Brae Loch Inn (Cazenovia)
Location: Cazenovia, NY
Date of Visit: July 31, 2011
Time of Visit: 6:30pm
Website: The Brae Loch
Hours of Operation: M-Th 5-9, F-S 5-10, Sunday Brunch 11-2, S dinner 4-9
Company: The Ginger, Marmar, Parpar, and Petchy
So...it has been a long while since we got one of these up here. Sorry 'bout that, folks. It's been long enough that I finally got myself hitched to the Ginger six months ago. It's been an OK time, I guess.
Anyhoo, we ventured out to the Brae Loch Inn in Cazenovia for the Ginger's birthday din-dins. Our party consisted of myself and Ginger(of course), her parentals, who we will call Marmar and Parpar, and her sister the other Ginger(or Petchy, if you prefer). We had just spent the day in Sterling for the Rennaissance Festival-which was a blast, by the way....definitely make a trip out that way if you have not already-and were ready for some food.
Oh-a little background: Marmar and Parpar used to go to the Brae Loch every year for their wedding anniversary-as it is an Inn, they would stay for the weekend. We, however, were just there for the evening. Also, the Brae Loch was the site of my first date with the Ginger, so overall it has a special significance for all of us.
We ventured out to Cazenovia on a Sunday evening and arrived at around 6:30pm. Apparently on Sundays they have live music at the Inn, so although we ate inside, we could still hear the Irish/Scottish folk tunes mixed in with the gentle strains of "Iris." The dining room upstairs was a relatively new, family-style, tartan enrobed one. Seriously, there was tartan everywhere: on the windows, on the tables, on the waitstaff(who were a very sweet and helpful bunch). Tartan as far as the eye can see. The ambience was......I had mixed feelings about the ambience actually. While the lighting was pleasantly low, the lamps above the table were surprisingly Applebees-esque, and although we dined by candlelight, the sugar in the center of the table was colored.....not particularly to my taste, although Ginger liked it. But she gets excited about sugar in general, so take that with a grain of salt. Or sugar.
OK, now the important part: the food. Duh. We began with a Glenora Reisling for the table, along with an order of bruschetta and a dozen steamed clams with drawn butter. The bruschetta came in six pieces: garlic toast with a generous mound of tomato, basil, and garlic on the side of the platter, and also featured shaved parmesan and hummus. I had never seen hummus as part of a bruschetta dish before, and neither had any of the rest of us. The hummus was a little on the bland side, but when coupled with the parmesan, bruschetta, and toast, it was quite tasty: a good mixture of color, flavor, and texture on the plate. And it was fun to build as well. The clams were great, of course; clams are always great, and these ones were large and done perfectly, with clarified butter and no other seasonings. In addition to our appetizers we also had a bread basket on the table which featured some crusty Italian bread, herbed butter, and chocolate chip scones. It was a little weird to have the scones in the basket, and I thought they were OK at best, but Ginger loved them. See above sugar comment.
After we had ordered our entrees and discussed various aspects of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, the salads arrived. We had all asked for the garden salad, with the exception of Petchy, who had caesar. Hers was the typical Romaine salad with croutons and caesar dressing, while the rest of us received an interesting blend of lettuce, mandarin oranges, black olives, red onions, craisins, seedless cucumber slices, and croutons. We all got crumbly Bleu cheese dressing, except for Ginger, who didn't get dressing. Weirdo. The salads were tasty in general, although I could have done without the onion.
Dinner came in a timely fashion; here is what each of us ordered and a run-down of the flavors etc:
I had Shepard's Pie, which was killer: a perfectly crispy crust-to smooth mashed potato ratio. As someone who hates lumps in my potatoes, I appreciated this dish. The potatoes were also spread on the top of the dish rather than piped; this gave the meal more of a homestyle flair than a refined CIA impression. The inside of the pie had a great mixture of gravy, ground lamb and beef, and traditional Shepard's Pie vegetables. The filling was mild in flavor, which I kicked up a notch with some ground black pepper from the table. As Shepard's Pies go, I would recommend this one; nothing was overdone, it was very simple and very tasty.
Ginger ordered King Crab legs, which came with a vegetable side and a side of galley fries, which we discovered are simply thick-cut, homefry style potto slices. The crab was done well and came out hot-it's always good to see a full pound of crab on a plate. After teaching my silly wife how to get a full leg out of its shell, we discovered that the crab was some tasty bittles. The vegetables consisted of green beans -which were perhaps a bit overripe and tough as a result-and some nicely roasted red peppers, and tasted very fresh. The galley fries looked very cool but were palatially unimpressive-they were a little less crispy and flavorful than I would have liked. Overall, I would have stuck with the crab legs, but gone with a different side dish.
