Restaurants in Rochester

Lovin’ Cup’s owners had a dream of creating a place that celebrates life’s pleasures and offers the unique and personal experience each of their customers seeks. And to achieve that dream, it took the combined efforts of all five owners to truly fill Lovin' Cup to the brim, each one specializing in a different area of the culinary arts or entertainment. The crew started with a simple, delicious menu of familiar eats made right, such as Angus beef burgers, gourmet pizzas, and hearty sandwiches. They paired these, with an array of craft beers on tap – plus more than 50 varieties in bottles – and a carefully curated list of international wines.

To entertain the brain's higher functions, they host game nights every Monday, open mic performances every Tuesday, and live music of every genre on Thursdays. Performances rotate between jazz, alt-country, indie, and rock groups as often as they change out their drafts on tap and, presumably, their socks. And finally, the owners paid similarly close attention to the artistic décor of their space, from the polished wood of their wine racks and tables to the mutable collection of art that peppers the walls.

Pizza for breakfast? Eastside Café's Chef Sal Cimino can make it happen. He and his crew are up early anyway, crafting daily batches of dough that become buns for grinders, crusts for gourmet pizzas, including a Loaded Potato Pie with bacon bits and cheddar cheese, and calzones served with homemade dipping sauce. During dessert, their handiwork is fried and transformed into signature cinnamon pillows, tossed with butter, cinnamon, and sugar, providing an airier alternative to the signature sallyoos––battered, deep-fried Oreos dusted with powdered sugar, topped with whipped cream, and sprinkled with the remnants of shredded New Year's resolutions.

The Eastside Café team also raises another kind of dough to combine its support of local artists with a passion for helping those in need. In 2010, the crew hosted an art exhibition in which artists were invited to create pieces on site using watercolors, pencils, and other media. The works were then displayed on the walls and raffled off to benefit a charitable organization that helps children in Haiti.

At Label 7, fresh ingredients such as crisp shaved fennel and gruyere cheese garnish entrees inspired by the light, healthy cuisine of California's Napa and Sonoma Valleys. Wicker chairs flank tables in the softly lit indoor dining room. Oversized white flowerboxes stand guard along the perimeter of a canal-side patio, where a brigade of umbrellas shields patrons from splashing during nearby diners’ attempts to literally wade through the wine list.

A white garden arch greets visitors to La Tea Da! Tearoom & Parlour. Just a few more steps down a walkway lined with flowers and lush foliage brings them to the doorway of a Victorian building—hard to miss, in its brilliant shade of violet. Once inside, one may be excused for thinking that one has stepped into a time warp. Pastel-colored tables surround an elegant couch in a parlor decorated with a hodgepodge of porcelain sculptures and decorative plates that evokes an era long past.

With their easygoing demeanor and willingness to strike up a conversation on the spot, the parlor’s friendly staff members are also an anachronism of sorts. Their menu includes selections for brunch, lunch, and afternoon tea, from bite-size pastries to hearty slices of quiche. Steamy brews such as earl grey, peach rooibos, and Japanese sencha tea pour forth from teakettles emblazoned with polka dots or cast in the shapes of plump bunnies and perky frogs. Children play-act in the parlor during tea parties, pulling on sequined dress-up clothes and communicating through vocoders that embellish their voices with British accents.

The soft sounds of live jazz flow through a low-lit restaurant, easing guests into a comfortable state as the aroma of grilled steak and seared fish fills the air. It's just another night at Bistro 135, a multi-level space that hosts local musicians throughout the week on a balcony stage, who spice up the atmosphere as diners savor a fusion of international and American cuisines. Pairs can share blackened jumbo scallops and manchurian cauliflower at high-top tables in the bar area and enjoy their meals in the cozy outdoor courtyard to soak in the warm weather or surprise eclipses.

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