Alter Ego Eatery

03/25/2026

✨✨ICYMI✨✨ Important announcement

Please join us this week in our last week of full service at 146 N Main St Fairport NY, before we hang up our aprons on 3/30. Our last full day of service, as you know it, will be 3/29. 3/30 we will be open from 3-7 pm for retail sales and any other final goodies we may have. I'll also be giving out free cake because.... Well because I want to. 💚

From the bottom of my heart, thank you Rochester so much for showing up in force last weekend to show your love for AEE. I can't tell you how overwhelming (and heartwarming) the messages and thank you's from everyone have been.

6 years ago I bootstrapped a business into life and slowly navigated my way through an entirely foreign industry (to me) and decided to hell with it - I'm going to try something crazy. I quit my big girl job and struck out to learn as much as I could about kitchen life. I have absolutely loved being in the kitchen and growing this business to the point it's at now, even tho the journey has been fraught with challenges. I can't imagine what my life would've looked like if I stayed in that dingy cubicle working for a company that couldn't care if I stayed or went.

Tbh I think I underestimated the impact that my silly little hippie dippy attached-to-a-gas-station place would mean to people. All I wanted to do was make people feel included at the dining table.

I have absolutely loved every minute of being a kitchen pirate. But as all professional kitchens will do, they'll humble yah! And mine surely kicked my bunnies 🐰🐰I'm looking forward to some great time off with family and maybe some brainstorming as to what is next.

My team and I are excited to close this chapter out with a bang!! This week we will have your favorites, my favorites and perhaps one last surprised that no one has seen before.

Some of the goodies in store:
Guava and cream cheese scones
Chorizo and cheddar scones
Matcha Yuzu Cream Cake
The Earl (Earl Gray) Cream Cake
Tiramisu (starting Thursday)
DF tiramisu (starting Thursday)
Large format strata (perfect for Easter!!)

And, so much more.

Please come on down, just one last time 💚

03/21/2026

Dear Alter Ego community,

It is with mixed emotions that I announce the closure of our 146 N. Main St, Fairport, NY location with our last day open with full service (kitchen, coffee, retail and pastry cases) to the public on 3/29. We will be hosting some open hours the evening of 3/30 to offload any other retail items we have, plus any last baked goodies we may have on hand. More detail on that below.

I know this may seem sudden to many of you, since it seems like we opened just yesterday. "But you only opened 2 years ago!" And you are absolutely correct! 2 years might not seem like a long time, but I have had the honor to serve thousands of people over those 2 years. I've employed over 32 people. We've baked over 4000 cream puffs, more than 3000 cinnamon buns and almost 9000 scones and about 3950 bagels (we'll pass the 4k mark on Sunday). The city of Rochester has really come out for the gluten free goodies we make, which is still so surreal to even think.

Quite frankly, we're closing our doors, because we've struggled to maintain adequate staffing. The same energy and tailored approach you see behind the counter is what I try to use behind the scenes with staff. While our retention rate has been trending in the positive direction, each position turnover takes months to interview, hire and train for, with the in between work usually falling to myself, so that the remainder of the team can focus on what they were trained to do. Unfortunately I am at the point where I can no longer physically sustain working like that. Before our quality starts to suffer, I wanted to call it. I never want to sacrifice quality. So I won't.

I told myself I would run for as long as I could and so I have.

Thank you for spending your hard earned income in my tiny hippie dippy store connected to a gas station (that still makes me chuckle). I have enjoyed celebrating your lives. Whether we were cheering for a new baby or crying over the loss of a loved one. You've shared your lives with us and I will miss the privilege. You are:

Matt, Corey & Emory -- Gary -- Leah & Mom -- Candace H -- The Sonners -- Kevin & his lovely daughter --Big Mike -- Professor Mike -- Professor Dell -- Emma & Chris -- Paul, Claire & June -- Beth H

Click here for an update from Alter Ego Eatery!

11/13/2025

The Thanksgiving menu you've been waiting for...

We are finally ready to start accepting orders for Thanksgiving. Our staff deeply appreciates your patience as we step into our busy season. For this newsletter, I've placed my usual greeting below the ordering info. We're gonna get a lil personal and a touch political in this one, so if that isn't for you, just skip the end of this email :P

Stay safe out there folks. We hope to see you soon and wish you all a full and happy table - Love, Kayla + AEE Staff

Below are our ordering guidelines. Please give em a read and as always call/ email or text us at 585-267-0002 with any questions about allergens or more complex orders.

