Rochester, NYChicken French

The Democrat and Chronicle built its chicken French piece around executive chef Ronnie Olsheski's kitchen on North Water Street, and the paper walks through the method with him: tap the breast out level so it cooks evenly, dip it in flour and beaten egg, french it on both sides, then pour off the oil, come in with the wine, squeeze in lemons, add stock and let it simmer until tender. Parmesan and cold butter go in at the end and the sauce is strained. There is a dining room, a separate bar and a brick patio on the river.

Massimo Albano, an owner here and a first generation Italian immigrant, gave the Democrat and Chronicle the detail that says most about where the dish sits. Traveling home, he found chefs across Italy had started putting chicken French on their menus because New Yorkers and other Americans kept asking for it. They never used to serve it. The paper's own history traces the dish to veal French in postwar New York City and then to Rochester kitchens. Order the chicken French. The dining room opens evenings, Monday through Saturday.

The Democrat and Chronicle photographed the plate at this West Main Street bistro in Webster and recorded how it comes: chicken French with squash and either pasta or rice pilaf. Order it that way. The paper's wider point is the one that makes this a category of its own rather than a line on the Italian list: not all Italian restaurants in the region carry the dish, some serve it in a fine dining setting at twenty seven dollars and others casually with to-go options at seventeen.

The only pick on this list named by both Rochester sources. The Democrat and Chronicle points readers here from inside its chicken French piece, linking its own restaurant review under the line that Proietti's offers home style comfort, and CITY Magazine's readers made it a finalist for chicken French in the 2025 Best of Rochester. It sits on Ridge Road in Webster and runs a catering side alongside the dining room. Order the chicken French, then take a tray of something home.

Out in Greece on Ridgeway Avenue, and the suburban end of the dish. The Democrat and Chronicle photographed the chicken French entree here for its guide to the hometown creation, which is the ordinary, unshowy version the article argues is the point: no specialty ingredients, chicken dipped in egg and flour, cooked in butter or oil with sherry or white wine, lemon, salt, pepper and parmesan. Order the chicken French entree. The restaurant also runs a catering operation from the same address.