992 Days

001. Eat at 25 new restaurants - (02/25)
JM is in town this week from Hong Kong, and last night we decided to grab an early dinner and cocktails to catch up. Both of us had heard great things about Edibles and, as I'd never been, I was eager to try it.

The space is fantastic. It's wedged in the flatiron building between University and Atlantic, just behind Starry Nites café. The dining room is flanked by enormous windows, boasting an exposed-brick wall (I am a sucker for those) and lots of warm, dark wood. The bar area is tiny, but charming, and as we walked in from a sidewalk lined with café-lights, I had very high hopes.

Unfortunately, it was all glamor.

We were seated right away, but when the waitress stopped by to take our drink order we had to request a wine list and a cocktail menu. JM ordered a glass of Malbec, I decided upon a ginger-pear martini. And then we waited. And... waited. Our waitress flitted around to all the other tables, deftly dodging my attempts to catch her eye, and 20 minutes later--drinkless and, incidentally, breadless--I was starting to get a little cranky. I don't know if she overheard me muttering under my breath, but she eventually stopped by to let us know that "the bartender is a little overwhelmed right now" and that our drinks would be out shortly. Seriously? The bar area is not big enough for the bartender to be so overwhelmed that it takes him 20 minutes to pour a glass of wine.

But, finally, the drinks came and we ordered three starters to share: brie, artichoke, and spinach dip; pierogies; and a tapas platter for two. All sounded delicious, and all were unequivocally mediocre. As was my cocktail, which--although tasty--was about as strong as a Shirley Temple. I don't mind paying $8 for a drink, but could it please have some alcohol in it? The tapas platter consisted of breaded chicken on a skewer (flavorless), crab cakes (mushy), hummus with toasted pita wedges (average), fried spring rolls (actually not bad, but a little on the chewy side), and olives. There were two of each item, plus maybe a dozen olives, and this bland, uninspiring, wholly disappointing platter cost $18.

I'm not balking at the price tag itself, necessarily; I am happy to spend good money on good food. The problem is that a lot of places in Rochester think that it's acceptable to serve mediocre food in a nice atmosphere and charge what they will. If an appetizer costs $18, I expect to be wholly impressed by it.

The pierogies were probably the least disappointing thing that we ordered, certainly better than anything on the tapas platter. I think the filling was strictly potato (bor-ing!), but they were topped with caramelized onions and sour cream, which have magical properties that make most things infinitely more tasty. Halfway through our dinner a server did stop by to ask if we wanted bread (um, a little late, but yes we would...) and then promptly disappeared for 15 minutes. Me to JM: "Was he asking us just out of curiosity?"

Our eyes were a little bigger than our stomachs, so we didn't eat much of the brie, spinach, and artichoke dip. It was served with baked pita wedges, but personally I think it would have been much better with slices of baguette. I found the dip a little salty and somewhat thin, but it wasn't bad. Just, again, not worth the price ($12).

The bill for this disappointing meal for two, with weak drinks and poor service? $90 before tip.  I was, to put it mildly, cheesed.  I don't know why I would ever eat there again when I can spend the same amount at Good Luck for orgasmic-quality food and mouth-watering, innovative cocktails (order the Legerdemain... un-freaking-real).  It's just that it was my second disappointment in a row, first being that god-awful crab fondue fiasco, and I'm hoping that the next new place I try is worth the trouble.

022. (Re)watch each of AFI's Top 100 Movies - (003/100)
Thanks to Joeflix, I was able to get my paws on #99, Toy Story (1995).  Not much to say, other than it was completely adorable and fun.  Up was, in my opinion, the perfection of Pixar's style, but it's tough to find fault with Toy Story.

009. Go meatless every Friday during Lent - (04/21)
One more week down, and I passed up homemade taco dip at work.  Will of iron, I say!
------

This weekend is supposed to be cold and rainy.  Although most people would probably consider that a miserable forecast, it's actually some of my favorite weather.  I foresee myself making homemade bolognese, sipping coffee while reading in my cozy armchair, watching some more of AFI's Top 100, studying for the FSOT... Oh, and I suppose I should lift a lazy finger and clean the apartment as well.