Petchy ordered lobster mac-n-cheese, which was really good. The dish consisted of Cavatapi pasta smothered in a four-cheese Mornay sauce, lobster(naturally) and was topped with bread crumbs and pancetta. The noodles on top were crispy, and those underneath were creamy due to the sauce. The only thing that would have made it better is if I had personally gotten more of it....is that selfish of me?
Parpar got the Caledonia Chicken, which was topped with spinach, a creamy artichoke sauce, as well as other Mediterranean tasty goodness. The chicken was moist and well done. If it weren't for the fact that I don't usually order chicken when I go out to eat, I would certainly order this dish.
Marmar was served some Lazy Man's Lobster claws, and once again, they were typically prepared lobster claws. Other than that, they were tasty and had the traditionally expected buttery flavor that lobster is known for.
Perhaps the most interesting culinary aspect of our evening was the haggis. None of us had ever eaten haggis, so I decided to give it a whirl. It was served with mashed potato, and was very bland, but other than that it was...different. Texturally, the dish was very strange, and featured chunks of liver that were prominent among the other ground ingredients. Overall, I would order this again, but I would take it to go and add some crushed red pepper and other spices to make it more flavorful and interesting, as I did with the left-overs. Do not fear the haggis!
After dinner, we got some Talisker 10 year Scotch for Marmar, since she is very much into that sort of thing, and I had my favorite: Bailey's with cream on the rocks. A perfect after-dinner drink, and most excellent.
On the whole, it was a wonderful outing, and I expect that Ginger and I will eat at the Brae Loch again, perhaps with some frequency. As far as the food is concerned, we preferred the winter menu to the summer menu, since traditional Scottish food tends to be best enjoyed in colder weather. The combination of staff, ambiance and food was wonderful, and I highly recommend the Inn to anyone who happens to be in the Cazenovia/Syracuse area.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Kilpatrick's Publick House
Kilpatrick's Publick House (Ithaca)
Date of Visit: Sept. 23, 2010
Time of Visit: 7:30 PM
Website: http://www.kilpatrickspub.com/
Hours of Operation: Sun 11:30-3:00 (Brunch) 4:00-10:00 (Dinner)
M-Sa 11:30-3:00(Lunch) 4:00-10:00(Dinner)
Company: Fiancee (Ginger) and Alternate Best Man (Linzar Tart)
First off I have to apologize for a very hectic month, which culminated with myself going to the hospital last week. Got a little nervous when I woke up and saw my uvula was the size of a thumb and I couldn't breathe. So with that said, let's move on to talking about one of my favorite things, the Irish Pub. Anyone who knows me knows that Ireland is my favorite country. It was my unofficial major in college. Any anthropology, history, sociology paper etc that I could focus on Ireland I did so. I did projects on culture, geography, lifestyle, history, and of course FOOD and cuisine.
I met up with my friend Linzar Tart (LT), who I hadn't seen since Christmas, because she decided she needed to move to Switzerland for the past two years. I also decided that since I liked her I would invite the Ginger (Fiancee) as well.
So, we met up at about 7, and I laid down three choices for dinner: Kilpatrick's, Simeon's, and Just a Taste. The ladies went with Kilpatrick's Publick House, which was fine with me. I had been to Kilpatrick's about eight times and the ladies had never been there.
Kilpatrick's is located on the ground floor of the Hilton Garden Inn, next door to the Starbucks and across the street from a parking garage, so parking is aplenty. The Publick House has a very modern feel to it, clearly since it was built about five years ago. You enter to a small entrance way with a black curtain, which is to block wind I suppose. Enter into the pub, wait to be seated, and you are on your way. When you enter half of the seating is on your left and up a small set of stairs, and is next to a fireplace. The place is dimly lit, clean, comfortable, and attractive, with a fully-stocked bar, and Irish paintings and murals. The other half of the seating is in private booths with individual TVs in them.
We ventured up to our seats up on the landing, and in perfect view of the TV that was playing the Yankees vs. Tampa Bay game. The ladies weren't high on me sitting in front of a TV with my favorite team playing in the thick of a play-off race with C.C. Sabathia pitching. Anyway, I promised to only look occasionally for score updates. As we perused the menu I decided that the ladies needed to try the Irish fries. The fries came batter-dipped, fresh and hot with melted cheddar, bacon crumbles and green onions with a side of ranch dressing for dipping. The fries were delicious; the only thing wrong with the whole dish was the fact that the kitchen used old oil, which made some of the fries soggy. Most of the dish was perfectly crisp and not soggy, however. The fries came in a giant half-bottle with the dipping sauce on the end-nice presentation for a pub. Everyone enjoyed the appetizer.
