Exploring Fairport: The First Ever Restaurant Week Unveiled
Fairport Restaurant Week is set to kick off from October 17th to 24th, bringing together over 30 restaurants in a collaborative effort to highlight the diverse culinary scene of Fairport.
Christine Montroy, who runs the Fairport Food and Drink (@fairportfoodanddrink) Instagram page, and Andy Chen from Chakara Sushi and Bar (@chakarasushi) chat about the origins of this exciting event. They discuss how the idea sprouted from a casual meal at Andy's restaurant and evolved into a community-focused initiative aimed at revitalizing local businesses affected by recent construction projects.
Companies mentioned in this episode:
Great American Wing Company (@greatamericanwingco) - Skips Meat Market (@skipsfairport)
Mentioned in this episode:
Punches & Popcorn
The masters of Couch Potato style Mike Huntone, Jason Bills, and Dr. Dominic D’Amore take a deep dive into the best and worst of martial arts films. https://punches-and-popcorn.captivate.fm/
Mind of Magnus
Check out Mind of Magnus at magnusapollo.com, and leave him factoids at 585-310-2473! https://mind-of-magnus.captivate.fm
Transcript
I'm Chris Lindstrom and this is the Food About Town podcast.
Speaker B:Rochester Wilbur.
Speaker B:Why Rochester?
Speaker A:Chris Lindstrom was a hoot.
Speaker A:He was just so much fun.
Speaker C:He never stopped talking.
Speaker A:I mean, it was great.
Speaker A:Here's a good idea.
Speaker B:Have a point.
Speaker A:It makes it so much more interesting for the listener.
Speaker B:And we don't need any characters around to give the joint atmosphere.
Speaker B:Is that clear?
Speaker A:We can, because I'm a pro.
Speaker A:That's what pros do.
Speaker A:I'm a professional.
Speaker A:Look it up in the book.
Speaker A:But now, yeah, I'm thinking I'm back.
Speaker A:And we are back with another episode of the Food About Town podcast.
Speaker A:I'm your host, Chris Lindstrom, and we're here to talk about, you know, a town that's growing its food and drink presence all.
Speaker A:All over Monroe County.
Speaker A:And I've had this kissed on before, but.
Speaker A:Guest, why don't you introduce yourself?
Speaker C:I'm Christine Montroy and I run the Instagram page, Fairport Food and Drink.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And we are here to talk about.
Speaker A:Is this the first edition of this.
Speaker C:The very first.
Speaker A:So the first edition of Fairport Restaurant week is coming October 17th to the 24th all over Fairport, and we're here to talk about it.
Speaker A:And we also have another guest who's participating.
Speaker A:Introduce yourself.
Speaker B:Hi, everyone.
Speaker B:My name is Andy Chan from Chakara Sushan bar in Fairport.
Speaker A:Nice.
Speaker A:Well, both, thank you for coming over.
Speaker A:First, apologies.
Speaker A:I got caught shopping.
Speaker A:I went to Costco today for the first time.
Speaker A:Apparently that's a giant place and it takes a lot longer to get through there than I expected.
Speaker A:But thank you for your patience and I'm excited to learn about this whole event.
Speaker A:So, Christine, why Fairport?
Speaker A:Why Fairport Restaurant Week?
Speaker C:So the story really starts back in June when my husband and I went to Andy's restaurant just for a meal.
Speaker C:You know, I really love their food.
Speaker C:And so.
Speaker C:And Andy comes over because he's really friendly like that and says.
Speaker C:And he presented this idea like he thought this was a really great suggestion to maybe.
Speaker C:What if we had a restaurant week?
Speaker B:Oh, yeah, I'm think.
Speaker B:I'm thinking the Filpo.
Speaker B:It's one of the most popular place in Rochester, and Fillpole has a different variety of restaurants, cuisines.
Speaker B:You know, why don't we just have like a week that's specially created for restaurants and bars, you know?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Something to bring people in that maybe don't know about, you know, know about the wide range of different things and we kind of touched on it last time we had John.
Speaker A:Christine but this is, you know, a little bit of an opportunity to get people in and have them, you know, have the restaurants show what they want to show to people too.
Speaker A:Like, really curate something that is, you know, easy to approach and gives an idea of what they do.
Speaker A:And, you know, I've been.
Speaker A:I've had an up and down relationship with restaurant weeks over the years.
Speaker A:And, you know, it's something that I've.
Speaker A:I've struggled with at times and I think it can be done really well because often, you know, people are just coming in for a deal, they don't come back.
Speaker A:You know, the restaurants, you know, don't necessarily show what they're best at.
Speaker A:They just show what they can hammer out the easiest and it doesn't work out for anybody.
Speaker A:And a lot of places end up losing money on it.
Speaker A:So when you're thinking about developing this and engaging with all the restaurants and coming up with the different menus and things, what is that process?
Speaker A:Kind of like.
Speaker C:I've been running my Instagram page for over three years now, so I have relationships with a lot of the restaurant owners and managers.
Speaker C:So when I approached them with this idea, I think we all needed, like just a big boost.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:There's been a lot of construction going on in Fairport between the streetscape project and then there is the DOT as they're repairing a culvert.
Speaker C:So it's been tough couple of months, like financially for the businesses in Fairport, and the streetscape project should be wrapping up in October.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker C:It's kind of a way to like, bring people back to the village.
