FAT Bites - Petit Poutine, Chicago Trip, and Studio Work

I'm Chris Lindstrom and this is the Food About Town podcast, Rochester.

Well, why Rochester? Chris Lindstrom was a hoot. He was just so much fun. He never stopped talking. I mean, it was great. Here's a good idea. Have a point. It makes it so much more interesting for the listener and we don't need any characters around to give the joint atmosphere. Is that clear? Because I'm a pro. That's what pros do. I'm a professional. Look it up in the book. But now, yeah, I'm thinking I'm back.

And we are back with another Food About Town Bites short episode where I go through recent events, travel, whatever else I'm feeling at the moment. So thank you for joining and this is the start of doing this as a live stream as well. So for anybody who's tuning in on Instagram or is listening to this on the podcast later, I'm going to try to announce these going forward so people can chime in if they like.

So I'll have have Instagram up in case people have comments or things they want to talk about. So it's a bit of a new experiment for me. I'm learning along the way. I did this actually last night and messed up a little bit. So redoing it today on Saturday, the 25th, when the podcast is going to come out. I'll also have an episode out on Tuesday that'll be mainly published on Just can't not with Reconnect. Rochester talked road diets, Rochester public transportation, things like that.

So stay tuned on Tuesday for that. But today I have a few topics I wanted to talk about.

Le Petit Poutine. Le Petit Poutinery. I want to talk about recent trip I took to Chicago, then talk just a little bit about the studio changes. I'm working on where things are going and start from there. So do you want to start off with Petit Poutinery? Le Petit Poutine. Obviously this has been a big topic in recent weeks around Rochester. That announcement I think threw a lot of us a little bit for a loop. Not in the way that I think everybody would necessarily expect.

I'm not shocked specifically that a prominent place was closing. I think this was just know for everybody that loved and loves, you know, Petit Poutine. Le Petit Poutine, the food trucks. I think it was a little bit of a surprise and really appreciated the forthright video and all the positive comments that came out about that in public.

I just wanted to walk through a little bit of like my history with, you know, the Petit Poutine in general and talk about some of the things that, you know, I think were lesser appreciated but so important for the Rochester food scene, both with the food trucks and otherwise.

So I remember going to the original Petit Poutine food truck, and not the big ones that everybody's used to now, but the original one, which was, you know, a old school food truck that was repurposed back in like 2020, sorry, 2011, I think it was outside of the work metal workshop at the public market, that little parking lot. And I remember going there early on and talking to.

To Lizzy Clapp, who was, you know, running at the time with her business partners and, you know, learning about the history and where everything had come from and that I just adored what was already coming off of that truck. I grew up eating, you know. You know, I grew up in Buffalo, but, you know, we always had like gravy and fries and we'd actually made poutine at home a few times. And the fact that was able to get a really good version here in Rochester was really exciting to me.

And that brought us to the next round of things, which was the food truck rodeos in Rochester, where at the time I was going out every month and covering it in detail. Remember going to the first food truck rodeo at the public market and writing about all the different things everybody was doing, all the creativity and how wild the demand was and how wild people were about the opportunity to have food off of a truck that was really good. And that was the original group of trucks.

And I think at the time that was like brick and motor. Paul Vroman, who I knew his commissary was right across the street from where I worked. It was Le Petit Poutine on the, on the truck, it was Marty's Meats. I just remember all the creativity and all the drive and how fast food trucks exploded in Rochester. And part of that explosion was getting the legislation and getting it so trucks could, you know, act in Rochester in a way that was tenable.

And a big drive for that was the food truck alliance that both, you know, Lizzie and Ronnie, Ronnie McClive were involved with. To get that, to get that to happen in Rochester. Without that, you know, the ability for trucks to have spots in Rochester to go, you know, on the streets for, you know, the ability to do lots of different things wouldn't necessarily happen in the way that it did end up happening. And that was a critical part for the growth of food trucks.

And now that they're kind of an established thing that happens Around Rochester, not the same as as in other cities. I'm not saying it's perfect by any means, but, you know, getting it right or getting it as close to right as it could be was a huge thing that they were involved with. You know, they ended up with these two beautiful large food trucks that were a staple at food truck rodeos, at catering, at, you know, events around town. I live in, you know, just outside the North Winton Village.

And you know, when they had the festivals here, you know, they would be there or they'd be at other places around Rochester. And that was awesome. It was important. So, you know, that brought us to what was something I would always thought was going to happen was a brick and mortar place for Le Petit Poutine as the Petit Poutinery, which over on Elton street where, you know, the old Glen Edith location was.

