jojo Bistro & Wine Bar - Pittsford — Restaurant in Town of Pittsford

It goes like this. A few years back. We live in Hamilton, Ontario, and were taking some time as a family in the Finger Lakes area. A rare occasion suddenly presented itself--the in-laws took the kids and my wife and I went out.

We were in nearby Canandaigua, so went to quaint and stately Pittsford for a drink at Jo-Jo wine bar, where we discovered six swanky well-heeled couples fashionably attired as though without trying and sitting and standing around the front patio--laughing at each other's witticisms.

I felt--geesh--a little intimidated, and asked my wife if there was a Gallo or Turning Leaf commercial shoot going on. Like where are the cameras, I said, looking around. They looked so magazine good--and happy. We had to go in.

We approached and they said something like that to us, like we were a good-looking couple and what's the occasion. We laughed and explained that we thought the cameras were on them. (we regret that we didn't just sit down with them, it felt so natural. Aside: these were good, cool people, the kind that are confident and friendly--we love New York).

Inside we sit at the wood and a young guy comes over and introduces himself as Bud, like the beer, he says. He was great. Asked us where we're from. I say Toronto. Oh, Tor-on-to, he repeats with what sounds like a stilted Japanese intonation. I say it's pronounced Trawno to the natives; he corrects my overly crisp Rochester pronunciation to Rawchestah. We laugh. He says he saw Radiohead in Trawno. We drink and enjoy. Would've stayed for dinner, but we needed to see more--the night was magic and we don't get out often.

We need a place for dinner. Bud says good luck. Pardon, I say. Good Luck, he repeats. You should go there--in Rawchestah. But it's Saturday night and you don't have a reso, he says. But I know a girl, he continues, who used to work here and who might get you a table. He calls. Comes back nodding and smiling. Scribbles directions on a napkin (which I kept). We move on to Good Luck in Rochester. See my review there. It was fab. Thanks, Bud, the bartender, not the beer, you were great.

(And to the Turning Leaf couples--hope to run into you...

I frequent Jo Jo's fairly often. Tonight was a complete disappointment. I stopped in with a dining companion at around 5:00 PM on a Sunday evening. We sat at the bar, and wanted to order a couple drinks and dinner. When the bartender approached, I asked if he could make a fun "mule' for a cocktail. Margaritas and Mules were listed as a happy hour drink Monday-Friday, so I didn't think much of asking for one. The bartender answered, "No, I don't make mules." Okay...? so I ordered a glass of wine. Next we ordered food. I ordered the cajun chicken, and my companion ordered the specialty pizza with a dinner salad. Both arrived, and a container of parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes were set in front of us. I took the the shaker of parmesan cheese and sprinkled it on top of my chicken. When I looked at the container of cheese closer, it was full of green mold mixed in with the cheese. A different bartender inquired about our meals. I explained to her that I had sprinkled cheese all over my chicken and that it was full of mold. She did not reply, but took the moldy shaker of cheese away and produced a new shaker of cheese. She then approached the other bartender and whispered to him about my concern. A few minutes later, he walked up to me and announced, "The moldy cheese won't hurt you, but it's gross." I obviously agreed. Instead of offering to get me a fresh piece of chicken, he walked away. I pushed my uneaten plate forward, and waited for my companion to finish his side salad and pizza. The bartender again approached me and repeated, "Mold won't make you sick, but I "comped" you the pizza." The pizza was fine, and $10.00 less than the chicken dish. I didn't want the pizza to be comped. I wanted to eat dinner... a dinner that I ordered, that was fresh, and not covered in moldy cheese. Instead, I went home hungry, and I still paid over $60.00 for pizza, a side salad, and two drinks. Very disappointing service, and food to say the least. I...

'Generic Upscale Directionless' is how I might characterize this place. Good wine, steep prices, tables decorated with wood-burned outlines of screws and nails (?), some solid cocktails for $12, sides of fries and Mac and cheese, wood-fired pizzas, salty food. Little emphasis on seasonal or local ingredients (although my friend did get a delicious smudge of sweet pea puree with her $26 salmon), but that's not the point here.

On a Saturday night I joined my group at a large table; we were a few above our reservation count and for some inexplicable reason the restaurant didn't have extra chairs for us, so I sat tightly between two friends sharing their chairs.

Our server was totally a dear, he kept track of 17 different checks and corralled our many plates with grace. Service was amazing.

The space was so loud that I wore earplugs to spare myself the hearing loss. We hollered at each other across our table, but any meaningful conversations were relegated to nearest neighbors only. But I suppose this is how standard places are on a busy Saturday night.

I had the roasted beets salad, for $9, deciding to forgo the shrimp add-on (all three of them) for a whopping additional $6. The beets were plentiful and delicious, but with a teaspoon of blue cheese and probably no more than 20 leaves of spinach, I was left to share the flat salty piece of chicken my neighbor didn't want to eat all of. It was jerk-style chicken, and was pleasingly spicy, but tasted smartly of fake smoke flavoring.

Obviously this place is popular, and would be a good fit for folks who care not about their wallets, who enjoy wood-fired pizza (perhaps the only sizeable item and looked delicious on other tables served on platter-risers), and who...