Food/Restaurants

Finger Lakes, New York Trip Report (Part 3)

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This is my third report for our trip to the Finger Lakes region in New York. My first post outlined our accommodations in Corning, and our second post details some of our activities spent while in Corning. On the final two days of our trip, we planned on spending the majority of the time visiting a lot of the wineries as well as take our sons hiking in the Watkins Glen State Park.

On our first day we visited Castel Grisch Estate Winery, Lakewood Vineyards, Pompous Ass Winery, Glenora, Fruit Yard Winery, 3 Brothers Wineries and Brewing Company, and Belhurst Winery & Castle. Perhaps our favorite winery was the Lakewood Vineyard in part because the gentleman serving the wine tastings were very personable and funny, not to mention their wine was pretty good. We also stopped at the Shtayburne Farm for cheese at the recommendation of Lakewood Winery. Overall we ended up purchasing about a case of wine and various cheeses along the way on our first day.

For lunch we stopped next door to the Fruit Yard Winery at R.E.D.S. Hots in Dundee, New York.

It was a small little hot dog establishment that you would fully expect to see on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives (Triple-D) with Guy Fieri. It was at R.E.D.S. that we learned a real appreciation for hot dogs and the various kinds. They serve a Red, White, All Beef, Glazier’s Snappy, Turkey, or Veggie hot dogs. I remembered the white hot dogs that my uncle would bring back from New York growing up, so I ordered a Red and a Snappy with chili and cole slaw on each. My wife and family pretty much all ordered the white hot dogs. They were all FANTASTIC! The Snappy was particularly interesting because it featured a bright red natural casing. The chili had a nice flavor, and the cole slaw was made with pineapple, which gave it a really nice sweet flavor.

My wife and family were so impressed with the New York hot dogs that we stopped at a local grocery store on the way home and purchased some white hot dogs to bring home. Unfortunately I was not able to find the Snappy dogs in the grocery store.

This is about as good a time as any to mention about the water in the Finger Lakes region in general. When we were down in Corning, the water was fine to drink. The only issue I noticed is the water was very soft, and thus you never felt like you could rinse off all the soap. When you get up into the wine region, you will notice lots of wineries will say not to drink the water because they all source water from wells, and thus it has a strong iron taste. I never was able to ask the question, but if there was such a strong concern about the taste of the water, how do they make wine without the use of water to impact the flavors of the grape?

What we were not aware of was that the weekend we were in town was also two large wine tours going on; a Wine and Cheese tour around Seneca Lake, and a Wine and Herb tour around Cayuga Lake. What we quickly learned was that we were at a distinct advantage to be doing the Seneca Lake wine trail on Friday, ahead of all the crowds. It definitely was nice to be able to talk to each of the wineries and learn a little about how each of the wines were made.

Make sure when you go to the wineries, you bring lots of single dollars. The reason being is that most of the wineries charge anywhere from $2-3 per person for a tasting of 3-8 wines. I did not think of this ahead of time and only brought a limited amount of cash as I anticipated putting most of the trip on our cards. Luckily I had enough to cover us for the whole trip, but it was an unexpected expense I did not plan. My wife and I were luckily able to share a tasting at each of the wineries, also helping to cut down on the costs.

The wineries typically close down around 5:00 pm, so we headed back into Watkins Glen to go to the Rooster Fish Brewery for dinner. I ordered the Chicken, NYS Cheddar, and Apple sandwich, which had an excellent flavor. My wife ordered the special of the night, which was a whole wheat pasta with chicken, artichokes, and a cream sauce. Overall I can not complain about the food because it was good. My only issues were that the service was not that good as I never was asked for a drink refill the entire time. In addition, my wife’s dinner was fairly expensive at $18.95 for the small portion of pasta she received. I am always baffled why pasta dishes are so expensive when it is practically the cheapest thing you can make.

On the way back to Corning after dinner we all stopped at a market to buy ice cream, which was really good, although the name escapes me right now.

The worst part of the day was getting all the way back to Corning and realizing upon unpacking the vehicle was I forgot my jacket back at the Rooster Fish. However, rather than drive all the way back, I had them hold the jacket for me since I knew we would be back in Watkins Glen the next morning to go hiking through the gorge.

Finger Lakes, New York Trip Report (Part 1)

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This past weekend we spent our time in the Finger Lakes region of New York State after reading the Budget Travel article last year as the Most Beautiful Wine Region in the world! I previously talked about planning for this trip here and here.

