ROC - Village Bakery and Cafe

I am a kayak, hear me roar!!

That's right, I have decide that I am a strong independent woman that can go out to eat by myself!.. If only I had the money.. and time... small steps. The first of which being going out to lunch by myself and getting some work done aka editing photos. 

LOCATION: 5 STATE ST, PITTSFORD, NY 14534

I've come to village bakery several times before, on some occasions alone, and I decided that today I would head over and get myself a Croque Monsieur which happens to be one of the must try Rochester dishes on Julia's List! (I think it'll be alright for me to hit some of these places on my own; my time in Rochester is limited and Julia is much too far away at school to accompany me.) 

The Croque Monsieur at Village Bakery was on the list specifically and it is Ham and Gruyere on brioche with the house made bechamel and I added a poached egg on top for an extra $1 because poached egg. 

I will say to start that I'm quite awful at multitasking when one of those tasks is eating food. As I said before, I decided that today I would try to get some editing done while I was out so I had my trusty laptop Norman and I was editing and retouching some photos while I had my sandwich to eat. Needless to say, this sandwich was left neglected for quite some time and by the time that I decided to take a break and give it some attention it was no longer piping hot, my bad.. just keep this in mind when I voice my opinion of the food. 

Sandwiches come with a side of cape cod kettle chips, and a pickle, both of which I enjoy, so great start. The sandwich itself also did not disappoint. The poached egg however, was not runny, though there is a good chance that it cooked a little through while it sat on my sandwich. I was a little disappointed in that but it was still close, so not awful. The bread was a wonderful crispness, the a ham on the inside was a little dry, but the gruyere and the bechamel were incredible. The sauce moistened the ham well overall and gave the sandwich an incredible taste. I did catch hints of vinegar, likely from the poached egg, which was a little off putting but mixed in with the rest of the sandwich it was alright. Overall, a good sandwich, though nothing to rave about and not something I would say is a must have in rochester. Maybe if I ate it while it was still hot it would have a better chance. At room temp, it was average.

Candy Cookie Dough Oreo Pie!

That name is just everything you need in a pie isn't it? 

It was my friend Ben's birthday yesterday and I decided I was going to make him something to celebrate! He sent me this super easy recipe last summer and I think half jokingly said he wanted it. I've known Ben for a year and while he loves junk food, he's been in a healthy kick since we met and on average days tries to eat healthy and work out. We still manage to find days where we both want a slice of pizza or some creme brulee and treat ourselves, but everything in moderation! 

This was one of those cheat days! It's his birthday, he should eat a little of what he wants! 

This 'pie' if you want to call it that we super easy. I had a screenshot of the recipe he found and I sort of put my own twist on it. First it says to start off with one of those pre-made pie crust. At the grocery store I found one of those oreo cookie crusts and figured, if I was going to make this, an oreo crust was the way to go! Basically I took the oreo crust, then took a whole tube of that pre-made sugar cookie dough and pressed it into the crust as best I could. In hindsight I should've pre-baked the crust with some egg white to bind the crust better because it crumbled quite a bit when I pushed the cookie dough on top. The I just topped it with bite sized chocolate. The recipe calls for a cup of m&ms, two packs of twix bars chopped, and 6 or 7 mini reese's peanut butter cups. I can honestly say I measured nothing. I took a few of each of these candies (and I bought the bite sized bag of baby mini twix to make things easier on myself) and just pushed them into the raw dough until I thought it looked like enough. (Honestly I probably could've added more.) I baked it for about 40 minutes until the cookie dough looked nice and brown and then I took it out of the oven and let it cool. I honestly and not a huge chocolate lover and I went to Ben's and gave him the whole pie and declined when he wanted to give me a piece. It was his pie and I'm happy not to eat it. He was so happy that I made it and some of his friends and his older brother were coming over to take him out to dinner that night so he promised to share with them and not eat the whole pie by himself after dinner. He send me a picture of the pie after the cut into it and he seemed to enjoy it a bunch but I'm sure I'll get more feedback the next time I see him. It was a super fun, easy, not in the least bit healthy for you kinda dessert which was perfect for a birthday like this.   

ROC - Edibles!

This is the weekend of reunions because Julia was home and we finally had time to see each other again! (Kinda..) The holidays are a crazy busy season for everyone and because Julia's getting her masters it's hard to find time when she's free and back in Rochester. She was actually on her way back to school and was planning to leave tonight but decided to postpone going back and have dinner with me instead. She always makes me feel important :). 

SO, we knew we wanted to do dinner because Julia had work in the day, but the problem was that we didn't know where to go. I have my lists but by now a lot of them are cafe's which are nice for lunch or breakfast, or good places for snacks. Julia's also quite picky with food making picking a place harder. She looked at my list and narrowed it down to a few places that she figured she'd enjoy appetizers and salads from at best. I didn't like the idea of picking a place she didn't really enjoy but she was alright with the compromise and picked a place. We had the plan! Then of course I thought of Edibles. I know Julia fairly well, we've been friends for over 10 years now and I have ideas of what foods she likes and what she doesn't. Edibles would be a better choice. So she looked it up online and decided she agreed. This was the place! If only we had figured that out 12 hours before instead of going through all the other restaurants. Go us! 

Thus, we ended up at Edibles!