Once again I demanded that the ladies and I all order different things, which they agreed to because they are subser... actually we all just wanted different things. Looking over the menu it was discussed that the prices seemed quite reasonable for the product purchased. The ladies started their beverage consumption for the night with water, how boring. Me, being the ever exciting man that I am ordered 5 shots of Jameson, or was it just a bottle of Original Sin hard cider. I am a lover of hard cider and I would have to rate this near the top of my list. It is made in Brooklyn, NY and was tart and sweet, not overly alcoholic and potent, just really smooth.
LT got Guinness Clams off the appetizer menu as her dinner. The Ginger ordered a crab cake stuffed portabella mushroom as her dinner, and I got blackened catfish as my dinner. I also ordered a side of black & tan onion rings to split amongst the group. I, being the only one who ordered a dinner and not an appetizer, also got a salad with my dinner. I ordered orange mustard vinaigrette w/ my salad, as I have never had such a dressing and it sounded delightful. At this point a bread basket, which the three of us enjoyed thoroughly. Seriously though, who doesn't enjoy warm ciabatta rolls with butter? Well, that would be the Fiancee, she hates butter, try not to hold that against her, she really is a nice person, I think. My salad came out and the dressing was just right, tangy, yet sweet and just enough robustness to be a good dressing, However, my satisfaction with the salad ended with the dressing and spring mix. There were large baby carrots and large grape tomatoes that crushed the greens like a fat kid in gym sitting on the scrawny kid during wrestling. The shear volume of size of the veggies made the spring mix look obsolete. I would expect the those sized vegetables for a crudite plate with dip, but not on a salad, I think this salad would have been helped with a tomato wedge or split cherry tomato, and a crinkle cut carrot chip, or two. But, this was just a salad and we had meals to come.
The Black & Tan onion rings received good reviews from LT and myself while the Ginger thought they were bland and expected more flavor. I agree they were a little light on the flavor, but still really enjoyed them. The only complaint I had with them was the same as the fries, the use of old oil. At this point we are all readying ourselves for consuming our hopefully wonderful meals. LT's Guinness clams were very tasty and properly cooked. They had great flavor from the herbs, to the garlic, to the Guinness and even the crostini that came with it. However, once again there was a good and bad part of the meal. It is advertised as a dozen little necks, there were closer to 15-18 clams. Which should be a good thing, but they didn't look like little necks to me. I cooked clams this summer by the 100 dozens, and saw what a good sized little neck was. These looked more like hard shelled button clams, the kind you would find at a Chinese restaurant, for an all you can eat deal. Again, these clams are tasty, but not what I would expect to be served at a nice restaurant. The clam plate came in at $10.97 which was a good price for a dozen good sized little necks, but was a little pricey for what we received. Next up was Ginger, her crab cake stuffed portabella came out and immediately I saw the same problem we had seen twice that night. The crab cake was pretty dark, on the verge of black, again, due to the use of old oil. The crab cake had good flavor, but I found it more breading than crab. The portabella was marinated and grilled. The mushroom was perfectly cooked and meaty. the grilled bread was a little over grilled, which was fine with the Ginger, because she LOVES dry things, toast in particular. It also came with smoked gouda on it and overall I would say I liked the flavors in this dish, but wished to get more crab. This meal came in at $9.97 and I would say even with that small amount of crab, because the flavor was there, it is still a good price. Finally we shall talk about my meal, blackened catfish. This is one of my favorite things to order on a menu when I see it, especially at Maxi's Supper Club, but this is not their review, although right now I could go for one of their blackened catfish with cheesy grits... anyway... I asked for the cool cucumber butter wine sauce to come on the side as I was not sure I would like it. It also came with whole grain saffron rice and the vegetable of the day which happened to be summer squash. The sauce that I was worried about was actually quite nice, which was a good thing since it came on top instead of on the side. The blackened catfish was mild, I expected spicy, but it still had a good flavor. It also was not blackened. It was sprinkled with seasoning and broiled, Blackened means to season heavily and blacken the outside via grilling, heavily broil etc. I was quite disappointed with the lack of blackness with my catfish. Overall this dish was very flavorful, the rice was full of flavor, seemed almost to be boxed rice, but it had good flavor, the vegetable was also well cooked and had good flavor. The MAIN problem with my meal, was its temperature. It was lukewarm. Now I have had this problem here before, twice to be exact, and they were both while getting bowls of chili. The chili came out cold, I guess the holding unit these items were being kept hot in were not working those nights. My meal came in at $13.97, which wouldn't be too high if the fish was "seared" as advertised, but it wasn't.
