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Four local foodies riff on the WNY dining scene
Nelson Starr: “It doesn’t have to be high-end; I’d rather have a well-executed fish fry than a fancy fish dish that is all over the place.”
This year’s restaurant issue covers the breadth of WNY eateries, from mom-and-pops to cream-of-the-crops. To parse the wide array of local edibles—what does it all mean?—we’ve empaneled a selection of noshers, talkers, thinkers, and interested parties. Herewith, some of their collected opinions. Read ’em and eat.
A few words about our panel members:
Paula Alba, forty-seven, is a native Buffalonian. She graduated from the Ecole Hôtelière de Paris, where she received a trade-school education (as opposed to the haute cuisine training of Le Cordon Bleu). She lives in Europe, conducting culinary tours and classes. Though back in France now, she spent much of 2009 here with family, and teaching cooking classes at Delish on Elmwood.
Bill Rapaport, sixty-three, is a New York City native. In 1982, he joined the faculty at University at Buffalo. He quickly became a Buffalo booster, founding his Restaurant Guide (www.cse.buffalo.edu/restaurant.guide) in 1988 as a helpful reference for out-of-towners. The guide is now online, and while not fancy, it’s become a democratic and relied-upon tool for professionals, locals, and visitors from around the world to make restaurant choices.
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Christa Glennie Seychew: “Local food is going to continue to be big. We’ll see more restaurants focusing on the farmer/producer relationship.” |
Christa Glennie Seychew, thirty-nine, grew up in Seattle. She’s lived here since 1993. She’s the former food editor of Buffalo Rising and now writes for Erie Life magazine and Edible Buffalo, among other publications. She runs Feed Your Soul, a food and agricultural event company, founded the Nickel City Chef competition, and is an organizer of the Field and Fork Network, which brings farmers, chefs, and consumers together.
Nelson Starr, forty-two, is also a Buffalo native and is most well-known to the food-focused as the guy who brought Anthony Bourdain and Bourdain’s cranky Travel Channel show, No Reservations, to Buffalo last year. Starr is a music composer and producer with a multi-genre local and national career. He now blogs and posts videos of his local food experiences at www.truebluebuffalo.com.
How has the Buffalo restaurant scene changed in the past ten years?
Paula Alba: I’m impressed with the innovation in ingredients and putting flavors together. I like what Christa [Glennie Seychew] is doing with Nickel City; bringing local food into restaurants. It’s the use of things that are here and in season—as it should be.
In the last thirty years, the world has also changed dramatically—there are many more women in kitchens, and the internet has opened up everything. You can get information and ingredients from many cultures.
Bill Rapaport: When I first arrived, there was one Indian restaurant, and one or two not very good Japanese places. Now, we’ve got a wider variety of foods.
In 1992, we got 100 hits per week or less on the restaurant site; we get about 2,000 a week now.
Christa Glennie Seychew: The most notable change was about ten years ago when food became fresher; Le Metro [Bakery & Café] started it with a European attitude.
Then, about four years ago, “the young chefs” came back to town. Many of them—like Roo Buckley, Adam Goetz, J. J. Richert, and Bruce Wieszala—had gone to culinary school or to [get experience] at bigger-city restaurants. They realized they could run their own restaurant here.
With them came other trends, like the focus on food’s provenance, its quality, and [more interesting] ingredients. Also, these chefs elevate or incorporate their Buffalo roots—for example, Bistro Europa’s beef-cheek pierogis, J. J.’s wacky Nickel City mac & cheese, or Adam’s [miniature] chicken finger sub.”
Nelson Starr: I definitely see more ethnic places, including Thai and a few other nationalities. As far as food preparation and menus, they are more ambitious, which I like to see.
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Paula Alba: “Buffalo is set apart by our great selection of independently owned, unique, good-value-for-the-money restaurants. Needless to say, I’m an ‘anti-chainista’!” |
What are some of Buffalo’s challenges in this regard?
PA: Food-wise, for a city of its size, Buffalo has always had a lot to offer—and a lot of ethnic foods in reach. Big supermarkets like Wegmans and little restaurants and shops offer exotic foods and ingredients all over WNY. So I don’t really see a challenge in that regard.
Chains are one of the biggest challenges facing local restaurants. Buffalo is set apart by our great selection of independently owned, unique, good-value-for-the-money restaurants. Needless to say, I’m an “anti-chainista”!
BR: Buffalo has both an inferiority complex and a bad reputation [for our weather]. The wing has put us on a positive map. Even if people outside of Buffalo think wings are all that Buffalo is, they think positively about it.
CGS: Other cities have great newspaper dining sections, or they’ve got online sharing of ideas. On a great national food site like Chowhound.com, Buffalo is lumped into “the Tri-State Region.” We don’t have a forum for overall conversation about food.
Real Spanish and Mexican food are missing. And sadly, there is not a lot of variety of French food, one of the world’s most important cuisines.
We’re missing less-than-$10/person options. Wegmans has fresh, delicious foods to go, but we don’t get some of the healthier-alternative chains, like Jamba Juice or Chick-fil-A.