LOCATION: 704 UNIVERSITY AVE, ROCHESTER, NY 14607

Now, if you wanna look back, Sophia and I have made it here for lunch and it was great. A little light on portions and the service was a little awkward but nothing too bad and the food was good. At the time of lunch I knew it was a place Julia would like so I'm happy I got to go with her and this time experience dinner! 

Julia ordered herself a glass of wine (picking a random red that she choice based on price and name because that's her method) and I ordered the Winter Sangria which was a red wine, apricot brandy, cranberry juice, orange, apple, cinnamon stick, and ginger ale combination. The cinnamon was a great hint though the apricot slice was pure alcohol by the time I took a bite out of it. A great choice!

Because it was a red wine sangria I cut out the seafood selections from the menu and as my entree ordered the Beef Short Rib with a Wild Mushroom Risotto and Julia ordered the Pierogi Dinner which came with asparagus. Now, I'd had the pierogi for lunch when I was there and loved it, this time was no different for Julia and she was so happy to have found a restaurant with pierogi's on the dinner menu. My beef short rib was amazing. The flavor was clean and natural. The seasoning on it wasn't too overpowering and the gravy on it gave it a nice juicy texture. There was a wonderful crust on the top that sealed in flavor and moisture during the 6 hour braising processes and it balanced wonderfully with the cheesy, flavorful mushroom risotto. I managed to eat my whole plate and was stuffed by the end and Julia said she was a very comfortable full. A wonderful choice for us both and I'm happy I returned and brought her with me.  

ROC - Orange Glory

Traditional lunch with Sophia returns! We haven't seen each other for over a month so it's about time we got back into these meals together and it was a wonderful idea. It took us some time to decide on a place to eat and we're falling back into places we've been before but I suggested somewhere new and she was up for the adventure so off we went! 

LOCATION: 240 EAST AVE, ROCHESTER, NY, 14604

It took us a couple minutes to find this spot but when we did, it was worth it. Orange Glory Cafe and Catering was a cute little space tucked in right next to the little theatre downtown. It has maybe 5 little tables and the kitchen is tucked away in the basement because there's no room behind the counters! The walls are the happy tangerine colored and there were beautiful huge acrylic portraits up for sale. Supporting the local artists as per Rochester tradition! 

The menu is listed on a blackboard and you can pick out the different sandwiches in the glass case, all of which look really great. I ordered the Mushroom and Artichoke Sandwich while Sophia got the Tuna Melt. I think we both agreed that these were pretty good toasted sandwiches. On a nice cold day in the winter, a warm sandwich for lunch is really all you need. The space wasn't too crowded with people and the workers were super sweet. A small little place, but I'd easily go back one day if I'm in the mood for a fun sandwich like this

ROC - The Revelry

After all this time, I've finally had dinner at the Revelry!

LOCATION: 1290 UNIVERSITY AVE, ROCHESTER, NY 14607

My cousin Kim drove in from Buffalo for a few days so she figured it'd be a good time for a girls night dinner with me and our other cousin Kristie. She suggested the Revelry and she didn't have to convince me to say yes.

Clearly the three of us can eat because we ordered so much off the menu with a few other possible choices to add if we were still hungry. after 5 dishes we weren't but it's evident that this menu is full of great plates. 

Right off the bat we started off with a half dozen of the Chicken Fried Oysters which was such a great choice. The batter was light and the oysters weren't too strong yet you could still really get the flavor of them which was perfect. Kim decided she wanted a salad too which we were fine with so we ordered the Escarole Salad which comes with shaved red onion, dill, warm ham vinaigrette, and a local fried egg. The yolk from the fried egg mixed with the vinaigrette so well to coat the salad. The ham was a little salty and not the biggest hit with all of us but overall a really good salad which we basically inhaled. We also ordered the Baked Mac and Cheese which is made with a duck confit, roasted green chiles, and a cornbread crumb on top. I wasn't as big a fan of it but Kim and Kristie flipped. I don't really like green chiles which were fairly prominent and I don't throughly enjoy cornbread on top of that so this wasn't the dish for me but even I can admit the texture of this mac and cheese was on point and hard to achieve for sure.  

For the main courses we ordered two dishes to share. First off we HAD to get the Pasture Raised Fried 1/2 Chicken which comes with smashed red bliss potatoes, collard greens, and a sir-racha sauce. Kristie has come to the revelry multiple times and raved about this fried chicken so it was a must on my list now that I'd finally made it there. It was well worth it. This was the best fried chicken I've ever had in my life. Easy. The breading on the outside was crisp but light and the chicken itself was the furthest from dry chicken could be. It was so tender and moist it was perfect. Kristie says it reheats perfectly the next day too which is incredible but I believe it because it was so fantastic . The mashed potatoes on the side were a great flavor but I personally wanted a more rustic cut on the mash and it ended up being very smooth and whipped. Not my favorite texture but the flavor was there. 

Our second main dish was the BBQ special which was a braised brisket with fried pickles and you guessed it, yet another mac and cheese. The brisket was a wonderful texture, not too chewy or tough and a great bbq flavor if you like that. The fried pickles were a great tangy twist to the bbq as well with a nice clean crisp crust.  This mac and cheese was my favorite of the two. Saltier for sure which was a minus, but this one had bacon and no chiles so it won my heart easily. 

Honestly, everything we ordered was great. Dinner was full of clean crisp flavors that complimented each other well and were filling yet we still had room for dessert! (Maybe it's just because we're bottomless pits...)