I watch my friends anxiously as wrapping paper flies everywhere–I saved their best presents for last, and I can’t wait to see their reactions. With the soft glow of Christmas tree lights reflecting on her face, I see Madge’s expression first: intrigue. And then: confusion. She removes the tissue paper from the box and pulls at the gift. “Okay,” she says, in a measured tone. “Why are you buying me clothing?” But as she pulls further and sees the whole gift, her attitude changes. “OH MY GOD! MY OWN PAIR OF PURPOL PANTS!” Next to her on the couch, Krystal rips her gift open to reveal her pair. “PURPOL PANTS FOR ME? OH, HELL YEAH!” Ah. This was the reaction I was hoping for. I breathe a sigh of relief.

Madge and Krystal met in preschool and have been partners in crime ever since. They’re both five years older than me and impossibly cool. Krystal is my cousin, so I’ve known her my whole life, but I was only just getting to know Madge. (Which is why she thought it was odd to buy personal clothing items for someone you don’t know that well. I’m sure she was expecting some noncommittal Christmas gift. Perhaps a gift card to the local buffet or a violently scented candle.) Much to my delight, Madge and Krystal had taken an interest in me and popped up at my house often. I was fourteen and, quite frankly, not very cool. I was in a huge figure skating phase so whenever they came to visit, I was watching prerecorded performances. I had a list of my favorites—Olympics, World Championships, exhibitions—and I watched them on a steady rotation. I was so obsessed with skating that I practiced ZERO courtesy when I had visitors. Anyone who came over ended up watching figure skating, too. I had no mercy for passive fans and would rattle off the who’s and what’s of the sport and expect my company to keep up. It should be noted that I’d never landed so much as a single axel in my life—but passion is passion.

Perhaps the least cool part about all of this was my wardrobe. As soon as I got home from school, I changed into the same outfit: a royal blue Mickey Mouse shirt so old that the iron-on Disney logo was shredding and a pair of purple pants. I also had frizzy hair, an untamed unibrow and a mouthful of orthodontia. So my chosen outfit did nothing to enhance my appearance. But comfort was my goal, and these purple pants fit the bill. I got them in a bag of hand-me-downs, so I would never find the likes of them again. They were truly one of a kind: made of buttery soft cotton with a wide-legged hem and a forgiving waistband. The purple pants were also an interesting shade of violet; combined with the striking blue color of my shirt, I was one blueberry away from swelling up and being rolled away by the Oompa Loompas. (And, because the Teenage Misfortune Bus hit me with all four tires, I was also a chubby teenager—so even trace amounts of swelling would have rendered me inflatable.)

Once Krystal and Madge became accustomed to my fashion choices, they celebrated them. They decided “Purple” wasn’t a strong enough word to describe the color of a pair of pants so ridiculous, yet so necessary. The girls changed the spelling to “Purpol” and pronounced the word with a strong emphasis on the last syllable. If they walked in and I was still in school clothes, they’d yell, “Where’s the purPOL PANTS?” “Excuse me—I don’t see purPOL PANTS today!” Their pronunciation was more of an event than the actual pants. Even more to their credit, they learned who my favorite skaters were, and when they came over, they had their favorite routines to watch, too.

When Christmas came around, I didn’t even question what to buy the girls. My family spent every Christmas Eve with Krystal’s family, and Madge always stopped over, too. I knew they’d both be in the same room—it was too perfect. Thus, I set out to find a close replica of the purpol pants I had, but it was a harder assignment than I anticipated. I had to buy a different pair for each of them—duplicate pairs in the same shade did not exist. But I made sure the material was soft and the waistband wasn’t constricting. (If a book and movie were written about us, it would undoubtedly be titled The Sisterhood of the Flexible Waistbands.)

When the call went out that it was time to open presents, I dashed to the tree to grab my boxes. I handed them to Krystal and Madge and watched with giddy excitement. After their initial screams, they ran upstairs to change into their very own purpol pants. Of course, I brought my pair, and we reconvened around the tree, dressed like violet-colored triplets. We did our best to explain the lore behind the pants; not everyone in the family understood, but they seemed happy for us. For months afterward, I would get a call from one of the girls, who only had one thing to say: “There ain’t nothing like these purPOL PANTS!”

After a few years, it was time to get rid of the pants. They were full of holes and unwearable. I didn’t consult with the girls; I just threw them away. The day I told Madge, she clutched her chest like I’d just shot her. “No more purPOL pants?” Though she was reeling from this emotional bullet, I told her the pants had served their purpose, and, in more ways than one, they truly had. If fashion choices are a form of self-expression, there’s nothing better than finding the right people who see what you’re doing, wonder if maybe you’re crazy—and then invite themselves in anyway.

This article originally appeared in the September/October 2026 issue of (585).

The Great American International Wine and Cider Competition has a rich history that started its evolution in 1999. Peter Parts, a member of the Camp Good Days & Special Times board of directors, was inspired by a charity wine auction in the Napa Valley and set out to bring a similar concept to upstate New York. In 2001, the Finger Lakes International Wine Competition was born, with proceeds benefiting Camp Good Days.

In 2016, that competition’s executive team went on to establish the Raise a Glass Foundation to expand its charitable mission. Today, the foundation hosts its two signature competitions, attracting entries from producers around the world to be evaluated by accomplished professionals through blind tastings. Once the judging concludes and medals are awarded, thousands of unopened bottles find a second home as donations to more than twenty Rochester-based nonprofit organizations to auction at galas, auctions, and other fundraising events.

Great American International Wine Competition: Wine

By Adena Miller and Jeffery Sharra Miller:

On an early Saturday morning in May, Jeff and I walk into the Great American International Wine Competition at the RIT Inn & Conference Center. We catch up with Ron Dougherty, the executive director of the Raise a Glass Foundation who explains how the competition works and gives us the background on why we are ultimately here—for charity.

Dougherty: Many of the entries come from small producers who do their own distribution through mailing lists, club memberships, or from people who visit their tasting rooms. Wine competitions offer an opportunity to earn a medal from the foundation, often putting these small producers on the map.

This year, more than 1,000 wineries entered the competition, and all are required to ship four bottles to be eligible for participation. Two of those bottles reach the judges, and two head to charities.

