Scoring the back room at Recess feels like the universe is balancing out your karma. Deciding to go to the coffee shop in the first place holds a kind of feeling similar to bragging that you read The New Yorker: “I was at Recess,” you say, knowing full-well that Recess is for students in the know for the hipsters and for cool kids, and for the tempting $3 stainless steel straws or $2 buttons just near the register.  

The Westcott neighborhood has its roots in the thriving counterculture of the 60s and 70s. Today, the business district — the restaurants and businesses that line either side of Westcott Street — is a hub of distinctive and quirky food choices. Community leaders at organizations like the Westcott Community Center and the University Neighborhood Preservation Association are keeping that beatnik culture alive. 

Joan Royle, executive director for the Westcott Community Center, has worked in Westcott for five years. She has watched the neighborhood’s founders — “the old hippies of the 60s,” she said — slowly age out, to be replaced by younger generations. But the culture they created remains behind, manifesting itself into a “melting pot of diversity” for the community.  

“It’s a very open-minded, welcoming community that embraces every kind of different lifestyle you could live and celebrates people for those diverse lifestyles,” Royle said. “And, you know, food is a great thing to celebrate that way.”  

The Westcott Community Center hosts senior breakfasts and lunches every day to encourage community members to connect over a meal. Other community organizations organize free events like the potluck dinners in Barry Park and the Chili Bowl Festival at Thornden Park in March.   

On Wednesday afternoons, from 2 to 6 p.m., the outside of the Community Center transforms into a small farmers market. Two of the regional farmers, Gordon Tripp of Owen Orchards and Jim Brownson of Brownson Family Farm, have been selling at the farmers market for over 20 years.  

“Food is community,” Royle said.  

On Wednesday’s a portion of Westcott street becomes a small farmers market. Ali Harford | Food Columnist

The restaurant business, even in Westcott, is not for the faint of heart. That’s what Sharon Sherman, treasurer for the Westcott Area Cultural Coalition and chair of the Westcott Street Cultural Fair, reminds me. There has been natural and somewhat frequent turnover in the neighborhood, with restaurants — such as Taste of India — leaving at the end of their lease.  

But there are always new places to fill the empty space. The food scene remains vibrant, upheld by its mainstays such as Alto Cinco, Munjed’s Mediterranean Restaurant and Lounge, Mom’s Diner, Dorian’s Pizza and Deli and Beer Belly Deli & Pub. There are no chain restaurants on the street, not even any food trucks — residents and community leaders maintain that there are enough food options in the neighborhood created by local chefs and owners to satisfy any craving.  

The food here, at any restaurant, is local and beloved.   

Beer Belly Deli, sandwiched between University Christian Fellowship and Asahi Sushi and across the street from Boom Babies, serves what they call “everything your mom would make, but we put beer in it.” The restaurant, which has been open since 2012, has seen Westcott grow into a food hub.  

“The neighborhood, they want authentic, genuine food and experiences,” Lauren Monforte, owner of Beer Belly Deli, said. “I don’t think that you can be part of a corporate chain or something like that. I just don’t think that would be a good fit for this street because the neighborhood has always been about its personality.”  

Eva Suppa | Digital Design Editor

Alto Cinco opened in 1995 as a takeout restaurant and expanded to a tiny dining room in 1999. It serves handmade Mexican food with a plethora of brunch, lunch and dinner options.  

The Westcott neighborhood is about being genuine. It’s about how the walk to Recess feels far, but you go there for your almond-milk latte anyway because it’s the best one around. It’s about the Texas fries drowned in chipotle ketchup at Alto Cinco, and about the house-made yogurt–based pineapple mango beer chutney at Beer Belly Deli. It’s about treating your house to a takeout pizza from Dorian’s.  

In the campus desert of dining halls and Marshall Street, Westcott is an oasis providing burgers and beer, nacho fries and margaritas, sushi and seafood teriyaki, sandwiches and coffee, Greek food and greasy pizza. 

But more than that, the Westcott neighborhood is about the counterculture influence it rose from, about the programs its community center runs and about the annual Westcott Street Cultural Fair — a celebration of all things eclectic.  

The Westcott neighborhood feels like the border between campus and the rest of upstate New York. It’s easy to forget, sometimes, that life exists here outside campus. But Westcott, in its own kooky way, gives us a taste. 

Published on September 19, 2019 at 12:12 am

Contact Ali: akharfor@syr.edu