Buon Appetito!
Italian Restaurants
By Ann Blask
All photographs in this article by Jim Bush.
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Lombardo’s.
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Whether your appetite favors classic Tuscan cuisine, or the richly sauced dishes of Sicily, regional specialties are as varied as they are appetizing.
Ristorante Lombardo
There are some tough decisions to make when you dine at Lombardo’s. Which dining room? The spacious and airy front room with lots of windows, or the cozy lounge, with a half-wall dividing the dining area from the bar? Both rooms are beautifully decorated with soft lighting, earth-tone walls, and fresh flowers everywhere.
Now for the food. The menu choices make this a mouth-watering dilemma. From appetizers to desserts, the menu is a blend of Italian regional specialties. Risotto del Giorno, Cannelloni with Chicken, and Farfalle with Salmon and Peas are standouts on the Pasta list. Seafood choices range from Cioppino—mixed seafood in a saffron fish broth—to Shrimp Luigi, which is breaded and baked with olive oil, then topped with a fresh tomato salsa. Veal is the mainstay of the meat menu. Though they will prepare it anyway you like, there are some enticing preparations, such Veal and Grilled Eggplant, which is served with polenta and a plum tomato sauce, and the Continental, their signature dish, with combines two of their most popular entrées: Veal Francese and Shrimp Scampi, both flavored with white wine and lemon.
The Antipasti are equally imaginative. The Portabello Mushroom Tart, for example, has no crust. The mushroom is the tart shell, which is baked with a filling of zucchini and tomatoes.
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Lombardo’s.
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For Donna, the best part of these eating treks is sampling desserts. An expert pastry chef, (“She got that from her mother,” confides Tom) her creations can often upstage the main course. One of her recent discoveries along the Amalfi Coast, was Passion Cake, an exotic-as-it-sounds confection of almond cake, fresh peaches tossed with Amaretto, then topped with Amaretto-laced cream. You might even notice a hint of French and Spanish influence in her baking, since she lived and studied in both countries. The one she fell in love with in France is Frou Frou Cake. People sometimes book their reservations based on what day she plans to make it. A Genoise cake, layered with white chocolate mousse and garnished with white chocolate shavings, it is a sumptuously rich treat.
Another talent in the kitchen is Sue Van Schoonhoven, or as she is also known, The Soup Goddess. Though her selection changes daily, her fans favor the Sausage Fennel Soup and the Mushroom Manhattan Chowder with Gin. There are no recipes for any of these, just her adaptations. “She reads cookbooks like some people read the newspaper,” says Donna. “It’s all in her head and somehow, she creates these wonderful things.”
Lombardo Ristorante
1198 Hertel Ave.
873-4291
lunch Mon.-Fri. 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
dinner from 5 p.m.
closed Sunday
Santasiero’s Restaurant
This is not the place for candlelight or haute cuisine. Nor is it a restaurant on the cutting-edge of culinary discovery. It is, however, a restaurant where simple food is simply delicious.
Now in their eightieth year in the same location, Santasiero’s is as much a part of Buffalo’s West Side heritage as the scores of Italian-Americans who grew up there.
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Santasiero’s
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As Dominic’s four sons became involved in the business, there were some rocky times. “During the depression, when people didn’t have the money to go out for a meal, they had a special—‘Free spaghetti with a nickel beer’,” says great grandson, John Brands, Jr., who along with his sister Trish Brydalski, now manage the restaurant along with their mother, Phyllis Brands.
One look at the heaping plates of food coming from the kitchen, and you can guess which one is their specialty. It is, without a doubt, pasta e fagioli, or as the menu board calls it, “Pasta Fasoola.” An old-fashioned, old-world, macaroni and bean soup, every restaurant has its own variation, but Santasiero’s is the hands-down favorite of Western New Yorkers.
For a change of pace, (though it’s hard to pass up the Pasta Fasoola) there is Macaroni and Lentils or Macaroni and Peas, true Italian peasant fare, and rarely offered in today’s trendy, upscale restaurants.
