Trip Report - DelMonte Spa, Tastings, Brunch at Belhurst

I flew up to Rochester Friday night (plane delayed 90 mins because of the snow storm). My BF works in Clifton Springs and usually flies to NYC for the weekend but this time I went up there for a change to see his new house. After he picked me up we went to 2Vine for dinner. It was a very cozy atmohspere to be inside while it was snowing so much outside! I had the goat cheese salad special with mandarin oranges and pomegranate dressing, my boyfriend had the scallops special appetizer. For entrees I had the pork chop with cheddar polenta and some sort of onion sauce (very good) and boyfriend had the spare ribs special. The mocha pots de creme dessert is really delicious (def try it!)

Saturday: icy rain all day. We went to Tastings for dinner and it was spectacular! The environment is really inviting. Having a drink at the bar near the fireplace was perfect to do on such a snowy night! The food at Tastings was perfection. We decided to order off the menu and not go with the 5 course tasting menu (next time!). I had the watercress %26amp; arugula salad with pears, crushed cashews and warm brie dressing. Very nice! Boyfriend had the calamari appetizer which he liked. Dinner I had the beef tenderloin with black truffle-red wine reduction and fried goat cheese, chippolini onions and asparagus. DIVINE! The beef was so tender and perfectly cooked and the portions were an ideal size (not too big) but I ate everything and did not feel hungry or painfully stuffed. Boyfriend had the two-way rendered chicken which was done as tastefully as chicken can be. For dessert we had the chocolate tart with vanilla bean ice cream. It was so chocolatey, a perfect ending of a delightful meal.

Sunday: Sunny day and all of the trees looked like they had been made of crystal from the ice rain the day before. We drove over to Lake Seneca for brunch at Belhurst Castle. Its a lovely setting and the brunch buffet has all the typical items (breakfast items, salad bar, carving station, omelette station). The free mimosas are nothing special -about 90% OJ...maybe the champagne was just flat, I don%26#39;t know. Overall it was a nice experience, just not sure i need to go back and do it again.

After brunch we went to Del Monte spa in PIttsford. This was our first visit to any kind of local spa. We are somewhat spa junkies and I have to say this place is top-rate. The showers are wonderful (love those 4 side nozzels, the dry sauna and all the amenities were very nice. I had a 50 minute hot stone massage with Iris and it was heavenly (albeit too short!). Boyfriend had a 50 minute swedish and he said it was very good. We will defintely come back here again. Staff was very friendly, everything was very clean and the environment is very peaceful.

Although the weather was very blustery this weekend we really had a great time indoors with great food %26amp; wine. All the snow was so beautiful (much better than in NYC where it is just grey without the beauty of the snow).

Trip Report - DelMonte Spa, Tastings, Brunch at Belhurst

Kalinka -- What a wonderful trip report! I loved it. Thank you. Sorry for our crummy weather - but March is the WORST month ever here. Doesn%26#39;t slow us down one bit though. LOL.

Trip Report - DelMonte Spa, Tastings, Brunch at Belhurst

Thanks Carmen. When we were out and about on Saturday and all the parking lots were snowy and slushy and ice rain was falling I remarked to my boyfriend that I was surprised so many people were out. He said ';this is life up here, you gotta get used to it or you%26#39;ll never be going anywhere!';. We had a lovely weekend though and I thought the wintery weather was very scenic. Here in NYC it is just cold and grey...no snow.