Even though I did find a bunch of problems, none were horribly offensive problems to the point where I wouldn't return. Really the biggest issue is cold food, this kind of activity could potentially lead to food-borne illness if not corrected. A little kitchen discipline and these problems could be fixed. Seriously, thats all it comes down to, a good kitchen manager making sure that oil is getting changed, and all served food is HOT!!! I know for sure that I will not be ordering the catfish again because it isn't my style of blackened, maybe you like a milder blackening, and a less seared fish, good for you, but that doesn't float my boat. Our waitress was very pleasant. She seemed inexperienced and a little ditsy at times, but was still attentive, polite and prompt. So as far as service, I really couldn't complain. I will recommend this place and should also mention that I have been here before and I LOVE their wings, so you should try them if/when you go. I go out once again, to search for another place to review... Stay hungry my friends!!!
Overall Rating 2.75 out of 5 Forks (this place has much more potential, but tonight gets the score)
Date of Visit: Sept. 23, 2010
Time of Visit: 7:30 PM
Website: http://www.kilpatrickspub.com/
Hours of Operation: Sun 11:30-3:00 (Brunch) 4:00-10:00 (Dinner)
M-Sa 11:30-3:00(Lunch) 4:00-10:00(Dinner)
Company: Fiancee (Ginger) and Alternate Best Man (Linzar Tart)
First off I have to apologize for a very hectic month, which culminated with myself going to the hospital last week. Got a little nervous when I woke up and saw my uvula was the size of a thumb and I couldn't breathe. So with that said, let's move on to talking about one of my favorite things, the Irish Pub. Anyone who knows me knows that Ireland is my favorite country. It was my unofficial major in college. Any anthropology, history, sociology paper etc that I could focus on Ireland I did so. I did projects on culture, geography, lifestyle, history, and of course FOOD and cuisine.
I met up with my friend Linzar Tart (LT), who I hadn't seen since Christmas, because she decided she needed to move to Switzerland for the past two years. I also decided that since I liked her I would invite the Ginger (Fiancee) as well.
So, we met up at about 7, and I laid down three choices for dinner: Kilpatrick's, Simeon's, and Just a Taste. The ladies went with Kilpatrick's Publick House, which was fine with me. I had been to Kilpatrick's about eight times and the ladies had never been there.
Kilpatrick's is located on the ground floor of the Hilton Garden Inn, next door to the Starbucks and across the street from a parking garage, so parking is aplenty. The Publick House has a very modern feel to it, clearly since it was built about five years ago. You enter to a small entrance way with a black curtain, which is to block wind I suppose. Enter into the pub, wait to be seated, and you are on your way. When you enter half of the seating is on your left and up a small set of stairs, and is next to a fireplace. The place is dimly lit, clean, comfortable, and attractive, with a fully-stocked bar, and Irish paintings and murals. The other half of the seating is in private booths with individual TVs in them.
We ventured up to our seats up on the landing, and in perfect view of the TV that was playing the Yankees vs. Tampa Bay game. The ladies weren't high on me sitting in front of a TV with my favorite team playing in the thick of a play-off race with C.C. Sabathia pitching. Anyway, I promised to only look occasionally for score updates. As we perused the menu I decided that the ladies needed to try the Irish fries. The fries came batter-dipped, fresh and hot with melted cheddar, bacon crumbles and green onions with a side of ranch dressing for dipping. The fries were delicious; the only thing wrong with the whole dish was the fact that the kitchen used old oil, which made some of the fries soggy. Most of the dish was perfectly crisp and not soggy, however. The fries came in a giant half-bottle with the dipping sauce on the end-nice presentation for a pub. Everyone enjoyed the appetizer.
Once again I demanded that the ladies and I all order different things, which they agreed to because they are subser... actually we all just wanted different things. Looking over the menu it was discussed that the prices seemed quite reasonable for the product purchased. The ladies started their beverage consumption for the night with water, how boring. Me, being the ever exciting man that I am ordered 5 shots of Jameson, or was it just a bottle of Original Sin hard cider. I am a lover of hard cider and I would have to rate this near the top of my list. It is made in Brooklyn, NY and was tart and sweet, not overly alcoholic and potent, just really smooth.