Over the years, experts from more than thirty different countries have served as judges who hold diplomas with the Master Court of Sommeliers and the WSET (World and Spirits Education Trust), as well as wine makers and winery owners, consultants, educators, and respected journalists from multiple industry publications.

Miller: We learned that fourteen wine judges made up this year’s competition, all with impressive credentials and many who have judged wine competitions for more than a decade. They travel at their own expense and volunteer their time and expertise with a common goal in mind—to bring beautiful and fun wines to the consumer. Although some wines won’t make the cut, others will earn a bronze, silver, gold, platinum, or best of show medal.

Sharra: To fully understand the inner workings of the competition, we happily accept the opportunity to participate as guest judges (don’t worry, our scores won’t actually count!). The judging room reveals official wine business already in the works. Judges are seated at round tables, and volunteers carefully maneuver around the room, arranging numbered wine glasses at each panel. The numbering system ensures each judge is tasting the correct wines within the flight. Dougherty invites us to take our seats at two different tables.

Miller: As I settle into my assigned table, I begin asking questions about what is sitting in front of me. My fellow judges explain that as each flight is presented, their tablets allow them to score each wine based on visuals, aromatics, flavors, and finish and then the overall quality. Only the varietal and the vintage is listed to each corresponding numbered glass, and in this flight, we would be tasting Sauvignon Blanc.

I’m fascinated to discover that to my left is a judge who traveled all the way from Slovenia, while to my right is a fellow local, while the others at my table are based in Virginia and New Jersey. The official time starts, and the room quiets as each judge begins to taste and evaluate the wines. I watch as they inquisitively breathe in the wines, tasting, swirling, and tasting again before engaging their touchscreens to evaluate each wine. I follow suit and record my own notes, circling my favorite numbers. When everyone has completed their scoring, the table captain tabulates the points and then the group openly discusses one wine at a time. I love hearing how the judges described the wine—floral, bitter, effervescent, pithy. At the end of the round, the captain reveals which numbers receive a medal. I’m pleasantly surprised to learn that two of my favorites were also deemed exceptional by the judging panel!

Sharra: As I meet my panel of judges, I spend more time learning about each of their backgrounds as opposed to asking questions about the format of the tasting. One is a writer from Wine Enthusiast Magazine, another, the founder of a well-respected winery in Texas. There’s a longtime wine competition judge who in a former life served on a US Navy submarine, and our table captain is a wine educator. Our conversation quickly ends as the judging of our current tasting begins.

As I move through the flight of wines, I immediately go into the analytical mode that sommeliers are trained to use when sitting down for a blind tasting. I can recognize similarities between the wines—mostly aromatic with notes of citrus, bell pepper, gooseberry, and some with slight bubbles. I’m looking at the wine’s structure, acidity, and balance and wondering if these wines will go well with food. If I had asked more questions upfront, I would have spent a lot less time trying to identify the wines as Sauvignon Blanc, only to discover that the judges already knew the grape varietal at the start of each round. I realize I was going about tasting the wines the wrong way. As the judges begin talking through each wine and awarding medals to several, this competition begins to make more sense to me. I need to remove my sommelier hat and put on my judging robes!

Miller: For the next round, we swap tables for a new experience with a different panel of judges, and the next flight is rosé. With judges evaluating more than 1,000 wines within a two-day event, the transition between flights moves very quickly, and timing is of the essence. Volunteers whisk into the room with empty carts to remove all the spent glassware and dump buckets while, simultaneously, the new flights are carted into the room and quickly displayed in correct number order for each of the judges. With minimal break time between each flight, I wonder aloud how these judges can taste so many wines in such a short amount of time. Dougherty explains that most competitions don’t protect the judges’ palates, but with so many wines presented each year, they have come up with a formula that allows these judges to taste hundreds of wines in a swift manner without palate fatigue. When pressed as to what that formula is, he joked that information would remain confidential.

Sharra: Turns out, confidentiality doesn’t end at the tasting table, it also extends to the “wine vault.” We are taken behind the scenes to a room that is strictly off-limits to the judges. Here, volunteers work in crews to assemble each flight of wines. Each person has a specific role—from pulling corks and tagging glasses to pouring wines and operating carts—and together they move with the precision of a chaotic ballet. With more than eighty entry classes spanning the full spectrum of wines—from white, red, rosé, and orange to sparkling, dessert, fruit, and specialty wines—the volunteers work tirelessly to keep the competition running at a steady pace.

As our time comes to an end at the Great American International Wine competition, we are reminded of the famous 1976 Judgement of Paris, the wine competition that pitted California wines against the great wines of France. The outcome of that competition showed that you don’t need to be an iconic wine producer to be invited to have a seat at the table. What you need is the passion to make a wine with purpose; it’s truly a love affair. In an industry that is seeing a downturn in consumption, these wineries and winemakers need every bit of help they can get, and that’s what the wine competition has to offer, all while supporting charities through the Raise a Glass Foundation.

To date, the foundation has contributed more than $2.5 million to charitable organizations, proving that a bottle’s story doesn’t end when the judging is over.

Great American International Wine Competition: Cider

By Jayme Seiple:

After years of successful wine competitions, the team behind the Raise a Glass Foundation started to notice the increasing need to add a separate category for cider. “We started to get ciders entered into the wine competition, and they just aren’t the same,” laughs Dougherty. 

The increasing need to highlight cider with a separate competition mirrored the extensive growth New York’s hard cider industry has seen over the last ten to fifteen years. With New York State being the largest producer of hard cider in the country, it seemed only natural to include it in the competition, and the cider category was added in 2019.

Following a two-year hiatus, the board decided to bring back the cider portion of the Great American International Wine Competition under the leadership of Frank Russell, board member and volunteer. “It was one of those things. It was said we needed to find a volunteer, so anyone who wants to volunteer step forward, and they all stepped back but me,” teases Russell.

All jokes aside, Russell is confident he couldn’t have done it without the help of all the volunteers. “I had a very nice committee; they worked very hard on it,” he continues as we watch dozens of volunteers meticulously polish every glass. “We’ve got thousands, thousands of glasses [that] will be used for this. We want everything to present very professional. We want the judges to have a really good experience because they are great judges and we want them to come back.”

