If you still think that Buffalo NY is nothing but wings (when it comes to food), then maybe you should listen to a Torontonian culinary convert who says that she always imagined the city as Skidsville, USA. After being wooed here by resident foodie Christa Seychew, Ivy Knight (Editor in Chief and Cofounder of Swallow Food) is convinced that this city is on the verge of culinary greatness. In her latest blog entry Ivy writes, "I've had fluke crudo, Tamworth chops, Bourdain's last meal (a dish containing foie & pork belly), steak tartare, wild oysters from Martha's vineyard, 11 month old prosciutto, [Fernet Branca shots]...but not a single chicken wing." She goes on to tout the art world and the architecture that we have been graced with and even ventures into the realm of shopping, steak sandwiches and accommodations by expounding on the virtues of "Steak tartare at Bistro Europa, stately rooms at the Mansion on Delaware, brass sculpture by Jean Arp, paintings by Joan Miro and Warhol prints at the Albright Knox, foie gras at Seabar, discount Calvin Klein dresses and Miu Miu shoes at Marshall's, brunch at Shango, Jason Wu at Target, the best steak sandwich in the world at the Old Pink, and finally, 24′s of Bud Light for $17 at the Duty Free. If heaven is a place on earth, for me it's the spot with the cheapest Bud Light. Cue the angel choir, I'm heading back to Buffalo."
*Cameron Rector, a young New Yorker who moved to Buffalo after 9/11 and opened Vera with his wife Jessica. They got a $100,000.00 bank loan to open the place. They paid it off in eighty-nine days. -Swallow Food
Swallow (swallowfood.com) is an irreverent food website, based out of Toronto and run by chefs. It only launched in February but has already received praise from the NY Times and Village Voice, not to mention major Canadian news outlets. Foodies all across Canada are using the site on a daily basis, but it really has the ear of the movers and shakers that make up Toronto's thriving food scene.
Photo: Swallow.com
This over the top fascination with beer and food is indicative of our culture in general. The spoiled, mass consumptive, gluttonous behavior always craving something new or bizarre is degenerative. These suckers who pay $8 for less than 12 ounces for the latest sour beer from some basement brewery in Oost-Vlaanderen or these "gourmands" who won't think of eating a french fry that hasn't been graced with truffle salt make me shake my head.
How do you think Vera's Pizzeria pad off $100K in such a short time? Again, SUCKERS paying $10 for a handcrafted, massaged, rim rubbed with passion fruit seed whisky sour. I know, I know, they're all the rage in Manhattan, so it makes us just as good as them big city folk. Pathetic. That urban hipster term is on par with calling someone a yuppie, nothing to be proud of.
Yeah!!! Stupid people who like nice stuff. SUCKERS!!!
I'll take the swill produced by the millions at Coors, or the delicious dishes offered at McDonalds. Because I'm cheap and lack sophistication! And if you don't like it, then.... you're not AMERICAN!
Skilled trades like handcrafting a cocktail or crafting beer with quality ingredients and flavor are dead, SUCKERS! Just like a cobbler or a tailor! That's why we pay quarters to immigrants with no skills and no english vocabulary, cuz this is America! and we don't need no fancy shoes or beers!
.......... Knock down Trico#1!!!!!!
Ah yes, another simple solution by a simple mind. Blue collar vs. white collar. A Big Mac vs. Ethiopian gazzelle intestines. Blue Light vs. sour bleu cheese beer, of course that's what this is all reduced to, I think you're a sap so I must be a mac & cheese philistine. As I implied, if all of that "nice stuff" gives you a reason to get up in the morning and your bank account can handle endless eight dollar sips of beer then by all means, live that deep life to its fullest.
I agree with you about some of the ridiculous food dishes (and their names). We are about 10 years behind (?) other cities in that respect, so of that is what's attractive to professionals and artists, so be it.
However I call blasphemy on the beer front. You can get a much better beer for a dollar or two more than the average stuff. If I'm looking to get wasted for cheap, I'm all for blue light. But a good buzz that tastes better wins out. Call me a beer snob, but blasphemy!!
Geez, who pissed on your bed this morning?
It's a big world out there. It's big enough to accommodate a wide range of tastes. I like going to classical music concerts, so I guess that makes me an elitist, but it's something I enjoy. If you don't like the food that I eat or the places I go, what's it to you? I don't complain about what you spend your money on -- and that's one of the great things about America.
Chill, dude. If you don't like something, do someting else. But let others have their fun, as they let you have your fun, okay?
Geez, who pissed on your bed this morning?
It's a big world out there. It's big enough to accommodate a wide range of tastes. I like going to classical music concerts, so I guess that makes me an elitist, but it's something I enjoy. If you don't like the food that I eat or the places I go, what's it to you? I don't complain about what you spend your money on -- and that's one of the great things about America.
Chill, dude. If you don't like something, do someting else. But let others have their fun, as they let you have your fun, okay?
"endless eight dollar sips of beer"
From curiosity, of course, your choice of beverage is?
Way back in the early 2000s when I was in college, a 30 of High Life was $9.99. I cherished that beer. Because drinking 15 was fun, and it made college fun, and it made college girls even more fun.
Now that I've graduated from barbarianism, and a college budget, I think it's reasonable and expected to enjoy an adult cocktail or beer crafted for adults . If that makes me gluttonous, indulgent, or a sap then God Bless; I'll have another.
And we also don't need people like you telling us what or what is not important in our lives.
Wow, you obviously have a fantastic grasp of grammar. Anyway, no one told you what IS or IS NOT important in your lives. However your buddy jrzewitcowski was chastising others for having differing views than his. You seem to have a great handle on life though, so continue to bash business owners who relocated from Manhattan to the Queen City and started a successful business that has literally no negative impact on the city. Winning!
Don't worry about jtrzewitcowski. It's just the symptoms of Okun withdrawal. Should be easy to take care of today, since it's Friday. Take them to the nearest family restaurant, sit them down in a nice, large booth, order them a beer-battered fish fry and a bottle of Genny Cream, and they'll be fine.
Don't worry about jtrzewitcowski. It's just the symptoms of Okun withdrawal. Should be easy to take care of today, since it's Friday. Take them to the nearest family restaurant, sit them down in a nice, large booth, order them a beer-battered fish fry and a bottle of Genny Cream, and they'll be fine.
You just s*it on everything that is Buffalo. Elitist turd.
I have never, and probably won't ever eat anything listed in this article. However, I love the sentiment of it. It shows we have sophistacted options if that's your thing, as well as great dive bar food too.
I do share some of your desdain for Vera but not because of the high priced food or drinks, but rather the pompass attitude of the place. They serve quality products so higher prices are expected, which I have no problem paying in that case. I can do without the guilt trip of wanting a simple merlot with my fancy pizza though.
I may not patronize a place like that again and you don't have to either so what's it to you? Lighten up buddy.
I'm with you completely, up to the merlot part.
Dude, you rule. Let the uppity Yups have their 10$ mouse food. We will stay in real Buffalo neighborhoods, not places made up of the latest 18-25 year old Amherst rich kid run off.