Category Archives: restaurant

fish fry, ISO - fish fry, Karen Tashkovski, restaurant, restaurants

ISO Fish Fry – Brian’s Landing

Image August 1, 2022 Karen Tashkovski Leave a comment

I had a work-related late lunch with my friend Dee at Brian’s Landing last Friday. I’ve been wanting to go for a while now. I follow them on Facebook and give a love to just about everything they post.

Presentation: The haddock is Panko breaded and comes with a cute bun, french fries, slaw and a pickle with tartar sauce and a lemon on the side. Everything on one large plate. My friend ordered a burger. My fish dinner looked so good that she decided to order one to go for later. It was $18.00.

Taste: There was not an option to have the fish broiled, unfortunately. It wasn’t my favorite – kinda dry and the breading was like what you put on fried chicken. I did not like the coleslaw. French fries were very salty but super tasty. I didn’t love it.

Restaurant Experience: I do love this restaurant. They have live music in the evenings in the bar area. We ate in the dining room. They also have a new porch/deck area. The waitress was friendly and super quick. It was quiet in there at 3:00 PM. No wait, no need for reservations.

Location: Brian’s Landing is located at 6523 E.Seneca Turnpike, Jamesville, New York.

Hours

& Contact

Regular Hours

Tues – Thu: 4pm – 9pm

Thurs – Sat: 11:30am – 9pm

Sun: 10am – 4pm

Mon: Closed

Email

info@BriansLanding.com

6523 E Seneca Turnpike Jamesville, NY 13078

(315) 299-5242

Parking: There is a parking lot in the back – some of the spaces are on a slope. From the back, you must climb a flight of stairs. There is a front door too (no stairs) but it faces the street so no parking there.

art of fine dining, dinner, family, festival, fish fry, food, ISO - fish fry, Karen Tashkovski, live music, music, restaurant, restaurants

ISO Fish Fry – The Fish Friar

Image September 21, 2021 Karen Tashkovski Leave a comment

Kathy and I went downtown on Saturday night to hang at the Italian Festival, which happens every year around this time (except last year because of the Covid situation). There was Italian food and music, and cover band dance music under tents and on two different stages around City Hall in Syracuse, New York.

Although I have a lot of Italian friends and recently found a lot of Italian in my own DNA, I don’t particularly like Italian food, Luckily, Kathy treated me to dinner at The Fish Friar, which is located right across from City Hall in downtown Syracuse.

Presentation: As you can see from the pictures, the presentation is divine. These fish sandwiches were $15 and came with two sides. Kathy selected house salad and macaroni salad and I had the roasted carrots and coleslaw.

Taste: Although I ate everything on my plate, I thought it was too salty (don’t hate me The Fish Friar fans). It was saltier than I remembered it from eating it the last time I was there.

Restaurant Experience: The restaurant is adorable! Small but comfortable. We ate outside at one of about five tables. The bathroom is very clean as well. :). The service was spectacular. It was such a beautiful night. We enjoyed the sound of the local cover band, Hard Promises, playing on the large stage set up for Italian Fest and later got all front and center to dance and sing along. We also spotted our cousins who strolled by and stopped to chat. Overall, it is an amazing place for a dinner date.

Location: The Fish Friar is located at the corner of Washington and Montgomery Streets in Syracuse, NY. They are open Tuesday-Saturday from 11:00 am – 9:00 pm and Saturdays from 4:00 pm – 9:00 pm. They offer an on-line service on their website. Call (315) 468-FISH for the deets.

Parking: There is no parking lot for The Fish Friar. Street parking only. Because there is currently so much construction on the roads in the city and many streets were blocked off for this immense Italian block party, we parked in a pay lot by the Civic Center and walked over. <3

fish fry, food, Karen Tashkovski, restaurant, restaurants

ISO Fish Fry – The Retreat

Image July 24, 2021 Karen Tashkovski 1 Comment

The search for the best fish fry in town may be over – OMG – last night at The Retreat!