The first judge for the 2026 Great American International Cider competition is Damin Sawyer, a social media cider influencer and upstate sales manager and product rep for Original Sin Cider. He is a return judge to this competition and has been featured as a judge for several other cider competitions, including the Great Lakes International Cider and Perry Competition and the PA Farm Expo Competition.

Adrian Luna-Verduga is a certified pommelier and well-known member of the hard cider community. He currently serves as the membership and communications coordinator and licensed educator for the New York Cider Association.

Ann Bliss, also known online and locally as Sister Cider, is a certified pommelier and cider enthusiast. She is the special events coordinator for the New York Cider Association and is the head bartender at Mullers Cider House in Rochester.

Judging the ciders depends on the characteristics of the category being judged. Judge Ann Bliss explains the “full sensory” process:

“You do an aroma analysis on it and see what you can smell. If it is a botanical or fruit cider, you should get notes of whatever the fruits are or whatever the botanicals are. Heirloom apples have different aroma characteristics than culinary apples used in a more modern dry cider. You want to know your category, and you think, okay does this make sense for the category that I’m judging?”

When tasting the ciders, the judges are looking for things like sweetness level, acidity, and flavor profile. “You want to think about sweetness level, or how high is the acid? How high is the tannin? How intense are the flavors? What kind of flavor profiles are you getting? What are the characteristics of this? What is the integrity of it? Does this make sense for the category it’s in and is it a good cider within that category,” explains Bliss.

The Great American International Cider Competition is a testament to the close-knit hard cider community and the comradery they have created.

“We have great rapport, and it’s a lot of fun when you are with judges that you are also friends with,” says Bliss. It is that sense of community that helped Bliss into cider, both inside the competitions and outside in the orchards.

“In New York there are so many small orchards who are making cider and it’s very family-oriented, and I think I gravitated toward that kind of community because I grew up on a really, really small cherry orchard. I have these memories of my family doing things in the orchard and having our little cherry stand. Being around families that are doing the same things, on an oftentimes much larger scale, makes me feel connected to my family and the people I don’t have anymore, and it just feels nice.”

To see the full list of winners from the 2026 Great American Wine and Cider competition as well as the charities it supports visit raiseaglassfoundation.com 

Raise a Glass Foundation’s many styles of cider

The competition’s different entry classes highlight the rich variety cider has to offer:

Heritage Cider: Made from heirloom, crab, and wild apple varieties, heritage cider reflects the unique characteristics of its orchard and growing region (terroir). Typically dry to semidry, it has a wine-like structure with firm tannins, bright acidity, and earthy, floral, fruity, and rustic flavors.

Traditional English Cider: Made from tannin-rich bittersweet and sharp apples, this style ranges from dry to medium-sweet. It is known for its full body, pronounced tannins, and rich, lingering finish.

Traditional French Cider: Crafted from tannin-rich cider apples, French cider is naturally sparkling and terroir-driven. Delicate bubbles, a smooth, full-bodied mouthfeel, fruity aromas, and occasional creamy notes from malolactic fermentation define the style.

Traditional Spanish Cider: Naturally fermented, bone-dry, and high in acidity, Spanish cider is typically unfiltered, cloudy, and nearly still. It is distinguished by tart, slightly vinegary, earthy, spicy, and funky flavors.

Modern Cider: Made from culinary (“table”) apples, modern cider is bright, crisp, and fruit forward. Higher acidity and lower tannins create a light-bodied, refreshing cider that highlights fresh apple flavor and aroma.

Traditional Perry: Made from specialized perry pears and often fermented with wild yeast, traditional perry offers delicate pear aromas, gentle tannins, and a complex finish ranging from dry to semisweet.

Modern Perry: Made from culinary (“table”) pears, modern perry is fruit forward, sweeter, and lower in tannins than traditional perry. Its light body and smooth mouthfeel highlight fresh pear flavor and natural sweetness.

Specialty Styles

Fruit: Traditional or modern ciders and perries enhanced with additional fruits. Whether blended after fermentation or fermented together, they range from crisp and refreshing to rich and dessert-like, showcasing flavors from berries and cherries to tropical fruits and citrus.

Sour: Specialty sour ciders are high in acidity and low in residual sugar, delivering tart and refreshing flavors. Wild fermentation, barrel aging, and tart fruits contribute to a rustic, earthy complexity.

Hopped: Combines traditional cider or perry base with hops, adding floral, citrus, or herbal aromas while complementing the natural fruit character.

Cyser/Honey: Made by fermenting apple juice or cider with honey, combining fresh apple flavors with the floral richness of honey to create a smooth, wine-like beverage.

Rosé: Made entirely from red-fleshed or red-skinned apples, producing a naturally pink cider with bright fruit flavors and a crisp, refreshing finish.

Wood-aged: Matured in wooden barrels or with oak, developing additional layers of vanilla, spice, toast, caramel, or tannin while enhancing the cider’s complexity.

Spiced/Botanical: Enhanced with herbs, spices, flowers, or other botanicals, creating unique flavors that range from warming and aromatic to earthy, floral, or savory.

Dessert styles

Fortified: sweet and full-bodied, made by blending apple juice or lightly fermented cider with apple brandy or other spirits.

Ice: Naturally sweet, made from frozen apples or concentrated apple juice. The freezing process intensifies the apple flavors while preserving bright acidity, creating a rich, balanced cider.

This article originally appeared in the September/October 2026 issue of (585).

Before me I see timeless nostalgia served with a side of waffle fries, an Oreo shake, and a steaming cup of Joe … 

I’ve walked into Rochester’s iconic railcar diner more times than I can count; the pastel yellow exterior leads into cherry red booths, chrome barstools lining the long counter, and neon accents surrounding coffee pots and condiments.

The streamline dining car has been on the corner of South Clinton Avenue and Goodman Street since 1948. After briefly functioning as an off-track betting parlor, the joint was purchased and remodeled by Bob Malley, officially opening as the Highland Park Diner in 1986. Malley operated the restaurant until he retired in 2003, when the Zissis family took over ownership. It’s been operated by Van Zissis since then.