Speaker C:You know, you're going to see a beautiful, revitalized, refurbished village and we want you to come back and enjoy what Fairport has to offer.
Speaker C:And it was really well received.
Speaker C:The really unique thing about this is we're the only ones doing this in the area.
Speaker A:Yeah, I can.
Speaker A:I haven't seen one.
Speaker A:I haven't seen one pop up in a while.
Speaker A:I know Buffalo's had one up and down and it's not every year.
Speaker A:And I think it's both tough to organize and, you know, getting the right places to participate to make it worth everybody's time.
Speaker A:But I think this also is an occasion that makes sense where people.
Speaker A:Business hasn't been up because of construction.
Speaker A:Everything else.
Speaker A:This, this makes a lot of sense for why?
Speaker A:Because a lot of places, it's just like, oh, let's just do it.
Speaker A:And then a lot of places are siphoning money off as well.
Speaker A:And it never sits right with me.
Speaker A:This Seems like a good reason to do it.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Right things.
Speaker B:I. I think Phil did a phenomenal job with the.
Speaker B:Every events that like kennel days, Fillpole music festivals.
Speaker B:Like I just talked to Christine earlier was like Fairpoint have a different, like great successful business that owned by great people.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Like breweries, distilleries, pubs and restaurants.
Speaker B:Different kinds.
Speaker B:I think these will.
Speaker B:Will bring more people from outside of Fairport and to come to visit in town.
Speaker A:Yeah, I think that's the hardest thing too is like you're making a specific trip.
Speaker A:But I think this facilitates that in an interesting way.
Speaker A:And before we.
Speaker A:I apologize before we continue, Andy, can you tell people about what is.
Speaker A:What is Chikara?
Speaker B:So chikara is Sia Pan Asian fusions.
Speaker B:And the.
Speaker B:We have a full bars and sushi bars, you know, and we've been serving the community for over 13 years.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:And we focus has always been a quality ingredients and warm dining experience.
Speaker B:And we gain a lot of like new folks that from outside of Fairport.
Speaker B:That's why that one.
Speaker B:That's the idea.
Speaker B:So we always say, why don't we just, you know, because like I say, Fairpoint is the most.
Speaker B:It's the hottest place in Rochester.
Speaker B:You know, we have a lot of folks that from outside of Fairport.
Speaker B:Then why don't we just create this one for just, you know, buying restaurants and to help the business.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So we'll dive into Chikara a little bit more.
Speaker A:I kind of want to dive into, you know, some of the origins and the through lines.
Speaker A:But so on the restaurant week, how many participants do you have signed up so far?
Speaker C:I have over 30 restaurants that are interested in joining in and.
Speaker A:Holy cow.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:And the thing is, there's a spectrum of opportunities there.
Speaker C:You know, you have casual from family friendly, you have upscale dining, you have a variety of cuisines.
Speaker C:So there's like openings for people with all interests of all dining preferences to come and find something they would like.
Speaker C:And in fact, besides just regular restaurants where you sit down and eat, we have like Skips Meat market, for example.
Speaker C:They're preparing something where you can tape the ingredients home and have restaurant week at home.
Speaker C:They'll have specials with some of their product, whether it's like something you cook at home or maybe like a meal ready to go.
Speaker C:But they've put together like their own kind of restaurant week at home so they can join in.
Speaker A:I kind of like that idea too.
Speaker A:Like, it's a little bit more of a creative way of tackling it that allows places to participate that might not always be able to.
Speaker A:It kind of not.
Speaker A:Not to.
Speaker A:Not to bring up the pandemic, but, like, it feels reminiscent of that when you could buy those, like, kits and go build your thing at home.
Speaker A:Yeah, but I.
Speaker A:And I think there's still value in doing those things.
Speaker A:Like, sometimes you just don't want to think.
Speaker A:You don't want to think about the food you might want to cook at home, but you might not want to do.
Speaker A:The thought of, hey, what am I going to cook?
Speaker A:What are the flavors I'm going to do?
Speaker A:I mean, I personally like doing that, but not everybody does.
Speaker A:Some people just want, like, hey, tell me what to do.
Speaker A:And like, what a great.
Speaker A:What a great option from, you know, from a local institution.
Speaker C:Yeah, that's right.
Speaker C:And, you know, it just opens it up for people who don't like to go out.
Speaker C:You know, they prefer cooking at home, and it's a chance for them to now see, what does Skip do?
Speaker C:Like, what is Skips like inside?
Speaker C:What type of meat do they offer, what type of quality, what type of service do they offer, and then bring it home and kind of complete the task and.
Speaker C:And enjoy the rest of the event.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Is there.
Speaker A:Is there a full list out already or is that still in process?
Speaker C:It's still in process, but I am gathering menus and options like Andy brought with him.
Speaker C:What Chikara is going to do for that.
Speaker A:Oh, nice.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Well, I'm intrigued because I. I think this is one of the.
Speaker A:One of the interesting, you know, interesting ways to tackle this because something that crosses cultural boundaries.
Speaker A:Right, right.
Speaker A:You know, I always look for a through line because my, My goal is always.
Speaker A:And this, this is where I differ from, like, the typical diner is like, I want.
Speaker A:I want to be laser focused on like, like a cuisine or a region of a country.
Speaker A:Like, I want to, like, laser in.
Speaker A:But that's like, not what everybody wants.
Speaker A:People want something that everybody's going to like.