You may call our shop at 585-267-0002 to place your order over the phone.
You may also place your order online, using the button below.
You may also order with us at the counter in shop. If you come in on a weekend when we are busier, we will try to get your order taken as quickly as possible.
Orders will be considered confirmed AFTER payment is made. Due to the volume of requests we are getting, out of fairness, we will not be setting pies aside for folks. Please plan to order in advance. IF we have extra items, social media posts will be made on Tuesday or Wednesday before Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving ordering will be open from now until November 22nd.

Pickups start as early as the 19th. Pickups close on November 26th at noon.
Please inform us of your needed pick up date when you order. If ordering online, either select the desired date, or type the date into your comments. If we don't see any pickup time selected, we will call you to confirm :)

We will be closing for Thanksgiving break on November 26th at noon, reopening on December 3rd at 9 am.

Thoughts from your friendly neighborhood baker

How is it November already? 2025 has been over in the blink of an eye whilst also dragging its heavy feet to 2026.

As a professional chef, I'm supposed to get folks excited about food. I get to watch my staff transform raw ingredients into literal life sustaining energy. That’s the magic of Alter Ego and restaurants in general. Watching this alchemy unfold is one of the greatest privileges of my life.

However, as someone who grew up on social assistance programs (SNAP, WIC, smaller local charity programs, the Free/ Reduced lunch programs at public school) I can't help but think about the folks who are going to experience a tougher winter than normal due to food insecurity. I intimately understand what it feels like to go without, so pulling together a fun and exciting menu has felt..... especially difficult.... this year.

At the core of everything we do, we want to continue serving our community the quality they deserve at a manageable price point. This year, we’ve learned how to successfully navigate through pricing spikes by advanced planning, careful ordering, and lots of reading! My staff has grown in their individual abilities, so that we are able to change recipes ON THE FLY, to adapt to alternate sourcing while still maintaining texture, taste and quality. I can’t emphasize how proud I am of my staff for being able to do this. But I know we want to do more.

If you are able to and would like to donate pantry staples to our shop, we will be collecting items from now until we close for the year at the end of December. You can just leave the items on our community table or front desk with a staffer.

If you need pantry staples, stop by during the week, preferably in the morning, and we’ll get you set up with a bag of pantry goodies to take home and some fresh produce including but not limited to Delicata squash, Swiss chard, sweet potatoes, and regular potatoes for the months of November & December.

I know that our contributions are only going to scratch the surface of what the need is for people in our community, but we're going to do what we can to treat people with respect, dignity and love regardless of their financial circumstances. As someone who greatly benefited from the generosity of others as a kid, it's my honor to be able to do the same for others.

With the colder winter months looming ahead, we want to wish you a happy & healthy end of the year. From the bottom of our hearts including my wonderful staff Aniaya, Juliet, Holland, Bryson, Caren and Nikki.

Con mucho cariño, Kayla

P.S. Bryson (our AMAZING overnight baker) will be leaving us shortly to open his own place. While we're sad to lose him, we're so excited to see what he does with his own space! If you are looking for a full time overnight baking position, swing by the shop for a job description including pay and schedule. Flexible start is ok with us, but we'd love to get someone onboarded as soon as possible.

Click here for an update from Alter Ego Eatery!

11/12/2025

We can't believe it's November already 😮‍💨 🤯

Thank you folks for staying so patient with us as we get ready to bake away the rest of the year. 😤💅💪🏼🦖

Thanksgiving ordering is now open on our website.

We kept some of our classics that people always love, like Apple pie or our ¿Porque no Los Dos? while adding some fun bakes that we haven't made for folks yet, like honey cornbread and a fancy vegan mushroom and squash pot pie.

We've streamlined our online ordering, but Square stinks and still has an error on our page. So if the page doesn't work for yah, just call us in the morning :)

585-267-0002

We will have modified hours for the week of Thanksgiving, please check our posted schedule in shop.

https://www.alteregoeatery.com/s/order

We can't wait to bake for you!!

10/09/2025

Your Fall Favorites are BACK!

With cooler days and nights headed our way, we're excited to let go of the hot summer produce and switch over to fall flavors. Bye bye heirloom tomatoes! Hello winter squash, sweet potato and apples.

