I ordered the mini burgers at Village Gate's new Gate House Café, expecting that what would come out would be some variation on the sliders - tiny beef patties on cute little rolls - that have been on trendy restaurant menus for the past couple of years. What arrived at our table was a precariously Advertisementbalanced tower of meat and potatoes: a bed of shoestring fries topped with three thick burgers stacked one atop the other and held together with cheddar cheese, smothered in meat hot sauce, and then sprinkled with chunks of beer-battered onion rings. In short, it was a garbage plate, and a pretty good one at that.

The menu at the Gate House is, in part, an homage to all things Rochester. In addition to Chef Kristen Flores-Fratto's reinterpretation of a garbage plate, you'll find Zweigle's white hots (albeit baked in puff pastry and served atop a spicy mustard sauce), chicken wings, and an entire menu named after various landmarks and personalities in the Rochester area. You will also find some of the best burgers and pizzas available in the Rochester area served in an atmosphere that evokes the mod architecture of 1960's California restaurants and lounges, right down to the dark wood accents, the funky earth tones, and the geometric light fixtures. The wait staff even wears retro-styled shirts with the name of the restaurant emblazoned on the pocket. 

The emphasis at the Gate House is on pizza and burgers, but the appetizers deserve some attention, too. Although the burgers in the "mini burgers" ($9) dish were slightly more done than I would have liked them, the overall juiciness of the meat sauce (a traditional Rochester hot sauce made with a bit of cinnamon and a hit of chili powder), and the delectable greasy bite of the cheese went a long way toward reinvigorating the meat - and providing a tasty sop for the fries underneath it all. Likewise, the Zweigle white hots in puff pastry ($7) were both familiar and novel. All of the elements of the traditional white hot - bread, mustard, onions - are there, but served in a way that elevates the dish into something closer to a cocktail canapé than a quick lunch. The hots are baked in the pastry, cut into sections, served atop a pool of creamy, rich mustard sauce and garnished with sweet onions. The wings were sadly not as good as the traditional fried Buffalo wing ($7). Roasted in the wood oven and dressed with garlic, rosemary, thyme and other herbs, the skin on the wings was rubbery rather than crisp, and the meat itself had a disagreeable gamey flavor that lingered on my tongue.

Two other appetizers, the bruschetta pomodoro ($6), and the Mediterranean plate ($7), were better than the wings. The bruschetta combined surprisingly sweet and ripe-tasting fresh tomatoes, basil, and garlic atop rounds of baguette for a solid introduction to the meal. The Mediterranean sampler featured two crispy and fine-grained falafel patties, a dollop of smooth and garlicky hummus, and a small assortment of marinated grilled vegetables, all of which were quite good. The tabouli, however, was sour, dense, and tasted as if it had been sitting around for a very long time.

The appetizers were a bit uneven, but the pizzas and burgers were spot on. Chef Flores-Fratto brought her extensive knowledge of Italian food and wood-oven cooking to bear on her recipe for a true Neapolitan pizza, achieving a pie that is a very close rival to the best pizzas to be found in New York City ($10-$11). Her pizza starts with a crust that is substantial without being too bready - easily folded in half with just the tiniest bit of sag at the tip. The crust has just enough crunch to be satisfying to chew, but it does not overwhelm the toppings. She uses a very simple, subtly sweet and acidic tomato sauce as the understory for a rich variety of ingredients, including the usual suspects plus prosciutto, artichokes, smoked mozzarella, chorizo, caramelized onions, hummus and goat cheese in several wonderful and very satisfying combinations. My only complaint was with her RPO, a white pizza topped with roasted peppers, feta, parsley, mozzarella, canned black olives, and a staggering quantity of apparently raw garlic. I love garlic, but this was too much even for me. I was grateful that I had her Liberty Pole pizza - a seductive combination of prosciutto, artichokes, and smoked mozzarella - to turn to for solace.

Flores-Fratto's partner and husband, Michael Corson, grew up around burgers - his family owned the Bedrock Charbroil in Fairport - and he considers himself something of an authority on the subject. After tasting his heart-stoppingly good burgers ($6-$10), I'm willing to concede that he's truly a master of the craft. Made with ground chuck (or Wagu beef - a silly affectation in my opinion, add $5), Corson's burgers are started on the restaurant's char grill and then finished on the flattop, developing a smoky goodness and a fine char on the outside while retaining most of their succulent juices within. Cooked to a perfect medium rare, and topped with bacon, bleu cheese, and pesto mayonnaise, the juice from this wonderful burger ran down my fingers, pooled on the plate, and made a delicious condiment for the fries that accompanied it.

For a restaurant that has been open for less than a month, the Gate House Café is doing remarkably well. The service staff is knowledgeable and helpful, very welcoming to families, and willing to accommodate even the oddest requests (when I could not carry both my 3-year-old dining companion and my pizzas out to my car, they were more than happy to send someone along with me). All in all, if Flores-Fratto and Corson stick to what they do best - their pizzas and burgers, respectively - the Gate House will make a fine and long-lasting addition to the neighborhood. 

Gate House Cafe

Inside Village Gate, 274 N Goodman St.

473-2090

Monday-Wednesday, 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m.; Thursday-Saturday, 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m.