Speaker A:They want to get that thing that appeals to the kids, appeals to the pick that they can go in and get something there they know and are comfortable with.
Speaker A:Yeah, it looks like.
Speaker A:Yeah, you've got like a sushi starter.
Speaker A:You've got approachable.
Speaker A:What I would consider that lives in the world of Americanized, sort of Americanized.
Speaker A:Ish.
Speaker A:Chinese in the middle in the best possible way.
Speaker A:Like, that's Mongolian beef hibachi steak, you know, a chicken and steamed broccoli, kind of savory brown sauce, I assume.
Speaker A:And then finishing off with, you know, with a crepe cake and crepe cakes.
Speaker A:That is fine.
Speaker A:That is fine bakery work, by the way.
Speaker A:That's not easy.
Speaker A:And that's kind of reminiscent of some of the upscale, like Chinese style bakeries too, or Taiwanese bakeries.
Speaker B:Yep, that's.
Speaker B:So when we, when we set up this menu, we've been, we've been actually working a lot with this.
Speaker B:How are we going to set up this menu for the specialty for the restaurant week?
Speaker B:So when we pick from our menu, it's the most popular items that we put them together and with the three different courses.
Speaker B:And so that's why we know there's a couple options and people can pick from there or they can go on our regular menu as well too.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So for restaurant week, is this a, like, is there a standard price?
Speaker A:Like, how is this.
Speaker A:Does every restaurant choose what they do when it comes to approachability?
Speaker C:That's what I'm expecting to happen, that everyone is going to approach this in their own way, whether they put together a menu like Andy did, which, I mean, honestly, I think the price he's offering this at is a great price for the amount of food you're getting.
Speaker A:100%.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:And I think you're going to see that more and more.
Speaker C:There'll be probably a dish that they just introduced for that week as a special.
Speaker C:Special or maybe something like what you're seeing here with a fixed price menu with choices, maybe appetizer specials, drink specials.
Speaker C:It could look like so many different things.
Speaker C:It's what will work for the restaurants, you know, to make it easy for them.
Speaker A:I kind of like that because there, I think that's the other thing.
Speaker A:A lot of them are very standardized when it comes to pricing and format, where it is like a three course, four blank price and it's the kind of thing that forces everybody into a single box.
Speaker A:I like the idea that they're coming up with their own thing and their choice of how do they present that.
Speaker A:Also the choice of things that are easier to execute on a busy day.
Speaker A:Because like if these are, if this is what we all hope it would be, where there's a lot of people coming in.
Speaker A:Well, yeah, you have to be.
Speaker A:What are the things you can execute on a very busy day or a very busy week and being able to do that, that's important.
Speaker C:Yeah, I, I just the other day I got Salvatore's pizza.
Speaker C:I mean, this is a local chain of pizzerias, but there's one in Fairport, right in the Village and they're participating like they are offering a special pizza with certain toppings that is very popular with, you know, the customers that they have.
Speaker C:So again you'll have something like with Andy, you'll have something more casual.
Speaker C:You'll have skips has where you know you're making it at home.
Speaker C:So there's just a variety of offerings here.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So yeah, I'm kind of intrigued.
Speaker A:So what when you're, when you're going out and talking to everybody like how, how is that, how is the reception been from everybody?
Speaker A:Because that's, you know, there's always going to be ups and downs to that and it's.
Speaker A:I having done pitching to restaurants, it's, it's never, it can be a tough process sometimes.
Speaker A:And I know you have some visibility which is helps.
Speaker C:I think it depends on their own experience.
Speaker C:Like if they've encountered a restaurant week before, they sort of know what to expect.
Speaker C:And that's kind of where Andy came in.
Speaker C:Because you had encountered this when you worked in New York City.
Speaker B:Right, Right.
Speaker B:For my memories, I think New York City does that every year.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:That's a huge one.
Speaker A:Like that's wild.
Speaker B:That was a huge one.
Speaker B:And was the restaurant, the business service always busy and people obviously that New York City is a big city.
Speaker B:There's a lot of tourists and whatever people from outside of New York City.
Speaker B:Especially for that week.
Speaker B:I'm hoping, like I said, I'm hoping that this is the first year of a restaurant week for Fillport that will help all the business in Fairport and can bring more the people's in Philippo.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So what, what kind of, what kind of work were you doing in New York City, Andy?
Speaker B:I was a sushi chef.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:Sushi chef for the walking.
Speaker B:Pretty nice restaurants and high end restaurants.
Speaker A:More, more of a fixed price omakase style sushi.
Speaker B:I was a makase chef.
Speaker A:Sushi, which is, it's a fascinating world.
Speaker A:I, I love, I, I love going to those kind of places because it is, it's a very specific experience.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:You know, that's you're feeling, it's the feeling of I can take my hands off and feel like I'm being taken care of by somebody who's an expert in what they do.
Speaker A:But it also facilitates, you know, higher end techniques like aging fish or smoking or you know, doing torching and other things like that.
Speaker A:It gives you that, you know, bandwidth to do those kind of things that optimize the fish flavor in a way that's.
Speaker A:Can be hard to do in a, you know, a takeout kind of place or Somewhere else.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker A:Because it's a lot of work to do that really well.
Speaker B:It's a lot of prepping.
Speaker B:Prepping.
Speaker B:I remember the restaurants I work to.
Speaker B:So we went.
Speaker B:We weren't.
Speaker B:We weren't open at lunchtimes.
