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SLICE OF WNY
Delaware Avenue in Kenmore
By Lisa Kane; photos by kc kratt
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Clockwise, from top:
Entry signage; The Fred Eberhardt House;
two interior views of Miss Josie's Antiques; and
a student at the Bellydance Academy.
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One of the Village of Kenmore’s main commercial strips,Delaware north of Kenmore Avenueis great for a short walk any time of year. Some blocks feel like contemporary Elmwood crossed with mid-twentieth-century, small-town America.
Right at the corner of Kenmore, at 2746 Delaware, is a beautiful, historic brownstone mansion, the Fred Eberhardt House, that now houses and is owned by Jack Hunt Coin Dealer. Check out the village’s website, www.villageofkenmore.org, to see a line drawing of the building featured in the village logothat has to say something about the mansion’s pedigree. The site also has a concise history of “Buffalo’s first suburb,” founded on land purchased by one L. P. A. Eberhardt in 1888.
The next couple of blocks heading north are a bit depressing. At the time of this writing, most of the buildings on the west side stand vacant. Past Parkwood, on the east side, though, the charm typical of this section of Delaware kicks in, and it’s home to several long-standing businesses, including Jinlan Chinese Restaurant, Flowers by Johnny, and Condrell’s Candies. Also in this block, the Buffalo Room features more than twenty varieties of “wings of the world.”
Past LaSalle Avenue, James Walaski runs Miss Josie’s Antiques. In the warmer months, the shop’s namesake, Walaski’s eighty-three-year-old mom, waits on customers and helps out in other ways. Walaski says his year-and-a-half wait for an appropriate commercial space to open up in this section was worth it. “This strip reminds me of living in New York in some ways. You can walk everywhere.”
The next two blocks are where the full-on charm begins. On the west side, this is Mang to Victoria Boulevard, and on the east, it’s Knowlton Avenue just past Delaware Road, where the handsome Art Deco Ken-Ton Municipal Building sits (squats, actually; check it out). The west side of this stretch is home to two other similarly handsome buildings, both branch banks—Key Bank at Mang and M&T at Lincoln Boulevard.
Jill Shanley Morlock, owner of the new Bellydance Academy, just open since March, chose this location because she feels “great about the area, which has the feel of Elmwood, but at a lower cost. Plus the parking is good, and we’re just six blocks from the city.” The Bellydance Academy (www.thebellydanceacademy.com) offers cabaret, fusion, and tribal-style classes and programs.
Two other stops of note in the block before Victoria: Sinbad Market and the Plaka Restaurant. Visit Sinbad for groceries, including fresh vegetables; Middle Eastern packaged goods; halal meat and shawarma; and other prepared food to eat in or take out. The Plaka is a dependable old-school Greek-ish eatery that has been around forever; its mid-last-century exterior alone makes it worth a visit.
Past Victoria, there are several blocks of small businesses ranging from comic book shops and hair and nail salons to investment and real estate brokers. Organic Dog Market & Coffee Tea House looks promising, although the halal meat at Sinbad sounds better than “organic dog.” But then a sign in the window says well-behaved dogs are welcome, and if they were butchering them, would they care if they behave nicely? For info (and, at the moment, a coupon for free coffee) go to www.organicdogmarket.net.
The next few blocks are less exciting, but once you pass Washington Avenue on the west side there’s the Record Baron, one of the few remaining record stores, independent or otherwise, left in the area. There’s also Rocky Mountain Chocolate—a chain, but at least it looks okay—and it offers fun opportunities like birthday parties where kids can make their own candy. If you can keep going, you’ll find a few more businesses worth a visit, but you might prefer to turn around and walk the other side of the street for a little more classic, small-town flavor.
Lisa Kane is a freelance writer who walks around WNY. A lot.
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