We brought back the most requested savory dishes and sweets from last year, while letting some of our least popular items drop off the menu to make space for some new flavors. Thank you so much to all of our customers who shared their feedback. Even if we aren't offering something at the moment, make sure you tell us if you loved something we offered before!

This season we're really exploring root vegetables, warming spices and fall pantry staples like dried fruits, oats and maple. We hope fall feels as leisurely as the summer did, because we want every bite of fall to go on for as long as possible.

Love Kayla

P.S. If you can recognize what pastry is pictured in the header of this newsletter....
They're BACK! IYKYK (Scroll all the way down for answer)

Restock alerts & Weekly Specials

Fairport Restaurant Week October 17th through October 24th

That's right! We now have a Fairport Restaurant Week courtesy of Fairport Food and Drink (IG ) and the Fairport Perinton Merchants Association. We will be open our normal hours which are Wednesday to Sunday, 9 am - 3 pm.
In addition to our new fall menu for restaurant week, we will also offer a few fun specials, only available for the week.
Honeycomb Toffee Latte - Enjoy the buttery rich flavor of homemade honey comb toffee crumbles and bold espresso in either a fluffy Latte or Cappuccino size, featuring the milk of your choice and an extra dash of toffee crumble.
French Toast is BACK on our seasonal menu available with a seasonal fruit compote. For Restaurant week, we will feature a Sweet Almond French Toast. Maple boule sliced, soaked in an almond custard and browned to perfection. Topped up with almond butter whipped mousse and maple syrup.
Last but not least, we are making some PIZZA for Fairport Restaurant Week!!!!
Deep dish style Buffalo Chicken Pizza w. Bleu cheese whip and Franks!

We hope to see you before Restaurant Week, but if not, we hope to see yah then!!

RESTOCKED PASTA

Now restocked on La Fabbrica Della Pasta (orange bags) mafaldine, linguine, spaghetti, fettuccine, calamarata, mezze penne, penne, rigatoni, rigatoni with points, gigantic shells for stuffing and so much more! If you love this brand of pasta, we recommend stocking up for a bit as we're still uncertain if tariffs will be applied to these products in the future.

Rebel Cheese (VEGAN CHEESE) IS RESTOCKED
We are restocked on so many amazing types of plant based cheese from Rebel Cheese in NYC!

Cave Ripened Brie, Smoked Cheddar, Pepper Jack, Tomato Fromage, Balsamic Fig Fromage, Gruyere and a Plant based "Honey" Pistachio Chevre style cheese (it's not actually honey, just tastes like it).

Our Pecan Pie Bar is back. Drizzled with extra dark chocolate and a pinch of Maldon... The King of bars is BACK!

Click here for an update from Alter Ego Eatery!

09/26/2025

We tried out a small batch of apple fritters. Not only did we love making them, but they came out EXACTLY like traditional fritters. They are all sold out for the day, but we're going to offer more this weekend, Sept 27 & 28 as a big fat

🍁🍂 WELCOME TO FALL 🍂🍁 chef's kiss

Gluten free, vegan, nut free. These fritters are sweetened with maple and stuffed with homemade dried granny smith and honey crisp apples and cinnamon. (We fry in a pot that also fries our krullers, which are made with dairy & egg) Finished with a thin vanilla bean glaze.

As always, we bake in small batches to maintain quality and freshness. Meaning everything is first come, first served.

Happy fall Y'all!

09/11/2025

End of Summer Newsletter

The end of summer is fast approaching. While some may be ready to give up on summer and start up fall.... this is when I try to strike a balance between getting the most activity in as possible with sunbathing like a sleepy old dog on a patio.

This is the time of year that I like to call the summer squeeze.

We should spend the next few weeks picking & canning as many tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers as we can. We should be power washing our siding, clearing out garden beds, walking our dogs. We should be soaking in sunshine, basking in warm breezes and gazing at clear skies. We should, we should, we should.

Or we could slow down, enjoy a sunset and just relax.
The summer squeeze is about both.

