Buffalo Rising Online

Sep 28th 2005, 2:30pm By

On September 29, Amaryllis, a new restaurant run out of the downstairs of The Westbrook Apartments, officially opens to the public. But for tenants n and their friends n this potential new hotspot debuted two days earlier, when the bar opened for cocktails and free appetizers.

Westbrook tenants will already be familiar with the space, which has a Delaware Avenue address (675) but actually fronts on North Street. The buildingis owners throw an annual Christmas celebration in it, giving the tenants a chance to mix and meet each other. The new restaurant, like the Westbrook itself, feels both casual and upscale. Appetizers available on Tuesday night included...

a goat cheese spread, slivers of marinated portabella mushrooms tied to snap peas with chives, and tortilla-chip-and-meat bites with cilantro.

Upon opening, the restaurant will feature a full menu for the dining room, and a reduced menu for eating at the bar or n if you can believe this n ordering room service. At one time, the Westbrook served as a hotel, so the buildingis elevator still leads directly to the restaurant.

Menu items include a lot of what youid expect to see in an upscale urban restaurant, maybe something like Bacchus. Some featured menu items included pan-seared selections, roasted mushrooms, duck confit, a tasty cheese plate and delicious crEeme Brule. As a vegetarian, there were maybe 3 or 4 items on the menu that sounded great to me. I can say that the meat-free appetizers that were offered on Tuesday were top quality, plus they have a great sauvignon blanc for $6 a glass.

Amaryllis is one of the many amenities that make the Westbrook, one of the classic brick apartment buildings found up and down Delaware and Linwood avenues, feel like a throwback to some other era I canit even name. Management is informal, and some tenants get rent discounts for helping out around the building n running the elevator during move-ins, or taking out the trash. A mix of people (in terms of age, race, and to an extent, income) live there, and the tenants tend to know one another.

Now tenants will be able visit a fine-dining destination without so much as putting on their shoes, and even run a monthly tab! And other neighborhood people will be glad to have another dining choice join Allentown Hardware and Bettyis on the places-to-go-when-you-donit-want-a-burger list.

Amaryllis is located at 675 Delaware Avenue, with its entrance on North Street. Call 878-2741 for more information.