Donovan Real Estate Services

02/29/2024

🚨Forks & Skis 2024 is tomorrow!🚨

Kick off the start of a beautiful weekend in style at Hunt Hollow tomorrow Friday, March 1 and help raise funds in support of Foodlink, a foodbank that does so much more than simply distribute food.

There will be skiing, snowboarding, live entertainment, a silent auction, as well as tons of food and beverages for attendees. If you’re not into skiing or snowboarding, you can Après Ski all day long! Don’t miss out on this awesome event. Go to https://give.foodlinkny.org/campaigns/29593-forks-skis-2024 to donate or register now. Click on whichever ticket option applies to you to purchase your tickets.

Forks and Skis on March 1, 2024 at Hunt Hollow Ski Club.This is a fundraising event in support of Foodlink that has taken place for 13 years. Your ticket includes a day of skiing, great food and local beverages, live music, raffles, and Après Ski.For more information visit FoodlinkNY.org or call 58...

03/20/2023

Atlas Fitness is the latest of numerous leases we’ve negotiated at Elm Ridge Center as it returns to glory as an almost fully-leased shopping center.

Elm Ridge Center was a ghost town with only a few tenants when it was acquired by Wegman Companies in late 2020. According to Placer.ai, the center’s best month in 2019 was December with 162k shoppers. Today that would be a below average month for Elm Ridge Center, and December of 2022 saw close to 225k shoppers. To get this kind of revitalization took a complete effort: Aggressive leasing, relentless promotion, and a bevy of updates and repairs to entice businesses to lease and shoppers to visit. Parking lots don’t lie, and they show a thriving Elm Ridge Center.

Most importantly, the new tenant mix has raised the floor for Elm Ridge Center. Post-holiday traffic—traditionally the slowest time for retail—is up 60% since Wegmans Companies took over. This day-to-day consistency will make the center more appealing to new tenants and allow for stronger lease negotiations as current tenants look to renew.

05/08/2020

Today’s restaurant suggestion is for Jines Restaurant, on the corner of Park & Berkeley. In business since 1971, it’s been a mainstay of the neighborhood for decades, serving good affordable meals to residents for almost 50 years. Currently on its third generation of ownership, Jine’s has worked hard to evolve as Park Ave has changed. Jine’s has expanded, added outdoor seating, beer on draft, and updated the interior design and décor. By keeping up with the trends and demands, Jine’s is as popular as ever. There are always long lines for breakfast on weekends, and the desirable outdoor seating allows you to enjoy the energy and nice weather during warmer months. And right now they have an online ordering system on their website to help streamline getting your food.

The menu at Jine’s has a lot of favorites. The Frittata Omelet is always delicious and will absolutely fill you up. As an Irishman, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the Corned Beef Hash. As any good Greek-owned restaurant should, there are a few special dishes like avgolemono, gyros, or lemon & egg soup. For today though, I’m going for the Fish Fry. I like the Beer battered option best. While the beer (Coors Light) doesn’t add much, if any, taste, the carbonation of the beer adds body and lightness to the batter. Jine’s uses haddock, which has a mild sweet taste and some medium flakiness.

05/07/2020

Today’s restaurant suggestion is for a fun little spot on Monroe Ave called Cedar Mediterranean Restaurant. Located in the small shopping center at the corner of Rutgers and Monroe, this restaurant is owned and operated by Elia and Ghada Ghanatios. They previously owned Sultan Lebanese Cuisine and Bakery on Mt. Hope Ave, and while this new restaurant falls in the Mediterranean category, the food is absolutely Lebanese. They still have a few standard Mediterranean dishes on the menu though, including gyros and Greek salad.

Elia and Ghada make a lot of their food in house from scratch, including the hummus, pita, and desserts. You can really taste the difference between what they serve and store-bought products you might have at home. The house-made pita is also an integral part of my favorite dish at Cedar, Chicken Shawarma. Popularized by Tony Stark mentioning it in the first Avengers movie, Shawarma is a pita loaf opened up and stuff with roasted vegetables, garlic spread for some sweetness, and soft, juicy chicken that’s carved right off the rotisserie. The chicken is rich and flavorful, covered with a secret blend of spices.

Another favorite dish of mine is the Lebanese rice, called Hashweh. It’s a dirty rice of sorts, with rice, meat (usually lamb) mixed together with allspice, cinnamon, and nutmeg to give it some sweetness. And if you want something for dessert that will blow your mind, get the house-made baklava as well. It’s got the flaky, buttery phyllo you want and a nice nutty filling, with more of honey sweetness instead of the overpowering sweetness that turns some away.

05/06/2020

Original Grain, located at Tower280 in downtown Rochester. The first location was opened in downtown Syracuse by Chris Bily in 2015. Original Grain is the end result of Chris working for years in restaurants, traveling around the country, and sketching out ideas until 2am in whatever spare time he had. Chris is also the mind behind XO Taco in Syracuse. Focused on urban markets, Original Grain expanded to Rochester last year.

