Ask anyone you ever run across from the upstate NY region this question, they will tell you that Nick Tahou is the creator of Rochester's signature dish..."The Garbage Plate". Seriously. Buffalo has its wings, NYC has its pizza, New Orleans has gumbo, LA has In-N-Out....Rochester has Nick Tahou's Garbage Plate. A side story, one of my friends here was "reading" Maxim's Stuff magazine and one of the feature models was from the Roc, her favorite food was listed as: Nick Tahou's Garbage Plates. While she was not typical of the standard Rochestonian, it was a victory nonetheless for The 585.
So what is a Garbage Plate? Well, picture your basic cheeseburger blue plate special - cheeseburger, chili, onions, ketchup, mustard, potaters, mac salad. Now picture it all in one big pile. Yep, mac salad and homefries, with not one but TWO cheeseburgers on top, followed by the chopped RAW onions, then the chili. Traditionally, you cover it with ketchup and mustard, then sop up all the "sauce" at the end w/ the fresh slices of whitebread. Yep, tasty eatin'. Throw in the fact that the area around Nick Tahou's is chaulk-full of "character" (read:"walmart for crackheads") and you've got yourself a genuine local dining experience!
Seeing as how the local cuisine of Rochester frequently includes pizza, wings, sandwiches, and things like the Garbage Plate, it's easy to understand why Jamba Juice, Baja Fresh, or other more healthy, alternatives have failed to make a mark here. People here seem to revel in the sheer joy of eating some pretty destructive food.
Oh well. I did end up going to a decent steakhouse lastnight called the Roadhouse Grille. Standard peanut shell on the floor type place, big cuts of meat. Solid. Include the fact that they served me the closest thing I've ever seen to raw for Prime Rib (for $13 no less!), and they get my thumbs up.
What else is going on....Golf Club is in full effect. We had an outing followed by a BBQ complete w/ my white sangria. Good times. Midterms this week. Bad times.
Thought of the moment - "STOP RAINING SO I CAN GO GOLF!!!"
Hotspot of the week - The "gucci" Wegman's. (For non-585'ers, Wegman's is the dominant grocery store, the Pittsford Wegman's is the gucci-est of all with an impressive variety of all things food)
All for now...
Chow,
-T
Being a U of R Alumni...I feel your pain in the greasy food sub zero heaven that is Rochacha. I love and miss Nick's. Suffice to say my friends and I have managed to synthesize to near perfection every ingredient of the Nick's plate (this did involve some bribery of the Tahou's employees to get the exact make and brand of their potatoes) and make them at parties.
Also...what are these "PORK WINGS" and where are they served.....Must check them out when up there.
Ever heard of a sandwich called THE BIG SAVORY near Buffalo NY?
Posted by: GOOSE at May 3, 2005 02:36 PMgreat article
for the record the sauce is chili hot sauce not normal chili
the sop up is done with two slices of italian bread
just wanted your great article to be officialy
Tahou certified
thanks
Alex Tahou
The garbage plate has achieved international fame. I was flying back to the US and I was speaking to an Australian woman sitting next to me. I told her where I was from (NY) and she said her husband was from Rochester and had I ever had a garbage plate? I nearly fell out of my seat! Go Nicks!!
Posted by: margaret at November 1, 2005 06:16 AMwhenever I work in Rochester on service calls I always get a garbage plate, there is only 1 original "plate" all the others are wannabe at best. you can guess why I am called "gasman"!! BLOOOOFFF!!!
Posted by: gasman at November 30, 2005 10:31 PM