Buffalo Rising Online

The folks at Shango Bistro & Wine Bar in University Heights are filled with holiday cheer.

This week: December 12 - 19th TOY DRIVE Come into Shango during this week with an unwrapped toy & have a drink on them, AND you will also be entered to win a Dinner for Two!

Tonight, Wednesday December 14th WINE TASTING "Dessert Wines & Sparklers" Come taste some fun & festive libations, with Shango's local expert Dave Bortolin from Eber Bros. No reservations necessary. $10 7-9pm

Don't forget to make a reservation for Shango's 1st New Year's Eve Dinner! Ring in the New Year with a yummy four course dinner prepared by Jim! Call for details 837-2326 SHANGO 3260 …

Leave all pre-conceived notions of your corner Chinese take out restaurant behind and run to Ming Cafe on Main Steet across from the U.B. South Campus. Sit down and try my favorite dish... Crispy Honey Chicken with Cashews. It's what General Tso wishes it could be. Tender boneless white meat fried to perfection and coated in a honey soy sauce. Throw in some cashews, red peppers and almonds and you have an explosion of flavors and textures that you won't soon forget.

Each dish, like this one, is lovingly prepared to order by your gracious hosts Sam and Helen. They have the staples, and they are fantastic, but try something a little different. General Tso, who?

Ming Cafe is located at 3268 Main Street in Buffalo. 716.833.6988

Article by Amy Schlagter, originally published in the current Holiday issue of Buffalo Rising Magazine

In its many incarnations, the restaurant space in the lower level of the Westbrook Apartments has been everything from a tie-and-jacket fine dining favorite to a beer-and-burger sports bar. The beautiful new Amaryllis Restaurant is somewhere deliciously in between.

The new owners, Jen Stainrook and Matt Harrington are excited to share their love of food with Buffalo. Jen attended the California Culinary Academy and got her start in West Coast restaurants where the emphasis was on using fresh ingredients from local farmers. While working at Andreis French Restaurant, one of Las Vegasi finest, Jen learned how to use u…

Shango for years hid its fine Cajun menu in it's previous iteration as the Coffee Bean CafE. After a makeover, the restaurant now offers a fine and stylie dining.

Tonight Shango is presenting it's first "Fall Harvest Wine Dinner".

There are two things I know to be true. There's no difference between good flan and bad flan, and there is no war in Albania. --Wag The Dog by David Mamet

Thereis no war in Albania, but Mamet is wrong about flan. All flan is at best mediocre when measured against what I had last night at The Coda.

Now there are kitchens, then there is the kitchen at the new Amaryllis Restaurant. A couple of us stopped in to have a nightcap the other evening at this unique spot on North before we hit Coda (another unique spot) for dinner. After sampling a couple items from the menu and trying a few of their reds, we decided it was time to hit the road. On our way out, we peaked into the kitchen...

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 celebratio…

This restaurant is not on any of the main drags, it won't serve up ordinary everyday food, and it doesn't seat a lot of people. These are just a few of the reasons that make the new Coda a 'must go to' restaurant in the city. Remember the oil and canvas painting called Nighthawks created by Edward Hopper (Thanks MQ) in 1942? Nighthawks was actually inspired by a real diner in Hopper's NY neighborhood. Well, take that scene and throw in (Buffalo's own) Charles Burchfield's Rainy Night painting and I think you might capture a hint of Coda's soulful ambiance.

The Coda blends quiet sophistication with a contemporary cullinary flare that one might find while dining at one of Manhattan's hidden haunts. When you step into The Coda, you are stepping back into a world of hand-dyed black chef jac…

By Newell Nussbaumer

Just off Symphony Circle sits The Coda Restaurant, an establishment that blends quiet sophistication with a contemporary culinary flare that one might find while dining at one of Manhattan's hidden haunts. The term coda signifies the different finish of a musical composition, but it is the crescendo that owners Roo and Keren Buckley have been dreaming of for quite some time.

Main Street's Shango, known for its Creole cooking and New Orleans-style brunch, is lending a hand to New Orleans, LA. (photo: owner Jim Guarino)

Shango (featured in Buffalo Rising Magazine-Spring 2005, and voted a "Best of Buffalo" restaurant by ArtVoice) is having a benefit for hurricane Katrinia victims on Sunday, September 11 from 7 n 10 p.m. The benefit features a New Orleans style buffet, beads, and music. All proceeds are going to New Orleans through the Red Cross. Wine is included with the meal. The all-inclusive cost is $45 per person. Tips are being waived by servers who are volunteering their time. A videotographer will be recording well wishes to Red Cross volunteers in New Orleans. Plea…

Shango. The voodoo God of thunder and lightning. A name that signifies virility and echoes the mystique of New Orleans. And now a new culinary experience in what was until recently the Coffee Bean CafE.

In 1994 Jim Guarino and his family opened the Caf" on Main Street in the University District. At that time the area was hopping. But with the student population increasingly drawn toward Chippewa Street, business started to decline.

Then, two years ago, Jim's passion for Creole cooking led him to serve a New Orleans-style brunch. Only a year later Artvoice named it "Best Brunch in Buffalo."It was very popular,"says Jim. "It seemed a natural progression for the business."

It was a sad day in Allentown yesterday. Sammy at Everything Special served up his last tray of macaroni and cheese, and then proceeded to close up shop. Now normally we don't cover store closings, but this is different. Sammy is an icon in the Allentown neighborhood. We stopped in yesterday to get a bite to eat and were shocked to hear the news. For those of you that never had the pleasure of eating food from this splendid take-out joint, you really don't know what you missed. Sammy was like a mad scientist in his kitchen. This one -man show always had four pots simmering on the stove, ovens loaded with baking pans, cooking utensils flying about in all directions, all amongst a flurry of customer activity. Sammy was always a sight to see... and hear. Man, he could really kee…

Officially, we're only a few days into summer, but BBQ season's been going strong for weeks, and by now the thought of another side of potato salad is about as appealing as getting stopped at the border. So to spice up your summer fare Mark Hutchinsonnnof Hutch's and Tempo famennreveals to his fellow Buffalonians the secret behind the Beet Salad that's been flying off the menu at 1375 Delaware since the season began.

Good luck, and hey, if it doesnit work out just get on the horn with Patrick and ask for a table at Hutchis. Hereis the number, just in case: 885-0074.

Hutch's Summer Salad of Oven Roasted Beets: 1 1/2 lbs (2 bunches) beets 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus more for seasoning 1 tsp re…