Original Grain’s menu is focused on wellness and healthy eating, with multiple California-style menu items. Ingredients are sourced from New Yok state as much as possible to ensure freshness. The space itself is bright, inviting, and upbeat, with tons of natural light. There are grain bowls, green bowls, sandwiches, smoothies, and nori wraps, meaning there’s plenty of ways to get a healthy meal at an affordable price. Even better, there are numerous of gluten- and dairy-free options on the menu for those with dietary restrictions.

I’ve got a few favorites from the menu. The EZ BLT sandwich, with prosciutto, bacon, greens, and pickled red onion makes for a nice salty/sweet flavor combination. I also enjoy the Southwest Smoke green bowl. There’s lots of freshness and crunch in it, with corn, sweet lipstick peppers, sesame seeds, avocado, scallions, cilantro, and a mild heat from the avocado-poblano dressing.

05/05/2020

Seeing as it’s both Taco Tuesday and Cinco de Mayo, I’m excited to recommend Bitter Honey today. Opened in 2017, Bitter Honey is another incredible creation by Josh Miles. Located on Railroad Street by the Rochester Public Market, Bitter Honey has a unique offering for customers. Bartender Zach Mikida has traveled to Mexico over a dozen times and knows more about tequila and mezcal than anyone in town, and the corn tortillas are hand-made through a process call nixtamalization. The results are the freshest possible tortillas you can get in Western New York.

This sets up the taco-focused menu very nicely. Bitter Honey is offering taco kits that will feed 4-6 people (meaning leftovers for smaller households) to help with efficient ordering. I always go for Barbacoa as my filling, and Al Pastor as a second option. If you’re feeling a little intimated by the size of a taco kit, you can order two tacos of your choice. That probably won’t be enough, so you should get a chip kit with three dips, or chips and your dip of choice. Mine will be guacamole.

No celebration of another country’s national holiday is complete without something to drink, and Bitter Honey has you covered with pre-made 1L and 375ml bottles of margaritas or frozen margaritas, and 16oz frozen margaritas. If you’d like to see what Zach has to offer, there are shot of tequila available as well. For those of you concerned that you’d like the margaritas a little too much, four-packs of beer available as well.

05/04/2020

I’m staying sweet with today’s recommendation: Hedonist Artisan Chocolates. Opened in 2007 by Jennifer Posey, Hedonist is located in Rochester’s South Wedge. Jennifer and her team produce a wide variety of hand-crafted, small batch confections. Hedonist offers chocolate caramels, truffles, bark, dipped fruits, and even ice cream to name some of their delicious offerings.

But Jennifer doesn’t just offer exceptional craft and flawless ex*****on of old-world techniques. In the Classic Chocolate Truffle, Goat Cheese Truffle, and Chocolatier’s Choice collections there are incredible favors and combinations of fruits, nuts, or herbs & spices, resulting in sweet, savory, and tangy treats. There’s also a strong focus on high quality ingredients and partnering with local companies, be it Pittsford Farms Dairy for their cream, Finger Lakes wineries for wine & chocolate parings, or Genesee Brewery for the Salted Caramel Chocolate Porter or Dark Chocolate Scotch Ale.

With Mother’s Day this coming weekend, I’m suggesting the “Susan B. Inspires Me” Salted Chocolate Caramels. The box contains 20 salted chocolate caramels, and 20% of the proceeds from each box goes to the The Susan B. Anthony Museum & House, which is also located here in Rochester. Hedonist is able to offer pick-up and delivery for those close by, and if you’re out of town, Hedonist is able to ship to your loved ones as well.

05/03/2020

I’m so excited for today’s suggestion. I’ve been waiting weeks to do this one: Abbott's Frozen Custard. For those of you not fully familiar with the story, in 1902 Arthur Abbott started traveling the Eastern Seaboard selling frozen custard. In 1926, he opened his first store in Rochester. A fan of horse racing, Arthur put his frozen custard proceeds towards buying a horse. In 1952, his horse Blue Man won the Preakness Stakes, allowing Arthur to consider retirement. He eventually sold the business to Lenny and Tiby Schreiber in 1957.

Over the past century, the recipe has remained the same, but still secret. Eggs, milk, sugar, and cream are mixed together and churned slowly in a custom-made machine, producing something denser than traditional ice cream. The custard is made fresh at stands each day, with a few staple flavors like chocolate and vanilla, as well as occasional surprises like black raspberry.

There locations all over town, but for the best one is at Charlotte Beach. I always go for vanilla with almonds and a Chip Wheel for my son because he absolutely loves them. Abbott’s is also offering delivery via their website.

05/02/2020

Today is a beautiful, sunny day. Time to get out of the house, and road trip it to my hometown of Auburn. There are two places I’d recommend going while you’re getting some fresh air and sunshine.

First off is Prison City Pub & Brewery. Opened in 2014 by Marc & Dawn Schulz—I graduated from high school with Dawn—Prison City produces one of the best IPA’s in America, Mass Riot. Beer geeks line up around the block for this when it releases. National reviewers and enthusiasts far and wide put Mass Riot up there with IPAs from highly regarded brewers like Trillium or Tree House. Mass Riot is a limited release so it’s not always available, but any of Prison City’s beers are equally delicious and lovingly brewed in small batches. A few four packs or crowlers are a great way to support a local business and friend. From their take-out menu I’d snag either the Pork Belly Tacos or Pub Burger, and they also have a Kid’s Menu for those perpetually fussy eaters.