Another signature dish is Eggplant Parmigiana, which is made from scratch daily. New entrées occasionally find their way onto the menu. One of John’s creations is Pasta Santanesca, a variation of the classic Pasta Putanesca, but without the anchovies. Not as pungent, but still quite piquant, the sauce is a blend of garlic, oil, onions, basil, black olives, and fresh tomatoes, which is served over penne pasta.
Though the restaurant has a separate dining room, the front bar/dining room, complete with TV noise and the bustle of waitresses in and out of the kitchen, has an old-fashioned, neighborhood ambiance. The wall behind the bar displays a collage of vintage family portraits, along with signed photos of many of the celebrities who have made their way to Santasiero’s through the years. Doc Severenson is still a regular whenever he’s in town. So too, are all the sports stars from the Sabres, the Bills, and many of the visiting teams who come to Buffalo.
Their ongoing success for nearly a century seems no surprise to most people, including the Santasiero family. “It’s very simple,” explains Trish. “Good food at good prices.”
Santasiero’s Restaurant
1329 Niagara Street
886-9197
open daily from 11 a.m.
Bings
The cuisine at Bings is “Creative Italian,” says owner Shelly Schratz. “We strive for a marriage of flavors rather than specializing in specific regional dishes.”
One read of the menu confirms that. A Prosciutto appetizer is served with sliced pears and Taleggio cheese, instead of the usual melon. One of their special Lasagna preparations is topped with crab, mussels, clams, and shrimp.
“I learned to cook by watching,” she says. “Mostly watching my grandfather, who had a restaurant near New York City, and my father, Bing Collora, who the restaurant was named for.” Her maternal grandfather, Don Amigone, was also a restaurateur, as well as her uncle and cousin, who owned the once popular Chez Ami, in Buffalo.
Her heritage influences everything on
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Bing’s
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There are plenty of pasta selections, from standard Spaghetti and Meatballs to Pasta Carbonara, Pasta Alfredo, and Penne Bolognese, but their hallmark entrée is Manicotti. Made with crepes, rather than pasta, these cheese-filled rolls are light and delicate, with whipped egg whites blended into the mixture. Shelly’s mother, Elaine Amigone Collora, makes the crepes daily. She also serves as artist-in-residence, with paintings of Italian street scenes hanging in the main dinning room, as well as the small, front bar/dining room. You may not see the same paintings twice, as diners often ask to buy them. The day I was there the display included a view of the Ponte Vecchio, Florence’s most famous bridge, a street in Orvieto, a town in Central Italy, and another entitled, “Piazza Toscana.”
Vying with the Manicotti for top prize are Osso Bucco, prepared in a red wine sauce with vegetables, and served over risotto, and polenta, a daily lunch and dinner special. If you thought Polenta was bland and boring, chef Richard Walter, will change your mind. Among his polenta creations are Wild Forest Mushroom, Grilled Shrimp, and Wine Pesto.
If you like things a bit on the spicy side, a great choice is Pasta Elena. Similar to a Cacciatore, this sauce combines Italian sausage, sundried tomato, sweet peppers, and red onion. It is usually served over linguine, but can be prepared any way you like it.
At Bings, even a simple fish-fry becomes an Italian meal. The pan-fried scrod is accompanied by risotto and escarole, which is sautéed in garlic and olive oil.
When it comes to desserts, Shelly takes center stage with Bisque Tortoni. A very old Italian specialty, which she remembers from her childhood, it is rarely found on restaurant menus today. Rich and luscious, this delicacy is a mixture of cream-soaked macaroons, folded into whipped, heavy cream, topped with crushed macaroons, then frozen.
This is the dessert she makes for her family’s traditional Italian Christmas Eve dinner.
Bings
1952 Kensington Ave., near Harlem
938-5788
lunch Mon.-Fri. 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
dinner daily from 4:30 p.m.
Ann Blask is a consultant and freelance writer from Orchard Park
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