Berating a Rochester Institution

That's right, this Rochester blogger is berating one of her own. One that she has never directly experienced no less! What gives?

A restaurant that many locals consider to be a Rochester landmark is Nick Tahou's Hots. They are a typical "joint," as my Dad would call it (i.e. nothing fancy, just short of a dive really) made famous by a dish called the Garbage Plate... Really. What is a Garbage Plate? If I am remembering correctly, it is home fries, either 2 hamburgers or 2 hotdogs, cold baked beans out of a can, and assorted other detritus; it has been lauded as great hangover food and also a heart attack on a plate. Yes, this is what made them famous - so much so that there are several other local restaurants that offer "plates," much to the chagrin of Nick Tahou's. Again, I ask - really? This is what makes it? When I hear of people taking their out-of-town relatives or celebrities there, I cringe inwardly that this is the culinary impression of Rochester that they get. "Wow, these people are so backwards they are excited to eat garbage." No, not literally, but you get the point.

When I tell fellow Rochesterians that I have never had a Garbage Plate, I am most frequently met with disbelief dangerously close to shame. "What?!" they marvel, "I thought you'd lived here your whole life!" Well, I have. But what makes you think I am so eager to consume something that so eagerly protects its "garbage" moniker? More to the point, even if this dish was called "Freakin' Awesome Plate," the ingredients alone all slopped together on the same plate, you would have to pay me a helluva lot of money to agree to take a bite, let alone attempt to finish. Call me a hater, but I can't bring myself to try it. Some may call it a Rochester institution. I just call it plain ol' trash.