Before we dive into the food, the name is worth a mention—many would assume Malley named the diner after Highland Park in Rochester, but it actually has zero relation to the city park at all.

“Malley was a big car buff and had a lot of old cars. He named the restaurant after the historic Ford plant in Highland Park, Michigan,” Zissis says.

The diner is open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. seven days a week, and customers can order breakfast or lunch at any time—might as well have both with how expansive the menu is. It serves more than a dozen different Benedicts, endless skillets, frittatas, omelets, pancakes, waffles, wraps, sandwiches … the list keeps going. Some of the cooks have worked there since Malley owned the business, and while the menu has grown and Zissis has added his own plates, the diner still serves many original recipes.

It’s hard to pick favorites, but the following dishes are some of the most popular:

Nutella Stuffed French Toast: Nutella draws me in on its own, but drizzle it over fresh strawberries, bananas, whipped cream, and the best bread I’ve ever had—it’s to die for. Funny thing, I’ve never liked French toast. Not as a kid, not as an adult, just never. But I’d order this again and again. Zissis uses challah bread, a slightly sweet Jewish egg bread. It’s soft but thick—not soggy even after letting it sit while I take photos—and the sprinkled powdered sugar on top seals the deal for me.

If I’m having breakfast, yes, I’ll sip on coffee, but I’m also getting a milkshake. I can’t think of a better time of day to have one. And with more than twenty flavors to choose from, who could resist? The most popular is the Oreo shake—chocolate drizzled down the glass, Oreo crumbles on top, and the perfect consistency: thick but not too thick. With extra on the side, one shake could serve two—unless you’re like me and you one, don’t want to share, and two, have no problem devouring the entire thing.

Florentine Benedict: I order this dish about fifty percent of the time I go to the Highland Park Diner. It’s a Benedict that’s done right. It’s simple with two poached eggs, hollandaise sauce, fresh spinach, and English muffins. Check, check, and check. And the home fries are a perfectly suited side.

Highland Skillet: The gravy on this is thick, capital T. Home fries rest on the bottom, scrambled eggs on top, and cheese smothering it all, hidden under the gravy. Once you get a couple bites in, the cheese is stringy and really caked on there. It tastes like a big bowl of comfort—a solid morning-after plate, too. I don’t eat sausage (which is in the homemade gravy), but since the Highland Skillet is the most popular menu item, I had to try it. And I’m glad I did; the gravy coats everything perfectly and is packed with flavor. If you’re an occasional meat eater, don’t let the sausage gravy scare you—this skillet is worth it! Oh, and the biscuits—just try them; they’re fantastic and perfect for dipping.

Buffalo Chicken Wrap: This might have been my favorite pick of the day. A huge pet peeve of mine is a wrap that isn’t rolled up tight and doesn’t stay together well. After every bite, this one stayed solid. The chicken is moderately spicy, and the lettuce is fresh and crunchy—a perfect cleanse to the spice. It’s packed with flavor, and it’s hard to choose whether to savor each bite or inhale the entire thing at once. And the waffle fries? They have my heart. I love curly fries, and these taste similar, but a bit crunchier and with more surface area. If you’re a texture person, these are for you—the flat crisscross is quite satisfying midbite. Bonus points for the side of blue cheese instead of ranch.

Honestly, there isn’t a single wrong choice when picking a dish off this menu. And the fifties’ ambiance alone is worth enjoying. Grab a stool at the counter or slide into a booth … there’s something about a classic diner that just feels right. Maybe it’s the simplicity of it all.

“It’s original, there aren’t too many of these left, and to have one in Rochester says a lot—the people have been supportive after all these years,” Zissis says. “We use a lot of local vendors for our ingredients, so people that come from out of town get to help support local as well. We’re going to keep it going as long as we can. As long as people come and support it, we’ll be open.”

For more information, visit highlandparkdinerny.com or stop by in person any day, eight to three.

Highland Park Diner

960 S. Clinton Ave., Rochester

461-5040

highlandparkdinerny.com 

This article originally appeared in the September/October 2026 issue of (585).

In the dining room at grist, a cast-iron scale nearly as tall as the hostess stands near the bar. It’s a holdover from the building’s first life, when the Lower Mill on North Main Street ground grain for the village of Honeoye Falls.

Built in 1827, it fed the town for more than a century. Now it’s feeding the area again, one small plate at a time.

Before grist, the building spent years as the Rabbit Room, an event space with an art gallery upstairs that opened for dinner one night a week. Locals remember it less for food than for what happened inside it.

Slipping into their reviews online, many guests mention great memories there. One simply says, “We were celebrating my wife’s birthday, and we were married in that building years ago. Thank you for making it a special evening for us.”

Lindsay Scott, who now co-owns grist, had her own bridal shower in that same room, and her cousins had baby showers there too.

“We thought it would be a cool place to just open up something we could continue to celebrate,” she says in a video online.

Scott and her husband Seth moved back to her hometown to help her brother Joe Bucciarelli get grist off the ground. Bucciarelli already ran Main Street Café across the street, which was popular enough that he’d opened a second location in nearby Mendon.

When the old mill building became available, it also created an opportunity to partner with chef James Campolieto, a Culinary Institute of America attendee whose résumé includes Rochester’s private clubs as well as kitchens in France.

They gutted the building, then spent the rest of the project making it look like they hadn’t.

“The vision was to keep the historic charm of the building and of the space while creating a destination and experience that people could not get anywhere else,” Bucciarelli says in a video online.

The plaster stayed on the walls. So did the original floors and beams as well as the wheat scale near the bar.

The design is built from familiar elements made personal. Scott says the rustic wallpaper, with its trees and woodland animals, reflects the character of the building.

Though the restaurant’s designers initially pushed back on the bold black-and-gold hex tile behind the kitchen line, Scott was insistent that they needed a nod to Honeoye Falls’s school colors. Elsewhere, a large black-and-gold cougar anchors the artwork, paying tribute to the local high school’s mascot.

And the restaurant quickly earned the community’s love, too. Pubs and pizza have long dominated this charming town, and many online mention it’s the date night destination many have been longing for.

The first thing you’ll notice is that nearly every dish is designed to be shared—which means you can get away with ordering a few more than you normally would.

