Over the river and through the woods, to grandmother’s house we go! My dad knows the way to fix the sleigh, when the radiator decides to blow, OH! When I was a kid, my favorite part of the holiday season was the road trips. We have family all over northern New York and Canada, and my parents were adamant about…
3.11.2026
’Tis the season! The holidays are stressful—wholesome, but stressful. And one of the easiest ways to break the ice with Mom’s second cousin once removed whom you last saw when you were six, is to have a great cocktail in hand. Ryan Dooling runs The Classic alongside owners Drew and Marie Nye and has been in the hospitality business for…
3.11.2026
The Long Island with warm garlic butter The shores of Lake Ontario might not be brimming with lobster, but it’s not hard to find a top-tier, fresh, juicy roll right in the (585). I like a lot of foods, but seafood is my favorite, and I don’t think that will ever change. East Coast and West Coast, I’ve had it…
3.11.2026
Pasta Bolognese The cheese tray at the brewery was built for four people, not the crowd of us circling it like vultures fifteen minutes into a two-hour panel discussion. We stood there staring at what looked like a Polly Pocket accessory, doing the math on how a roomful of thirty adults were supposed to split eleven cubes of pepper jack. …
3.11.2026
Lynne Hooker It was 1967, and Monroe County was still gun shy, especially in my neck of the woods in the northeastern corner of Chili. Just six months earlier, my friends George-Ann Formicola and Kathy Bernhard had disappeared. They remained missing for a month and were found brutally murdered. So there was an immediate shudder of horror when word came…
2.11.2026
Six mornings a week, long before the lunch line begins to form, the staff and volunteers at St. Peter’s Kitchen tie on their aprons and get to work preparing lunch for the 300-plus guests who will walk through its doors midday. Outside, the aroma drifting from the kitchen evokes Thanksgiving dinner. Inside, it’s even more inviting as team members move…
2.11.2026
Growing up in Webster, Bill Polito heard all about the town’s annual Turkey Trot, a running event held each Thanksgiving morning. In 1988, he moved to a house on Holt Road, a mile from the starting line, and decided to join in the fun. “I ran in high school and decided to give the Turkey Trot a try,” he says.…
2.11.2026
Ashley Cross is a third-generation foster parent who has devoted her life to her community, providing free programs and services to Rochester youth and families through HOPE585, a relationship-centered community where marginalized youth and their families can hope, heal, and thrive. While living in Oklahoma, Cross started the first professional foster home for young ladies preparing to age out of…
2.11.2026
You may have had pie from Special Touch Bakery without even knowing it. “When you go to Wegmans and see the pies that have the hearts on them? We help make those for them,” says Jillian Nalivyko, marketing and public relations manager at the School of the Holy Childhood. Special Touch Bakery has an integrated workforce. Its mission is “Purpose…
2.11.2026
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Tiki traditions live on at Rochester watering holes

A kid who bootlegged rum with his grandpa during Prohibition and then raveled the seas looking for adventure. A savvy Californian with an eye on trends and a missing leg he attributed to shark attack (it was tuberculosis). A carved idol roughly resembling a man with a garish grin who, on beaches long forgotten, loved …

The beachcomber

I love the short hair! Where do you go? Thank you! You know, I randomly just wander into barber shops. What happens is, I wake up one day, and being this creature of habit and planning I am, I think, “I want to be bald-headed today. Right now, immediately, I don’t want any more hair.” …

Talk the talk and walk the lock

Port Byron Old Erie Canal Heritage Park 1575 Rooker Dr., Port Byron 776-4601 paththroughhistory.iloveny.com   After a hundred years without a canal, Port Byron Old Erie Canal Heritage Park restores the culture that surrounded the waterway and gives us a taste of nineteenth century living.  In 1819, Bucksville, New York, saw the first boats wind …

Growing food

The Commissary  250 E Main St.  263-6954 www.rochestercommissary.org   If you have an interest in the culinary arts, the Commissary will soon offer an outlet to develop your passion. Scheduled to open in the spring of 2020, the food-based incubator will cater to those with an interest in developing businesses within Rochester’s culinary industry. Headquartered …

Wining and dining on the banks of the scenic Erie Canal

On a warm summer day in July, there’s nothing quite like sitting by the canal in Bushnell’s Basin. Better yet, having lunch or dinner with a cocktail or glass of wine alongside the 200-year-old waterway on the patio of Richardson’s Canal House—a building that predates the canal itself—is prime location for anyone who relishes history …

Wasted away again on Lake Ontario

Marge’s Lakeside Inn 4909 Culver Rd. 323-1020 margeslakesideinn.com    With Seabreeze to my back, I climb the stairs to a small Caribbean-style bungalow standing in stark contrast to the residential properties lining the strip. Fran Beth, Marge’s seasoned owner, sweeps the floor and tells me they just got back from their annual trip and “I …

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