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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Nick's Picks: Foster the People Recap

Despite a lackluster turnout, Foster the People shined in their Friday night show at the Dome in Henrietta. While the Dome’s glory years were in the early 1970’s, renovations over the past 18-months have turned this venue back into a potential hotspot for music-lovers. However, this transformation seemed to be lost on Rochesterians for Fridays …

Nick's Picks: Foster the People at the Dome

The newly renovated Dome in Henrietta, formerly the Dome Arena, will host award-winning indie rock band Foster the People this Friday, October 20.  The $8 million of renovations the Dome has undergone in the past eighteen months aims to bring this once popular venue back to prominence in the local entertainment scene. Improvements to the Dome …

Nick's Picks: Mullers Cider House

There’s a scene in Good Will Hunting where Matt Damon taunts his rival after a fight for a girl’s attention by saying “Do you like apples?” His counterpart, a yuppie showoff from Harvard, is confused—he responds “Uh, yeah?” to Damon’s question. “Well I just got her number; how do you like them apples!?” responds Damon …

Nick's Picks: The Warrior Factory

Loyal readers of this column know the deal by now. For the most part, we’re all about the best food and drinks in Rochester. But after a long summer of field research, those calories have added up. Luckily, beach season is over and personality season is here. That won’t last forever, though. Fall and winter …

Nick's Picks: Torin Washington & Abundance Co-Op

Torin Washington is a mechanical engineer by trade and community outreach specialist by passion. Currently the marketing and community contact at Abundance Food Co-op, and formerly the director of the emergency food cupboard at the Cavalry St. Andrews Parish, Washington’s path to a position of charity and outreach happened by chance. Years ago, Washington saw a …

Nick's Picks: The Fringe Recap

As giant inflatable sperm moved through the air in front of me at Parcel 5, I realized that attending the KeyBank Rochester Fringe Festival is truly a unique experience. This display of sperm was a part of a larger performance, Big Bang, performed by French street theater troupe Plasticiens Volants. Billed as a grand spectacle, …

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