In this case, it’s a perk because between the housemade focaccia and rotating seafood options, it’s difficult to pick just one “main” dish.

I’m convinced you can never order too much seafood, and grist seems to agree. When I visited, four seafood dishes were on the menu. The poke ($30) was an easy favorite, with thick cubes of ruby tuna served over fluffy white rice. Instead of the finely chopped fish you’ll find in many poke bowls, grist opts for generous cuts paired with a bright, gingery sambal chili sauce and ribbons of cucumber. It’s a satisfying starter for two.

Another stunner I hope comes back once the weather turns is the gumbo ($39). Here, it’s a dark, patient roux loaded with prawns, scallops, lump crab, and andouille sausage, just smoky enough not to overpower it.

Whenever they serve prawns here (which is often), they leave the heads on. It’s more work at the table, but they’re fun to peel and eat.

Then there’s the burger ($30), a 10-ounce patty crowned with aged cheddar. A fondue-like cheese sauce adds richness without overwhelming the honey-glazed bacon, all tucked into a housemade brioche bun and served with thick-cut fries and mill sauce.

Some have compared it to Good Luck’s shareable behemoth of a burger. I feel like each has its own vibe, but grist’s is excellent in its own right. Every component feels considered, and Chef Campolieto upgrades this familiar classic without overcomplicating it.

I would also be remiss not to mention smoked old fashioned ($17). Bourbon isn’t usually my thing, so I typically pass it over, but after seeing a few in the dining room with that dense cloud lingering on the surface, I had to get one.

Rather than using a smoke gun, the cocktail is capped with a wooden lid and torched until it begins to smolder. When the lid is lifted, the smoke appears to hover, leaving an intoxicating aroma. It also tastes incredible, thanks to touches like housemade demerara syrup and bourbon-barrel-aged bitters.

Downstairs, past a door most first-time guests miss, a second bar called the 1827—named, like the restaurant above it, for the year the mill was built—opens Saturday nights with live music and its own short list of drinks.

“It was important to make this a destination while still feeling like it’s part of Honeoye Falls, while also being a destination for people all over the Rochester area,” Bucciarelli says. 

Reviewers think it’s working. “As a local who grew up here, I was so glad to see a place like grist pop up,” one writes. 

Another, who grew up in Honeoye Falls before spending years away in Washington and Texas, puts it more plainly, calling grist something unique, not just for her hometown, but for Rochester as a whole.

The restaurant celebrated its first birthday in July. It’s a small milestone against a building that’s stood since 1827.

The old mill, it turns out, still knows how to feed a town. It’s just doing it now with great music and better cocktails.

grist.

61 N. Main St., Honeoye Falls

582-6010

gristhf.com 

This article originally appeared in the September/October 2026 issue of (585).

Few houses inspire curiosity quite like a cobblestone. Once far more prevalent in the Rochester area, these distinctive homes are now increasingly rare, tucked along country roads and inviting questions from passersby: Is that house really made of stones? Who gathered them all? And what does the inside look like?

In today’s world of subdivisions and modern building materials, these structures offer a tangible connection to the resourcefulness and craftsmanship of the Rochester region’s earliest settlers and are among the most distinctive features of Western and Central New York’s architectural heritage.

At their peak, it’s estimated that between 1,000 and 1,200 cobblestone structures were built in North America, with roughly ninety percent of them within a seventy-five-mile radius of Rochester. Today, only around 600 to 700 cobblestone buildings remain in the greater Rochester region. The limited number underscores the importance of preservation, and, fortunately, a dedicated group of Rochester-area homeowners and preservation advocates are committed to ensuring these architectural treasures endure for future generations.

Why cobblestones?

Most cobblestone houses were constructed between 1825 and 1860, with the style’s “golden age” occurring during the 1830s and 1840s. The boom coincided with the opening of the Erie Canal and a period of prosperity for Western New York farmers, who repurposed the glacial stones scattered across their fields into distinctive homes for their families.

Building a cobblestone house required extraordinary patience and skill. Families sometimes spent years collecting stones from their freshly plowed fields, then had to sort them by size, shape, and color. Skilled masons were then hired to carefully set each stone into soft lime mortar, arranging them in precise horizontal rows. Depending on the size of the structure, thousands of cobbles could be used on a single façade.

“Rochester’s cobblestone heritage is a treasured resource that helps identify Western New York architecture,” says Doug Farley, director of the Cobblestone Society and Museum in Albion. “Much like adobe helps identify the Southwest, and saltbox structures shout New England, cobblestone construction is linked with our region.” The Cobblestone Museum serves as the area’s leading resource on cobblestone architecture and preservation. The museum campus includes several historic cobblestone structures and maintains an extensive database documenting surviving examples throughout North America. Through exhibits, tours, and preservation efforts, the museum works to ensure that this uniquely regional architectural tradition is not forgotten.

The Covert-Brodie-Pollok House, 1832

One of these surviving landmarks stands prominently along North Greece Road and has changed hands surprisingly few times in its almost 200-year history. Built in 1832 by farmer William Covert, the cobblestone farmhouse was constructed using stones gathered from nearby fields.

In 1914, the Brodie family purchased the homestead. One of the family’s descendants, Helen Brodie Pollok, later inherited the residence, becoming one of its most dedicated stewards. Her commitment to preserving the historic site helped secure its place in local history; the house was added to the State and National Registers of Historic Places in 1995 and became the Town of Greece’s first designated local landmark in 1998.

Today, the house is in the hands of another pair of devoted caretakers. In 2023, childhood friends and business partners Kristin Lindley and Meagan Baker, founders of Upstate Roots Design, purchased the building to serve as the headquarters for their home staging and interior design company.

When it came time to find an office space, the pair decided that a generic building just wouldn’t do. “We wanted to own something and own a piece of history,” says Lindley. “We immediately connected with this property.”

After contacting the Town of Greece about historic properties that might become available, they were introduced to the family that had owned the landmark for generations. “We had to sell our vision and how we planned to uphold the love they had for it,” Baker says.