LT got Guinness Clams off the appetizer menu as her dinner. The Ginger ordered a crab cake stuffed portabella mushroom as her dinner, and I got blackened catfish as my dinner. I also ordered a side of black & tan onion rings to split amongst the group. I, being the only one who ordered a dinner and not an appetizer, also got a salad with my dinner. I ordered orange mustard vinaigrette w/ my salad, as I have never had such a dressing and it sounded delightful. At this point a bread basket, which the three of us enjoyed thoroughly. Seriously though, who doesn't enjoy warm ciabatta rolls with butter? Well, that would be the Fiancee, she hates butter, try not to hold that against her, she really is a nice person, I think. My salad came out and the dressing was just right, tangy, yet sweet and just enough robustness to be a good dressing, However, my satisfaction with the salad ended with the dressing and spring mix. There were large baby carrots and large grape tomatoes that crushed the greens like a fat kid in gym sitting on the scrawny kid during wrestling. The shear volume of size of the veggies made the spring mix look obsolete. I would expect the those sized vegetables for a crudite plate with dip, but not on a salad, I think this salad would have been helped with a tomato wedge or split cherry tomato, and a crinkle cut carrot chip, or two. But, this was just a salad and we had meals to come.
The Black & Tan onion rings received good reviews from LT and myself while the Ginger thought they were bland and expected more flavor. I agree they were a little light on the flavor, but still really enjoyed them. The only complaint I had with them was the same as the fries, the use of old oil. At this point we are all readying ourselves for consuming our hopefully wonderful meals. LT's Guinness clams were very tasty and properly cooked. They had great flavor from the herbs, to the garlic, to the Guinness and even the crostini that came with it. However, once again there was a good and bad part of the meal. It is advertised as a dozen little necks, there were closer to 15-18 clams. Which should be a good thing, but they didn't look like little necks to me. I cooked clams this summer by the 100 dozens, and saw what a good sized little neck was. These looked more like hard shelled button clams, the kind you would find at a Chinese restaurant, for an all you can eat deal. Again, these clams are tasty, but not what I would expect to be served at a nice restaurant. The clam plate came in at $10.97 which was a good price for a dozen good sized little necks, but was a little pricey for what we received. Next up was Ginger, her crab cake stuffed portabella came out and immediately I saw the same problem we had seen twice that night. The crab cake was pretty dark, on the verge of black, again, due to the use of old oil. The crab cake had good flavor, but I found it more breading than crab. The portabella was marinated and grilled. The mushroom was perfectly cooked and meaty. the grilled bread was a little over grilled, which was fine with the Ginger, because she LOVES dry things, toast in particular. It also came with smoked gouda on it and overall I would say I liked the flavors in this dish, but wished to get more crab. This meal came in at $9.97 and I would say even with that small amount of crab, because the flavor was there, it is still a good price. Finally we shall talk about my meal, blackened catfish. This is one of my favorite things to order on a menu when I see it, especially at Maxi's Supper Club, but this is not their review, although right now I could go for one of their blackened catfish with cheesy grits... anyway... I asked for the cool cucumber butter wine sauce to come on the side as I was not sure I would like it. It also came with whole grain saffron rice and the vegetable of the day which happened to be summer squash. The sauce that I was worried about was actually quite nice, which was a good thing since it came on top instead of on the side. The blackened catfish was mild, I expected spicy, but it still had a good flavor. It also was not blackened. It was sprinkled with seasoning and broiled, Blackened means to season heavily and blacken the outside via grilling, heavily broil etc. I was quite disappointed with the lack of blackness with my catfish. Overall this dish was very flavorful, the rice was full of flavor, seemed almost to be boxed rice, but it had good flavor, the vegetable was also well cooked and had good flavor. The MAIN problem with my meal, was its temperature. It was lukewarm. Now I have had this problem here before, twice to be exact, and they were both while getting bowls of chili. The chili came out cold, I guess the holding unit these items were being kept hot in were not working those nights. My meal came in at $13.97, which wouldn't be too high if the fish was "seared" as advertised, but it wasn't.
