Chus On Chow

Lonnie has already written here about how much we liked Gianni’s Pizza.   Naturally, we had to go back.  This time, while doing a bunch of holiday prep, we wanted to treat ourselves.  I ordered their Moshulu Park Pizza, which is broccoli, garlic, and ricotta.

The broccoli was cooked just right, the garlic was just the right amount, and there was a generous portion of ricotta.  We both thought it was another winner.  Best of all, it was a beautiful day, so we were able to have it for one of our first front porch meals of the season.

And wait, that’s not all!  Gianni had been touting his Dart Wings on our previous visit, and I was in a fairly gluttonous mood, so I decided to augment our order with some of these.  He had described them as spicy, and they were, but not like the level of really hot wings, just a nice little snap of heat.  The flavor was round, quite savory, and a bit sweet.  I really went for it.  Lonnie liked the flavor, too, but is not quite as fond of sweetness in wing sauce as I am.  In any case, they will go into our short list of local excellent wings; these are the first ones in awhile that I think can compete in tastiness with OIP’s char-grilled ones.

I should point out that for me, places get bonus points for varying from the classic Buffalo Wing formula, lots of butter, Frank’s Hot Sauce, etc.  I like that type of wings, too, and there are a number of places near here that do them very well, such as the Change of Pace.  Come to think of it, I have no idea what Dart Wings are, exactly, except that they taste great!  I’ll have to ask Gianni for details next time I’m there.  Go visit Gianni’s here on Burnet Ave.

I love Indian cuisine.  There aren’t a whole lot of choices in our area, but thanks to our friend Owen, we found out about the new Taj Mahal, and it’s near us, at 3138 Erie Blvd. in Dewitt.  It’s in a building that used to be Quiznos, in a plaza that has the Guitar Center (it figures that Dave would notice that!).

The decor is pleasant and new.  They were doing a brisk business the Wednesday night we were there.  The service was polite and attentive, yet the staff seemed to be rookies.  If it’s true that the restaurant’s forbear is Samrat up on the SU hill, I wonder if they are actually grad students.  They did well enough, and I’m sure they’ll be on a more firm footing soon.

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Anyone who regularly reads this blog knows that we love good coffee and will go to some effort to find it in any city we visit. Given that we visit Rochester often and had a fairly disappointing experience the last time, we decided to check out a cafe that had been recommended to us by the friend of a friend: Cole & Parks in Victor, NY, some 20 minutes southeast of Rochester.

Cole & Parks is located in what used to be an old farm house that is now surrounded by a sea of auto-centric suburban strip-mall development. The building is lovely and the interior very pleasant, with rooms on both floors for sitting and relaxing. When you walk in, you are greeted with the sight of a variety of yummy fresh desserts and jars of delights such as lemon curd and Maine maple syrup. There is a giant espresso machine straight ahead and helpful people behind the counter further in to the right.

What there is not is any evidence of coffee actually being served there. And by that I mean there is absolutely no aroma of coffee!  It was the strangest thing I’ve ever experienced in a cafe, like some coffee-neutron-bomb had come in and killed the coffee smell, leaving just the black liquid and some people drinking it.

I asked the young lady attending us how many shots in their cappuccino, and was informed that there’s small, medium and large.  Huh?  She then explained that she pushes one button for small, one for medium, and one for large. Ah.

I asked for the large quantity of espresso but in half the usual milk, no foam. This she did, God bless her. (Some places you actually hear, “I can’t do that.” But that’s another story.) Dave got a regular cappuccino.  We also ordered an apple pie to share.

In short, the pie was delicious. The coffee was reminiscent of coffee – had a roasty flavor and a dark color in the milk, just the way I’d ordered it. But still there was no aroma! I stuck my nose right in the cup and inhaled deeply. No aroma of coffee. It was the dangdest thing. I know the suburbs can be a bit on the sterile side, but this was ridiculous!

Dave said that he was surprised by what seemed to be a pretzel flavor accord in his coffee.  He didn’t find this disturbing, though, and actually liked his cup of coffee.  He went on to say that when he pronounced the name of the cafe and thought about it, he found it slightly disconcerting.

So we’re still on the lookout for good coffee in Rochester. Makes this Syracusan kinda glad to call our wacky city home, given that we often smell coffee roasting just blocks away when we step out the door.

I know, this is stretching it a bit, but I couldn’t help but think what an honor it was for Syracuse’s Dinosaur Bar-B-Que that, out of all the restaurants in New York City, Michelle Obama would take her daughters today to lunch at the Dinosaur in New York.  I mean, when we think of New York dining, it’s more like Jean Georges for lunch or Otto for pizza and red wine, or Eisenberg’s Sandwich Shop for a lime rickey and pastrami sandwich.

But the Dinosaur? I’m trying to wrap my mind around this one. Why this particular restaurant? Let’s guess…

• It’s in Harlem. Always good to visit Harlem.
• Michelle and girls just love great barbecue. And there are not many great barbecue places in New York – hard to build to code something putting out that much smoke.
• Maybe it was a nod to the rest of New York. They couldn’t actually do a tour of our little empire, so they ate the best of it from the heart of it.

No matter, the Dinosaur is one of our real gems. Possibly the only place in town where you can get a filling, complete meal and great live music all for the price of under $10, $15 if you include one of their great beers or a mojito. Mmm… I’m getting hungry. I think we’ll have dinner there tomorrow night… and let them know that Michelle sent us.

Two weeks ago we decided to pay another visit to one of our favorite restaurants in Syracuse, Komachi. Stopping by their Adams Street location, we were devastated to see it had closed.

Then a student of mine clued me in: it moved to University Hill’s business district. There is a God!  We can eat at Komachi again! So we did, last night.

We simply shared three items, each one outstanding:

• Gyoza: deep fried pork dumplings, crispy on the outside, soft and so flavorful inside, served with a dipping sauce
• Crunchy spicy tuna roll: the combination of textures is half the fascination. The other half is the just-right heat level. Exciting.
• Yaki soba with beef. Soba is a buckwheat noodle and it tastes nothing at all like buckwheat pancakes! It stands up well to the dark, rich, soothing sauce and beef that covers it. Warm, flavorful, comforting.

This was just the right amount of food for us last night. Alas, they didn’t have the green tea ice cream that they used to serve downtown. Had we been hungrier, we would have gotten our usual: the Dynamite Box. Enough for two, it includes a large sake, soup and a variety of tasty tidbits. It used to include dessert, but it doesn’t appear on the current menu. No matter, it’s a great bargain in any case.