Syracuse, N.Y. — If you’ve ever visited the Rosamond Gifford Zoo with your kids, you know by the time you hit the tiger exhibit, someone will start whining about being hungry.
Starting today, you can order a meal from your phone that’ll be prepared by culinary school graduates and have it ready for pickup by the time you finish gazing at the flamingos.
The Honey Bee Café opened its doors Friday morning. The new restaurant and coffee bar took over the spot that once was a Burger King. It’s open Tuesday through Sunday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Zoo officials and Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon cut the ribbon at the front door this morning to declare the Honey Bee open.
”This is just awesome,” McMahon said. “This is all about our quality of life, and it’s about our children. Look at all the people here. They’re here enjoying our zoo and enjoying local healthy food.”
County Executive Ryan McMahon chats with young customers at the new Honey Bee Cafe at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo on Friday. (Charlie Miller | cmiller@syracuse.com)
Chuck Anthony, the zoo’s new food and beverage director, put together a team of chefs to prepare healthy but tasty meals that even children would enjoy. You can order at the counter, or you can scan the QR code with your phone and order ahead of time.
“Fast food can be good food,” he said. “This needs to be fast and good, but we want it to be healthy. Fast and healthy can coexist.”
The executive chef here is Dan Hudson, a veteran of some of Central New York’s finest restaurants, including the Sherwood Inn in Skaneateles and the 11 Waters restaurant in the Marriott Syracuse Downtown. Raineen Hills, a trained chef who recently opened Rai’s Dough, a café on East Genesee Street, is cooking during the day.
The menu was designed to appeal to both parents and children. Adults will likely choose from three loaded salads or fancy sandwiches such as the muffuletta (ham, salami, capicola, swiss and provolone cheese with olive tapenade on house-made focaccia bread) or a caprese (basil puree, fresh mozzarella, parmesan, arugula, tomato, fresh basil and balsamic glaze on a toasted multigrain bread). Both are $10.95.
Children have already gravitated toward the chicken tenders ($7.95), mac & cheese ($6.95) and the pita pizza ($8.95). The tenders, by the way, are baked. Anthony said the restaurant has no deep fryers. Everything is baked.
The new Honey Bee Cafe at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo opened on Friday. (Charlie Miller | cmiller@syracuse.com)
The Honey Bee also added a coffee bar, sourced by Café Kubal. Kubal owner Matt Godard set them up with equipment and beans and trained workers to make their coffee. “This is such a nice space,” he said. “You can get a good cup of coffee to start your zoo visit and finish with a healthy meal.”
Charlie Miller finds the best in food, drink and fun across Central New York. Contact him at (315) 382-1984, or by email at cmiller@syracuse.com. You can also find him under @HoosierCuse on Twitter and on Instagram. Sign up for his free weekly Where Syracuse Eats newsletter here.
MORE CNY FOOD & DRINK
Urban Brews With A View: 9 places to grab a drink outdoors in Syracuse
New Century reflects a tasty shift in Syracuse’s demographics (Dining Out Review)
Finger Lakes distillery, citing community support, vows to rebuild after devastating fire
Buy Local Bash returns to Central NY Regional Market
"cafe" - Google News
May 21, 2022 at 01:49AM
https://ift.tt/gFYZqWV
Food at the Zoo: New cafe opens with fast fresh menu - syracuse.com
"cafe" - Google News
https://ift.tt/Rby3PvC
https://ift.tt/8ctgKLh
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25244079/4.png)
No comments:
Post a Comment