DINING OUT: Bonnie & Clyde
Banking on a good meal at Bonnie & Clyde in Fairport
By Jacob Pucci
Bonnie and Clyde are back in a bank, but this time, there’s no cause for concern.
Bonnie & Clyde opened this spring in the former Fairport National Bank and Trust Company building in the village of Fairport, a sturdy, formidable stone building whose function for the last century is unmistakable.
Owned by Jodi and Greg Johnson, who operated Cub Room in Rochester until closing that restaurant around the same time the new restaurant opened, Bonnie & Clyde offers a seasonal menu built around small plates at dinner, with a few larger entrees, like house-made pastas and a 12-ounce NY Strip steak frites with bone marrow butter. Then there’s the vault, a single private table in the bank’s old vault, where a seasonal five-course tasting menu and wine pairings is specially created for your party.
The cuisine is undoubtedly fine dining, but stop in for lunch on Thursday or Friday, or for brunch on Sunday, and you’ll find even more value, with just about every large plate priced under $20. Unlike its namesake, there’s no robbery at this bank.
The open, two-story dining room is a dramatic space. On one side, the green-tiled, marble-topped bar runs the length of the dining room, cordoned off with a velvet rope. A long, padded booth runs through the middle of the restaurant, serving as seating for two rows of tables. On the opposite wall from the bar, high-backed booths offer a cozy, more intimate feel to what’s otherwise a wide-open space.
The brunch crowd was quiet, which might not be a bad thing, as I imagine the noise in such a cavernous space can be quite boisterous at its peak dinner rush, as reviews online indicate. For as large as the restaurant is, décor is minimal and the walls are largely bare, which does no favors in terms of acoustics.
As one might surmise, brunch at Bonnie & Clyde is not like breakfast at your local greasy spoon, though the flavors are quintessential breakfast favorites. Take, for example, the pastrami hash ($19), a neatly formed portion of potato and onion hash generously marked with large shreds of smoky house-made pastrami. The hash is topped with two over-easy eggs — I wasn’t asked how I wanted my eggs cooked, but I wouldn’t want them any other way — and served with a side of buttered marble rye toast, sourced right down the road at Amazing Grains Bread Co.
Smoked salmon, instead of being served on a bagel with cream cheese, is made into little croquettes ($12 for six), one of five small plates on the menu. The potato and salmon filling is light and creamy, accentuated by the crisp exterior. A lemon aioli was a natural complement to the salmon, with a bright acidity that kept the fried croquettes light.
Just about any breakfast or brunch spot has eggs Benedict on the menu. Few make it like Bonnie & Clyde, whose Southern-inspired version ($18) featuring thin-sliced pork roulade, zippy braised greens, a pair of poached eggs and a hearty pour of béarnaise sauce (think hollandaise, but with added tarragon and other herbs) was a hit. The dish was built upon a split English muffin, presumably also sourced from Amazing Grains. It might seem like a small thing, but the difference between your run-of-the-mill English muffin and the locally baked version was astounding. It was one of the best Benedicts I’ve had in a long time.
Portion sizes are fair, though if you’re in the market for an oversized omelet that you’d eat half of and take the other half home with you, this isn’t the spot for you. We finished our entrees and were perfectly satisfied — though we were sure to leave room for dessert.
Our server rattled off a list of about a half-dozen desserts made in-house, including a lemon chiffon cheesecake, crème brulee and a mini dessert sampler. Tempting as they all sounded, the apricot frangipane tart ($12) ultimately won out, the call of taking advantage of the fleeting fresh apricot season proving too strong to resist. The frangipane, a sweet almond custard used to stuff almond croissants and fill a whole host of French pastries, is a lovely pairing with the floral, slightly tart flavor of the fresh fruit. The short-crust pastry shell was buttery and neither too crumbly nor hard as a rock, as these types of crusts can sometimes be. All in all, it was a well-executed summer dessert.
Perhaps it was because the restaurant wasn’t at peak capacity, but service was attentive, with our main water and other food runners and bussers keeping our table clear and our water glasses filled.
Pair this all with a bar program that knows its way around a cocktail and a wine list (mostly sourced from California and France, though I was happy to see a few Finger Lakes offerings) that ranges from an everyday quaff to a special occasion splurge, and you have a restaurant that should quickly establish itself as a fixture in the village of Fairport.
Bonnie & Clyde
58 S. Main St., Fairport, 14450
585-678-4040
Dinner served Wednesday and Thursday, from 5 to 9 p.m., and on Friday and Saturday, from 5 to 10 p.m.
Lunch served Thursday and Friday, from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Brunch served Sunday, from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Reservations: Available online at bonnieandclydefairport.com/#Reservations
Website: bonnieandclydefairport.com/