Chef John verses the Garbage Plate

Before I left New York, as promised, I experienced the legendary Garbage Plate. My biggest fear with this post is that someone visiting my blog for the first time, possibly during their lunch break, sees the photo on the left, loses said lunch, and never returns.

Anyway, that’s just a chance I’ll have to take. The first thing I’d like to say about the Garbage Plate is that it actually tasted way better than it looked. I know what you’re thinking… how could it not? The culinary logic behind the dish is pretty solid. If you like pasta salad, homefries, hot dogs, and chili, then you certainly will enjoy them in huge quantities all piled on top of each other.

I didn’t make it to the home of the original Garbage Plate, Nick Tahou’s in Rochester. I decided to try mine at a trusted lunch spot in Canadaigua, called Charlie Riedel’s. I have been coming to Charlie’s for years. They serve some of the best burgers around, and their fish sandwich (a huge, perfectly fried piece of haddock on a soft roll), is the best I’ve had anywhere. But, in all my visits to Charlie’s I had never tried a Garbage Plate. By the way, as you’ll see and hear in the video clip, they don’t call it a Garbage Plate.

I was going to give you the entire history of the Garbage Plate here, but then I found an old FoodTV clip on the subject, so I’m posting that below mine. There’s not much else to say, except that I hope you enjoy the clip. I’d like to thank the staff at Charlie’s, which could not have been nicer. Thanks Barb, Jessie, Andy and Noah! There was also another girl working the counter, but I never got her name. So, whoever you were, thanks to you too. Also, to Scott the Manager (who wasn’t there that day), your loyal staff did charge me full price for the plate. They were not about to be bought merely for the promise of Internet fame. Enjoy!



This clip from FoodTV explains the history behind this bizarre dish