Review: 2 Vine

Lets face it, Rochester NY is no temple of gastronomy. The most interesting thing we have going to for us culinarily is something called the "garbage plate". If this isn't indicative of the mindset of the entire city then I don't know what is (perhaps the Greece Ridge Mall being the largest tourist draw?). Anyways, we brave and hardy foodies in upstate are forced to cling desperately to any and all relatively decent food options that we may have. Of late, our choices have improved drastically thank god, but one of the original real restaurants (with gasp, a concept!) in Rochester: 2 Vine, remains a solid, if not rather smarmy place to eat good food.
By now, 2 Vine has built a reputation on several things: its pricyness (nothing compared to New York), its steak and its clientelle. The typical Saturday night bar crowd consists of vaguely overweight buisness types getting drunk on overpriced cocktails, while scoping the bar for plently of inversely proportioned younger women looking to snap up the next heir to some upstate media fortune or just "have a good time" with the girls from Pittsford Mendon High. Perhaps I am being unfair. Occasionally you will run into an old friend or someone you want to see, but this can only add to the "sceney-ness" (rarely used in conjecture with Upstate NY) of the place.
The food however, is more than decent. I often end up ordering a hodge podge of appetizers and sides when I go out, and while the entrees are acceptable but rather usual, it is in the specials and other bits that the menu really shines. The brussel sprouts, roasted to Maillard perfection, are well seasoned and warming; paired with the sausage and escarole over white beans, a perfectly filling wholesome meal is able to be had for almost six dollars off of a main course. We also ordered the appetiver special of sauteed calamari, cooked in an interesting carrot broth which I am still trying to excavate spice-wise.
The other person with me (my lovely grandmother) ordered the plat de jour rib eye steak with mashed potatoes. The steak, when it arrived, was almost as big as my forearm and significantly thicker. It was cooked perfectly, you could cut it with an ordinary butter knife it was so tender, and appropraitly fatty around the edges. With the table bread and a cup of black coffee, it made for fine Saturday out, save for the incessent noise of the Kodak louts to my left.
The service is adequate. The waiter was not overbearing and prompt, though at tiems there was a sense of rush that threatened to overwhelm affected tranquility of a structured dinner. All in all however, 2 Vine rates high for quality of food, service, proximity to evening activities, and any light in the dim gastronomical bulb of Upstate NY.