And I remember coming over during construction and just chatting for a few minutes and talking about the process and, you know, the challenges and build out and turn it into the place they wanted it to be. And I think in the end it was like so wildly, you know, successful in that aspect. I mean, the design of the place is so fantastic.

It's. It fit to me, it felt so complete as a design where I can't say that about, you know, a lot of places where I think the Design is almost 100% complete in a way that makes so much sense based on who was involved in the design, you know, from, you know, from those two minds having a combination of, you know, you know, vintage with some art deco feel. It didn't feel old, but it felt like it always should have been there.

Yeah, it was approachable, you know, it felt comfortable, but it wasn't dumbed down and like simplified too much. It was notably feminine, which is not something you can say about a lot of places. But it wasn't trite. It wasn't anything but a complete thought and it felt personal in the absolute best possible way. And I'll say this in with like, reverence, that it reminded me of going to places in Toronto that Gen Ag, one of the notable restaurateurs of, you know, Toronto has created up there.

When I walk into those places, I knew that they were. It was a Gen ed restaurant. And it's not to say every place is the same, but the fact that it had so much thought put behind it, that's what this space felt to me here in Rochester. And that meant a lot to me.

When I see somebody putting all that into it, you know, and obviously launching the Brick and mortar restaurant offered the opportunity to, you know, have more offerings, you know, more sandwiches that are regulars, different specials, you know, more opportunities. And I think over that time period that it was, you know, it was popular, it was a success in many ways.

You know, the fact that 13 years, 13 years have gone by and that Le Petit Poutine, the Petite poutinery, have been such a core part of what Rochester hospitality has become, you know, from, you know, great service on the truck, going to see it at the Brighton market on Sundays, you know, having it being ever present around Rochester was something everybody felt like they could depend on. And I'm sad that, you know, it's closing at the end of January. It's coming out today on Saturday.

There's only a few days left. If you have a chance and you haven't been this month, please go out. You don't have to say goodbye necessarily to the owners or anybody in particular, but, you know, think about what it's meant to you and go out and support all the places that you love. We don't know how much time every place has a 13 year run is an astonishing success and how much they've impacted the Rochester food and drink scene is hard to overstate.

So thank you to, you know, Lizzie Clapp, Ronnie McLive, the whole team that has made that such a core part of Rochester. And, you know, I'm excited to see if anything or what's next, so let's move on. But, you know, definitely go and check it out.

You know, the last few days I wanted to talk about recent trip I had to Chicago. This was a drive out that I took with my wife Carrie at Crazydude on Instagram. If you want to check out any of her merchandise for her artwork. Drove out in December to go to one of her conventions, a furry convention out at Rosemont, which is up near O'Hare, so outside of the city, but you know, an area where you have access to get in.

We drove out, had the chance to listen to between the drive the first half and this is, we're talking 22 hours of driving, we get to listen to almost the first half or a little more of the stand uncut edition from Stephen King on audiobook. And that was fantastic. And the fact that it took 20 something hours to get through half of it is a testament to the insane length of that book. We actually drove out after that huge snowstorm that went through like Erie and Buffalo and everywhere else.

So our drive out took like 12 hours. That should be like 10. It was a really long day. And that's part of the challenge of going to conventions like this. And as a participant in somebody that's really just there to make sure Carrie is successful is that some nights you just have to doordash because you're exhausted. We did get some from local Vietnamese and Thai spots. Obviously didn't get a chance to go to those places. So I'm not going to mention too much about them. But you know, it's.

If you are using it, make sure you're, you know, tipping well. Make sure you're trying to treat the restaurant as best you can because sometimes you have to do it. But you know, be careful. Try to treat the restaurants as good as you can. I did get the chance to take the train into the city on Friday. Usually I get a little bit of a chance to go into the city on these trips. Usually I take one day.

So Friday was my day and I took the train from Rosemont into the Logan Square area, a little bit northwest of downtown Chicago. And I hadn't really spent much time in that area, been to Chicago a few times. So this was a little bit of a different area for me. I really enjoyed it. So obviously taking the train down was great. Got there at a decent time, took the train in, walked around and used the bus a few times too to expedite my travel around the area. Made me want to learn more.

So it actually kind of spurred me to talk to reconnect Rochester and learn more about that. So here in Rochester. So, you know, stay tuned for that coming up on Tuesday. That'll be Tuesday the 28th. So had good coffee experiences at a couple different places. I think. One was a Chico Latte and four letter word coffee. Had great customer experience at Chico Latte.