Love Kayla (world class canner, tomato eater, sun bather)

Restock alert & Weekend Special

La Fabbrica della Pasta (Orange Brand) IS RESTOCKED

We apologize for how long it took us to reorder this amazing pasta! We were waiting to understand the impacts of the new tariff rates. (Based on the specific product, tariffs are ranging anywhere from 18-25%, but we've seen a 2x mark up in some products). Lucky for us, we didn't see any changes in pricing for this imported brand! It's not entirely clear if pricing for these items will change, but as of writing, we are honoring the current pricing that this fabulous brand of pasta has been marked at for a long time.

We now have mafaldine, linguine, spaghetti, fettuccine, calamarata, mezze penne, penne, rigatoni, rigatoni with points and so much more! If you love this brand of pasta, we recommend stocking up for a bit until pricing stabilizes. We have updated all stock counts in our online shop, so you may also see what other pasta shapes we have.

Rebel Cheese (VEGAN CHEESE) IS RESTOCKED
We are restocked on so many amazing types of plant based cheese from Rebel Cheese in NYC!

Cave Ripened Brie, Smoked Cheddar, Pepper Jack, Tomato Fromage, Balsamic Fig Fromage, Gruyere and a Plant based "Honey" Pistachio Chevre style cheese (it's not actually honey, just tastes like it).

All online stock info has been updated!

Weekend Special September 12th through 14th

Southern style Sausage, Biscuit and White gravy plate available for this weekend only! It's the perfect dish for chilly mornings on our patio with a cup of plain black coffee.

Fall Menu -- Loading --

We know folks are missing our fall menu, including favorites like our pecan pie shortbread bar, pumpkin muffins and sweet potato latte. All of those are coming back, plus we hope to work in a few fresh ideas with all your old fall favorites. We're aiming to launch our fall menu the first week of October.

While we wind down summer, we hope you can squeeze us in again before fall starts.

Love Kayla (world class canner, tomato eater, sun bather)

Click here for an update from Alter Ego Eatery!

06/27/2025

We will be closed starting Sunday 6/30 until 7/8.
Reopening with our usual hours on 7/9.

Thanks so much for a fantastic start to our summer. We can't wait to welcome everyone back with fresh hearts, fresh minds and a fresh summer menu.

All online ordering, phone ordering etc is now closed :)

We encourage you to visit this weekend and stock up on bread, treats and all your favorite things before the end of the weekend.

💚 Love you! Can't wait to see you and hear about your summer plans 💚

06/13/2025

Instead of making a fancy graphic about all of our amazing Father's day specials this weekend, we thought we would show off all of the 'not entirely related, but still fun' projects we're working on. And we're gonna do it in true Dad fashion, using jokes and lots of emojis 💚💚💚

A rainbow Funfetti cake with strawberry jam and Basil buttercream. Made whilst listening to smooth jazz 🎸🎷and podcasts about tools. 🌿🍓 🌈⚒️

We finally finished putting together the shop sign, using all the tools we learned about in yesterday's podcast. If my dad was here, I think he'd be super proud of the craftsmanship! 🕺💚

Not pictured, but available this week in shop:

-Basil Ricotta Gnocchi -- We turned gnocchi into a beautiful green Mac n cheese like dish. Warmed 🔥, it would go great with grilled chicken, caprese salad and white wine! 🌿🍅🧀🍗🍷(There was no white wine icon 😭)

-Pizza Bagels because why have pizza or bagels when you can have BOTH!! 🍕+ 🥯

-Extra donuts and krullers are being made Saturday and Sunday mornings for the early birds. Get him what he actually wants....a cocoa pebble donut. 🍩🍩🌈

Donut forget the ☀️🐦🪱 -- Right? cryptic 😵‍💫

Hopefully our dad jokes didn't disappoint yah today. At least we didn't say, "Hey it's nice to meet you Hungry, I'm Dad!"

See you soon ❤️ ❤️

06/01/2025

🚨🚨Canal Days Summer Sale 🚨🚨

Canal Days are upon us in Fairport! The festivities start next week. And while the construction has made getting here dang near impossible, we wanted to pass along some savings to you guys for weathering the literal traffic to get to us.

So this is for all my Discount Divas and Frugal Freds! Come and hang out with us, pick up your afternoon bevvies and then hit the festival a short walk away!

We've stocked some delightfully refreshing mocktails, herbaceous lemonades, snacking nuts & seeds, pretzels and summer grilling basics and they will all be on heavy discount starting next week on June 5th, 6th and 7th. We will be following our regular days and hours of being open. Wednesday - Sunday 9 am - 3 pm.