There is a big distinction between people who dine as entertainment or an adventure versus the average person who might not want to try new things or who just thinks of food as sustenance. I don’t know if anything can change those people’s perception of food as a habit.
NS: I think—though I’d like to be wrong—that there may be less of a market for adventurous dining here than in other cities. But at another level, there’s room for innovation, and for approachable food with a point of view and a focus.
For example, German restaurants. What is their next step? Get some beer involved, give it a youthful feel. It doesn’t have to be stodgy. There are so many ways to make food fun, to educate, and to make it an experience.
Restaurants don’t realize that [their customers] would be impressed by the fact that the restaurant is sourcing local producers and purveyors. Restaurants need to realize how affordable and beneficial it is, and how much higher the quality is. Also, you can brag about it!
What are some of your recommendations these days—both for upscale and comfort foods?
PA: Sample, La Tee Da, Seabar, Solé, Le Metro, Muse, Mode, Suzanne’s Fine Dining, the Wine Thief, 800 Maple, Juniper, both Trattoria Aroma locations.
Campieri’s—I love that he makes his own pizza dough. The Place, for a burger. It brings great childhood memories, and it’s a great food experience, too.
BR: We are not super-foodies, and don’t go out often; we go to La Scala [Ristorante in East Amherst]. It’s nearby; we are friends with the owners. I have enjoyed meals at O.
CGS: When I recommend fine dining/white tablecloth restaurants, I look for three factors: consistently good food, great service, and a decent wine list. We have many restaurants that excel in one or two of these categories, but very few that nail all three. My list would include Tempo, Seabar, Aroma on Bryant, Hutch’s, Daniel’s, and Bacchus.
For casual dining, I base my recommendations mostly on value. That list includes Mythos, Bistro Europa, Fast Food 99, Vargas, Joe’s Deli, Fables Cafe, Prince BBQ, the chef’s tasting at Sample, and Wasabi (for lunch). Sweet_ness 7 is where my family goes for breakfast.
NS: [Paul] Jenkins at Tempo does good work. Sample is a creative place; I like what they are trying to do.
For bar grub, I’m a big fan of the Pink’s steak sandwich. I like the burgers at Cole’s … John Gardon at Sterling Tavern has a singular vision and he sticks by it. Swannie House has great bar food. And, of course, Ted’s.
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Bill Rapaport: “I always joke that UB needs a bunch of foreign grad students to flunk out, stay, and open restaurants. A lot of ethnic cuisines, like Ethiopian, are not represented.” |
What do you see for our foodie future?
PA: Buffalo restaurants, as in most cities, tend toward thriving weekends and slower weekdays. I’d like to see independent restaurant owners unite to drive weekday business. “Restaurant Week” is a great strategy to encourage people to go out, for only $20.10.
The current economy hurts small-business owners. Sadly, in the restaurant business, one day you’re swamped and the rest you can shoot a cannon through the dining room. The restaurant-business future is what one makes of it: keep positive, work hard, control costs, provide a consistent fresh product, and well-trained staff.
BR: I would like to see even more ethnic restaurants—I always joke that UB needs a bunch of foreign grad students to flunk out, and then stay and open restaurants. A lot of ethnic cuisines, like Ethiopian, are not represented. We could use some better Chinese places, too.
CGS: Buffalo has come into its own in the last three or four years in ways that I never thought it would. I firmly believe that we will make the national spotlight as a food hotspot—and not just for chicken wings.
As part of the Great Lakes region, Buffalo was formed by a European blue-collar culture, i.e., Slavic, Polish and German canal builders and steel workers. The regional ethnic cuisine they created is part of what sets us apart.
And now we have a new regional ethnic cuisine: through Burmese, Hispanic, Somalian, and other immigrants. We’re going to see more offerings from these segments; it’ll be exciting to have access to those authentic, affordable, delicious “street eats.”
I’d also like to see restaurants specialize or focus, like on a region of Italy or a well-crafted wine list. Local food is going to continue to be big. We’ll see more restaurants focusing on the farmer/producer relationship.
Things like improved service, and understanding the front of the house, can lead to greatness for our restaurant scene as a whole.
NS: Instead of giving people what they expect or trying to please everybody, I’d like to see restaurants get into more specific food styles, go deeper into whatever tradition they are doing.
Rust Belt cities are known for comfort/bar foods. We have talented chefs here, even if they’re doing “low-brow food.” It doesn’t have to be high-end; I’d rather have a well-executed fish fry than a fancy fish dish that is all over the place.
It seems to me we could expand on some of the “local cuisine,” like Seabar does with its famous beef on weck maki roll. We should be marketing Buffalo, talking proud about our food a little more. Instead of being so purist, we should grow it and expand it. Do something to set ourselves apart.
Jana Eisenberg was raised on a mix of cuisines ranging from Jewish deli to Brooklyn Chinese to white-cloth steakhouse. She discovered Vietnamese and Ethiopian on her own.