Hung out for a little bit, did some work, really, you know, had to catch up on things a little bit and thought the coffee was really good. Thought the pastries were all really good. Comfortable environment. They also had a one day a week where they were giving out free coffee to anybody who needed it. And I love that as part of their platform. So shout out to them and the team there. Four letter word coffee. I thought the coffee was awesome.

I had some fantastic anoxic or anaerobic fermented Ethiopian espresso that just blew me away with fresh fruit flavors and everything else. I want to give a shout out to Bob from Ugly Duck Coffee for the recommendations. You know, one of the. One of the great people in Rochester hospitality coffee scene in general. Love Bob. So shout out to you man. For helping me pick out these places.

If you want to learn more about Bob's experiences in Chicago, we had an episode of the Level Up Coffee podcast, a couple of them actually, where we talked to two people from Ugly Duck who went to the Specialty Coffee Association Expo in Chicago. So go back in the Level up feed and you'll find it there. So lunch, I went to Bonci, which is Roman style pizza Altaglia. So this is like that big slab of pizza where you cut it into sizes and halve it by weight.

So that's a place we went to in Rome when we went, you know, however long ago that was eight, nine years ago and had the chance to have it there and it was such a perfect experience. We were exhausted, we had not really slept well. We had just flown in, had to switch Airbnbs, went to that place and it blew us away. Not just with, you know, the need, the desperation for something like that, but the quality as well. Their dough has partial whole wheat in it. It is long fermented.

They tend to have a lot of specific sourcing. And I gotta say, this Chicago location lived up to that. The, you know, the biggest thing is I've had it more times since then and I still think the quality is excellent. So, you know, need a little bit of salt. But the toppings were great. The balance was great. You know, the balance with the, you know, the whole wheat dough was, was fantastic. Or the partial whole wheat dough anyways, so.

And I think what it reminded me is how good the stuff at 400 Tony is here in Rochester. I think they're comparable, they're different, but how fantastic that product is here in Rochester. If you haven't been yet, I really can't recommend it enough. Go on a Friday or Saturday, go for some, you know, Roman style pizza, get some gelato, you know, then or in the evening, check it out. They're doing an amazing job.

So, you know, shout out to them and you know, for doing great work and I really enjoyed that. You know, part of what I'll do on days like this is I don't really have a plan. I'll just kind of bounce around. So I felt like getting a beard trim, you know, at a local barber shop went in, they had some amazing, like DC animated nerd posters, zombie movie posters.

It was great, great environment, treated me awesome and ended up after that editing very well rated bar and restaurant called Longman and Eagle. You know, it felt like the place has been around for a hot minute in the best possible way. Kind of the way like Good luck's been around for a while, but is still a vital part of the scene. That kind of reminded me of that. This was a little more casual, but a place I really enjoyed hanging out.

You know, I had some Malort, which, if you haven't had that, if you're in Chicago, you kind of have to. It's a wormwood based liqueur or whiskey or spirit. It's not really definably a whiskey or anything else. It's a little bit sweet. It's super bitter from the Wormwood. The base spirit has improved over the years. It's way more palatable. It's still not a wildly pleasant experience, but I think it's a core part of going to Chicago or other places, even around Rochester.

So if it's offered, you know, try it out, see how much your. See how high your bitterness palette really is. Had some amazing chips and dips. It's kind of like a sour cream and onion dip, but it was all vegan. Amazing execution on that. So simple, but so perfect. Had a couple great cocktails and got the text that I had to go back and, you know, finish off the day with Carrie out at the convention, help her finish the day off. It ended up being pretty busy.

So, you know, went back and that's part of the deal. I. I get a chance to really explore when I go to these places and still help out. And that's awesome. You know, took the train back in. I want to go back maybe a little bit later this year and dive into different neighborhoods in Chicago. That would be fun.

So the last thing we did on that trip was a Korean feast with Kerry's friends. A lot of them are selling, so they've had a long weekend. And what I did was, you know, I found a place that I wanted to check out, found a Korean place, and a lot of people got to try things they'd never had before. Some of them weren't super familiar with all the dishes. So I went through the intro and, you know, pushed people a little bit to try different things. And in the end I thought we had such a wild success.