Presentation: I ordered the fried haddock with sweet potato fries and coleslaw and my friend ordered the same but with regular french fries. Love!

Taste: The coleslaw had celery in it. It is probably the best mayo-style slaw I have ever had! The sweet potato fries came with maple butter, which was insanely good. And the fish was soooo fresh!

The only negative is that it was so good that I ate everything. As you know from my last blog entry, I don’t eat like this every day – and so, later I couldn’t sleep because it was all so salty – not for other people, I am sure, but for me. I was ridiculously thirsty and I ended up with a headache this morning, lol, like waking up from a food coma. Why does it have to taste so good??? I ended up getting a late start to my day this morning because of it. I’m going to admit here that it was worth it. <3

Restaurant Experience: We didn’t have a reservation so they put us on a list – said it would be a half hour wait for inside and an hour wait for outside (it was 6:30pm when we arrived). We went to the outdoor bar for a drink and within five minutes the call came through that our table was ready.

The waiter promptly took our order and within about ten or fifteen minutes we were eating! The waiter was a wonderfully cheerful person and, truly, I felt like I was in a scene from a movie.

Our conversation turned to manifesting dreams and I thought that was incredibly apropos, as I felt I had manifested the entire experience in a dream.

Location: The Retreat is located at 302 Vine Street, Liverpool, NY 13088

Parking: There is a huge paved parking lot marked specifically for guests of The Retreat. There is also street parking around the building.

fish fry, food, Karen Tashkovski, restaurant

ISO Fish Fry – Kiki’s

Image July 23, 2021 Karen Tashkovski Leave a comment

Kiki’s Authentic Greek Cuisine is located in the heart of Camillus, New York. They offer a daily fish fry (no coleslaw, but they do have spanikopita, which is amazing). It is a beautiful little restaurant with outdoor seating.

I was there last Friday. I am in search of the best fish fry in the area. The criteria will be as follows:

*Presentation

*Taste

*Restaurant Experience

*Location/Parking

I am no foodie/food critic, lol. Everyone who knows me knows that I don’t cook, preferring microwaved oatmeal with blueberries and a banana for breakfast, peanut butter out of a jar and a yogurt for lunch, and a handful of deli turkey for dinner – so , naturally, I will not be scoring these categories.

Presentation: I love their use of the color blue throughout the restaurant, as a nod to the Greek flag. They use a blue checked waxed paper on the plates – very cute!

Taste: The fish was fresh – very good. I didn’t eat the bread and all the fries and I wished they had coleslaw. They did have tartar sauce and lemon, which was nice.

Restaurant Experience: An overall fun restaurant experience!

Location: 64 West Genesee Street, Camillus, NY 13031 – It was a great day for lunching outside at one of their umbrella-ed tables.

Parking: They have ample street parking, as well as a small parking lot. It doesn’t seem to be a heavily trafficked place – only a couple storefronts were open when we were there around 3pm – some, like the antique store across the street, are only open on weekends. We got a space right in front of the place. <3

#tashkovski #coach #faithfullthebrand #allsaints #ragandbone

(Here is the link to another fish fry article.)

#ootd, angels, art, art exhibition, art in restaurants, encaustic, horseshoes, Karen Tashkovski, restaurant, Tashionista

Where in the World

Image September 14, 2019 Karen Tashkovski 2 Comments

70220829_3060592533967702_7672198804963065856_o — C by Bloomingdales cashmere cardigan, Warner Bros. Hogwarts T-shirt, BCBGMaxAzria skirt, Marc Jacobs boots

Where am I? I am back at work at Chittenango Middle School, teaching 8th grade Studio in Art, Art-8, and helping fifty kids a day with homework in two study halls. My outfit of the day (#ootd) pictures have been hit or miss. Not sure whether or not to resume taking them. Katy C. and I have been so busy prepping lessons and organizing stuff – I only have a few pictures to share (even though we’ve been back at it for two weeks now).