I’d also swing by Angelo's Pizzeria Auburn Ny. Angelo’s has been in business since 1960, and my mother worked there while in college. Angelo’s was the first original pizza place in Auburn and is now owned by Matt Bartolotta, my roommate in college. Matt is focused on having things as fresh as possible. There’s house-made dough and sauce the itself is made fresh every other day to ensure the best possible quality. The cheese comes from Wisconsin, and the tomatoes for the sauce from California. Each pizza is made with care, and the crust is the that thin NY-style you can fold. For toppings, I love the sausage pizza, probably because the sausage comes from a local butcher as well.

05/01/2020

Today’s restaurant suggestion is for Grinnell's Restaurant, located on Monroe Ave between Highland and Twelve Corners. Grinnell’s has been family owned and operated since 1961. Originally focused on thick steaks, over the years Grinnell’s has expanded the menu to offer seafood and lighter fair. The décor has evolved as well, with an excellent balance of classic and contemporary. But above all else, there’s great service from the ownership and staff.

Like many restaurants, the menu is a little bit limited right now but there are some fun specials. For Fridays they have a Fish Fry with a fluffy-yet-crispy breading encasing the fish, along with house-made coleslaw and tartar sauce. On Sundays, there’s Turkey dinners. Turkey can get a bad rap as being dry and flavorless, but not this one. The meat is juicy and perfectly seasoned, covered in a rich, thick gravy and lovingly placed over a bed creamy mashed potatoes. It’s practically a mini Thanksgiving dinner. And on Wednesdays there are Gourmet garbage plates with an 8oz burger cooked the way you like it with cheese, over homemade mac salad and garlic mashed potatoes, all covered in a beautiful, thick meat sauce.

Grinnell’s is certainly known for Prime Rib if you’ve been missing this classic dish recently. Slow roasted to a perfect medium-rare, their prime rib has a great, flavorful crust with a tender, juicy interior.

04/30/2020

Today’s restaurant suggestion is for the best slice in Rochester. I’ve got three favorites.

The first is The Pizza Stop. They’ve been in business since the mid 80’s, serving slices for downtown workers for decades. Pizza Stop has the best NY-style pizza in town. It’s so good I’m not going out on a limb when I say that. The crust is thin and foldable with a little char, and the customer service is gruff at best. My favorite toppings are cheese, or cheese & pepperoni. They’re simple, but rich and flavorful at Pizza Stop. While you can certainly get your fix at the Pittsford or Greece locations, the State street location is the best. The oven has a certain je ne sais quoi to it, and that’s essential to making a great pizza.

Second up is Pontillo's Pizzeria Bushnell’s Basin location and only this location. Pontillo’s locations can vary as they’re not required to get ingredients from specific vendors or stick to recipes. The Bushnell’s Basin location is home to Rochester’s favorite slice, with a thin-to-medium crust and a slight char. I really like that the blue cheese is free (Ranch is for savages). I go with the pepperoni/hot peppers with a side of blue cheese.

Last but not least is Chester Cab Pizza. Located on Park Ave, they give you a monstrously oversized slice that can easily fill you up. There’s a thicker crust that’s harder to fold with a crunchier texture to it, with a thick layer of toppings and a decent char as well. It’s important to mention Chester Cab offers beer by the can or six pack as well.

04/29/2020

Today’s restaurant suggestion is for Char Steak & Lounge, the restaurant at the Strathallan. They’re doing a limited takeout menu starting tomorrow. First opened in 2012, Char is a high-level restaurant focused on a great dining experience. They have a coal and wood-fired grill that gets up to 900 degrees allowing for perfect searing on their meats, and a Wolfgang Puck-inspired oven.

As they say in their name, Char has a bevy of steaks if you’ve been struggling to get that perfect temperature on your home grill. However, my favorite menu item they’re offering is the Burger, or as they call it, 12 oz. of Ground Brisket. Dressed with an applewood-smoked bacon-onion jam, and a nice, sharp cheddar, this masterpiece is then placed in a rich brioche bun. After doing an 8-stop burger crawl the other year, I crowned this burger The Best in Rochester and I still stand by that today.

I’d also do the ½ Organic free-range chicken. There’s some strong Mediterranean flair with the harissa crust and preserved lemon-yogurt sauce. Harissa is a spicy, garlicky seasoning that goes great with chicken all on its own and is contrasted by the cooling lemon-yogurt sauce.

If the sound of spices makes your eyes water, go for the House made ricotta gnocchi with a Bolognese sauce and parmesan. Ricotta gnocchi is different from traditional potato gnocchi, but still gives you the light, pillow-ly gnocchi you’d expect while tasting a little bit better.

For sides, I’d do the Glazed asparagus or the Wild mushroom risotto. The truffle butter adds earthy richness and mascarpone brings in creamy textures. The Char Bar To Car is a great way to stock up on wines as well, with bottles being offered at an incredible discount. The prices are almost unbelievable.