Chris Valites

Throw a dart (or jart, for the more outdoorsy) along Park Avenue and if you don’t puncture or impale a pedestrian, it will probably land on a pretty decent oh-I’m-so-hip dining establishment cramped with small booths and a dozen or so outdoor tables under the majesty of the famed Rochester clouds. I may be awful at darts, but I stumbled across a little place called Jine’s that may just be worth the parking space scavenger hunt.

The food is great, but the place looks modest enough not to make you feel like the snob you may very well be if you enjoy fine dining. It’s a sort of ritzy chicken-and-pasta-and-wine sort of place, so I ordered the Jine’s chicken and pasta. It’s a boneless chicken breast sautéed with sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms, artichoke hearts — and all sorts of other fancy culinary things — served over pasta with a white wine pesto sauce. $11.95 for a heap. To my ears and stomach, that sounds like ‘buy one dinner, get tomorrow’s lunch free.’ I fought hard to put a dent in my plate and just found my eyes rolling back into my head, fearful that I had loaded myself up to the trachea with the flavorful chicken and ziti noodles of this classy entrée. But if Jine’s is too crowded or on fire or incapacitated in any way, the wickedly cheap Sinbad’s is within dart-throwing distance. The great thing about Park Avenue is that if Jine’s doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, you can find over a dozen variations of delicacy and décor within a couple blocks.

Originally published as part of Dining Downtown: Rochester Potables and Vittles in Reporter's 2008 Orientation issue.