Speaker B:The lunchtime.
Speaker B:But we still have to come in the lunch time.
Speaker B:That's only for prepping and ready for dinner service.
Speaker A:Well, in the time just to, you know.
Speaker A:And when you care about every detail, like getting the rice.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:You know, takes a lot of time.
Speaker A:It's, you know, proper washing, proper seasoning, you know, getting your cook time.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Because if it's mushy, like, it's, you know, everybody's going to hate it.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And if it's undercooked, everybody's going to hate it.
Speaker A:Especially with that experience.
Speaker A:Every.
Speaker A:Every little detail matters.
Speaker A:Yeah, it's.
Speaker A:It's a fascinating world because it, you know, there's so many different styles inside of that, too, which is very cool.
Speaker A:Speaking of different styles, I'm kind of wondering, like, the, you know, when it comes to different styles of food, you have good selection like we talked about last time.
Speaker A:Feeling.
Speaker A:Are you feeling pretty good about the variety of cuisines that you got signed up so far?
Speaker C:I. I really am.
Speaker C:I mean, I feel like every restaurant that I spoke to gave me a yes.
Speaker C:Awesome.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:So that's a really positive start.
Speaker C:And in fact, you know, we do have a sponsor for this event.
Speaker A:Oh, nice.
Speaker C:And the sponsor is Great American Wing Company and they opened today.
Speaker C:So, you know, we're recording this in September, and today's their first day.
Speaker C:And, you know, they're located at the Rochester Ice center, which is a booming part of Fairport, and they were generous enough to agree to sponsor the event.
Speaker C:And we.
Speaker A:Where is that located?
Speaker A:I'd say it's not a place I'm familiar with.
Speaker C:So it used to be called, like, the Thomas Creek Arena.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker C:And there were two rinks there.
Speaker C:It's located off Macedon Center Road, and it's on Linden Avenue or Linden Road.
Speaker C:But they now house the Rochester Junior Americans, which is a.
Speaker C:Like a developmental league for players who want to eventually maybe go into the AHL or the NHL.
Speaker C:And for the past.
Speaker C:They've had two years, two seasons, and this is starting their third season.
Speaker C:This has grown, like, exponentially.
Speaker C:People are really interested in it.
Speaker C:The prices to go in and see the games are so reasonable.
Speaker C:Kids like 12 and under are free.
Speaker C:The tickets are like $7.
Speaker C:I mean, and it's a fun family night out.
Speaker C:So much so that they went and built a third rank over there.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker C:And now opened up this wing restaurant.
Speaker C:And you know, I would say, Chris, like, keep an eye on that part of Fairport because they have a lot of plans for development over the next five years.
Speaker C:Like, it's going to be very exciting over there.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Because that kind of seems like, you know, like when.
Speaker A:When you see the development out, like when Victor started popping, like where the brewery.
Speaker A:I've been consulting on DeWolf.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Right in the Village now.
Speaker A:But like that wasn't that populated that long ago.
Speaker A:And now you see like, you know, Fairport going into the other areas, you know, that transition area.
Speaker A:Because Fairport itself is.
Speaker A:You can't fit a lot more in Fairport, you know, the Village, like there's no more space.
Speaker A:Like it has to go outward.
Speaker A:And that makes a lot of sense, you know, to where, you know, where Chicago is a little bit, you know, it's not right in the center of the village.
Speaker A:This is like a little bit on the outside.
Speaker A:Which one lets you get space in a place where there is no space.
Speaker C:Great parking over there.
Speaker B:So the reason why I.
Speaker B:For my.
Speaker B:My thinking.
Speaker B:So we have a lot of folks that from outside of a Fairport and especially when Fairport have events like canal dates and the music festival.
Speaker B:I mean when we just opened up 13 years ago, we do have a canal dates in that time.
Speaker B:I can't remember much, but when it's a Canal days, we don't have that many folks that coming to the restaurant.
Speaker B:But for the last few years we've been pretty busy during the Canal Day.
Speaker B:And then people like, after the events, they will visit us, they will come.
Speaker C:To restaurants and they just relax and enjoy the experience.
Speaker C:And they have, you know, access to parking.
Speaker C:It's conveniently located.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:Well, it's got to be.
Speaker A:Got to be tough too, like with that many people in for Canal days.
Speaker A:And if you're in the town, like it's going to be an hour to sit down anywhere at the very least.
Speaker A:And it makes a lot of sense to have, you know, stuff that's easier to get to and stuff like that.
Speaker A:I think we're going to do.
Speaker A:I think we're going to take a quick break and we're going to.
Speaker A:We're going to have a couple bites of the.
Speaker A:The Great American Wings.
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker A:And we're going to come back with some commentary and we will be right back.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:Our fingers are lightly sticky and our mouths are a little bit tingly.
Speaker A:But we are back with the second half of our Conversation, talking about Fairport Restaurant Week, which is happening on October 17th to the 24th, all over Fairport, targeting 30 different places or more to be involved by that time.
Speaker A:Are there any like, any specific other ones you want to mention real quick?
Speaker A:Because I know there's.
Speaker A:I know you've got a lot going on still.
Speaker C:I.
Speaker C:We do well, of course.
Speaker C:Great American Wing Company, which is brand new Boccini's, they're doing a special salt Bonnie and Clyde, which a lot of people are intrigued by that.
Speaker C:That's new.
Speaker C:New.
