Andy and Darcy’s Blog

In the continuing pursuit of all things culinary, we were invited to go to Chester’s Kitchen & Bar by Adam and Amber. Chester’s is a new restaurant that opened about 3 weeks ago in the Shops at University Square. The same “mall” that houses zpizza. This place really has had a new life when it comes to restaurants, with zpizza, Chester’s and most recently Salad Brothers. I wholeheartedly endorse the opening of new and unique eateries in Rochester, hoping all the time that we don’t fall into a nightmare of franchised food joints that some towns may endure.

About a week ago, we attempted to go to Chester’s with about 7 of us in attendance, on a Saturday night at about 6:00pm without a reservation. This was a mistake, the wait was about 2 1/2 hours. We gave up on it, instead choosing to go to City Cafe, a very good restaurant (and Rochester’s best place for seafood yet). Tonight, however, we didn’t have any problems. For starters we only had four people and more importantly, it was a Sunday night. There were plenty of tables free, we got seated right away. The service so far was a bit questionable, the hostess didn’t really indicate to us that we were supposed to follow her. I had to ask another hostess if in fact we were supposed to do this. In the end, we were supposed to follow her, it just wasn’t clear at the time.

Chester’s has adopted a open kitchen theme, a la Macaroni Grill (*taps plays softly in the background*) with very hip wallpaper, muted earthtones and funky music. The atmosphere attempts to be very hip and trendy and in most ways succeeds very well. It felt like a more laid back Prescott’s, or rather the way Prescott’s should have laid out their restaurant. The spaces are broken up nicely by barriers and plants and the lighting is varied and modern. There were nice cloth napkins rolled around silverware on the table, but they were in a pile rather than at each diner’s position, not something I would expect. Then we got to the menus, very nice cloth wrapped outer (think hardover book), however the inside was just a plastic pocket with the menu behind it. To me, this was kind of tacky and not becoming of the hip and trendy style they were going for. Furthermore, when the waitress arrived, she started talking about their happy hour and drink/wine specials, however there wasn’t a wine list on the table, and when it came it was a laminated piece of paper. Again, not what I was expecting.

Now on to the food, they had the typical American type cuisine, pasta, steaks, chicken, some fish, and burgers. Appetizers ranged from pizzas to crab cakes to seared tenderloin with blue cheese sauce (oh ya!). We skipped the appetizers and went right for the main courses. I ordered a blue cheese burger (of which I have to try at any restaurant I visit). with cottage cheese and some grilled onions on the side, Darcy had the spagettini primavera with a side of home made pickles. Adam had a Vermont white cheddar burger and Amber had the rotisserie chicken.

The food came in a timely fashion and was presented nicely, not gourmet, but also not Applebees either. One thing I can say, the portions are nothing to shake a stick at, Amber basically half a chicken and one pound of mashed potatoes. It could be easily shared by two people. My burger was juicy and flavorful and quite excellent. The food was very tasty and I would go back just to try some of their other entrees, there were lots of gorgonzola and blue cheese themed dishes, my kind of place!

Now onto dessert, the highlight of this meal. They only had a few items, but the one that stuck out for me was the banana cream pie. I’m a sucker for a good cream pie, because if done well, its absolute heaven. Let me tell you, if you try this banana cream pie, prepare to be transported. It came out less in a pie form, than a blob of banana custard, cream crust and fruit. This was the purest banana cream pie I’ve ever tasted, the custard was unbelievable, it was not too sweet with just enough banana and cream flavors. The crust was something of a crushed cookie that had a slightly salty taste to it and to top it all off, there was a cooked banana on top, that was done to perfection. I could just keep going on and on about this masterpiece. Trust me, get this if you ever go there, you will NOT regret it.

The service was fairly good throughout, the waitress was a bit new as she attempted too much small talk. It reminded me of Seinfeld I saw one time. Small talk can be great, but it can always be awkward, this bordered on the latter.

In conclusion, I have mixed feelings about Chester’s. The service is still in the “learning phase”, as is usually the case with any new restaurant. The food is outstanding and the desserts, sublime. With a few finishing touches here and there, one to the menu and wine list, it could win perfect marks in some categories. This post went on for a while, but I may just be still feeling the high of the banana cream pie.

Ratings (out of 5)
Atmosphere: 4.5
Service: 3.5
Food: 4.8 (so close to a 5, the banana cream pie must be wearing off )
Fun: 4.0

Overall: 4.2