I’ve brought you tales of delicious dinners at Ryan’s
Lookout, comfort food at Cooper’s Landing, and daybreak delights at the Cherry
Tree Inn. Well, there’s a new kid in town, and he’s got a view.
The Waterside Bar and Grill is Billy Caprara’s latest
business venture, but there are no cars to be found here. This restaurant, with dockside
service, fire pits, and outdoor seating, has brought a ringer into its kitchen –
Chef Kevin Gentile, from Syracuse. You may remember my review of Gentile’s
several years ago. I was impressed then, and our recent, lovely dinner at
Waterside only underscored that impression.
First of all, the venue is pretty luxe – Billy has built a
gorgeous dining room with a fireplace tucked in one corner, and a wall of
windows to see Lake Ontario. There’s plenty of outdoor seating for nice days,
and the three fire pits out front, which the busboys were struggling to light
on the windy night we visited, reminded me of chic restaurants in California
and Florida. I’ve also heard that Billy quite often will order appetizers on
the house for folks seated at the bar, and in fact, he was present during our
dinner, and stopped by to greet us. A present owner is a good owner, in my
book.
But let’s get to the food, shall we? We began with a sexy
little threesome…of shrimp. Get your minds out of the gutter, folks! The shrimp
3 way was the perfect combo of two big coconut fried shrimp, two bacon wrapped
beauties, and two cold, steamed shellfish served with fresh-tasting, punchy
cocktail sauce. I also loved the sauce served with the fried ones – a horseradish
mayonnaise that was light but sharp. The shrimp were good-sized and not a
single one was over-cooked. We loved every bite, but I think the bacon-wrapped
version dunked in the horseradish mayo was my personal jam.
A round of salads preceded the entrees, and while I didn’t
snap a pic, rest assured, they were fresh and decked out with lots of toppings –
no wilted iceberg nonsense. I did grab a shot of the Caesar salad with shrimp
ordered by one of our diners. I grabbed a bite, too, and it was delicious – the
dressing creamy without too much saltiness, but still homemade and flavorful. I
loved the big curls of parmesan cheese on top and the hefty, robustly crunchy
homemade croutons sprinkled throughout. Beware, though, those of you skittish
about anchovies – the little fishies come along for the ride on this one.
The chicken riggies is one of Chef Gentile’s specialties,
but my dining companion was caught unawares of just how spicy this pasta dish
can be. The dish of rigatoni, chicken, hot cherry peppers and bell peppers in a
light tomato sauce that hails from Utica can range from tangy to five-alarm
spicy. I’d put this version at about three-alarm, but when your first bite
contains one of those cherry pepper slices, LOOK OUT. That said, the chicken in
this dish was juicy and tender, and there was lots of it, plus sweet bell peppers
to take the edge off the sauce, which was close to a Buffalo wing flavor, but
less vinegary.
There’s a very mysterious menu item called Quiz Chef Gentile
Risotto. You KNOW I always have to order whatever the craziest thing is, right?
So, our delightful, attentive waitress Lindsey asked if I was allergic to
anything or didn’t like anything. I asked for shrimp and no asparagus, and
beyond that, let Chef go nuts.
He did just that, sending out two pear-shaped arancini of
crab risotto set in a port wine sauce with grilled shrimp, fresh, quartered
figs, and some gorgonzola cheese. Pears are typically poached in port wine and
served for dessert in French preparations, so I loved this hint of whimsy. I
also happen to love fried risotto balls, so the aracini were a great move. That
said, the figs in the port wine sauce were a little sweet-on-sweet, for me, and
all that flavor completely overpowered the delicate crab and shrimp. I could
have done with just the sauce or just the fruit, but not both. But this was a
very ambitious dish, and I absolutely award points for effort – I enjoyed it
even with the cacophony of flavors.
After all this good food, dessert was an obligation, not an
option. I ordered the raspberry cannoli cake. Have I ever covered the extent to
which I adore cannoli cake? The combo of sweet cake and slightly savory
mascarpone filling is just about dessert perfection, in my book. This one had
tart raspberries in the mix, plus tiny chocolate chips and whipped cream
frosting to lighten up the overall flavor. It was simply delicious.
The lemonade cake was decidedly sweeter, but no slouch
itself. It was terrifically lemony and very moist (yeah yeah I know you hate
that word). We loved it.
Every table dining at Waterside the night we visited was
basically treated like royalty. For a fairly casual restaurant, the service
here is friendly and very conscientious. Beyond the great food, you have a
lovely view of the lake and a gorgeous dock to either park your boat or pose
for pictures on after dinner – this is summer dining in Northern New York at its
finest. I give Waterside Bar & Grill a nine on the BHS scale, and I can’t
wait to return to try the lobster roll and the bahn mi sandwich! My personality
is big; my hunger is bigger!