Adios Upstate!

For my last night in Rochester, New York we celebrated by going to one of my favorite new-ish restaurants- TRATA (a.k.a. The Restaurant at the Armory).  The Culver Road Armory was built in 1916 for the local Army National Guard, but fell out of use after WWII.  In 2012 it was totally redone to include office spaces, galleries, and this delicious restaurant.  In the renovation they kept a lot of the old brick walls and steel beams and rehabbed it with more modern touched, including a lot of hand-blown glass lamps.  

We started with a tuna bruschetta, steamed buns with slow-roasted pork belly, and tempura green beans. We ordered double of those delicious little steamed buns because there is no way to describe how heavenly they are. I'm in love.

In fact, I got so excited about those little pork belly rolls I totally forgot to take pictures for the rest of the evening.

But, needless to say, everything else was equally as good.  My mom got duck quesadillas with gruyere and creme fraiche (you can't go wrong with cheesy gooey-ness),  C.J. got the Thai Coconut Curry Shrimp which he really enjoyed despite none of us being curry people, and Dad and I split the Short Ribs.  They're braised in oatmeal stout and served over a cheddar potato cake. I replaced the broccolini that came with it with a side of mac and cheese because, if you haven't understood this yet, I'm in love with everything cheese.  The mac and cheese was crispy on top and gooey inside and had some pancetta in there for good measure.  Well worth the swap!

The next morning my mom and I went for a walk in the canal before my flight went out since the weather was still perfect (75 and sunny).  This time we parked in Bushnell's Basin so we could jump on the highway quick.  

This must be just about the perfect place to relax on a day like this.

The Canal House in Bushnell's Basin 

As I was waiting in the airport I saw they had a Gennessee Pub right next to myself and figured it would be a nice send off to have a Rochester beer while I waited.  Unfortunately, they don't even serve Genny (seriously?!  it's your namesake!), so I headed to the vending machine for a quick snack instead. Too bad it not only got stuck, but was also the last one, so there's little chance it'll make it out if I try putting in more money.

But hey, we're on our way home, so who cares?!  We're off to Joe and the puppy.

Thank you to my parents for bringing me home, to Joe's dad for driving me to the airport, and my friends for driving me everywhere since I have no car.  It was so wonderful to see all of you!!!