Even though I did find a bunch of problems, none were horribly offensive problems to the point where I wouldn't return. Really the biggest issue is cold food, this kind of activity could potentially lead to food-borne illness if not corrected. A little kitchen discipline and these problems could be fixed. Seriously, thats all it comes down to, a good kitchen manager making sure that oil is getting changed, and all served food is HOT!!! I know for sure that I will not be ordering the catfish again because it isn't my style of blackened, maybe you like a milder blackening, and a less seared fish, good for you, but that doesn't float my boat. Our waitress was very pleasant. She seemed inexperienced and a little ditsy at times, but was still attentive, polite and prompt. So as far as service, I really couldn't complain. I will recommend this place and should also mention that I have been here before and I LOVE their wings, so you should try them if/when you go. I go out once again, to search for another place to review... Stay hungry my friends!!!
Overall Rating 2.75 out of 5 Forks (this place has much more potential, but tonight gets the score)
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Dewitt Cafe
Dewitt Cafe (Ithaca)
Location: Dewitt Mall
Date of Visit: August 8, 2010
Time of Visit: 12:30
Website: Dewitt Cafe
Hours of Operation:
M-Sa 8:30-2:30 Su 10:00-2:00
Company: The Fiancee, and the Maid of Honor
I am writing this 10 days after I have visited the cafe. I do not plan on this being my normal timing, but life got ahead of me with my mother being in the hospital and absolutely running out of time to do anything. But that being neither here nor there, it is time to get my first critique under way.
I have many times, when walking downtown in Ithaca, walked through the Dewitt Mall, but never seem to walk through there when the Dewitt Cafe is open. So I have seen the physical space 100 times but never seen it in action. I am a sucker for breakfast and breakfast food. My all-time stand by favorite is corned beef hash, and not that corned beef hash from a can, which I admit is tasty, but homemade corned beef hash. The kind that has diced peppers, onions and minced garlic in it. mmmm... tasty... I'm hungry, but I digress. I decided it was time that I tried this place out so I asked my fiancee to call up her maid of honor and let's check this place out.
Upon arriving, I see the place bustling at about 60% capacity and it is cute, it is in the basement of a mall, and it is in the hallway of the basement, but in no way does it feel like a hallway or a basement. We were greeted and seated immediately. They had three special boards which I found helpful so that no matter where you were sitting you could see the specials, along with the descriptions.
They bring you a basket of bread, rolls, sweet bread etc. I liked this but thought it would be better served with a side of whipped honey butter instead of butter pcs. The menu consisted of mainly omelets on Sunday. You can actually check out their menus on their website that I linked above. We all tried different things on their menu, which I demanded and these ladies being subservient women both obliged. Okay, so we truly all wanted different things and the last thing that they are is subservient. But, again, I digress. All three meals were the same price so might as well state that now ($9.50). The Fiancee got stuffed french toast with macerated peaches & apricots. The creamy cheese stuffing was ricotta cheese and it was fantastic. I have had cream cheese and brie in stuffed french toast before and neither one was as tasty as the ricotta. It was just slightly sweetened, creamy and so complimentary to the fruit and the brioche. The presentation of this plate was nice and it seemed to be quite large, however I believed it to be a little pricey for what it was. I truly enjoyed this dish and thought the flavor of the french toast itself was mild, but traditional. I would definitely order this dish again. The Maid of Honor, hereafter referred to as MoH got the Omelette Acapulco. This omelette has avocados, cheddar and salsa, again, I thought the plate was presented nicely. The egg was nice and fluffy and the avacado was chopped into large chunks, which I liked. Overall I liked the omelet. I ordered the farmhouse breakfast, because I was really interested in trying the chicken apple sausage, because I love breakfast sausage. The sausage did not disappoint, it was sweet, moist, crispy on the outside, it was pretty much awesome. The eggs were easy over and I don't know the last time you got easy over at a cafe, but they are almost ALWAYS over medium or over hard. I was very impressed when something as simple as the eggs being done properly was accomplished. The potatoes were the only food item that I didn't like. They were rosemary roasted potatoes and that is NOT a flavor that agrees with my palate for breakfast. Don't get me wrong, this fat kid LOVES rosemary roasted potatoes for dinner, but for breakfast they just sat on the side of my plate, all sad and lonely realizeng that they had done me wrong and would not be enjoyed.
As far as service, I mentioned that we were seated immediately. We also had a nice waitress who seemed to be quite attentive at the beginning. I did not like that our water was just that, water and not ice water. There are few things I like less than warm water, the Boston Red Sox, bad drivers, junk mail, and did I mention the Boston Red Sox. So with that short list named, and I don't mean short list as in the number of championships the Red Sox have compared to the Yankees, but with things I like less than warm water, you can understand the displeasure I had with the warm water. But with that said, it is just water and shouldn't make or break a meal and so it shall not. I also was not a fan of the food coming out in a staggered fashion. The ladies got their meal and the fat man had to sit and impatiently wait and wither away for a whole 3 minutes waiting for his.