Inspired by Helen Pollok’s decades-long commitment to preserving the house, Lindley and Baker carefully restored original floors and architectural details while transforming the home into Upstate Roots Design headquarters and a creative studio space. Lindley says, “We loved the story that it had, and then we wanted to be a part of its next chapter.”

Preserving these local landmarks

The future of cobblestone architecture depends on continued stewardship. Unlike many other architectural styles, cobblestone buildings cannot easily be replicated. Their construction techniques, materials, and craftsmanship belong to a brief chapter in history, making every surviving structure increasingly valuable. As more of these buildings approach their bicentennial, owners and advocates alike recognize that once a cobblestone house is lost, it is lost forever.

“If we lose our focus on preservation, these treasured examples of our pioneer heritage could be lost,” says Farley. “Our forefathers were presented with nuisance stones and turned them into showcases of the nineteenth century. It’s our turn now to make sure we continue to tell their story. No one is going to replace a lost cobblestone structure that falls into disrepair. The resource is limited and could be at risk without wise decision making.”

“Helen Pollok took care of this house for sixty years, and she fought very hard before she passed away to get it designated as a landmark,” adds Baker. “Our goal is to preserve this property and continue its story.”

To find out more about the Cobblestone Society and Museum, visit cobblestonemuseum.org. 

To find out more about Upstate Roots Design, visit upstaterootsdesign.com. 

This article originally appeared in the September/October 2026 issue of (585).

In a world where you can find a video of absolutely anything—the first woman to travel to the moon, a deep dive debunking the newest health fads, the first steps after the birth of an endangered Przewalski’s horse—it seems a little peculiar that some of the most popular content is banal to the point of confounding. To turn our brains off, we often find ourselves seeking stimuli that are repetitive, simple, or satisfying. A few years ago, I had perfectly curated my feed of Instagram reels to present only the top tier soap cutting, slime squishing, and rug cleaning videos to relax. I would watch a man in an overly bright warehouse spraying a filthy rug with a power washer in neat little rows and visualize him doing the same to my brain. As the muck sloughed off into the drain it would reveal a new row of clean tufted fiber. In my mind’s eye I would see my anxious and intrusive thoughts washed away from a sleek and shiny brain. If this pressure washer could instantly erase decades of filth from this rug, it could easily clean all the useless junk stuck inside my head.

Content creator Katie DeRaddo knows by now how to give the people what they want in a satisfying cleaning video. She uses a variety of tools, from scrub brushes, firm scrapers, specialized cleaning chemicals, toothbrushes, and wooden dowels to really get in the nooks and crevices. She starts a video with a hook, trying to catch the attention of viewers before the urge to mindlessly scroll takes over: “I’ve been up since 3:45 this morning; it’s currently about 5:20 p.m.” The camera pans up to reveal her location, manmade stone markers peppering the grassy background. “Let’s see how many headstones I can clean before I get too tired!” The answer, if you’re curious, is six.

DeRaddo, known as A Grave Attraction on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok, cleans gravestones around the Rochester area and shares what she learns about the names hiding underneath the muck with her thousands of followers. She’s amassed 148,000 subscribers on YouTube, 91,600 followers on Instagram, and 21,500 followers on TikTok, all watching with rapt attention as she brings these cemetery markers back to their former glory. When asked about the type of audience she cultivates with her content, she specifies that there are a few different kinds of viewers. “I would say half are history buffs, people who like hearing the stories I tell as I clean. Another part are people who like the cleaning, the satisfaction of seeing something really dirty come clean. There’s also a portion of people who are really into grave cleaning specifically.”

DeRaddo’s content falls under the growing niche known as the “Death Positive” movement, defined by speaking openly about the realities of death and dying. Pioneered by Caitlin Doughty, who garnered a following by sharing stories about her experience as a funeral director on her YouTube channel and eventually lead to her publishing three best-selling books and founding the Order of the Good Death.

According to the website: “The Order is about making death a part of your life. That means committing to staring down your death fears—whether it be your own death, the death of those you love, the pain of dying, the afterlife (or lack thereof), grief, corpses, bodily decomposition, or all of the above. Accepting that death itself is natural but the death anxiety and terror of modern culture are not.”

Other folks working in the industry popped up online sharing their work and knowledge on death and dying: morticians like Heather Taylor of @beforethecoffin and Syracuse’s own Eileen Hollis of @HollisFuneralHome, A. J. Hawkins of KALMA (a death-positive lifestyle brand and gathering space), and fellow graveyard enthusiasts like Caitlin Abrams of @Manicpixiemom and Alicia of @ladytaphos. As a topic that has been traditionally shrouded in taboo creeps toward the mainstream, people have begun to pick up hobbies in what was formerly considered macabre. For Katie DeRaddo, watching others clean graves online inspired her to pick up a scrub brush and a tripod and get down and dirty herself.

“I got started by volunteering at Mount Hope Cemetery; they have a great training program for volunteers,” shares DeRaddo. Grave cleaning isn’t as simple as it seems; it requires approved pH-neutral cleaners, soft-bristled brushes, and wooden or plastic tools so as not to degrade the strength of the monument over time. While it can be tempting to use a pressure washer to create the brain-tingly clean that viewers crave, “Do No Harm” is often quoted as the golden rule of headstone restoration. Using abrasive cleaners can allow for faster degeneration long term.

“I try to focus on the headstones that need the most love and work from there.” DeRaddo reaches out to cemetery staff to get permission beforehand and will spend her entire day scrubbing lichen on her time off from her day job. Her cleaning videos are paired with a voiceover going into the history of the deceased that she finds from scouring the Internet’s resources. She digs in on public access websites like Ancestry.com, FindAGrave.com, and old newspaper archives to create a narrative of someone’s life to share with her followers.

When asked if she has ever been contacted by relatives of the deceased she’s featured, she says she’s had a few comments here or there, but nothing confirmed. It’s less about connecting people through ancestry and more about educating her followers on the reality of the lives of those who lived on the same ground decades apart. In one video, DeRaddo scrapes lichen off a stone to reveal the headstone of Allie Lord, a Rochester transplant after marrying her husband at nineteen. She had three children—losing the youngest at only a year old—and kept house while her husband traveled working in sales. She lived twenty-two years longer than he did, raising a family and keeping up an estate until she passed away at seventy-seven. As DeRaddo scrapes the dirt and detritus away, she reveals Allie’s marker, a modest stone next to her hus- band William’s, labeled only “Allie B. Lord, His Wife, 1872–1949.” By cleaning her stone, DeRaddo not only recognizes her for her name but also unveils a life so much richer than you could possibly garner from the words we’re expected to remember her by. Nature creeps in on us all, but it is up to us to unearth the stories of people past and to listen, learn, and remember them.

