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
Hello! It's been awhile since I posted an entry. Alas, after the carnage of Finals week, I went home to SF to visit family and friends. Since then, the new quarter has started and I've been a wee bit busy.
Home was great, got to eat great foods and shop a bit. Flying was yet another adventure for me. To make a long 8 hr. story short, let's just say I was in Chicago O'Hare for WAAYYYYY longer than I wanted to be. On my flight to SF, I was once again faced with the "seat of ass" at the back of the plane. Uggghhhh....what a crapass flight that was.
Anyways, back to some less aggravating memories. Let's see, what else...Last night was our first official golf club event with me and my new staff. Good times. We held a "movie night" (Caddyshack, Tin Cup) at our local bar - On the Rocks. Some of you may remember my stories of the "best bar food ever", aka "pork wings". Well, I introduced a whole slew of people to the porky delight last night. I told several of my international classmates about the famed pork wings....needless to say, they were not dissappointed! Good times. A very successful event overall, I was glad to have so many people attend. I should be downloading pics sometime this weekend.
BTW - I found out last week what part of the pig the pork wing comes from. The secret's safe w/ me and I can assure all that the pork wing is a very safe, non-gross part of the pig. In fact, I helped the cook make a few orders while I was back in the kitchen.
Anyways, it's late right now, so I'm off to bed. The sleepiness has dulled my haha-ness.
--------------------
Song of the moment:
"I'll find a way" Rachael Yamagata
Food of the moment:
"wasabi rice crackers"
Urge of the moment:
-To be in some freakin' warmth and sunshine.
Chow,
TC