I liked the ambiance and the feel of the place, I didnt feel as though I was crowded or uncomfortable and we all had a great time and tasty food. I would eat their again, however for the price I feel I have better choices in town. If I was looking to pay similar prices, I believe their to be places with better offerings, and I also believe their to be cheaper places in general, that also have lovely food.
Well folks, here is number 1, the first, the virgin blog, never more will there be a first, and I sadly close the book and go out hunting for a new place to eat that I shall blog about shortly!!! Stay hungry my friends!!!
Overall Rating: 3.75 Forks out of 5 Forks
Location: Dewitt Mall
Date of Visit: August 8, 2010
Time of Visit: 12:30
Website: Dewitt Cafe
Hours of Operation:
M-Sa 8:30-2:30 Su 10:00-2:00
Company: The Fiancee, and the Maid of Honor
I am writing this 10 days after I have visited the cafe. I do not plan on this being my normal timing, but life got ahead of me with my mother being in the hospital and absolutely running out of time to do anything. But that being neither here nor there, it is time to get my first critique under way.
I have many times, when walking downtown in Ithaca, walked through the Dewitt Mall, but never seem to walk through there when the Dewitt Cafe is open. So I have seen the physical space 100 times but never seen it in action. I am a sucker for breakfast and breakfast food. My all-time stand by favorite is corned beef hash, and not that corned beef hash from a can, which I admit is tasty, but homemade corned beef hash. The kind that has diced peppers, onions and minced garlic in it. mmmm... tasty... I'm hungry, but I digress. I decided it was time that I tried this place out so I asked my fiancee to call up her maid of honor and let's check this place out.
Upon arriving, I see the place bustling at about 60% capacity and it is cute, it is in the basement of a mall, and it is in the hallway of the basement, but in no way does it feel like a hallway or a basement. We were greeted and seated immediately. They had three special boards which I found helpful so that no matter where you were sitting you could see the specials, along with the descriptions.
They bring you a basket of bread, rolls, sweet bread etc. I liked this but thought it would be better served with a side of whipped honey butter instead of butter pcs. The menu consisted of mainly omelets on Sunday. You can actually check out their menus on their website that I linked above. We all tried different things on their menu, which I demanded and these ladies being subservient women both obliged. Okay, so we truly all wanted different things and the last thing that they are is subservient. But, again, I digress. All three meals were the same price so might as well state that now ($9.50). The Fiancee got stuffed french toast with macerated peaches & apricots. The creamy cheese stuffing was ricotta cheese and it was fantastic. I have had cream cheese and brie in stuffed french toast before and neither one was as tasty as the ricotta. It was just slightly sweetened, creamy and so complimentary to the fruit and the brioche. The presentation of this plate was nice and it seemed to be quite large, however I believed it to be a little pricey for what it was. I truly enjoyed this dish and thought the flavor of the french toast itself was mild, but traditional. I would definitely order this dish again. The Maid of Honor, hereafter referred to as MoH got the Omelette Acapulco. This omelette has avocados, cheddar and salsa, again, I thought the plate was presented nicely. The egg was nice and fluffy and the avacado was chopped into large chunks, which I liked. Overall I liked the omelet. I ordered the farmhouse breakfast, because I was really interested in trying the chicken apple sausage, because I love breakfast sausage. The sausage did not disappoint, it was sweet, moist, crispy on the outside, it was pretty much awesome. The eggs were easy over and I don't know the last time you got easy over at a cafe, but they are almost ALWAYS over medium or over hard. I was very impressed when something as simple as the eggs being done properly was accomplished. The potatoes were the only food item that I didn't like. They were rosemary roasted potatoes and that is NOT a flavor that agrees with my palate for breakfast. Don't get me wrong, this fat kid LOVES rosemary roasted potatoes for dinner, but for breakfast they just sat on the side of my plate, all sad and lonely realizeng that they had done me wrong and would not be enjoyed.
As far as service, I mentioned that we were seated immediately. We also had a nice waitress who seemed to be quite attentive at the beginning. I did not like that our water was just that, water and not ice water. There are few things I like less than warm water, the Boston Red Sox, bad drivers, junk mail, and did I mention the Boston Red Sox. So with that short list named, and I don't mean short list as in the number of championships the Red Sox have compared to the Yankees, but with things I like less than warm water, you can understand the displeasure I had with the warm water. But with that said, it is just water and shouldn't make or break a meal and so it shall not. I also was not a fan of the food coming out in a staggered fashion. The ladies got their meal and the fat man had to sit and impatiently wait and wither away for a whole 3 minutes waiting for his.