Speaker C:Not new, like new from February.
Speaker C:But if you haven't been down there, like, this would be a great opportunity to check out what they're all about.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Especially if you miss their.
Speaker A:Miss their old restaurant.
Speaker C:They still have some of those menu items from the Cub Room on their Bonnie and Clyde menus.
Speaker C:So.
Speaker A:Which is.
Speaker A:It's a great opportunity to support them because they, you know, they did it.
Speaker A:They had a great long run in, you know, in the South Wedge.
Speaker A:And great to see them doing well out there too.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:So I, I mean, I think that there is a Facebook page and it's Fairport Restaurant Week.
Speaker C:So if you follow that, I'm starting to post the menus on there.
Speaker A:Nice.
Speaker C:And that's a really good chance to kind of like get an idea of where do you want to spend your time?
Speaker C:Where do you want to spend your money?
Speaker C:But you know what's really interesting, Chris, is over the summer, the Village did something called construction bucks.
Speaker C:So this program was if you were a merchant that decided to participate, somebody shopped in your store and spent $10, you'd get one construction buck, so you can use them as cash.
Speaker C:So let's say you shopped, I don't know, at Redbird Market, and you spent however much money and you got some construction bucks.
Speaker C:You.
Speaker C:If you can bring that during Restaurant Week to one of their participating in construction bucks and spend your construction bucks right there in the Village, like it's just kind of keeping the.
Speaker C:The money all together, like all in the Village.
Speaker C:And it just works as cash really well.
Speaker A:And I appreciate them trying to do that too, because I know some of my friends who had places like on State street with the construction there.
Speaker A:And I saw places closed that really shouldn't have had to had to close because of that constant wave of construction.
Speaker A:And I know it was a bad look.
Speaker A:It was a bad look for everybody, was a bad look for the city.
Speaker A:It really hurt the businesses over there and a lot of them didn't recover.
Speaker A:And I feel bad like for my friends, like over at Red, White and Brew, and, you know, people who are doing good work over there, and I'm really glad that they tried to do something to buoy the business is.
Speaker A:Because it's really hard.
Speaker A:It's really hard on the businesses with that level of construction going on.
Speaker A:It's not a neutral thing.
Speaker C:I think Fairport has a merchants association which is so supportive of their member businesses, and they're really just trying to stimulate the economy here after this summer of construction, bring people in and, you know, that's what they're there for.
Speaker C:And not every village has a merchants association.
Speaker C:This is somewhat unique.
Speaker C:Hopefully after this restaurant week, we see some other local villages deciding that they want to jump on the bandwagon and organize their own, you know, support local.
Speaker C:That's really what it's all about.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And speaking of which, so we did.
Speaker A:We did taste.
Speaker A:Taste the wings during the break.
Speaker A:And these just.
Speaker A:Just to give, like, just a little commentary on that.
Speaker A:Just.
Speaker A:So, one, thank you for supplying some wings for us to taste.
Speaker A:And two, that's like, sauces were all really balanced.
Speaker A:We had like, a what, a buffalo.
Speaker A:Buffalo parm and a country.
Speaker C:Country sweet.
Speaker A:Yeah, country Swedish kind of thing.
Speaker A:And I gotta say, like, spice levels were all very approachable, but definitely there.
Speaker A:I think the both of the savory options had a good little vinegary kick.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Like, they weren't dead.
Speaker A:They weren't crazy spicy.
Speaker A:I think those are great base levels for those sauces.
Speaker A:And I think the sauces were actually all really well formulated.
Speaker A:They stuck to the wings.
Speaker A:Well, good salt levels too, which I appreciate.
Speaker A:A lot of them end up being, like, under salted, and that always bothers me.
Speaker A:Like, get.
Speaker A:Get good salt levels on your food.
Speaker C:They have a choice of like, eight different sauces at Great American Wing Company.
Speaker C:You can, you know, if you're there for hockey, great.
Speaker C:You can just go into the restaurant if you choose to.
Speaker C:You can order through GrubHub.
Speaker C:So, you know, that's.
Speaker C:It's something new.
Speaker C:I don't think we have just a dedicated wing place in Fairport.
Speaker C:Can you think?
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Not off the top of my head.
Speaker A:No.
Speaker A:No.
Speaker A:And I'd say, you know, do it if you're going to do that, and especially if it's in the name of your place.
Speaker A:You've got to really focus on the details.
Speaker A:And even though these had traveled.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Which wings are one of the worst things to travel.
Speaker A:Like pizza and wings.
Speaker A:By the way, everybody's getting pizza and wings delivered from Other places, like, it's a terrible delivery food.
Speaker A:Like, it's the easiest delivery food.
Speaker A:But both don't hold up with travel.
Speaker A:Like, wings get gummy right away.
Speaker C:French fries, they're some of the worst.
Speaker A:Things to travel well, even though they're one of the most delivered things that exist, still bugs me.
Speaker C:So, I mean, for anybody who's watching this or listening, I picked up these wings probably two hours ago, and we just had them, and there was still, like, a crispiness to them.
Speaker C:That little crunch, that resistance.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Even on the savory ones with those sauces are much more likely to make them soggy and shockingly, like.
Speaker A:Yeah, a little bit.
Speaker A:But even then, like, they still had some crispy spots.
Speaker A:Like, I'm impressed because, like, that means you cook them really, really well.
Speaker A:So shout out to them for doing that.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:Yeah, I did want to.
