Standing Stone Vineyards Vertical Gewurztraminer Tasting: As Unique as the Grape
By Rochelle Bilow, Finger Lakes Food Correspondent The wine tastings at Standing Stone Vineyards are hardly typical, but then again, owner and winemaker Marti Macinski isn’t your average wine industry professional. A former lawyer with a degree in piano performance...
The Piggery Deli and Butcher Shop: Making Meat Cool Once More in Ithaca
By Rochelle Bilow, Finger Lakes Food Correspondent "Do you want to meet the butchers?" Heather asked me as we rounded the corner of the kitchen. In the middle of next room two men intricately worked knives into the ribs of...
At 171 Cedar Arts, Real Culinary Education by Finger Lakes Chefs
By Rochelle Bilow, Finger Lakes Food Correspondent Most celebrity chefs guard their secrets closely, denying consumers and fans their recipes and techniques. And why should they share? It’s their repertoire, after all. There’s a certain unspoken fear in the restaurant...
Sheldrake Point at Seneca: What’s New for a Classic Finger Lakes Winery
By Rochelle Bilow, Finger Lakes Food Correspondent Photos courtesy of Sheldrake Point winery Mention Sheldrake Point Winery on Seneca Lake and, chances are, you’ll be corrected. “It’s on Cayuga Lake,” I heard a half-dozen times over the course of the...
At Skaneateles Bakery in the Finger Lakes, Tradition Meets Youth in a Sweet Twist.
By Rochelle Bilow, Finger Lakes Food Correspondent Photos by Stu Gallagher In a town steeped in tradition, there’s something decidedly new – and young – happening on the culinary front. Husband and wife team Chris Grilli and Katie Brennan, ages...
For Chef Samantha Buyskes-Izzo, Simply Red Means Simply Good
By Rochelle Billow, Finger Lakes Food Correspondent Photos by Onion Studio If you’ve had any sort of connection to Finger Lakes food within the past ten years or so, chances are you’ve come across Samantha Buyskes-Izzo. She’s been cooking here...
CaryMo Chocolate: Where Decadence, Artistry and Creativity Meet
By Rochelle Bilow, Finger Lakes Food Correspondent I guess I had envisioned that chocolate making would be a quiet, relaxing sort of activity, zen-like and leisurely this past Saturday morning. But there we were, half an hour into it at...
In Geneva, Opus Wine & Espresso Bar Gives Small-Town Dining New Meaning
By Rochelle Bilow, Finger Lakes Food Correspondent Photos by Stu Gallagher Passing through Geneva, one might be inclined to write off Opus Espresso and Wine Bar as just another eatery in a college town already saturated with pizza shops and...
At the Black Sheep Inn, Organic is More than a Buzzword
By Rochelle Bilow, Finger Lakes Food Correspondent “Come here, you,” Debbie Meritsky cooed, coaxing a brown cow closer to her. It batted its eyes and licked her hand. “Oh!” she said, and added with a sweet-as-pie grin, I’ll take that...
