MJ K.
Yelp
Standing elegantly clad in black and brick in the heart of NOTA, Carnegie Cellars has long been a place I pointed at from across the street, commenting how great it looked for a nice night out. We finally made it in last night, celebrating a family weekend together. Taylor managed to squeeze us in at an indoor table just as it started raining outside, and that kindness set the tone for the evening. The restaurant's atmosphere is bright and upscale, with lots of natural light flooding in.
Our server, Jack, was exceptionally knowledgeable about the restaurant's wine offerings. Among us we ordered a total of 2 flights and 4 individual glasses--half red, half white, and international in origin. My personal favorite was the Mount Riley NZ Sauvignon Blanc, which, just as Jack had said, had a distinct "note of green bell pepper." Woah. The flights were well-curated and offered a narrative progressing from one into the next.
What was truly remarkable was how well the wines complemented the dishes we ordered. The Flour City Bread starter (from local Flour City Bread bakery) was served hot and crispy, with a generous portion of perfectly whipped ricotta cheese and light, sweet cardamom honey. It went beautifully with both the red and white wines, and left us excited to taste what came next.
Though initially skeptical, my dad couldn't stop raving about the smashburger. In his words (carefully scribed here as he reads over my shoulder), the burger "appeared as an overabundance of ingredients that actually resulted in a fantastic combination of textures and flavors."
The carbonara, made with homemade pasta and steaming hot when it came out, was a revelation. Carnegie's cubes of crispy pork jowl crunch delightfully and melt in your mouth with every bite of pasta. The sauce, deep and complex in flavor, stayed creamy and luscious until we were lapping it up with the backs of our forks and wishing bread would materialize on the table to mop it all up.
I had no clue what a sheet ravioli was when I ordered it, but I walked away a fan with a clean plate. Rather than cutting the ravioli out individually they arrived all together, more like a mattress than a sheet, in a delectable lemon, butter, and herb sauce topped with plenty of briny green olives. As an olive lover, this is the only time I've ever had *enough* olives in a dish, and that's saying something. Just as with the smashburger, the balance of flavors was exquisite--herbs, salt, acid, perfectly chewy pasta, and creamy cheese filling. Let this be a lesson: if you don't know what a menu item is, at Carnegie Cellars it's worth ordering and giving it a shot. You won't be disappointed.
Dinner wrapped up with me cajoled into ordering dessert "for myself." Scratch Bakery down the street provides a different cake and cheesecake every week, and it's first-come, first-served. We were lucky that they had been closed on the Fourth of July, because it meant there was a slice of bourbon cherry cheesecake left for me--us--to try. Just as with the rest of the meal, the flavors were perfectly balanced and executed technically incredibly.
Though definitely not inexpensive, the quality, service, and well-conceptualized offerings on the menu are worth every penny. In its class of restaurants in Rochester, it's second to none.