Rogues Harbor Inn Blog

Becoming  a "Bud Free" bar is not a new thing. Budweiser that is. The interest in  craft brews created a rebellion of sorts among pubs, bars and restaurants over the past 20 years. Many preferred to offer more interesting brews than the standard pilsner and began calling themselves "Bud Free." The Rogues' Harbor Inn has finally joined the ranks and taken it a step further. We now craft brew our own beer. Everyone has their favorite brand. I get that. Pilsner, the pale lager, is produced  by all the major breweries. But, let's be honest, in terms of flavor profile Bud, Coors, Miller, Michelob... they look the same, they taste the same... kind of boring. I do commend them on two things: their funny commercials and  their consistency. It isn't easy to brew a beer that tastes the same every batch, every keg, every bottle. It really isn't. Before prohibition, the dry spell in American history from 1920 to 1934, there were thousands breweries in the US....

As a kid I always sort of dreaded Easter. I don't really like ham. It was usually too cold to play outside for very long and getting up early to go to church just wasn't for me. But, as I got older and began to pay attention to what my Grandmother was cooking, and learning how to cook, everything changed. I started to like holiday dinners more, even Easter. Every year I looked forward to planning what to serve for each course, shopping for seasonal ingredients, cooking all day (maybe even baking most of the night before) to serve up something new and delicious for my family. Grandma was proud. I still look forward to Easter every year. Much has changed since then- the joyful addition of fermented beverages and professional chefs. Planning the new spring menu for the restaurant is nearly complete. We've found some new New York State ingredients and utilized others in new ways. It's an exciting time of year- for us foodies that is. Easter dinner is a day we always pre...

'Tis the season for wild leeks (aka: ramps, Allium Tricoccum, spring onion, wild garlic). It is an early spring vegetable with a strong garlicky aroma and oniony flavor. It grows from the Carolina's all the way to Canada and many foodies look forward to it's brief season each year. It looks a lot like chives, but with broader leaves and a scallion like root or bulb. It grows plentifully around the Finger Lakes, even in my yard. Researching a few recipe ideas we found that ramps were mentioned in recipes dating as far back as 1530 in England. I suspect they thought ramps would bring some spring flavor to the last of the winter potatoes. We think they were onto something. So, today Chef Luke braved the rain and harvested some ramp. He had his heart set on making Wild Leek & Potato Soup before the ramp season passed us by. It's rich & creamy, and comforting on a bone chilling rainy, Upstate New York "spring" day. I once read, "It takes a good sou...

"How did you hear about the Rogues' Harbor Inn?" This is a question posed on our Preferred Diner registration card. Other questions include the usual: name, address, phone, email, birthday, comments, etc...We have guests fill these out so we can email them special offers, send them coupons for their birthday, let them know about dinner specials and what we've been brewing recently. I read every card because it's interesting, but the answer which I find the most intriguing is always, "How did you hear about us?" The answers vary as much as the guests. Some are pedestrian; some are hilarious. But all the answers reveal something about the guests that wrote them and the place they visited, the Rogues' Harbor Inn. Many found Rogues' via the Internet. Some come from far away places and find an historic bed and breakfast in the heart of the Finger Lakes to stay in through the wonders of google. Others who found Rogues' through the Internet are fr...

I have never had control of the remote; I have a husband and a daughter. So, I have the opportunity to watch shows I might never watch otherwise. Never. A few months ago I saw Orange County Choppers for the first time. It was one of those Discovery Channel marathons of every episode ever filmed broadcast back to back, hour after hour. I have to admit, I didn't hate it. I like design and they design some cool bikes. I could live without the family drama, but watching cute guys in mussel shirts build custom stuff is easy on the eyes. I even watched it voluntarily just last week. But,this afternoon I was blessed with watching Disney's Aladdin for about the 100th time. You can guess who maintained control of the remote today. Kind of a funny movie the first dozen times you watch it. After that you have to come up with your own ways of finding humor in the film, like counting how many times the genie says, " Wwwweeeellll..."  or throwing popcorn at each o...

I grew up in the Boston area where chowder is a matter of civic pride, an art form, and strong opinions. First, it's pronounced chowda'. Second, manhattan style is not considered chowder there, but soup. Third, everyone thinks their's is the best and everyone is very willing to loudly debate this fact with anyone who will stand still long enough to hear what they have to say on the matter. Last, there are two kinds of chowder- no not New England or Manhattan. We've been over this. The answer is fish or clam. One of my favorite literary passages ponders this very question, "Fish or Clam?". The following quote is from, Moby Dick, by Herman Melville, "Clam or Cod?" she repeated. "A clam for supper? a cold clam; is that what you mean Mrs. Hussey?" says I! "but that's a rather cold and clammy reception in the winter time, ain't it Mrs. Hussey?" But being in a great hurry..., and seeming to hear nothing but the word "cl...

Tuesday are always wing night at the Rogues' Harbor Inn. Kerry is behind the bar pouring Rogues' Cayuga Cream Ale & 11 other draughts, Luke and Anthony are in the kitchen cooking for a crowd, and the whole place smells like hot wings. It's a wonderful thing. We like to offer local foods and regional specialities, so wings are a must. We deep fry fresh wings to order by the pound and toss them in the classic Buffalo sauce as well as BBQ, golden BBQ and garlic. But, Buffalo style is the original and personally my favorite- we make our own Bleu cheese dressing, too. According to Wikipedia, "A Buffalo wing , hot wing or wing is a chicken wing section (drumette or flat) that is traditionally fried unbreaded and then coated in sauce. Classic Buffalo-style chicken wing sauce is composed of a vinegar -based cayenne pepper hot sauce and butter . [1] Buffalo wings are traditionally served with celery sticks and blue cheese dressing . [2] Buffalo wings were created...

When the decision was made to begin brewing beer at Rogues' Harbor Inn one of the first important choices was which style of beer would be the first brew for the pub. There was a desire to brew a style that represented a connection to New York State's brewing history. It was in his spirit that Cream Ale was chosen as the first style to represent the newest brewing endeavor in the Ithaca, NY area. Cream ale is an original American style which had a strong presence in New York State, continuing to be brewed even after Prohibition devastated the traditional brewing landscape. It's an often misunderstood style of beer and frequently gets confused with several English style beers that get a creamy head through the use of nitrogen gas. The actual cream ale style was initially an attempt by ale brewers to mimic the light style lagers that were growing in popularity. They are lighter in color and body than pale ales, and are less aggressively hopped. The style is meant to be enjo...

It's a sure sign of spring and what lies ahead, a wonderful Finger Lakes summer, when the Ithaca Farmer's Market kicks off the season. Today, Saturday, April 2, is their first day of the season. It makes me (and many others) very, very happy. It spreads joy where there once was grey skies and bitter cold. Weekends at Steam Boat Landing are one of my family's favorite stops. It's less than 10 minutes from the Rogues' Harbor Inn and we usually head there at lunch time. We wander around looking at each booth. We taste wine (our favorite Treleaven), buy fruit and vegetables (best corn on earth from Fedorka Farms), admire pottery (David Kingsbury), smell scented soaps, consider plants for our garden, and have lunch down by the water and feed the ducks. After lunch we head back into the market to buy our last treat, a pastry or an icecream, which we devour by the live music and then watch our daughter dance with all the other kids there that afternoon. Don't Miss th...