>> Coming up on "need to know," New York state lets the money
flow to its parks.
And we meet the new execkstive chef at the New York wine and
culinary center.
And midtown plaza closes its door to the public.
[Captioning Made Possible by WXXI]
>> Rochester's news magazine since 1997.
This is "need to know."
>> Thanks for joining us for the special summer addition of
"need to know."
I'm Julie Philipp.
This week we leave the studio and we're hitting some of the
summer hot spots in the Rochester region.
Right now at the New York wine and culinary center in
Canandaigua and we'll be talking to their new executive chef.
But Carlet Cleare recently went to Letchworth state park, one
of 70 benefiting from the single program in the history of the
parks system.
Letchworth state parks spans 14,750 acres.
Park educator dug loss Bassett offers -- expresses why people
are drawn to the park.
>> For many of the visitors it's coming to see the water
falls.
It goes across New York to lake Ontario and over these three
waterfalls there.
So they get to see that whole splash and splendor, and becoming
white and foamy.
That's the action.
>> But officials are preparing for a different kind of action.
>> Along with this seenry, beauty and tranquility, Letchworth
park is making some upgrades.
This spring, law makers oked $132 million strait park
infrastructure fund.
Letchworth is getting nearly $7 million for improvement.
They are badly needed according to the park manager Roland
Beck.
>> We identified our pool, we closed that the systems weren't
keeping up with code as we had tremendous leaks in the pool.
We closed that.
Right now, it's in the design stages and hopefully we can
reopen it, and there will be added features as well as a whole
new feel for that pool area.
We've also identified the failing water systems within the
park.
We are almost complete with the designs for the water line
system from the town to feed the south side of the park.
The roads in the park were in terrible need of pavings.
Ongoing projects right now where we're continuing to pave.
>> Despite its problems the park continues to draw tourists,
Roland says there were 750,000 vacationers last year and has
seen more this year, even with the slowed economy and the hikes
in food and gas prices.
>> Traditionally people would come down and camp for the
weekend.
We're seeing people staying longer, they're extending their
stays.
I think that has much to do with the gas prices.
Instead of making, you know, six trips a year, they're making
three and staying longer.
So the trend the yeah, more people are coming out here to spend
the time locally.
>> For "need to know," I'm Carlet Cleare.
>> Letchworth is not the only state park in the area getting an
infusion of cash this year.
This money in the fund for several other parks in the finger
lakes region.
We now turn our attention to food in the finger lakes region.
I'm here with new executive chef Carlo Simon Peretti.
Thanks for inviting us into the kitchen today.
>> Absolutely, a pleasure.
>> Your culinary background clearly not from New York.
>> No.
>> What's a guy like you doing in a place like this?
>> I've been in the states for the past 12, 13 years.
I originally came over on an internship and the criteria for my
university course was to work and study in a different
country.
So I chose Rochester, New York.
So here I am.
12 years later.
>> Now the cuisine of New York is, how would you characterize
the cuisine of New York?
>> The cuisine of New York is very e cclectic, it draws from a
lot of different countries.
>> That's kind of your approach here at the culinary center is
to take a lighter perspective.
>> That's right, we're kind of thinking globely but using all
the local products.
It's working out really great with the farmers.
Very challenging position and every day is different because
this new vegetables and new meats that are arriving daily.
>> Got a few local products here.
>> Absolutely.
We have the scallop, which is from long island, particularly
big, we're just removing this.
We're going to make a fresh vegetable risotto using some of our
local produce, which is from firefly farms.
This is some baby carrots and some baby leaks, fresh greens
here.
We have a truffle which is unfortunately not from New York, and
we're going to start chopping some vegetables up and making our
vegetable risotto.
>> When you make this, do you try to have it 50% New York
products?
Or produce?
Or 60%?
How do you approach a recipe?
>> Most of the time we try and use as much as we can.
Sometimes we have a hard time with the fish because there's not
a lot of fish that's available outside of trout and salmon and
that kind of stuff.
>> And we don't selfish or use fish that's not good.
We do outsource for that kind of stuff.
But to offset with a dish like that, we would generally, you
know, do the sauce, made with like a local mustard, or we'd do
the vegetables would be featured from a local farm or a farm in
New York.
>> Do you have a favorite ingredient or two from New York that
you found or tend to use?
>> The apples we use an awful lot.
We have the empire apples, those are pretty much available all
year around.
They're particularly versatile.
Outside of that, the scallops are really wonderful, some
wonderful oysters from long island, good shell fish.
It's very good.
>> What are you doing now?
>> Got some stock, just your basic chicken stock, giving the
onions a bit of color and add some of the arborio rice.
>> And that's not from New York?
>> It's from Italy.
>> But everything else --
>> Everything else, you know, six out of the maybe 10
ingredients are going to be all local.
So, I mean, somethings you're just not going to get local,
peppers, stuff like that.
Where we can we do try to make it a point to use local stuff.
And the wines are even easier, because obviously, living in a
wine district, we have a lot of different wineries that we can
choose from.
So everybody is New York when it comes from the wine.
