The Art of the Okapi Lunch Antipasto

The first key to a great lunch antipasto is fresh, high quality ingredients, and if there's one thing this okapi knows about it's how to find the very best ingredients for the best prices in this city. So, let's take a little tour, shall we?

I started at the Rochester Public Market. This was rated #1farmers market in the country last year, and there is no doubt in my mind that they earned this honor. This is where I got the tomato, romaine lettuce, 5 year aged sharp cheddar, olives, and cranberry stilton cheese. 

The produce can be purchased on any day the market is open (Tues, Thurs, Sat year round, extended days summer) at pretty much any farmers stand, so why not enjoy the ambiance and haggle a little?

The olives however can found at VM Giordano (open Thurs/Sat Only) which is a small cheese and olive shoppe located along the NW section of the market. For this lunch antipasto I chose green olives with herb de province from this shop. This is a great cheese and olive shop, but they are way busy. It would pay to research their product list before heading over so you know exactly what you want. This okapi didn't do that, so the rest of the olives and cheese were purchased from a cheese stand. 

There are two cheese companies that sell a huge variety of cheese and olives (Sat only) at stands in the main market and either one will do. I purchased feta stuffed green olives, pitted kalamata olives, 5 year aged cheddar, and cranberry stilton cheese: all for a fraction of the Wegmans price.

The rest of my ingredients were purchased on West Ridge Road. I started at Ridge and Dewey by hitting up Skip's Meat Market. This place has the the best prices for cold cuts that I've seen in the area. Many are under $5 per pound which is significantly less expensive than local super markets. They slice the meat any way you want it and you can buy as little or as much as you want. I grabbed some sandwich pepperoni, salami, and capicola. 

My next stop was Gruttadauria Bakery which is on Ridge near 390. This awesome place fills cannolis while you wait. They are amazingly fresh, crisp, and delicious. They can even be customized = awesome! 

Lastly, I popped into Pino's Deli which is found in Buckman's Plaza (west of the mall). This place bakes rolls fresh all day and I often get them hot. This okapi loves hot, fresh Italian bread more than almost anything in the whole world. The giant rolls that you see in the pic are called "paninis" by this place, but they look more like mini Italian loafs to me. Oh, and they're only 75¢ each.

I get that not everyone wants to do all of this running around and for those of you who want a kick ass lunch antipasto, but don't want the hassle, go to Wegmans. They have all of these ingredients, and other than the cannolis and bread, they are equal in quality/freshness. The difference here is in price, folks... and if you stop at the other places you're supporting small local businesses.

Either way you get your ingredients, the next step is the same: presentation. It's terrible to go out of your way to buy a bunch of great ingredients and then just throw them on a plate or (gasp!) serve them in the bags you bought them in. The way I see it, you have two options here:

Option 1: Divide it up like I did above. This can be done in any way as long as you separate the ingredients in a neat way. This okapi chose to do one serving dish for meat and hard cheese, one for soft cheese, and another for olives. You could do it cheese and olives on one and meat on another or split the olives...the options are really endless. It just depends on what kinds of serving dishes you have available.

Option 2: Put it all on one serving tray. If you have a huge tray, you can put all of this stuff  together. If you do this, you should alternate items for visual appeal. An example would be green olives, salami, kalamata olives, capicola, stuffed green olives, then sandwich pepperoni around the outside with a ring of cheddar in the inner ring and stilton in the center. Get creative!

Any way you do it, be neat and make sure to put down something like lettuce leaves as a barrier between the tray and foods. Enjoy!

Okapi Weight Loss Program Phase 2 (Update)

Yesterday Fancy and I called an end to the hell of fasting. I had wanted to quit since the first day and Fancy finally decided to join the charge after 3.5 days. Remember that juice that made me want to puke? Well, it eventually had the same affect on her. I knew it was evil, pond scummy, putridness and it would only be a matter of time. Sometimes my nose still catches a whiff of something and my taste buds have a lucid day terror of retasting it. I'm not sure I can eat red peppers again.

All in all I lost 5 pounds, as you can see in the pic above, and that's something. Phase 1 is still going strong for me, so I will update the whole situation soon. During the fast I only did the main 5 exercises: squats, push-ups, sit-ups, chin-ups, and dips because of low energy. This okapi is totally okay with that because they're the core exercises for my 6 week plan.

My first meal when I quit? Japanese food from Blue Ocean (formerly Kyoto...Google hasn't updated the listing yet). It was fantastic as usual, but alas...no review. I was so excited for real food/disoriented from the fast that I forgot to take any pics until I was finished. Okapi fail.

"Grand Super Buffet" is Actually Not an Exaggeration!

Grand Super Buffet in Henrietta is the new favorite Chinese buffet of the okapi family. Now, let me start by saying that this isn't my favorite Chinese food, but my favorite buffet Chinese food. 

I am a firm believer that there are three types of Chinese food: 1-Authentic: go to China or a real Chinatown in a major city and you'll see what I mean. It is in a category all by itself and if you haven't tried it, get on a plane right now and do it, you'll thank me! 2-Take-Out/Sit Down: This is the top level of American Chinese food and totally delicious in its own right. 3-American Chinese Buffet: Not as high quality, fresh, or delicious as #2, but a lot more variety for your money.

