Utica is a city in the Mohawk Valley and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The tenth-most-populous city and sixth-most populous metro area in New York, its population was 62,235 in the 2010 U.S. census. Located on the Mohawk River at the foot of the Adirondack Mountains, it is approximately 95 miles (153 kilometers) west-northwest of Albany, 55 mi (89 km) east of Syracuse and 240 mi (386 km) northwest of New York City. Utica and the nearby city of Rome anchor the Utica–Rome Metropolitan Statistical Area comprising all of Oneida and Herkimer Counties. 1
Utica shares a cuisine with the mid-Atlantic states, with local and regional influences. Its melting pot of immigrant and refugee cuisines, including Dutch, Italian, German, Irish and Bosnian, have introduced dishes such as ćevapi and pasticciotti to the community. Utica staple foods include chicken riggies, Utica greens, half-moons,[2] mushroom stew, and tomato pie. Other popular dishes are pierogi, penne alla vodka, and sausage and peppers. Utica has long had ties to the brewing industry. The family-owned Matt Brewing Company resisted the bankruptcies and plant closings that came with the industry consolidation under a few national brands. As of 2012, it was ranked the 15th-largest brewery by sales in the United States.
My family has deep, foody roots in the Utica region: in 1904 my great-grandfather, Hugh Griffith Humphreys, immigrated to the area from Wales. The farm he worked on and then bought in nearby New Hartford has been run by my family since then,2 supplying potatoes, milk, beans, grains, and other crops to the area and beyond. I am sure many of the crops have found their way into the region's wonderful restaurants, including some of my favorite local establishments.3 Carmella's has great home-made pasta (and a wonderful night-before deal if you happen to run the Utica Boilermaker). The Phoenician and the Grapevine offer tremendous Lebanese fare. The souvlaki and dolmades from Symeon's are scrumptious (I remember eating them at my junior high school's Latin Club Saturnalia party, but I digress). For desserts, you can never go wrong with Hemstrought's Half Moons, or with the handmade Italian Ice from Bonomo's.
And if you're willing to travel a bit, the Horned Dorset Inn is fine French cuisine in beautiful surroundings -- we've celebrated many an anniversary and birthday there.
My Utica dining recommendations are as follows: We are Holland Farms Half Moon cookie people all the way! Never Hemstroughts---only Holland Farms. It's a religious conviction. I've had them shipped in large quantities to the University of Utah and to the Mellon Foundation. I strongly believe in only eating the chocolate base version. We eat them at weddings, birthdays, funerals, and all times in between. The Florentine Pastry Shop in downtown Utica is a gem, been around for nearly 100 years: Voss's Bar-B-Q is a summer must. It's a tiny little place with picnic tables outside, super inexpensive and fun. It's on Oriskany Rd in Yorkville. We recently discovered another amazing bakery that is fairly new in Waterville: The Waterville Standard Bakery. It's amazing. Yes, you are seeing a sweet tooth trend here. Most of the Italian we've had that we really like is in Syracuse---haven't had as much in Utica and environs lately. But Utica Greens and Chicken Riggies are a must. For food that's not really very good, but for a place that holds a lot of sentimental value for Larry's family, we go to Eddie's on Sylvan Beach. Food's really kind of bad, but it's just a lot of memories... Larry also has fond memories of O'Scugnizzo's pizza.