>> How do the New York wines affect the dish?
>> It's slightly different cooking with a New York wines.
It's actually a little bit easier sometimes because they are
quite, quite acidic, for a lot of dishes you're cooking, and
you use that quality.
>> What does it do to the recipe?
>> Gives it an extra element of flavor, gives it that, more
balance, -- and we just put a little bit of the risling wine in
here, and we just basically cook in this lovely risotto, which
you basically cook on a medium to low heat for about 15-17
minutes, until it's all the way cooked through.
>> Is there any New York produce that you really wish you could
do something with but it's sort of a challenge to fit into a
recipe or find a use for?
>> Not yet, I had a lot of different vegetables that I have
never seen before use come through the back door.
>> What are some of the surprising ones?
A root vegetable, that's similar to the turnip.
We ended up roasting those.
We didn't that with one of our wine making dinners which we
featured quite recently.
>> So the farmers come to you and say this is what I grew?
>> Basically, this is what we've grown, can he use it or how
much can you use and the rest of it they sell at the local
farmers market.
I like to try to take as much as I can.
Since this is my first year here, I've been working with the
local farmers, and they can be planting different vegetables
for next year.
>> So you give them feed back so they can plant something
different next year?
>> This has been a great growing season.
>> Absolutely.
>> A pick of things this year.
No, go ahead.
>> We just got off the phone with one of the farmers, at the
moment we've got baby squash, regular squashes, we have the, we
have the baby leak which is are these right here.
The baby carrots.
And also coming out for the moment is, what was it?
I forgot.
>> I know my guys, we've got beans --
>> Oh yes, the yellow beans and the green beans.
Getting those for this weekend.
Everything is influenced daily by what comes in through the
door, so --
>> I know you just started in may so you're fairly new.
We'll still have apples in the fall.
What happens when the winter months come on?
>> As they go on, we have to get more creative, certain things,
just not feasible to get locally because it's not available.
In the summer time, when there's a lot of strawberries and all
these berries and fruits and stuff, what we do is make them
into preserves so we can use those with a rack of lamb and
spice it up.
It's a challenge, lot of forward thinking what you're going to
keep, and what you're going to preserve for the winter months.
Very much getting back to basics, how things used to be done
back in the day.
>> That was your cull nail roots in England.
>> Correct.
When I first started cooking as a young boy, maybe 15, 16 years
old, we would save the scraps from the sandwiches that we used
to make and those would go to the local pig farmer and based on
what we gave to the local pig farmer he would give us a free
pig or a free ham every couple of months.
So really about covering your carbon foot prints.
>> You went to school and expanded a bit and now getting back
in?
>> It got very global for a while where you could get
anything.
I think we're all, you know with the gas prices and the way
things are going, working on local business.
I think that's the way to go.
It really helps the economy.
>> You said at the beginning you were going to bring sort of a
global perspective to New York foods.
Can you give us a specific example of that?
A recipe that you've made for the culinary center?
>> One recipe might be the long island duck, which we use an
Israeli cows cows -- couscous, we serve that, on orange and
local vegetables with the couscous, more of an Asian style
duck, but using the local.
>> Now you get tourists from all over but how recentive are all
people when they come in?
>> Most people are very accepting.
They're always, a lot of our, thankfully a lot of our main
questions are where does this come from?
Where did you get the carrots from, what is that from?
So, rather than complaints of course.
>> Are people surprised at Buffalo wings and --
>> We still do, even for like the, we still do the bar style
food, that kind of stuff, so the full gamut world cuisine plus
New York cuisine, plus what I bring to the table, that European
influence.
>> Is there anything back in the cupboards that you brought
from England that you couldn't leave behind?
You can't find here?
>> Not really.
Everything I've been able to source locally here.
It's been quiet good.
Nothing that I really miss that much about England in cuisines
that we can't get over here.
The first thing I used to miss was the lamb.
I could never get a good grasp of lamb like we do in the U.K.
Working with some of the local farms around here I've been able
to source some fantastic, some fantastic lamb from around
here.
>> So you taught them how to raise?
>> No, it's become popular to do the free range.
>> Rather than people who -- ok, ok.
What other finds when you're out there looking for something
special?
>> Other finds?
Found some nice smoked trout.
Found a lot of preserved meats, or dried, cured meat.
We use one up in Rochester for that, Harmon's, they provide us
with nice sausages and cold cuts.
There's a lot of places out there if you want to go looking and
you're tively looking.
>> Agriculture can be a tough business, I'm sure they're very
happy when they see us coming in the drive.
>> Absolutely.
We do work with the local farmers and stuff and try to get
deliveries limited as much as possible.
Some of the farmers will co-op with other farmers and bring the
product on one day so they're not all coming at the same time,
driving from various areas.
So, we get a lot of help when we can from the farmer's market.
So, that kind of helps.
Helps cut down on the gas and the carbon emissions and all that
stuff.
>> Because your located in Canandaigua, a lot of your ingreed
yebts come from the finger lakes region.
What can you get, obviously sea food, a lot of your sea food
comes from, I imagine long island.
