Rogues Harbor Inn Blog

The Rogues' Harbor Inn been known to grill a burger or two. In fact, one of the foods we're known for is burgers and more recently our own craft brewed beer. We love serving up good, fresh food prepared from locally sourced ingredients. So, when my husband found an article in the paper about the best burger in New York State contest sponsored by the New York State Beef Council, it seemed tailor made for us and we decided to design a new, really big burger just the occasion. I hit Chef Luke with the idea and he loved it too. We decided to go with a one pounder topped with the best Finger Lakes ingredients and maybe some beer in the mix. Go big or go home...I asked Jerry, long time server, manager ,and talented writer, to come up with a name which embraced our roguish heritage and maybe mentioned the beer component. He did not disappoint. E, Chef Luke, Jerry and our brewer, Chris make a  good team. Here's what we came up with: a one pound Angus burger steamed in...

I don't watch a lot of TV since I work evenings and have a million other things I'd rather be doing. But late at night when I'm too tired to do anything else- Chopped is the best! I'm not even a fan of the food network: Cupcake Wars, Bizarre Foods, Grillin' and Chillin', 30 Minute Meals...I hate them all. I'm more of an Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations type of foodie and yet I find Chopped quite addictive. I am not alone in my Chopped addiction (the best way to be really). Most of the staff at Rogues' loves the show. Chefs and servers, aka the back and front of the house, agree that it's a blast- and they generally don't agree on anything in any restaurant. We all commiserate on the impossible ingredients of market baskets and the brilliant or disasterous way in which they are utilised. And let's be honest, even with double the amount of time allotted to prepare each course, we still would struggle with merely identifying some of the i...

It's time to announce our third annual fundraiser for the Tompkins County SPCA. Save the date Thursday, February 23, 6 - 9 pm. We call it Wine and Chocolate for Paws and Claws for obvious reasons. We have 10 local wineries and a chocolatier come and offer tastings right here in the historic ballroom at the Rogues' Harbor Inn. We offer dessert samples from our own kitchen as well. All ticket proceeds ($20/person) are donated to the SPCA and we also offer an extra incentive to stop by. We will donate 10% of our dinner sales from that evening as well. Last year in 2011 we raised over $2,000! That's a lot food and medical supplies for a shelter that prides itself on their "no kill" policy. Every healthy, adoptable pet stays till they are adopted. Makes me tear up just thinking about it. So many dogs and cats waiting...thankfully, they are very well cared for while they wait. Some of the generous participants for the event are: Sheldrake Point, Dill's Run, King...

 Rogues' Harbor Brewing Craft Beer Flight, A Beer Rainbow We've always wanted to offer tasting flights at the Rogues' Harbor Inn. Recently, we've received many requests for tastes (instead of a pint or glass) of our own craft brews and of our generous selection of Finger Lakes' wine. So many requests that it inspired us to finally make that happen. FYI a flight is a small serving of a few or several beverages which have something in common, IE: beer, wine, bourbon, style, hoppiness, dryness, color, geography... Since we now have four of our own craft ales on draught, we felt four was just right for a flight. So we serve a 4 oz taste of our Cayuga Cream Ale, Route 34 Ale, East Shore Pale Ale and Brewer's Choice (which changes every few weeks). We serve in mini mugs, nothing unbecoming for a proper brew, set on a labeled place mat for clarity. It's important to know what you're tasting and judging. We decided to offer a Cayuga Lake wine flight as wel...

Tonight we will be releasing our first Brewer's Choice beer of 2012. Dubbed 1830 Porter(in honor of the year Rogues Harbor was built), this beer falls under a catagory known as Robust Porters. Many people aren't overly familiar with the porter style of beer, and even many craft beer afficianados aren't exactly sure about what exactly a  robust  porter is. In honor of the release of this beer we felt that perhaps a little education was in order. Porter was the dominant style of British beer for much of the 1700 and 1800's. It is believed to have been brewed in answer to a style known as "three threads". Three threads was a blend of three beers that were generally poured at the pubs. In the early part of the 18th century a creative British brewer designed a beer that matched the flavor of the popular Three Threads style of beer, thus alleviating the need for blending of styles. This beer quickly became popular with the working class, for whom the beer style wa...

The Rogues' Harbor Inn has celebrated 181 New Year's Eves and the tradition continues this year as always. It's awe inspiring to think how many folks have rung in the new year in this very spot. If these wall could talk, they would have many tales to tell. But, what happens at Rogues' stays at Rogues'- an excellent tradition to continue. The magical evening is just a day away and it's a celebration we look forward to every year. The Inn is all decked out for Christmas. Everyone is smiling and relaxed. The staff is all dressed up. Lots of folks have family visiting and the guests rooms are filled with friends and relatives from all over the globe. It's all warm and fuzzy, peace on earth, love and happiness. The chefs go all out with celebratory specials. This year we are having Chef Luke's seafood chowder, thick rich New England style with clams, crab and fresh fish. For an appetizer, he's making shrimp and Parmesan stuffed artichoke hearts. They are...

Several weeks ago we were in the brewery, working on our Scottish Winter ale. It was one of those brew sessions where a bunch of little thing conspired to make it a longer night than it needed to be. Then we looked outside to see the first snow of the season slowly coming down. Something seemed right about that and it lifted our spirits to continue brewing and get the beer in the fermenter. The brewhouse smelled of holiday spices by the time we were cleaning up and we were eagerly anticipating when the brew would be ready! So now you may be wondering what exactly is a winter or holiday ale? While there are no hard and fast rules about what makes up this type of beer, they are generally of an amber color or darker, higher in alcohol, and with some variety of spice. They are a beer meant to flush the face and warm the spirit on the cold winter nights. Brewing with spices is certainly nothing new. Before hops became a standard part of beer many varieties of spices were used for flavor...