Hope to see you 🤘🤘

06/01/2025

Canal Days Summer Sale at Alter Ego

Well there's no way around it, with the crazy construction happening outside of our shop, we've seen a slow down in business, right when our Good Weather Patio season is supposed to be picking up. Combining the construction craziness with a summer bursting full of activities and folks have had some questions for us.

Folks have asked, will Fairport still be doing Canal Days? Will Alter Ego be open for Canal days? Will we have specials for Canal Days?
Canal Days, Canal Days, Canal Days!!!

So here's our answer:
Yes! Canal days is happening.
Yes! We will be open on our regular days with our regular hours.
Yes! Instead of just one special, we've decided to have a
Canal Days Summer Sale.

Hope to see you soon!
Details below

Love, Kayla
Work zone driver extraordinaire, Night owl (hoo hooo), BBQ Chicken Lover

Managing Construction Detours and

Canal Days Details

Canal Days will kick off on Friday, June 6th at 4:30 pm with the Chicken BBQ, free concerts and youth Jazz groups. The festival will be open Friday night from 4:30 pm - 10 pm. Saturday, June 7th 10am-6pm and Sunday, June 8th 10am-5pm will have activities onsite all day. With the evenings filled with Canal Nights running from 7 pm - 11 pm.

Please follow traffic signs and detours carefully as the traffic pattern for this year will be different due to construction. We recommend parking further up or down Main and taking a lil walk to access the festival. Pedestrians on foot north of the Main St road closure, will still be able to walk all the way from Whitney Road to Church St on foot. This walkway has been guaranteed to stay open throughout the duration of the construction project. Construction in the village is slated to be done by August end. Our lil slice of heaven has been impacted by the construction as well, unfortunately. For every person who choses to visit us during this time, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts! The good news is that the construction impacting us, is almost done. We're hopeful that by the end of June, construction has moved south. Our parking lot is still accessible from East St & East Ave and it is also accessible from Turk Hill Road & Hight St. If you're driving from Whitney, take extra care as the active work zone tends to move equipment in and out of the driving lanes. You can still drive from Whitney, turn onto East and into the back entrance of the parking lot. Just drive with care. ♡

We know accessing our shop is a bit difficult right now, so to make up for it, we're running a BIG. FAT. SUMMER. BLOWOUT. SALE.

The Deal Details

Our hours next week, will align with our normal schedule.

Wednesday- Sunday 9 am - 3 pm

If you choose to shop the sale items, our deep discounts start on Thursday June 5th at 9 am and end on Saturday June 6th at 3 pm.

Come enjoy some cheap N/A Mocktails from ISH, WildWonder bevvies with Pre & Probiotics, low Cal Mingle Mocktails, Italian Citrus sparkling bevvies from Favuzzi. We've also got non-carbonated herbaceous lemonades from Bea's Squeeze and MORE!

Want to be summer cookout ready? Grab your cast iron, fire up the grill and come grab a jar of Ghee from Oshi Ghee. This ghee is the perfect finish for a tasty garlicy steak, maple butter pork chop or for a buttery flaky piece of fish.

Ever wanted to try one of the expensive dips or fancy looking chocolates we have, but the sticker price makes you wish it was 1993? Now is your chance. We're discounting our supply of our beloved Raaka chocolate, because you deserve a lil treat after having to go through the traffic to get here.

Bring your reusable shopping bags and all the couch change you can collect!!

Click here for an update from Alter Ego Eatery!

05/08/2025

Mother's Day weekend specials!

Everything will be available for walk up purchase, but if you know you want multiple items (for example a half dozen donuts), please call us today 5/8 or tomorrow Friday 5/9 at 585-267-0002 or place an online order at alteregoeatery.com to secure your goods. Website link in our bio.

Otherwise we will be doing first come, first served :) we've only got 13 indoor seats, so here's hoping the weather will be excellent all weekend for sunny patio seating.

We will still be offering our full Spring menu.

No matter what kinda mama you're celebrating, whether it's a sister who raised you, your aunt, your grandma, a mother from another family, yourself, your partner, your best friend, an angel no longer on Earth...

Mothers offer unconditional love and support. So... DON'T FORGET TO CALL HER AND TELL HER YOU LOVE HER. Or take a private moment to reflect on what made her special to you. 💚💚

k, now we're off to call our own mamas.