world beer at Tap and Mallet is, in my humble opinion, unequaled by any bar or restaurant in town. Sure, some places may have some of the same beers available on a regular basis, but they don't have the selection that Tap and Mallet has when it comes to their rotating list of 30 drafts and, literally, uncountable amount of delicious bottled beers available at any given time. I'm a sucker for anything that Great Divide and Ommegang have to offer and much to my endless delight, Tap and Mallet usually has them both available in some form or another. When I check the draft list online from time to time I start to drool uncontrollably, and if I'm at work when I'm doing so there's a pretty good chance the rest of my day will be spent wondering how I can leave and go have a glass of whatever draft piqued my interest enough to start me daydreaming. (I'm starting to realize I have a "god this is amazing beer" problem, but, whatever, it's worth it.)
SIDEBAR! On tap, right now, at this very second is Great Divide's Espresso Oak Aged Yet Imperial Stout and Ommegang's Rare Vos, both are outstanding beers that I cannot suggest enough. If you are able to venture over to Tap and Mallet to try them out before the kegs are kicked, please do so. You won't regret it at all.SIDEBAR CLOSED!
Shoot, I haven't even mentioned the food yet and this was supposed to be about that, not the wonderful, awe inspiring beers available... there I go again.
Food, right the food, here we go:
Pub food has always had a slightly negative connotation attached to it and I can see why. Lots of bars in the area specialize in serving fried everything and anything that may or may not come with a side of ranch dressing (which may also be fried), but Tap and Mallet is not that kind of bar. Their menu is so diverse and delicious that I'm almost thinking calling it "pub food" is a sort of in joke the owners are playing on the unsuspecting diners. For what it's worth, I've never eaten at a pub that offers Vegan Chili, an Olive Sampler or Shrimp Tacos. Shoot, I haven't eaten at 5 star establishments that offer that kind of food selection. It really is incredible considering the lack of creativity affecting most bar-restaurants in Rochester; which makes it all the more a breath of fresh air when I sit down in a booth and have to decided between the Sirloin Cheese Steak or the Tuscan Chicken to accompany whatever incredible beer I'm sipping on.
Let's talk about the service at Tap and Mallet while I'm at it (rhyming!), because whenever my lady love and I go in late on a Saturday afternoon we've always had the distinct pleasure of being waited on by Jeana; who just may be the best waitress I've ever had or ever will have. I'm pretty sure she's see's us coming and puts the order for Poutine in before our butts hit the seats of the super comfortable booths in the dining area. Not to mention she puts up with my dawdling over the beer selection with grace and aplomb and is so knowledgeable about the different types of beer and their distinct flavor I'm sure she could write her own guide. Impressive, impressive stuff.
It doesn't matter if I'm there with my girlfriend or a group of guys, the waitstaff and bartenders are always attentive and polite and ready to help us out. We can be sitting at a booth on the inside or at a table on the patio outside, it doesn't matter. Someone always stops by to see how we're doing and if we need anything, and a lot of the time, there not even our waiter or waitress. How awesome is that? (Answer: Very.)
Now, what I'm going to say next is somewhat of a daring exclamation on my part, so be prepared: Tap and Mallet has the best desert I've ever had. Period. Full stop. It's the Scotch Ale Creme Brulee and it's quite possibly the last thing I'd ever want to taste before shuffling off this mortal coil once and for all. Some days I day dream about it while I'm working, while other days I text my friend Matt just to remind him of how unbelievably awesome it is.
So, my friends and readers, I wholeheartedly endorse Tap and Mallet with all my might and encourage you to go there any day of the week to partake in some of their fine beers or amazing cuisine.
Cheers!
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