Speaker A:During our break, we.
Speaker A:We kind of dove into Andy's history a little bit, and I kind of want to.
Speaker A:I want to dive into what you're doing on Thursdays and, like, some of the creative sushi work you're doing.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker B:We have the fish that.
Speaker B:The fresh fish that direct the import directly from Japan.
Speaker B:It's called fish box.
Speaker B:So I can't choose what is in there.
Speaker B:So whatever I have to deal with whatever they send it to me, which is I really enjoying it.
Speaker B:Every time I open the box and see a different fish is there.
Speaker B:And like, the other things, I have to apologize with the folks that whoever come in for fishy was like, a lot of folks that come in and say, hey, I want the fishy from the last week.
Speaker B:Whatever is it.
Speaker B:I'm sorry, I don't have it.
Speaker B:Because the reason why I don't have it says I don't know what they're going to have when are going to send it to me.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:So Top Chef, like that, you just get.
Speaker C:You open the box and what you get, you have to make the best of.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker C:But you're pretty creative.
Speaker B:We trying to.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So do you know what.
Speaker A:Do you know what market it's coming from?
Speaker A:Or is it more just like.
Speaker B:Like the market it's from?
Speaker B:I can't name it.
Speaker B:I can't.
Speaker B:Not top of my head.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:But it is from a specific market.
Speaker B:It's from a specific market that, you know, they have a connections in Japan, so we have to pre order it.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So since we pre order.
Speaker B:So they ship directly from Tokyo and then to New York City, and then we have a supplier so that directly send it to us yeah.
Speaker A:So if you have.
Speaker A:You had something like in the recent, you know, recent weeks that you were surprised with, that you loved working with all the fishes.
Speaker B:They sent it to me that actually, you know, first surprised me.
Speaker B:They have a very good technique that.
Speaker B:To keep the fish fresh.
Speaker B:And like I say, I, for the past 13 years, never have a. I never have issues with those fish.
Speaker B:It's coming, you know, they always come.
Speaker B:They.
Speaker B:Well packaging and ice pads in there that.
Speaker B:To keep the fish fresh.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Was there.
Speaker A:Was there a specific fish recently that you liked a lot that you hadn't worked with?
Speaker B:The.
Speaker A:The.
Speaker B:I like a lot The.
Speaker B:The red snapper and the.
Speaker B:Also the ground.
Speaker B:We call the Japanese name Isaki we touched in the scheme side.
Speaker B:It will come out very.
Speaker B:The savory.
Speaker B:I want to say savory.
Speaker B:It's very tendon and it's very literally like butter.
Speaker B:And we touch the skin sides, they have a little smoky flavors that come up.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:That torch style sushi is fascinating because it's.
Speaker A:I was surprised in Toronto, it's so popular.
Speaker A:Like you.
Speaker A:I see that a ton.
Speaker A:It was like pressed and torched.
Speaker A:Like, it was very.
Speaker A:It's very common.
Speaker A:I love to see that, you know, popping up here too.
Speaker A:That's very cool.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Oh, man.
Speaker A:So when it comes to.
Speaker A:When it comes to, like anything that's changed in Fairport since last time we talked, I don't know if anything else is open.
Speaker A:Has anything else opened up other than the Great American?
Speaker C:I think that's probably.
Speaker C:That's all I can really think of.
Speaker C:And I think largely it's because it's hard to launch a business when you have this construction.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:So if you had an interest in maybe opening a restaurant, there might be just.
Speaker C:This is the time that you're deciding to pause before you sort of move forward with what your plans are.
Speaker C:So there are a couple of spaces that are available in Fairport that I think that once the construction clears up, maybe in the spring we'll start to see some more things open.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And you're just getting into your regular.
Speaker A:Your regular job right now too, Right?
Speaker C:I'm on day four of my regular job with a great group of kids.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:So is that.
Speaker A:Is that a bit of, you know, after doing all the work to, you know, do the prep for this, is that like a weird sensation to be getting back to it or like.
Speaker A:Oh, it's like you're taking that breath in a different way?
Speaker C:It provides a lot of structure to my day.
Speaker C:So I am a teacher and I Teach fourth grade.
Speaker C:So I know how I'm spending the first part of my day, but I feel like my day has two parts to it.
Speaker C:You probably feel the same way.
Speaker C:You do your day job.
Speaker C:And then I do this passion project, which is Fairport Food and Drink.
Speaker C:And it's really taken off, I think, even since I last saw you.
Speaker C:I'm close to like 5,800 followers, which for me is a lot.
Speaker C:And.
Speaker C:Oh, you know, Chris, I actually just thought of one that opened Backwoods.
Speaker C:Oh, tell me about where you are.
Speaker C:It's right on 31, like, Pittsford, Palmyra Road.
Speaker C:So this is Kettle Ridge, like the Maple Farm, I think they're in.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah, yeah.
Speaker C:So they opened this site in Fairport, and they have mead, they have some beer there, wine, they have grilled food.
Speaker C:But it's an outdoor music venue.
Speaker C:But they have connection to the Crescent trails.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker C:They have, like two miles worth of trails.
Speaker C:They have a hill with ropes that kids can climb on.
Speaker C:Very family friendly.
Speaker C:You're outside in this wooded area.
Speaker C:Adirondack chairs.
Speaker C:You can bring your own chairs.
Speaker C:And it seems to be like, it opened last week, it's taking off.