So, as far as buffet Chinese food is concerned, this is your best bet in Rochester according to this okapi. This buffet is part of a chain with another location in Irondequoit and one in Greece, but this is by far the best of the three. They boast four full hot food stations, plus one salad bar/condiment, one dessert, one ice cream,one sushi/Mongolian grill, and on weekends one dim sum. This is a huge variety!

 

If you love seafood, this is the place for you. They have several shrimp dishes including garlic shrimp, coconut shrimp, fried shrimp, and even shrimp on ice. They have clams, whole fish, fried fish, craw fish, and sushi. All of this was on a weekday is very impressive, but on weekends they toss in crab legs and dim sum, not to mention their new "lobster Sundays"!

Other than seafood, they have several chicken dishes which are quite good including old standbys like sesame and sweet & sour chicken. The lo mein is the best I've had at a buffet (and better than many take-out places) which is quite an achievement, it is spiced just right and there are a lot of firm noodles. This okapi goddamn loves noodles. There are a ton of American foods as well including french fries, mac and cheese, beef roast, pizza, and fried chicken wings, so most kids should find something they like here.

They have the typical dessert assortment including pastries, Chinese doughnuts, and ice cream, but the best by far is the egg custard pastry: these are amazing!! If you can't find something for dessert here that you like-I give up on you. All in all, the buffet is really good and with several soup, salad, main dish, and dessert options, they strive to fit everyone's taste. The prices are fair as it rolls in at $11 per person during the week and only an extra buck for weekends.

These great fortunes were a happy conclusion to our meal and I will definitely return here (after my body are soothed, of course). I can't give this place 5 stars because of a couple of lackluster items: coconut shrimp, cheese wontons, spare ribs, and spinach with cheese. They weren't awful, but I've had much better. Also, the service is sub par since my water became empty and I had to seek someone out for chop sticks (none on buffet). I give it 4 stars and recommend it to anyone looking for a big variety for a good price.

Roncone's...a Place Worth Traveling to Lyell Avenue For

(I apologize in advance for the not so stellar pics)

Let me start off by saying that I have never had a negative experience at Roncone's. My father (being a foodie) introduced me to this mom and pop Italian joint several years ago and we have visited several times since. One day I was browsing restaurant.com during an awesome 80% off sale (which you can get in on by joining their e-mail list) and I saw gift certificates offered for Roncone's. I of course bought two $25 off of $35 certificates (for $2 each).

When I told my parents about the gift certificates my father informed me that Roncone's  changed management recently. This did not discourage me because okapis love deals, so $2 for $25 worth of food is something that will get me to try your restaurant every time.

Today the better half and I decided to finally try out the new Roncone's. The prices are fantastic, so we knew that in order to spend the required $35 to use our gift certificate we would be able to order an appetizer and dessert. This really made me happy because one of the only thing that okapis love more than deals is food. We arrived at 3:45, so the place was pretty dead as is to be expected. (Okapis eat like senior citizens if you must know.)

We started off with a fried calamari appetizer which was cooked perfectly and paired with a tasty red pasta sauce. It was crisp and tasty without being rubbery or too salty...something that very few people can do well. Next up was the salad.

This was served with a house Italian dressing and crumbled blue cheese on top. It also boasted salami, croutons, olives, banana pepper, chickpeas, and grape tomatoes. It was very tasty and came included with our meals.

I ordered the Chicken Parmesan and the better half (who has asked me to refer to her as "Fancy" from now on for some ridiculous reason) had the Chicken Marsala. Both were extremely delicious and came in large portions for under $11. My meal was very good  and the sauce was among the best in town. This may not seem like a big compliment, but from someone fed by old Italian recipes for my entire childhood and who knows where to find nearly identical ones here in Rochester, this is a high compliment indeed. "Fancy" reports that the Marsala was excellent. In fact, she even ordered Marsala sauce on her pasta as she's not a fan of red pasta sauce, so if it wasn't terrific her whole meal would have been ruined. We set very high bars in the okapi family.

We finished off the meal with tea and sharing the dessert of the week: cannoli cake (which came with a small cannoli on the side). I forgot to take a picture because it looked so damn good when we got it that we dug right in (oops). The cake was fluffy and the filling was creamy and rich. In a word: perfect!

The decor is classic Italian eatery and although somewhat small, it's cozy without being cramped. Also, the waitstaff was extremely friendly, attentive, and personable. The service was fast and my water glass was constantly refilled which is a big deal because this okapi can easily drink a pitcher of water during dinner. The only thing that would have improved our experience would have been some beers on tap because "Fancy" loves her some dinner beer.

Even though it isn't in the best neighborhood, it is totally worth seeking out. Just be careful about the hours because like many family run Italian eateries, they keep lunch hours during the week and dinner hours on Fri/Sat. They still offer the gift certificates, and even paying $10 for $25 worth of great Italian food is a hell of a deal!  This okapi gives Roncone's 5 stars, so you should go eat there this week.

The 3 Best Places to Eat in Irondequoit, NY (Part 1 of 3)

This will kick off my restaurant review series.

Monte Alban: This place has the best Mexican food in Rochester.
To start off they give complimentary baskets of hot corn tortillas and delicious salsa. The salsa isn't overly spicy and the tortillas are totally addicting, so I'm instantly satisfied. They offer a cheese dip appetizer for under $4 and it is amazing! It is essentially melted cheese and a great compliment to the chips and salsa.