Restaurants in Canandaigua

With lunch and dinner menus teeming with traditional German fare, Rheinblick (meaning Rhein view) offers unparalleled vistas of hearty cuisine dished out directly onto diners' plates. Authentic appetizers such as kartoffelpuffer, or potato pancakes, cheerily greet the palate and prepare Deutsch diners for more established entrees ($5.99). Sauerbraten, a beef roast marinated in sweet and sour raspberry sauce ($17.49), and the bratwurst platter, a veritable smorgasbord of sausages ($15.49), are served with house salad and are also available on the restaurant's extensive gluten-free menu. Finishing mouthfuls of rich cheesecake or decadent black forest cake deftly swaddle sweet teeth, tastily preventing them from gossiping about the tongue’s licking habit. Of-age guests may sip on a symphony of german suds and wines until they begin to spout all the German phrases remembered from their grade-school French class.

The Holloway House was first opened in 1808 by blacksmith Peter Holloway, who wanted to give pioneers a resting point on their journey west. The latest in a long line of owners, the Wayne family has helmed the colonial eatery for more than 50 years, reconstructing its original brick fireplace and crafting a menu of American comfort food. From daily offerings, such as the roast duck with peach chutney and the seared scallops in lemon-wine butter, to Saturday night's prime rib and seafood buffet, the chefs make their business good, simple food, and plenty of it.

Upstate New York's aptly named Finger Lakes consist of 11 narrow bodies of water that resemble an outstretched hand on a map. Year-round recreation is common, with skiing at Bristol Mountain in winter, and fishing or boating along the lake during warmer months. Resting on the banks of scenic Canandaigua Lake, Canandaigua is worth a visit for its art galleries, antiques stores, and the award-winning New York Wine & Culinary Center, a nonprofit group offering samples of New York beer, wine, and cuisine. There are more than 100 wineries throughout the Finger Lakes region, making vineyard tours, wine tastings, and vine-swinging competitions popular activities.

Exposed brick cuts away to views of seaside murals in the dining room at Giovanni's Ristorante, setting the mood for rustic Italian recipes that draw heavily from ocean waters. In the kitchen, chefs roll housemade gnocchi dumplings and top housemade linguine with frutti di mare, a mélange of shrimp, scallops, and clams sautéed in madeira wine. Wines from around the world complement other classic entrees, such as veal scaloppine and chicken marsala. Patrons can imagine sea breezes in the Mediterranean-inspired dining room, dine alfresco to the sounds of a bubbling koi pond on a seasonal terrace, or call meetings in a private room with WiFi, a projector, and audio piped in through tubes of rigatoni.

Nestled among the relaxing, scenic Finger Lakes and Canandaigua Wine Trail, Brown Hound Bistro and its imaginative chefs cull flavorful ingredients from the tasty bounty of local sources. Park your stomach vessel in the intimate interior of the bistro's enchanting, century-old dining domicile, or take in panoramic views of the countryside from its spacious patio as you rub your eyeballs along the dinner menu. Various edibles tantalize the tongue in the tapas plate, including warm goat cheese, homemade hummus, and kalamata-artichoke tapenade ($9). The bistro duck adorns its succulent maple-leaf skin-on duck breast with a balsamic orange-blossom-honey pan sauce ($19 petite, $23 full), and The Incredible Wellington flouts modesty by stuffing its kingly beef filet and royal blue-cheese-and-mushroom duxelle inside a golden puff pastry ($23 petite, $28 full).

Naked Pizza serves up a menu of all-natural pies for health-conscious pizza fans. These pies of purity start with a crust made from an ancestral blend of 10 different grains and seeds that includes hidden molecules of prebiotic fiber and probiotics for bone and digestive health. Atop this wonder wheel, Naked Pizza slathers all-natural tomato sauce and skim-milk mozzarella cheese without any added sugar or preservatives. This cherubic cheese pizza (10" $4.99, 12" $5.99, 14" $6.99) can then be adorned with flora flavor addendums (10" $1.49, 12" $1.69, 14" $1.89) such as sun-dried tomato, jalapeño, black beans, fire-roasted red pepper, artichoke, pineapple, mushroom, and fresh basil. Carnivorous connoisseurs can also add farm favorites such as chicken, hamburger, pepperoni, sausage, and ham, as well as feta or cheddar cheese. If the creative gene skipped your generation to join an actors’ strike, Naked Pizza is happy to make sagacious suggestions for specialty combos such as the smokehouse pizza (10" $12.99) with hickory-smoked barbecue sauce as the sultry setting for an illicit chicken-and-onion affair.