I liked the ambiance and the feel of the place, I didnt feel as though I was crowded or uncomfortable and we all had a great time and tasty food. I would eat their again, however for the price I feel I have better choices in town. If I was looking to pay similar prices, I believe their to be places with better offerings, and I also believe their to be cheaper places in general, that also have lovely food.
Well folks, here is number 1, the first, the virgin blog, never more will there be a first, and I sadly close the book and go out hunting for a new place to eat that I shall blog about shortly!!! Stay hungry my friends!!!
Overall Rating: 3.75 Forks out of 5 Forks
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Here I am...
Rock you like a hurricane!!! Ok, enough bad singing, you can open your ears back up and take the tissues out that you used to stop the bleeding.
I have had all kinds of experiences while eating in the Finger Lakes. Some good, some bad, some excellent, and even a few horrible, yes horrible. I know that the Finger Lakes is a huge tourist area and I think, one of the most beautiful areas in the world, at least the world that I have been to. I feel like it would be nice to have an opinion of someone to listen to when you choose a dining option in the Finger Lakes region. I don't claim to be the foremost expert in the world on food and fine dining, nor do I want this blog to just be about fine dining. I am just a simple man, a man who LOVES food, fancy, not fancy, greasy, healthy, sweet, spicy, doesn't much matter, I just LOVE food!!! I am willing to basically try anything.
I will be basing my review of each dining location on the following: what I believe to be the perfect service, food taste, food appearance, and ambience of that individual location would be.
I will also be attempting to visit 1 new location every week, potentially more. Most of my visits to these locations will be with my fiancee as a date or with other couples, friends of ours, family members etc. I will try not to let the heathens that I associate with influence my review of these restaurants.
I also want to let everyone know that I am NOT a professional writer, in fact, I am not that good at it, so I will be using as much humor as I can to draw away from my grammatical, and mechanical mistakes in writing. My fiancee is almost finished with her degree to become an English teacher, which only makes it funnier that I SUCK at writing.
I am 26 years old and I have been in the food service industry for12 years now. I have worked in the front and the back of the house. I have worked at mega operations, small retail, restaurants, camp setting, and catering. I do claim to know food inside and out, hence the I LOVE food statements. I have experience designing menus and recipes. I have family members (brothers) that have another 30 years of experience in the industry as well. I hope I have explained enough to y'all to qualify me as someone whose blog you should read, hopefully enjoy and trust...
Alright, lets get our eat on!!!
I have had all kinds of experiences while eating in the Finger Lakes. Some good, some bad, some excellent, and even a few horrible, yes horrible. I know that the Finger Lakes is a huge tourist area and I think, one of the most beautiful areas in the world, at least the world that I have been to. I feel like it would be nice to have an opinion of someone to listen to when you choose a dining option in the Finger Lakes region. I don't claim to be the foremost expert in the world on food and fine dining, nor do I want this blog to just be about fine dining. I am just a simple man, a man who LOVES food, fancy, not fancy, greasy, healthy, sweet, spicy, doesn't much matter, I just LOVE food!!! I am willing to basically try anything.
I will be basing my review of each dining location on the following: what I believe to be the perfect service, food taste, food appearance, and ambience of that individual location would be.
I will also be attempting to visit 1 new location every week, potentially more. Most of my visits to these locations will be with my fiancee as a date or with other couples, friends of ours, family members etc. I will try not to let the heathens that I associate with influence my review of these restaurants.
I also want to let everyone know that I am NOT a professional writer, in fact, I am not that good at it, so I will be using as much humor as I can to draw away from my grammatical, and mechanical mistakes in writing. My fiancee is almost finished with her degree to become an English teacher, which only makes it funnier that I SUCK at writing.
I am 26 years old and I have been in the food service industry for12 years now. I have worked in the front and the back of the house. I have worked at mega operations, small retail, restaurants, camp setting, and catering. I do claim to know food inside and out, hence the I LOVE food statements. I have experience designing menus and recipes. I have family members (brothers) that have another 30 years of experience in the industry as well. I hope I have explained enough to y'all to qualify me as someone whose blog you should read, hopefully enjoy and trust...
Alright, lets get our eat on!!!
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