The New York Wine & Culinary Center

I eat here every week on Thursday for Lunch. Every week, I mean to write a review and never do… So today is the day.
I have eaten here before off their menu but I do eat off a «buffet» on Thursdays.
To say it’s a «buffet» is underselling it. Today we had Turkey Vegitable Soup or Manhattan Clam Cowder. I took the Clam Chowder. It was wonderfully spiced, not too salty like many of these soups can be. Next up was a House or Caesar Salad. I opted for the Caesar which then I added real anchovies.
Main meal was pasta with tomato sauce and/​or lightly fried chicken. The side was grilled veggies with kale. I didn’t try the chicken because it would have been a lot for lunch and I would have needed a nap. Everything else was great!
I think we get spoiled here for lunch every week but I would highly recommend this place.

Had a wonderful meal on New Year’s Eve. The food was delicious, the service was excellent. Highly recommended.

Ordered the «Bistro Burger», medium-​rare with pork belly and a fried egg. The burger was medium, almost well-​done. The pork belly was mothers milk. The fried egg was… um…invisible. Is invisible a new style for cooking eggs? If so, then it was spot on. Could’ve sent the whole thing back, but honsetly I was far too hungry, and it was still a pretty damn good burger.

We had a party of six and four ordered the t-​bone special. It was tuff — even the knife had a hard time cutting it. Two people sent it back for being under cooked, and they had to wait another 20 minutes for their meal. I would not return.

I was lucky enough to attend a work conference where they selected this as our off-​site dinner. They seemed to be very generous supporting Constellation Brands, which is where our conference was. And the cocktails were phenomenal and not typical. The best part of the meal was the balsamic lavender salad dressing atop the mixed greens and the beef tenderloin with an herbed horseradish sauce. The beef was tender enough to cut with a fork! I also enjoyed the desserts, especially the chocolate truffles-​rich but not too rich. Overall, it was an enjoyable dinner and great place to go if needing a place for a dinner party. Unfortunately, I cannot comment on price as that was graciously picked up by our hosts.

Did the chefs table cooking class. What a great time. Highly recommend for a group of couples to do.

Beautiful place! Lots to see and do. The bartenders at the Bistro are very friendly and knowledgeable. The hostess was unfriendly and could care less if we got waited on… telling us she’d be right with us as she continued to fold napkins for about 2 minutes. Then telling us we’d have to wait for a table because we didn’t have a reservation in the «empty» dining room. Aggravating! The food is unique and worth checking out… unless you’re someone who doesn’t like to try new, unique foods. We ordered an appetizer for our group of four which arrived just after our dinners were served… no explanation or apology. Service is slow, but it’s still worth checking this place out!

The New York Wine & Culinary Center on 8÷19÷15 while visiting the Finger Lake region on New York. The restaurant was advertised in a map we picked up and it seemed that Unilocalers overall had a good experience.
My pasta dish was excellent and I liked the fact that the New York Wine & Culinary Center picks only local ingridents to prepare their dishes.
The ambiance of this restaurant is nice and we had no trouble getting a table on a Wednesday night.
I travelled about 30 minutes to get the New York Wine & Culinary Center. Although they market themselves as part of the Finger Lakes their really not located anywhere near the lakes. They located in what appears to be the suburbs of the Finger Lakes.
It appears they also cater towards people who want to host events or take a cooking class. (The facility below where the Bistro is located appears to be a nice event space. It reminded me a lot of the Culinary Institute of America located in Hyde Park, NY.)
In a nutshell, I am glad we went but due to the fact it is located not near the Finger Lakes and is a little higher than what I am use to spending while vacationing I don’t think I’ll be coming back.

Great place to grab a drink, pretty good food, and hang out with a lake view. I went yesterday, and would go back in a heartbeat.

Ate at the Upstairs Bistro. Most of the ingredients they use are locally sourced, so everything is fresh and so delicious. The Cuban sandwich was made with turkey and pork belly– sooo good. Their burgers are tasty– you can add a Blu cheese to it that is out of this world. You can try a wine flight– choose 3 NYS wines, or a beer flight and choose 4 NYS brewed beers. A great place to check out while in Canandiagua.

Upstairs Bistro is a great spot for a tasteful (but still OK to wear shorts) meal with family or friends. Nice view of Canandaigua Lake from most tables. service is excellent and the food is devine. They make an effort to source from local farms. Several vegetarian options which I’m always a fan of.

The New York Wine and Culinary center is a gem of the Finger Lakes. It’s a great place to stop for a bite and a beverage at the lounge or a terrific meal in the restaurant. The web site features many events at the Culinary Center, also located on the facility.
I’ve taken a sushi making class and a sausage making class. Both were a lot of fun.
We learned the basics of how to make sushi rice, Miso soup and everything we deeded to know about rolling sushi. In the sausage making class we learned all the fundamentals, grinded the meat, filled casings, made 4 different types of delicious sausage. We later had a feast of our sausage and enjoyed complimentary beer!
The classes were in a very modern kitchen where couples had their own island. There were closed circuit tv monitors at every station where we could watch the chef,
I really learned some things that I’ll enjoy doing in my own kitchen for years to come. It was fun too!