69879644_3062572137103075_8771463055507718144_n — Talitha Collection silk top, BCBGMaxAzria silk velvet pants, BCBGeneration velvet booties

Meanwhile, my artwork is going places. I am exhibiting encaustic baseball paintings and horseshoe paintings during the month of September 2019 at Half Moon Bakery & Bistro (6500 East Seneca Turnpike, Jamesville, NY 13078).

And last night I delivered six encaustic angel paintings from the Futura series to a new restaurant called 317 (317 Montgomery Street, Syracuse, New York) before heading to the Italian Festival, which is taking place in front of City Hall this weekend. These paintings will be up in a group pairing along with other artists’ work (indefinitely, as of now). 317 provides an incredibly intimate dining experience right in the heart of downtown Syracuse adjacent to the Onondaga Historical Association.

Finally, my twelve Japanese-inspired fan encaustic paintings are still available for sale at Kasai Ramen (218 Walton Street, Syracuse, NY 13202) until September 16, 2019.

P.S. I started designing bracelets! I’ll be ready to launch that experience very soon – stay tuned! The jewelry thing is my current passion and focus artistically. The universe has been doing a great job of taking care of everything else. Thank you, universe! Life is good! <3

Aqua Cashmere cardigan, BCBGMaxAzria T-shirt, Rag & Bone patent leather skirt, Marc Jacobs booties

Karen Tashkovski, restaurant, retail

They Call It Mello Velo

Image August 5, 2019 Karen Tashkovski 3 Comments

Mello Velo Bicycle Shop & Cafe is where all the cool people hang out.

Formerly part of the Westcott Nation, it is now located at 790 Canal Street, Syracuse, New York 13210, right off Erie Blvd. Proprietors Steve and Sara Morris are exuberant business professionals with a strong vision to create a friendly and honest bike repair shoppe in the area and to create a community of kindness within the bike-riding sub-culture. This idea grew to include a café where customers can enjoy great food and a “mellow” atmosphere infused with love.

**** excerpt from their web-site

Ultimately, we want to build a Syracuse bicycle culture, and will strive to educate and inspire our customers. Whether it’s advocating for more bike lanes, going for a fun ride, cleaning up the trails, or organizing one of our many educational efforts and repair clinics, our goal is to share our sales, service, and general bicycle expertise and passion.

I had been hearing the buzz about this place – posts on Facebook kept popping up. You can see the colorful façade of the building from the bridge while driving on Rt. 690E. It just seemed like the kind of creative vibe I wanted to experience, and it really delivered.

I had lunch there today. Kim and I met there around 1:00pm and street parking was a bit tight because it was clearly the place to be. The entrance is on Canal across from Tobin’s Refinishing. There is a ramp that can take you to the outdoor seating area or you can get to the restaurant through the bicycle shop.

We decided to eat first then shop the bi-level store.

Everyone was amazing. Service, the food – so good. I had breakfast for lunch. They do breakfast foods all day, which is awesome!

We met owner Steve Morris and he chatted with us for a bit. It was such an uplifting experience – a lot of positive energy in this place! It’s one of those lovely success stories where good people share their talents and help to make our city come alive. Syracuse, you are in good hands. 🙂

P.S. Here is a look at what they display on the walls – working the bicycle theme.

Bike Shop Hours

Monday – Thursday: 10ish – 6:30pm

Friday: 10ish – 6pm

Saturday: 10ish – 5pm

Sunday: CLOSED

Cafe Hours*

Monday – Saturday: 10am – 10pm

Sunday: 10am – 3pm

*Kitchen Closes 1/2 hour before bar

Mello Velo is CLOSED on the following holidays: New Year’s Day, Easter, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas. Check our Social Media for any other closures.

Contact & Address

Mello Velo Bicycle Shop
790 Canal St. Syracuse, NY 13210

315-307-3104
info@mellovelobicycles.com

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