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May 21, 2012

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Tuesday (or Wednesday) Tidbits for 12/21/11

Good morning readers!

Food Truck Update

For those of you who have followed our food truck coverage,  (9/29, 10/25, 11/1), it is pretty important to know that until late last night, not much had changed. Both sides had already submitted their own preferred set of standards to the Common Council and the Council has decided, since the opposing sides couldn’t work together, that they would develop their own legislation (hey, wait a second, didn’t they do that already?). But last night the Common Council was given proposed legislation to mull over before their meeting and vote next Tuesday.

At the time of this posting the actual document was not up online for me to examine closely, but today WGRZ told morning viewers that the latest proposal includes a hike in the annual permit fee that food trucks will pay the city (which, to the best of my knowledge, has been considered by the food trucks a fair and expected addition to the legislation). There is also mention of the imposition of a 100' barrier between a truck and any business operating with a kitchen. Whetner that 100' is measured from the edge of the building's footprint or from its front door (an important point) remains unknown at the time of this posting. It's also unknown whether this rule is only enforceable if the kitchen-bearing brick and mortar in question is open for business.

We'll keep you posted as this sitauation develops. In the interim, the Institute for Justice, who we told you about last month, has released this compelling video asking you to contact your Council Member and share your thoughts on the subject. After all, legislating competition in business is illegal.

 

 

Bacchus Expands

Bacchus, a downtown favorite, has recently refreshed the décor in their dining room with new modern touches. The space next door to the West Chippewa restaurant formerly housed Third Room for more than a decade. In recent weeks it has been transformed into an additional dining area for Bacchus, allowing for moderately sized private parties and special events.

 

Falafal Bar too!

We told you in this column of 11/29 that Hucklebuckets had closed, but did you know that Falafel Bar will be moving into the gigantic space, located at the corner of Niagara Falls Boulevard and Sheridan Drive. The popular eatery has tried to expand before, into multiple locations, with minimal success. Our hope its that this new move is a good one for them.

 

Insider Info

Recent eruptions in the blogosphere over a recent Buffalo News restaurant review have sparked quite a bit of controversy. Check it out for yourself if you haven’t already, it’s a tale of Sauce, Lies, & Valenti’s according to freelance writer and blogger Alan Bedenko. (Read part 1 and part 2 on Artvoice.com).

 

Lagerhaus 95

See our First Look at the newly opened Lagerhaus 95.

 

Tuesday Tidbits will not appear next week on December 27th, returning the following week on 1/3. Rembmer that you can forward food news to yum@buffalospree.com.