My friends and I went here for a birthday, and we started out in the tasting room and then had a dinner reservation for the Upstairs Bistro at 8pm.
The reason this place doesn’t get the 1 star I wanted to give it is because the person working in the tasting room was amazing. He was very personable, and gave his honest opinion about what we were trying (3 of us had wine flights, the other 2 had beer flights, and we ended up sharing a spirits flight). I liked the spirits flight way better than anything else, they had such unusual liquors like Lilac Gin and Strawberry Rhubarb Liquor (I bought a bottle of both). The only thing I would have changed is that when he was going through each of the alcohols that were in our flights, that he not do it all at one time, by the time I got to tasting the second wine, I had completely forgotten what I was supposed to be tasting.
Things went downhill for me when we went to the Upstairs Bistro. I will preface that there was a wedding going on, so some of the problems might have stemmed from that, but some of the problems were not related to the event.
We arrived on time for our reservation and were seated immediately, everything after that was not immediate. It took a good half an hour for the waitress to come take our food order, and another 40 minutes to arrive. I had ordered their Smoked Gouda & Ham Flat bread, but it had a snow pea purée that sounded to me like baby food. So I asked the waitress if they could switch that purée with one of the other ones that was on the menu, and she said she would ask. Once our food did arrive, I received this unappetizing looking flat bread with, you guessed it, snow pea baby food purée. It tasted just as bad as it sounds. I was trying to make the best of it, and waited for our waitress to come back so that I could ask for additional balsamic glaze that was already on the flat bread, but she never came back, and by the time she came, everyone else had finished their dishes. I asked for additional balsamic glaze, and she said, they didn’t have any. It was literally on the menu, and I could see a very small amount on my dish! I explained that to her and she reiterated that they didn’t have any in the restaurant (mind you there is a cooking school downstairs, who I am sure carries something) but she said she would come back with a balsamic salad dressing. It was a honey balsamic salad dressing and by that point I just gave up. I politely took the majority of my dish home and tossed it in the trash.
I will say that everyone else seemed to enjoy the dishes they had, so my bad experience just comes to bad restaurant service, and unwillingness for substitutions.

Great experience during a busy weekend. This was our first time here. We loved the balcony/​deck on the sunny Sunday afternoon with great views. Our waiter was very friendly and the food fresh. I would recommend and will come again. The gift shop on the premises offers 15 percent off purchase if you have eaten at the restaurant. I also want to come back for one of the cooking classes here very soon

Very delicious and well prepared meal. I had scallops, pork belly and bahn mi sandwich. All was delicious especially the scallops. Also very much enjoyed my Manhattan and a few samples of local NY beers.
Bartender was very knowledgable and bar conversation was interesting and entertaining.

There is no where in the world that would be better for a great meal than this location! The facility is first class and there is always a class going on that you can watch. The retail shop alone is worth going in to!

Every time I am in the Finger Lakes region I have to stop to eat and do a wine tasting here. It’s a great opportunity to experience all of NY states wine regions in one place.
In the restaurant upstairs, simply called the Bistro Upstairs, you can order gourmet food and treats including local cheeses, fresh vegetables and farm raised meats. I highly recommend trying the cheese plate. It changes with the season but it’s always a lot of fun to eat. It usually includes 3 – 4 cheeses and another 4 or so condiments. For example 2 home-​made sauces, meats, honey, fruits and pickled things.
I recommend visiting the tasting room downstairs and then going up the stairs and having lunch or dinner. You can buy a bottle downstairs and open it at the Bistro without a corking fee.

No cooking classes for us, straight to the wine tasting. Unlike most wineries, the Center sets out five glasses for tastings. You can taste & share at your leisure.
The tasting room has a broad selection of NY wine & spirits. Service isn’t going to be like lightning, so expect to wait a bit. Different prices depending on what you’re drinking.
Hit the Upstairs Bistro for dinner. Food & service were fine, but it’s not fine dining. Don’t be expecting haute cuisine, the word «Bistro» is your clue. Just because it’s the Culinary Center doesn’t mean Michelin star meals. This food people actually eat.
A fun place to spend the afternoon.

I’ve never taken a class at the culinary center, but I have been to the Upstairs Bistro restaurant multiple times. I love their seafood linguini, and they’re very generous with the seafood! I outside seating has a great view of the lake. I always come here with a group of friends, have a lovely dinner then take a nice walk around the lake!

I had the absolute best time here for a cooking class. I recommend it whole heartedly! It’s a little pricey, but so worth it when you think about what they teach you in addition to the amazing food you make. I like to say that Willy and I conquered this class like no other. It was a Mad Men themed cooking class so we whipped up traditional 60s meals while sipping on some old fashioneds and blue hawaiians. There was no shortage of beverages for our crew which was actually quite cool. We weren’t sure if they were going to be stuffy and stogy, limiting 1 bev/​pp, but we we gladly wrong and sipped the night away! Since it was a date night/​birthday celebration we wanted to fully enjoy it and we did!
We made pan seared rib eye (HOLY TOLEADO!) Primo. This was the first time I made a steak all on my own, with a few helping hands from Chef Jose.
Also on the menu:
— Scalloped potatoes
— Creamed spinach
— Oysters Rockefeller
— Prawns with snail sauce (that’s just butter, garlic & parsley)
— Pineapple upside down cake
On our night, there were about 4 other couples taking the course with us. The chef did a little schpeal about NYWCC and then showed us some tips and tricks to improve our knife skills (his cutting board had a little camera so we could watch what he was doing up close on the tvs at each cooking station). I took a lot of notes during this part because I love the pro tips. Then we got to work on our meals. There was a no-​show across from us so Willy and I split up the work. I made the rib eye and prawns, while Willy conquered the scalloped potatoes and oysters Rockefeller. It was really enjoyable because everything we cooked were new recipes to us. These are not typical meals in our cookbooks so it was fun to try something new. At first it was a little unnerving like ok, what do I start with so I had to grab the chef to decide what to start with to time everything correctly.
In the end, it was really rewarding to work together, learn how to make the recipes chat with the other couples, and sample each others food after we finished cooking.
If you and your friends, employees, spouse, siblings, whoever need a nice bonding experience, this is your deal. It was such a fun evening and worth every penny.