“There’s that phrase about how you die twice, once when you pass and then once when you’re no longer remembered,” says DeRaddo. “Maybe it’s my own anxiety around death, but I hope I get to bring these people back and that people can learn from their stories.”

If she’s not in your local cemetery, you can find Katie DeRaddo on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok under @agraveattraction.

This article originally appeared in the September/October 2026 issue of (585).

While many environmental issues may feel abstract or intangible, fashion is deeply individual—and a part of our everyday lives. The fast fashion industry accounts for up to ten percent of global carbon emissions, according to earth.org. That’s more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined. Since 1995, Goodwill of the Finger Lakes has championed sustainability in fashion (and household goods) through its donated-goods retail locations, giving those items a second life. “By encouraging people to rethink how they acquire, wear, and care for clothing, fashion can help make concepts like waste reduction and responsible consumption easy and fit into everyday choices,” says Jennifer Lake, president and CEO of Goodwill.

Bringing the cause to the runway

To celebrate sustainability and creativity in our community, Goodwill will host one of its signature events, Sustainability Under the Stars, on September 17 at the Highline Rochester.

The event is a one-of-a-kind fashion show, where five designers create new looks from Goodwill-sourced materials. This year, fifty-six designers from throughout the twenty counties served by Goodwill in New York State competed for a chance to show their work on the runway.

“[Our region is] home to a vibrant and diverse community of artists, designers, makers, and fashion enthusiasts ... which makes narrowing the field both exciting and challenging,” says Sarah O’Brien, director of mission advancement at Goodwill, whose team oversees the fashion show.

She adds that designers were selected by a committee based on criteria evaluating “creativity, craftsmanship, originality, use of secondhand materials, and how effectively each design reflects the spirit of sustainable fashion.”

The final five designers were each provided with a $250 gift card to source materials and accessories from local Goodwill stores. Designs were to be constructed with seventy percent Goodwill finds, providing some leeway in sourcing elsewhere for items like thread, fasteners, and any additional materials required.

Last year’s designers showed unrestrained creativity with the materials they sourced, including one who made a wedding gown from a crocheted afghan and another who fashioned column dresses from curtains with oversized grommets.

In addition to original, inventive looks by regional designers, the event will also feature music, craft cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, and opportunities to mingle with likeminded individuals. Guests will have an opportunity to bid on curated raffle prizes to support Goodwill’s mission. Last year, 125 people attended the event.

This year, when all five designers have shown their work and the final model leaves the runway, success for O’Brien will look like a room full of attendees who are energized. It will look like excitement and surprise on their faces when they see firsthand what’s possible with thrifted and upcycled fashion.

“Ultimately, success is when people leave the event seeing fashion—and sustainability—a little differently than when they arrived,” she adds.

“Elevating people, community, and planet”

The organization’s mission is “elevating people, community, and planet for a good today and a better tomorrow.” Sustainability Under the Stars tackles each aspect of the mission by highlighting reuse while also acting as a fundraiser for Goodwill’s community programs and services.

More than 171,000 community members benefit from Goodwill’s services, which include Goodwill Vision Enterprise (formerly the Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired), helping people who are blind or who have low vision live independently; 211/LIFE LINE, connecting individuals to housing, healthcare, and legal assistance; 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, providing support for those facing mental health or substance abuse challenges; Goodwill Learning Academy, helping adults earn their high school diploma; and the Good Neighbor program, providing donated clothes and household goods to other community-based organizations.

Retail store revenue covers about 80 percent of the cost of the organization’s programs and services, and the remaining 20 percent is met through fundraising, grants, and events like the upcoming fashion show.

Investing in the future

Sustainability Under the Stars can advance conversations around responsible consumption in a more direct way than traditional outreach, because the latter often happens at a distance. While someone can choose whether or not to watch a video or engage with a message, a live event turns audience members into active participants.

“In many ways, the event creates an emotional connection to the concepts of sustainability and responsible consumption, sparking conversations, challenging assumptions, and helping people see upcycled fashion through a new lens,” says O’Brien.

Concepts like reuse are central to Goodwill’s operations—specifically their retail stores. But lately, the organization has been thinking beyond reuse. Not every donated item is worthy of resale; some items are too worn or damaged to be sold. What happens then?

Soon enough, the organization will have more recovery options for these items, thanks to a $200,000 grant it received this spring from the New York State Community Resiliency, Economic Sustainability, and Technology program, which will be put toward a textile shredder.

The machine will transform the unsellable items into usable raw materials that can be repurposed for a variety of applications, at the rate of 2,500 pounds per hour. Shredded textiles can be used to produce recycled textiles or can be used in products such as insulation, sound- proofing materials, automotive components, and much more, Lake explains.

Using recycled material to make new products also uses less energy, water, and raw materials than manufacturing an item from scratch.

“Ultimately, what excites me most [about the textile shredder] is knowing that every donation will have an even greater opportunity to create positive impact—whether through reuse, recycling, environmental stewardship, or support for the programs and services that strengthen our community,” says Lake.

Last year, the organization kept nearly 29 million pounds of goods in circulation. With the implementation of a textile shredder (no timeline has been confirmed yet), even more fibers will be kept from a landfill or incinerator while also creating additional employment opportunities for individuals with barriers to employment.

Changing the mindset

If she could change one thing about how consumers think about clothing and sustainability, Lake would shift the mindset from “disposal to stewardship.”

“When consumers begin to see themselves as stewards rather than owners of clothing, their relationship with fashion changes," says Lake. "Instead of asking, ‘How long will I wear this?’ they begin to ask, ‘What is the full life of this item?’ or ‘What is it made of?’”

“That perspective encourages people to buy more thoughtfully, care for garments longer, repair them when possible, and find responsible ways to pass them on when they no longer need them.” Learn more at goodwillfingerlakes.org. 

