Wegmans supermarkets have earned a ravenous fan base here in Rochester.  Their stores have a reputation for constantly evolving and meeting customers' changing needs before the customer is aware that their needs are changing.  They're number 10 on Fortune Magazine's list of best places in the country to work.  And, they're one of two things that everyone who's ever lived here misses about Rochester when they move away, the other being me.  

Tuesday night, with a weighty sense of mission, we ventured out to try Wegmans' first restaurant, Tastings. I knew well that despite my affection for the store, should the restaurant disappoint I would feel a sense of duty, an ethical obligation, to destroy the reputation that Wegmans has built up overn nearly 100 years with a few swift strokes across the keyboard that would be transmitted to my massive readership.  Fortunately, both of my readers (hi Mom) will be able to continue shopping at Wegmans with a clear conscience because Tastings, what's the best way to concisely describe this, kicked ass and took names.  We were fully prepared to be disappointed, but now all I want to do is go back, and gush about the experience.

The image above is of the house-made infused vodkas that line the bar in the lounge.  The bartender, Joe, is very proud of his infused vodkas.  He's passionate about the drinks he's created.  He seems to think about drinks a lot, and has a respect for classic proportions.  He wants to make his own bitters.  There is some light in the dismal abyss that is Rochester bartending.  As much as I wanted to see how he faired in producing one of the classic cocktails, the new ingredients got the better of me, and I asked him to make one of his creations.  Apricot infused vodka, apricot nectar, and rosemary simple syrup were mixed and served in a frosty cocktail glass.  I worried about the sweetness.  It wasn't too sweet, it was exceptional, refreshing, and interesting.  I was disappointed to leave when we were told that our table was ready. 

We had heard that there were a couple "Chef's tables" adjacent to the very open kitchen, and requested this when making the reservation.  These are bar height tables with extremely comfortable stools and you may share the table with other diners.  You can see everything going on in the kitchen.  Where's the chaos and shouting that one reads about in books like Kitchen Confidential?  It's not here, calm and control reign.  (We were here late on a Tuesday, the dining room was nearly full, but there are certainly much busier times).

We each ordered the $40 tasting menu with the options split between us and one of their eight or so three-glass wine flights (the perfect way to experience wine for a non-snob.  My experience with wine snobs is that their perfect way to experience wine is to pay a lot of money for it and then complain.  I can't presume to know how wine snobs will feel about this place. but the wine list seemed to have some substantial offerings and was divided up by flavor characteristics rather than region, which I like, and wine snobs will complain about). 

The four dishes in the first two courses just embodied all that is good about food.  We were just stunned at our luck.  And carefully consumed exactly half (a micrometer would have been used had it been handy) of each beautiful dish before exchanging plates.  I had just glanced at the title of the "Tomato and Fresh Mozzarella Salad" dish on the menu, and as yummy as a good caprese salad is, they've become a bit boring.  What was presented was the dish to the right with the panko breaded deep fried mozzarella and an amazing tomato confit.  I'm not sure how the tomato confit was prepared, probably something like this.  This dish was so good that eating it felt like some kind of deal with the devil.  And maybe it's just me, but the presentation looks way too much like The Ring to not creep me out a bit.

The salmon dish was garnished with, amongst other things, glazed baby beets.  I've always had what you could call a hate hate relationship with beets.  The plate arrived, I cut a piece of half a beet, and ate it.  There's a scene in "The Matrix" where Keanu Reeves is being programmed with all sorts of new skills, wakes up suddenly and proclaims, "I know Kung-Fu".  That  is exactly how I felt as I looked across the table and stated "I like beets".

The seared scallops were the second best I have ever had.  After Bayona's in New Orleans.

Next came the two meat entrees, the only things that kept this meal out of the stratosphere.  They were both, unfortunately, rather lackluster.  The potatoes served with the NY strip steak were quite nice with some very forward chive flavor.  But, however expertly cooked the steak was, the cut was inferior and quite bland.  It tasted like, well, Wegmans steak. 

This course was overshadowed however by everything else about Tastings.  Which brings us to:

The Service

I have never had a meal that was so perfectly paced to maximize my enjoyment of the meal.  The wait staff here is very well trained and efficient.  We never once felt rushed.  We never once looked around in want of anything.  Dirty plates were removed through some sort of telekinesis.  The same for the fresh (and wonderfully weighted) silverware that kept appearing.  There was not an iota of pretentiousness or condescension in either of our servers.  Dishes are served simultaneously to the guests at your table by multiple servers, but thereis no flare or split-second synchronization to accompany this maneuver, they're just getting the job done the best way.  (The fact that we were assigned two servers may be part of the efficiency trick.)  As for their level of knowledge of the food and wine, I can't say too much as I didn't ask many questions.  I'm guessing it's good based on the amount of training they must have received to pull off such great movement. 

We're not normally big dessert fans.  Mainly because there's rarely much to be excited about.  I'm sure at some point I will go here just for dessert.  The vanilla and fresh mint homemade ice creams that accompanied our tarts were special.  That may mean more to me than you, I reserve the word "special" as my highest praise for food, maybe you understand.  The chocolate raspberry and rhubarb tarts they accompanied were the best baked goods I'd had in a long time.

I'm ready to go back.  $117 plus tip felt like a bargain.  Unfortunately, just because it's a good value doesn't mean we can afford it all the time.  Now, stopping in for one of those apricot cocktails before I do my grocery shopping, on the other hand...

In The Man Who Ate Everything, Jeffrey Steingarten writes a fascinating essay on subsistence in today's society, how much money one can minimally spend on food, what the government has to say about it, and how cheaply you can produce actual yummy food.  This dish, "Perfumed Rice with Lamb and Lentils" was executed by him at a whopping $1.49 per person.  (The original recipe was from a Persian cookbook called  New Food of Life, it's been added to my Amazon wish list).  I haven't computed what it cost me exactly, I wasn't careful at all with my shopping but I think it's still only around $2.00 per head.  You can clean out your couch cushions and still get change.

But it wasn't the economy that drew me to this delicious recipe.  (I've been known to buy new dishes because they might look good on my stupid blog, I'm not exactly counting lentils).  It was the fact that a key component of the dish was the golden rice crust that fries in butter at the bottom of your pot as everything else steams in said butter.  Ok, you can genuflect now.  Who knew they were eating so well in Iran?!  This recipe also included white raisins, dates, Persian allspice, and lots of onions.  There's nothing not to like.  Well, except the ridiculous amount of time it takes to make.  But, when it came down to cooking this or mowing the lawn... 

Oh, and it was a good excuse to get out my superfine beetle platter: