Great Taste

Best egg foo yung in Roch? Best steak just about anywhere?

Great Taste has enjoyed egg foo yung since before many readers of this blog were born. Of EFY consumed in Rochester, Great Taste likes China Star's best.

Note: EFY was ordered from CS's 1st Avenue location.

Other restaurant notes:

Michaels still keeps us satisfied with perfect steaks, prime rib, wedge salad, etc. In fact, for taste and precise preparation of steaks Michael's can go up against any steak house in the country. (Indeed Great Taste prefers Michaels steaks to those at Morton's, Manny's, and several other "big name" steak houses.) Also--unlike most fine dining options in Rochester--you can hear what your dining partner is saying, even on a Friday night.   

Jasper's Alsatian Bistro seems to be overlooked on many "best lists" and that's a mistake. Great Taste always starts a meal with house-made chicken liver pate....Jewish deli-restaurants aside, where else in the Midwest can one order this on a regular basis?   

Sontes continues to impress under Chef Bryce. This chic tapas restaurant also deserves more local acclaim than it seems to get. 

 

Ready for your Thursday paella?

It's not officially summer yet but the festive vibe is totally here. 

Sontes Restaurant, Rochester, offers paella and sangria, among other Spanish delights, at its booth in the Thursdays on First Summer Market & Music Festival. Look for your paella at the corner of First Avenue and Third Street SW, from 11:30 am to 8:30 pm, every Thursday through August.

Sopra Sotto to close

Sopra Sotto, "The Italian Living Store," located in The Shops at University Square, Rochester, will be closing its doors for good in the coming weeks. 

Owner Maureen McNally writes in an email:

"I have decided that it is time to relocate back to my second hometown of Los Angeles, California, and re-imagine Sopra Sotto! I will be opening a showroom in the Los Angeles Mart and continue to be a source of fine Italian artisanal products....Sopra Sotto will continue as an on-line business as well as a direct business source in California. To make it even easier we will be adding an Amazon Sopra Sotto store as well as retaining our www.sopra-sotto.com store.....As part of our business plan for Sopra Sotto in the future, we hope to expand our offerings also to include fine Italian wines." 

Sopra Sotta has for years helped anchor downtown Rochester's food scene. Its merchandise has included outstanding Italian imported products ranging from Carnaroli risotto rice, lentils, and specialty pastas to fine chocolates to dried porcini mushrooms, uncommon balsamic vinegars, olive oils, and herb blends.

Regularly featured Italian cooking classes have been often taught by top Italian chef and cookbook author Antonio Cecconi. Delicious, freshly prepared foods and beverages have been available for eat-in at an elegant counter in the back of the shop.

Sopra Sotto also has featured Italian handmade ceramics, sleek espresso machines, table linens, leather goods, and bath and body products, among other items.

This writer wishes Ms. McNally the best of luck with her future plans but will sorely miss her retail space in the heart of downtown.....Great Taste offers a heartfelt "thank you" to Maureen for serving the area with her truly exceptional store.

Food highlights at Radish Magazine's Healthy Living Fair

Mike Arends, part of the culinary team at Zzest Market & Cafe, Rochester, will be giving a cooking demonstration at Radish Magazine's Healthy Living Fair June 18. Rochester's Good Food Store Co-op and Mac's Cafe and Restaurant will also participate in the fair.   

The first annual event will be held next to Rochester Downtown Farmers Market, 4th Street at 4th Avenue SE, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. (RDFM ends at noon.) Radish Magazine is a part of Post-Bulletin Company and Small Newspaper Group. Visit website here.

Back Room Deli now has salad bar

Great Taste enjoys the freshly made, innovative soups and rustic nosh at Good Food Store Co-op's Back Room Deli, Rochester. Options just got better with a new salad bar. More here.  

What to expect at Rochester's first outdoor farmers market of 2011

From Kari Dunn, manager of Rochester Downtown Farmers Market:  

"Weather has been pretty crummy for things like asparagus - but I expect we'll have at least 40 to 50 vendors and of course that number will grow as more produce becomes available. We have a total of 93 vendors this year! There should be ramps and watercress tomorrow, pea shoots, lots of lettuce varieties, green onions, salad mixes, radishes.....Do you visit our Facebook page? I'll be 'reporting' live to it from market this year."

For more news and information on one of the best farmers markets in the Midwest, check out RDFM's website here. 

There's just one big missing piece to RDFM being of the highest calibre. Great Tastes asks city leaders: When can RDFM have a specially designed area in central Rochester, instead of several congested parking lots? 

Easter grocery shopping idea

Let the Earth Day vibe keep hoppin' towards the holiday.

Get fresh Easter eggs and other farm-direct foods at tomorrow's Rochester Downtown Farmers Market indoor market:  http://www.rochesterdowntownfarmersmarket.org/

 

Progressive beer dinner? (Yes, transportation provided.)

Ready for a barrel of foodie fun? Reserve for the  "Progressive Beer Dinner" featuring three of the area's top restaurants--Sontes, Rochester; Nosh, Lake City; and The Rainbow Cafe, Pine Island--on April 16th.

The event kicks off at 5:30 pm with starters at Sontes, followed by a coach bus trip to Nosh for entrees. Then it's on to The Rainbow Cafe for three more courses, with departure at 9:30 pm for Sontes. Aboard the coach a beer class and tasting will be presented featuring Brooklyn Brewery.

A few of the dining highlights: locally raised braised oxtail tamale with grilled pear and Spanish onion salsa; locally raised adobo braised pork shoulder with local fresh goat cheese and polenta; and warm carrot cake with Delice de Bourgogne and mesquite honey "buttercream" and ancho chile toffee.

Event tickets, $125 each, include food, beer class, gratuity and transportation.  Tax not included. Advance purchase required; call Sontes at 507-292-1628.  In addition, rooms will be available at the Hilton Garden Inn, Rochester, for a special Progressive Dinner rate.

 

"Taste of Home" comes to Roch

Taste of Home Cooking School, which bills itself "America's leading cooking school program," will be in Rochester on March 23rd. PB story link here.

GG has never made it to a Taste of Home event, but she has watched a number of Taste of Home's online videos, including this one (http://videos.tasteofhome.com/video/How-to-Make-a-Pie-Crust-3;search:) for making a bottom pie crust. 

If you're starting to think about Easter activities Taste of Home has online instructions for making naturally dyed Easter eggs, among other holiday ideas.

In general GG can't get excited about Taste of Home. She views Taste of Home to be more on the order of Taste of Conventional and Convenient. But feel free to prove her wrong.

 

Justin Schoville's back!

The former head chef at Sontes and James Beard Award semifinalist Justin Schoville is now available as a private chef through ZZest Market & Cafe, Rochester. 

According to ZZest's website, Schoville will "design a custom menu" and create dinner "for you and a small group of your friends, cooked right in your own kitchen."