Speaker C:It's really pretty popular.
Speaker A:Yeah, I have not heard of that yet, though.
Speaker A:That's a very interesting idea for out there, too.
Speaker A:You know, having something that touches on the outdoors and gets you outside a little bit.
Speaker C:And, you know, at this time of year where it's starting to get cooler at night and the fire pits and you're sitting around, you're listening to music and you have a good drink in your hand.
Speaker A:You're not gonna beat that, right?
Speaker C:And let your kids just run wild and, you know, enjoy your.
Speaker C:Your experience out there.
Speaker A:Oh, that's pretty cool.
Speaker A:No, that's.
Speaker A:No, I love that you mentioned that.
Speaker A:It's always nice to have those things in your back pocket on one of those, like, really nice nights where young people might be able to have a chance to sit outside, you know, and get a chance to kind of just take a breath because we all, like, you mentioned, like, I don't know, I'm running on tilt right now.
Speaker A:I just.
Speaker A:I just got through doing 20, 20 + fringe festival preview podcasts, and I am.
Speaker A:I'm crispy.
Speaker A:And to be honest, like, it's been a.
Speaker A:It's been a great thing because I've learned so much, but it's still a lot.
Speaker A:And that's the thing with doing something you love, right?
Speaker A:Even though you love it, it's still.
Speaker A:You still have those moments where you're like, who?
Speaker A:All right, take a breath and then you dive back in.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Because, you know, I grew up in a small family business.
Speaker A:I don't know how much your family's involved or how much it's, you know, you, Andy, at your place.
Speaker A:I.
Speaker B:Most of the times I was there, yeah.
Speaker B:Six days a week.
Speaker B:And we do have a great staff that.
Speaker B:Being with the business for years.
Speaker B:And the.
Speaker B:My family usually not.
Speaker B:My wife come to restaurant sometimes if we need.
Speaker B:If we really short hands.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So, like, we say we're being very lucky with the consistent staff.
Speaker A:It makes a huge.
Speaker A:Makes a huge difference, doesn't it?
Speaker A:Where you can depend on.
Speaker A:You can depend on that.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah, because it's.
Speaker A:It's tough.
Speaker A:Like, I grew up in a small family business, meaning, like, when we didn't get paid kind of small family business.
Speaker A:And, you know, there's not a lot of separation from every day.
Speaker A:You just.
Speaker A:Like, we have our family picnic, and if people show up to.
Speaker A:People show up to buy stuff, you stop the picnic and you go sell to them.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And we have our picnic invisible site of where we're selling our plants and stuff.
Speaker A:So it's like, I love the grind because I love doing things I really care about and, you know, serving food that you care about and bringing the word out to people to get them engaged in, you know, helping the restaurants of an area.
Speaker A:Like, I love doing that kind of work.
Speaker A:But, yeah, it's.
Speaker A:It can be draining sometimes.
Speaker A:Especially with the day job.
Speaker C:Yeah, with the day job.
Speaker A:It's a great compromise.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:You don't have to.
Speaker A:And it's part of the great thing about.
Speaker A:Is you have the day job, so it doesn't have to be.
Speaker A:You don't have to leverage the businesses to make extra, extra money.
Speaker A:It's about doing it the right way and helping out.
Speaker C:It really grounds you, you know, to have that place to go, to have kids who depend on me.
Speaker C:Like, I really give it all my attention and focus because I love my job, and this is my passion project, as I said.
Speaker C:And I just find, like, this is such a creative outlet for me.
Speaker C:The idea of restaurant week that Andy came up with and then just executing it.
Speaker C:Where else could that happen but here in Rochester, in Fairport, where, you know, their ideas are just become reality.
Speaker A:Well, I also love that, like, even though, like, you helped organize a lot of it, I love that it wasn't you that brought it up.
Speaker A:Yeah, like that.
Speaker C:It was Andy.
Speaker C:I'm gonna give him full credit for that.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:I just give him a We actually, I would.
Speaker B:We both have ideas.
Speaker B:And then they.
Speaker B:She was like.
Speaker B:I was like, so when we talk about this, we talk about the ideas.
Speaker B:About a week later, you know, calling me was like, andy, that's going to be a happen.
Speaker B:I was like, what are you talking about?
Speaker B:I was like, I was, I. I didn't, you know, think about that's going to be.
Speaker B:Happen.
Speaker B:That's going to be quick in my personal hoping that gonna like, help all the business.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And to grow and to, you know, make a fur and be more and more hardest place from outside Rochester.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Well, and I also love, I love that collaboration too, because if it like you just came up with it and you did it all on your own, I think that would also be great.
Speaker A:But having like that relationship too, I think that that is a testament to the way you're doing things.
Speaker A:That this was a conversation, that this was like, hey, you're ready.
Speaker A:You're listening.
Speaker A:Like you're listening to the restaurants too.
Speaker C:Exactly what a restaurant is looking for.
Speaker C:Like, yes.
Speaker C:You know, I. I could just come up and invent things, but I don't really know what would practically work for them.
Speaker C:And Andy, who's had experience with it, feels like this is a good idea.
Speaker C:Like you have to just go with it.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I think that that's the big difference though too is like I've seen.
Speaker A:I've seen places try to drive it themselves and having that live conversation and that it's a relationship.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:You don't do that without already knowing each other.
Speaker A:You don't do that without having that experience knowing each other.