And I think it's something I'll kind of remind people to do is if you're having a group over, hey, go pick a restaurant, bring a whole bunch of food from that place over and hang out. If you're doing a party at home, you know, get a whole bunch of stuff from one place, you know, kind of give them that pleasure of serving you that much that day. I mean, it reminds me of when we were running Nominate and had that opportunity to do that for restaurants, but on a smaller scale.

So if you get a chance to do that, it's a great thing for that restaurant that day and you get to have a fun experience, too. I also got to try a new Korean stew that I'd never tried before. I think it's called Dulcie Tongue and it's like a mushroom and perilla seed stew. So they kind of ground a bit, so it adds to part of the sauce. You get that nuttiness. They're kind of similar to sesame seeds. So I got to try that. Now that's a dish I'm going to try other places around Rochester.

I'm super excited. So shout out to the whole Chicago experience and, you know, if you get a chance to travel, make sure you spend the time and try to be there as a person. I happen to be there out during the week, so it's nice to feel that vibe of being there during the week. Finish off with a quick update on the studio. The ups and downs of trying to do tech work on your own. So the right now, what I'm working on in the studio is video upgrades, video and equipment upgrades.

So, you know, I spent part of the end of the year, I think I might have talked about this on the New Year's episode. So I kind of jump ahead.

So been putting in lights, putting in new equipment, putting in a video switcher, buying a whole bunch of cameras and trying to get the studio set up for full YouTube video so we can, you know, continue to reach out to different audiences and grow where we're going with both Food About Town and the podcast network as a whole, you know, offering more opportunities to other people as they need the space. So been working on that, struggling.

And it's something that my philosophy around tech stuff is that I know I'm going to figure it out and I know that it will end up working out well in the end. But right now I'm in that frustrated middle spot where I don't know how to solve the problems I'm running into yet. You know, things are coming along. I've got a lot of the right equipment, but I still just haven't gotten there. I'm probably close. I'm trying to set up a new audio board for the studio. I got a new Rodecaster Pro.

I got the second edition so I could make this a little bit, just offer more options, offer more tech, offer more this. So working on transferring the settings, it should be easy trying to find the right Documentation is hard. You know, trying to get the switching set up on the board. I know it's gonna work. There's software that lets me do it. It's just not quite as easy as I thought it was. So I think what I'll say is, you know, it's easy to. It's easy to get mired in the details.

And, you know, I know where I want to go with, you know, with Food About Town. I know that I want to grow this year, but build that consistency, try different things to see what audience I can build for the show again. You know, keep on growing lunchador, keep on working on that stuff.

And I'm trying to figure out where that balance is in my head with how much I know I want to do and what I can pull off as a person who's also trying to, you know, be great at their day job and take care of myself as a person so I can be around for more of this, to build this community here in Rochester.

You know, if I don't take care of myself and I don't treat myself decently, I'm not sure I can build what I want to build. So I'm trying to pace myself. I'm trying to do this the right way and do it with all the people that I love on the network in all the different forms they are from, you know, single artists that are driving this whole thing on their own to, you know, successful, full, you know, business owners with many employees like.

Like Polly and Ryan and people growing things from, you know, bootstraps and doing all these things. And I appreciate everybody on the network for who they are and what they're doing to make Rochester a better place. So I'm doing this for everybody else. I'm doing this for me. I'm trying to make this a great space for everybody, anybody who needs it, and trying to reach out to the people that are going to help, you know, find great things in Rochester and bring it more to the people.

So I'm going to close out. I'm going to go pick up what is likely my last pickup at the Petite Poutinery. I've got a curry poutine I'm picking up and my wife's getting the hearts tribute sandwich from the time with Hart's local grocers. Amazing breakfast sandwich. So just want to close out. Say, go to lunchadore.org to check out our new website. It's a lot easier to. A lot easier to go to shows.

All of the recent episodes should be fairly live and you can actually listen to some of the episodes as well. If you want to support any of those shows directly if they have the option on you can tip them or you know have a paid subscription to you know just support the shows for now and if not you know make sure you subscribe. We'll also have a whole lunch at our podcast network feed that we're going to start publicizing more if you want to listen to all the shows on the network.

So for myself for the lunch or podcast network appreciate you listening and we'll be back next time with more on the Food About Town podcast. This has been a presentation of the Lunch Podcast Network. Thanks to Torres Savant for the music and thank you to lizzy clap Ronnie McLive Le petit poutine the Petit Poutine and the whole team for making Rochester a better place for food and hospitality and thank you, thank you, thank you. I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart. Love you guys.

Congratulations on an amazing, amazing run.