>> For our scallops which is what I'm doing right here, season
a little salt, white pepper, get that in the pan since we've
got probably seven or eight minutes left on the risotto.
Yeah, outside of like Canandaigua, outside of the 50 mile
radius, there is some of our lamb and pork we get from bigger
ranches around New York.
And that's basically because the little ones aren't sustainable
enough to keep a regular item, I'm slaughtering two an animals
a week, so I can't depend on it.
So you do have to go out of the local range sometimes.
>> Any big goofs since, I know you've been in the finger lakes
region 12, 13 years.
>> Been here probably five or six years.
>> Ok.
>> I've been in Rochester for 12 to 13 years.
>> Oh, ok.
>> I came to work old toad.
>> Oh yes, a lot of our viewers are familiar with that.
Any big goofs where you've taken something from America that
maybe you weren't familiar working with, or did something
different with it in England and people here said oh?
>> Not really.
The only problems that I've had so far have been, just with the
termology, you know whether it's a French term that's
pronounced slightly different over here or whether it's an
English term that means something else in America.
Those are the only things.
Just basically the language barrier that has been my biggest.
>> Zucchini.
>> We call it Gourgettes.
>> And what is your mission here?
What do you hope to accomplish?
>> Just keep working on the farmers, make everybody aware of
our carbon footprints and ways we can help to reduce down our
emissions and just be a little more sustainable.
>> Finishing up here, ok, so the risotto is nice and creamy.
>> Nice and creamy risotto.
>> Risotto.
>> Risotto.
>> You say tomato.
>> And then, take a scallop.
And that just goes over the top of the risotto.
And then we finish it off with a little bit of freshly greated
cheese.
>> Can you make that sort of cheese in New York?
>> I haven't found any yet.
There are some doing a similar in California.
So hopefully, New York should be soon to followthrough.
and then I'm just going with the truffle slice it, put a little
bit of freshly sliced black truffle over the top.
>> A truffle slicer.
>> A truffle slicer.
And finish it off with a little bit of truffle oil.
Over the top.
>> Making me hungry.
>> And there we are.
>> Very nice.
Been so nice spending some time in the kitchen with you.
That was the executive chef of the New York wine and culinary
center, Carlo Simon Peretti.
"need to know" might be on the road this week but we did not
want to miss a milestone back in downtown Rochester.
This past week marked the final week mid-town plaza was open to
the public.
Four years ago, "need to know" sat down with someone who really
knows the story.
>> Mid town plaza was originally a solution for energy.
An associate was involved in the process from day on and went
onto serve for general manager for more than three decades.
>> Very exciting, to be truthful.
I always showed space around 1:00 this afternoon, everyone is
going to lunch and it was pretty crowded.
They probably wouldn't have built there if they didn't have
access to a bridge to midtown.
And I remember the years when that bridge was a source of
people.
In the pictures there you'll see people for an event.
At Christmas time the basis for another gala, fund-raising
gala's, very successful for different parts of the community.
And the other thing that even I forgot was, looking back, I put
together some figures.
Mid town in its heyday, spending money in promotions, staff,
and decorations.
We didn't plan to spend that much.
We never would have.
But these events eventually get so successful, it became our
lifeblood.
We had a parallel development.
It did very well, but kept losing more and more market share to
the plaza.
We lost a little bit.
So a thousand lashes if you will.
>> He says the hardest hit came when the department stores that
created midtown left.
>> Here the owners closing, so what was really wrong?
I was there, it was a painful time.
>> There are now two generations of Rochesters who are too
young to have fond memories of midtown in their blood.
But there are still many who are having a hard time letting
go.
>> I remember when I was a teenager, I was always downtown.
I bought all my clothes at the old stores, and I miss, I miss,
I miss all the old stores a lot.
And I miss midtown the way it used to be.
>> He says that's because midtown is a snapshot of us.
>> Exactly.
If you could take slow motion reproductions of the population,
60, 70 years you have a heck of a diser tation.
I used to tall midtown a perfect model for socialology class.
Because in the 1960's, you had one social problem, then each
decade was different.
>> And long time general manager of midtown plaza.
Right before the plaza closed this week, "need to know" went
inside and talked to some people about their final impression.
>> Truthfully, haven't been here in a long time and it's almost
sad.
Place is almost totally empty, and hate to see it go.
>> We come here once in a while, but with the park and
everything else, it's hard to get here, unless you take a bus.
>> I love it.
I love this place.
I don't want it to close.
>> I used to work in record theater before they closed, so I
got to experience actually working here and experiencing the
environment.
And I don't know, I just miss this place.
It seemed like something, a place I grew up into.
I use to ride the rail and me and my girlfriend Michelle would
always go get pretty Zels at abbots.
I don't know.
It's hard to believe there won't be an indoor mall in the
city.
>> That does it for this summer edition of "need to know."
I'm Julie Philipp.
We'll be back in studio next week.
I leave you now with the sights and sounds from Letchworth
state park.
>> Previous "need to know" can be seen on Rochester on demand
channel 111.
There you'll find a selection of recent "need to know"
programs.