Speaker A:That also those are the things that make doing this worthwhile.
Speaker A:Like the places that I worked with often for nominate, like I count them as friends.
Speaker A:I don't see them all the time, but they're people I care about.
Speaker A:I care about their restaurants.
Speaker A:I care that their family's doing well.
Speaker A:Like, that matters to me because they worked with me and that meant a lot.
Speaker A:And having those relationships doing this kind of thing has to be very heartening.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:I'm so happy that we can make this happen.
Speaker C:If this is successful, we'd love to do it annually.
Speaker C:Maybe we'd love to do a dessert week in February.
Speaker C:Come up with other ideas to just kept.
Speaker C:Keep stimulating, like what we're doing in Fairport.
Speaker C:But I'm so happy that you approached me with this and I was sitting there eating my Thursday.
Speaker C:My Thursday box special.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Oh, you go out for that too?
Speaker A:Oh, that's awesome.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:See, I love, I love Underground stuff like that, where it's like you don't advertise it all the time, but the regulars, they're coming in, then they tell their friends.
Speaker A:But that's, that's the sign of something that is done right, where you don't have to advertise that because people tell their friends.
Speaker A:Yeah, because people are excited.
Speaker A:People are excited to have something exciting in their, you know, in their lives.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:It's so funny.
Speaker A:We were out at, I think it was Victor Food and Music Festival or whatever it was for the brewery I'm consulting on, and how many people walked up and just said, we want to be excited about something in Victor.
Speaker A:And I love that you got that.
Speaker A:You're both working on something to make people in Fairport excited, to bring people out and do something that is good for the town, good for the restaurants, good for the people.
Speaker A:So, Christine, why don't you get the plugs out again for the event?
Speaker A:And where can people find everything you do?
Speaker C:So Fairport Restaurant Week will be taking place October 17th through 24th.
Speaker C:And it's not something you have to register for or sign up for or buy a ticket for.
Speaker C:You're going to go to Facebook, to our page on Facebook, Fairport Restaurant Week, and you'll start to see the menus begin to be posted there.
Speaker C:And really, with over 30 choices, there's something for everyone to experience in Fairport.
Speaker C:And a lot of this couldn't be possible without, of course, Andy's original idea.
Speaker C:But then our sponsor, which is Great American Wing Co. And I mean, they've been so generous and helpful for us and we just can't wait to help promote their new business as well in Fairport.
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker A:And you can find all of Christine's work at Fairport Food and Drink on Instagram.
Speaker A:You know, always doing the good work of bringing people out to different spots.
Speaker A:Andy, why don't you put out the plugs for Chikara?
Speaker C:Yep.
Speaker B:We're excited for the.
Speaker B:Like I said, we spent time for to create those menu for the Fairport Restaurant Week as a first time.
Speaker B:It's the first year, you know, hopefully seeing some of our regular customers coming to try out the menus and then we will see, look forward to see new people from outside of Port to come come over to try us.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A: And you can Find Chikara at: Speaker A:So, you know, lots of easy parking.
Speaker A:This is a great place to go get stuff for everybody that likes things come out for Thursday and get some fascinating fish.
Speaker A:You can go to eat Chakara, that's C-H-A K A R A.com to go to the website to look at the menu, get reservations, you know, find everything about Chikara.
Speaker C:Andy's got some customers who are other restaurant owners in Fairport who show up and eat his food.
Speaker C:So, I mean, if you have another restaurant owner sitting there at the table, it's a testament to what they've got going on.
Speaker A:You're not going to beat that, man.
Speaker C:That's the highest type of praise you can get.
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker A:Well, thank you both for coming over.
Speaker A:Really appreciate it.
Speaker A:For everybody else listening, want you to check out all the other shows on the Lunchadore Podcast Network.
Speaker A:When it comes to food and drink, I want you to check out Polygoogliamo show.
Speaker A:If you're listening to this, you already know who Paulie is, but check his show out.
Speaker A:He's been doing some amazing interviews recently.
Speaker A:Also had, you know this is going to be past when this was a hot topic, but did a tribute to Brother Weeze that he worked with for 10 years.
Speaker A:Was a great episode.
Speaker A:Also want you to take a listen to dialed in our coffee show from Wade Read and Aaron Piscucci.
Speaker A:We're starting the third season of that right now, so by the time you listen to this, at least two or three episodes are going to be out.
Speaker A:We just did an episode recently about Montgomery Court where they're dealing with zoning issues not allowing them to have enough seats in their restaurant slash coffee shop to put people in.
Speaker A:So, you know, we're talking about restaurant weeks, we're talking about zoning, we're talking about all sorts of stuff on the Lunchadore Podcast Network and Food About Town.
Speaker A:Thanks for listening to the Food About Town podcast.
Speaker A:If you aren't already subscribed, what are you waiting for?
Speaker A:Go to your podcast app of choice and make us your favorite podcast by subscribing and leaving a review if you can.
Speaker A:Music for the podcast was created by the fabulous Taurus Savant.
Speaker A:You can hear more of his work@taurusavant.bandcamp.com and make your presence known by seeing him perform.
Speaker A:Food About Town is a proud member of the Lunchadore Podcast Network.
Speaker A:Oh no, here comes McKenneth.
Speaker A:This has been a presentation of the Lunchadore Podcast Network.
Speaker A:I was just looking at all the skips options.
Speaker A:Holy cow, those are some crazy options you can get there.