This article originally appeared in the September/October 2026 issue of (585).

In 1971, a group of teens conceptualized a place where Rochester-area youth could receive support and advocate for themselves. Since then, the Center for Youth (CFY) has been that place. 

From food cupboards to crisis nurseries, CFY offers free services that cover a range of needs. One of its main objectives is sheltering unhoused teens and young adults or those who are in an unsafe housing situation. The center has emergency and transitional housing options for ages twelve to twenty-four and case managers to help youth find a permanent safe space. Chrysalis House is specifically open to women who are pregnant or have an infant, and it is the only place of its kind for teen mothers in Monroe County.

Additional CFY programs include Bridge to Peace, which focuses on peer-based restorative action for youth, and various school-based services, including equivalency exam support, internship and college enrollment help, alternative-to-suspension programs, music lessons, STEAM and nature workshops, and more.

Yet all of this is just a fraction of what CFY provides to the community. The center has been a positive staple in Rochester for five decades, growing the number of programs offered and youth served every year. On any given night, the center houses around 100 youth, and Elaine Spaull, its executive director, estimates it assists 35,000–40,000 young adults per year across all programs.

“I came to CFY from a law firm where I was practicing corporate tax law and said I would stay three to five years and get the agency on its feet,” says Spaull. “Fast forward twenty-five years, and I am still here. But so much has changed that it is not the same place it was when I started.”

One of those changes is Fashion Week Rochester (FWR).

Spanning three days each fall, FWR’s mission is to “spotlight local designers, boutiques, businesses, and artists while shining a light on youth homelessness.” This year marks Fashion Week Rochester’s sixteenth year of fun fashion-forwardness that uplifts the community. But just how did this unique collaboration come to be?

“I had a call one summer from a community member who owned a special events business, and they were looking for a nonprofit partner to launch their first runway show,” says Spaull. “I was happy to participate but had no idea what it would end up being for the entire community.”

As of this writing, twenty-two designers are slated to have their looks on the runway this October 15 through 17, and dozens of local fashion lovers will model the apparel. What makes the 2026 show extra special is that eight young people from the Center for Youth will serve as runway models, each styled by Angela Monique, owner of Brown Girls Too (BGT).

Monique, a Rochester native, mother, writer, and counselor, is thrilled to style the center’s participants. BGT was featured in Fashion Week Rochester four years ago, and Monique has walked the runway in previous years, but this is her first time directly collaborating with the center’s young women.

“The youth are our future, and there is great importance in elevating those who come after us,” says Monique. Achieving that takes everyone working together in various ways in pursuit of the same mission.

Monique’s early love of fashion magazines was a definite influence on the birth of Brown Girls Too. “I would happily spend my day flipping pages and obsessing over [the looks],” says Monique. “I was not always afforded the ability to purchase those very items, yet I was determined to create a luxury life using the resources accessible to me. That fomented my lifelong love of thrifting.”

When Monique’s secondhand shopping sprees outgrew her space, she decided she could still shop if she also sold some of her haul. In 2022, she opened Brown Girls Too, a thrift shop that focuses on ethical fashion and personalized styling. Monique performs everything related to her business personally: She models, photographs, markets, shops, and sells. It is important for her clients to know that it is possible to be a stylish, conscientious shopper and stay within a budget. Brown Girls Too does not currently have a storefront, so Monique is redesigning the website to make online shopping easier. (For now, she can be reached through IG and FB: @browngirlstoo.)

“The name Brown Girls Too is intentional and carried with much love,” says Monique. “I wanted my business name to be a direct representation and reminder of those of us who are often overlooked and undervalued. I think it is imperative for everyone to feel seen, to look and feel their best.”

This is where the Center for Youth young women come in. They get to have fun with each other and shine on stage.

“We’ve had CFY staff model before but have never showcased our youth,” says Spaull. “As we reimagine FWR and what it means to our community, it felt like it was time. We have an amazing group of young women as youth leaders who are perfect for the show this year.”

The eight CFY models are part of the Flower City Changemakers. This program is funded by the Rochester Women’s Giving Circle, which provides grants that empower women in career and creative initiatives. The “changemakers” have been meeting weekly for about a year, discussing topics of interest, collaborating on fresh ideas, and creating new friendships and supports. They are a mix of bold and shy people, but they all enjoy fashion and artistic expression.

Two of the models got a preview of the fun to come when Monique styled them for this article. When asked about the experience, they said they felt “seen and heard and loved and so happy.” Not only are they excited for the fashion show to come, but they also feel blessed to be included in (585) magazine. Spaull says her staff feels the same about them: “These young women are poised yet humble, lovely, and gracious, and they are resilient and kind. They support each other, and they remind us every day how small acts make a big difference.” 

Speaking of big, the runway show will take place in a voluminous event tent on East Main Street this year, so there are a lot of moving parts to coordinate before the opening day. “Electricity, security, seats, and all that it takes to create a safe and fun venue,” says Spaull. “Luckily, we got started early, and so much is coming together.”

For anyone who attends the show and sees fashions they are interested in, the planning crew is working hard to make the runway experience interactive. Guests will be able to connect directly to the designers, vendors, and stores through a link. Since all the fashion designers and retail partners are Fashion Week volunteers, Spaull wants to make sure any pur- chases benefit their businesses.

Meanwhile, ticket sales and event sponsorships fund the youth center’s shelters and nurseries, literally keeping the doors open to their foundational services.

“The sponsors’ generous support makes it possible to keep our Arnett House and Crisis Nursey sites strong,” says Spaull. “And we know that FWR is one of the most diverse and welcoming events in our city. We believe that Rochester deserves to highlight its vendors, models, designers, entertainers, and supporters. The energy and focus on doing good and looking good is magical.”

Monique agrees: “I grew up with the saying, ‘Each one, teach one.’ I carry that with me wherever I go.”

For more information about the Center for Youth, Fashion Week Rochester, or sponsoring either one, contact Elaine Spaull: 

473-2462

es*****@************th.net 

centerforyouth.net 

fashionweekrochester.org

This article originally appeared in the September/October 2026 issue of (585).