With soft, low lighting, a sleek, sophisticated wraparound bar, and a color palette reminiscent of the evening sun, the newest arrival on Buffalo’s fine dining scene, One Sunset, has set its sights high.
After a series of construction and permitting setbacks, owner and NBA free agent Leonard Stokes opened the doors to his new eatery in early December. Known to most as the former Locker Room bar and to others as its most recent incarnation, Lotis, One Sunset’s Delaware Avenue location is convenient for both city and suburban dwellers; the 198 is just blocks away.
This is a restaurant where enjoying an appetizer and a drink at the bar is encouraged; a quick stop before a party or after a movie is ideal. If this style of dining suits you, I suggest you order the Crispy Shrimp, whose name is an oversimplification. Mild, soft shrimp are delicately battered and stacked atop a pool of rich, creamy curry sauce, heightened by a hint of coconut and the bright, fresh heat of raw scallions, sliced paper-thin. The number of shrimp used to assemble this dish makes it suitable for two to share, but you won’t want to.
Also on the appetizer menu are crab cakes made of jumbo lump crab meat, a modest pair are served with a splash of spicy caper sauce, and petite lamb chops served with eggplant, olive and green mustard (wasabi) sauce. The Crispy Tuna Roll is wrapped in a thin sheet of nori, coated in crushed panko crumbs and fried just long enough to come to a crisp, its interior remaining cool and pink. Each bite, whether paired with the accompanying slaw of vegetables and sesame oil or the honey soy sauce that decorates the plate, is a notable experience in the contradictions of textures and flavors--crunchy and supple, salty and sweet.
One of my favorite items on the menu is a salad comprised of mixed greens (mine was pleasantly heavy on peppery arugula), brightly colored rings of sweet pickled red onions, walnuts dusted in cinnamon, crumbles of pungent gorgonzola and tender halves of red wine poached pear. Honestly, I’ve grown tired of the ubiquitous pairing of fruit, cheese and nuts in salads, but this version has me undone. Each component, in all of its simplicity, is executed perfectly, and the end result is remarkable. Other salads available include the classic Caesar and its constant partner the Cobb. Most intriguing is the green salad that pairs purple horseradish with trout smoked in-house and a lemony parmesan vinaigrette. An antipasto and a terrine of Mediterranean vegetables round out this portion of the menu.
Fifteen entrees are available, without taking the nightly specials into account. They range from a hearty Italian bolognese--made with sausage and the tender results of braising beef short ribs and pork shoulder--to the light, French-inspired Brook Trout Almondine served with haricot vert and a delicate champagne sauce. Southern flavors and preparations include the succulent, melt-in-your-mouth rack of ribs, served with a corn muffin and a flourish of sweet potato frite, and the blackened catfish accompanied by braised collard greens and soft polenta.
On my most recent visit, I enjoyed a special reminiscent of Peking duck; moist, medium rare duck breast, skin seared to crispy, crackling goodness, its underlayer of fat rich, soft and salty like the best parts of bacon, paired with a sweet, plummy sauce, earthy parsnip frite and an exquisitely bitter grilled endive. It was imperative that this dish be eaten quickly while still piping hot and so I did, before it cooled and lost many of its best characteristics.
Desserts are prepared in-house. On our first visit, choices included a light and fluffy pumpkin cheesecake, pecan torte, mascarpone cake with fresh fruit and creme brulee. If you’re too full for dessert, consider sampling one of the cocktails that appear on the extensive specialty martini list.
Chef Bruce Bain is at the helm; a man, who after 27 years in Buffalo’s professional kitchens, knows what can make or break a restaurant in the Queen City. Bain has worked at many area hot spots, including the Rue Franklin, the Buffalo Chophouse and, most recently, Bravo. But it’s his childhood, not his job experience, that’s most evident on the plate. His Italian grandfather, a chef and skilled gardener, and his mother, a fantastic cook in her own right, raised him with an appreciation for the kitchen and good, fresh food. Bain’s childhood tour of the U.S. as an “military brat” introduced him to the flavors of our country’s various regions, his time in Hawaii being perhaps the most influential of all. All of these components have come together in the menu at One Sunset.
Chef Bain has developed, as he puts it, “a melting pot menu” for One Sunset’s diverse crowd. “This menu is going to be in a constant state of evolution,” Bain said. “It will change as often as four times a year…we’re going to keep it interesting, keep it seasonal.” That should be easy considering One Sunset’s spacious rooftop will make an ideal garden. Bain has plans for tomatoes, herbs and microgreens when the weather changes.
The extensive rear patio may sport a brick oven in the near future as well. “We have all kinds of plans and ideas,” Bain tells me, “there’s a banquet room for 80-100 people upstairs, we plan on hosting all kinds of themed parties in the summer—we’re even working on a parking lot.”
One Sunset has a lot to offer the changing face of its neighborhood. Located just a few doors down from the always busy, venerable Hutch’s, and a short block away from the soon-to-close Millard Filmore Hospital and the future Gates Circle condominium project, it will be interesting to see how it--and its menu- -evolves.
One Sunset
1389 Delaware Avenue
Buffalo, NY 14209
716.881.5070