First lets start with the hotel. We booked the Staybridge Suites located in Corning, New York. We were very satisfied with the hotel. I had reserved two rooms using the Friends and Family rate. One of our rooms was upgraded to a King Suite, so I gave that to my inlaws. Our room was a standard Queen Suite, which had a kitchen area, sitting area, bedroom, and a large bathroom. The hotel had a fairly large lounge and breakfast area. On Tues-Thurs, the hotel hosts different nightly events which include beer, beverages, and food. We were there on Thursday, which they had a brocolli and cheese soup available. The hotel also features a gym, indoor pool, and courtyard complete with a basketball hoop.

Overall the stay was comfortable and the accommodations met all of our expectations. We swam on our first night with both our children, and besides the pool being slightly cool, we enjoyed it. My oldest son was shivering at the end though yet did not want to get out.

The breakfasts in the morning were GREAT! We had ample choices including a variety of cereals, fresh hard boiled eggs, cottage cheese, yogurts, tons of different breads, bagles, and pastries, outmeal and assorted toppings, fresh waffles, fruits, and various hot items including scrambled eggs, sausages, etc. It was a great way to start each day.

Upon arrival, they allowed my son a chance to spin a bonus wheel for each of our reservations since we were Priority Club members. We had won a free item from the snack bar and 750 free points. My son did us good with the maximum free points on the wheel, and we allowed him to choose a snack of his choosing.

The only issue I find peculiar is that we booked with the Friends and Family rate, and had a slight issue when it came time to check out. Here are the terms of the rate:

Reservations require full prepayment for the entire stay at time of booking. Fully non-refundable. Prepayment is charged to credit card between time of booking and day of arrival and is non-refundable. No refunds if cancelled or changed. PC Points do not apply. Must present voucher at check-in.

So when I made the reservation, I fully expected that I was charged for both rooms. I thought I even remembered seeing it on one of my previous statements. However, the hotel had no record of me actually being charged and paid in full for the reservation despite the terms stating I would be pre-paid. I actually had to call Discover while standing in the lobby to verify where I had been charged or not. Discover Card confirmed that an authorization was not placed onto the card until our arrival date (April 28, 2011). Therefore, I allowed the hotel to charge us for both rooms.

I find this interesting only because why would they delay charging my card? Even though the terms state it is non-cancellable, is it really? I assume we would still be charged even if we did not show up, but who knows. I am not about to test it and loose money. All I know is the Friends and Family rate saved us about $75 per room per night. It was a substantial savings and worth the cost to not earn points for the stay. However, I should still receive credit towards my Crack the Case promo and possibly receive points for other various promos I registed for ahead of the trip.

Smokey Bones Restaurant Review Follow-up

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Earlier this week I wrote about our first experience at a Smokey Bones restaurant in our area. In addition to my post, I also contacted Smokey Bones Corporate via their website since I was not able to talk with a manager while in the restaurant. My goal was just to express my concern to management so they were aware of how the restaurant, and customers, were being handled.

Immediately on Tuesday morning I received a phone call from the manager requesting me to call them back and explain what exactly happened. All week I played phone tag with the manager, but eventually managed to get in touch with him earlier today.

I explained that it was our first time, and that the food really was good. In addition, I told him I was not trying to throw the waiter or staff under the bus, but I explained how the service was really, really slow. The manager was very apologetic and wanted us to return for a future meal so that our first experience was not our last. They were going to send us a gift card in the mail to use at our leisure.

I thanked the manager for his prompt attention to the matter as well as his response. We will gladly give the restaurant another opportunity as we really did enjoy the food. However, I want to be clear and subjective and not be influenced just because we receive a free meal.

My intention for making the management aware of the situation we experienced was not to receive a free meal. As any waiter will know that serves us, if you do a great job, you will be rewarding for it. My wife and I both have funny sense of humors and like to laugh and joke around with our servers. It sets the mood for a great meal and service. At the end of the meal, we always typically leave at least a 20% tip. If you were really good, we will leave more, and if you did not quite hit the mark, we might decrease it some. In addition, if a restaurant hits the mark for service and food, we not only write about them, but also encourage our friends and family to also go. We routinely have tried out new places that have now become favorites.

So when our service was that bad at Smokey Bones this week, I just had to be able to tell someone. It was sad that I could not even find a manager while there to discuss our situation, and that I had to take it to corporate. However, they say they have addressed the situation, and we will try them again in the future.

It is kind of unfortunate how the staff can influence ones opinion of a restaurant. The food service industry is very cut-throat with low margins, so there is little room for error. Customer service and communication really are key in any business to keep clients returning. Smokey Bones prompt response and professionalism won high marks in my eyes. Now go enjoy some BBQ.