Buffalo Rising Online

For some, trying a new restaurant is a bit daunting, especially if you don’t go out for nice, sit-down meals very often. It’s easy to be torn. Why would you want to risk wasting a rare evening out and the contents of your wallet on a poor meal or shabby service? But then again, you’ve had the same meal at the same restaurant the last three times you were out, and everyone’s been talking about this great new restaurant, so why not try something different? Though I don’t personally identify with this conundrum, I recognize that it is an issue many are faced with.

Though my solution is not a cure-all for this situation, it may provide you with an alternative. If you’re really interested in trying a new or different restaurant, find out if they serve brunch. Many of the city’s nicer restaurants do, and it provides customers the chance to get a feel for the atmosphere, …

As a food editor, one of the things I most anticipate is the change of seasons. Many of our area restaurants abide by the principal of using fresh, seasonal ingredients, and their menus reflect that as they evolve from light summer fare to the hardier flavors of winter and back again. For me, it's an opportunity to rediscover these restaurants, another opportunity to peek into the minds of the personalities and philosophies of the chefs that create and foster these changes. This year the late arrival of Buffalo's most infamous season has delayed a number of these updates. It amazes me that in October many establishments are just beginning to shift into the season of the almighty school of roast and braise.

I find myself at my keyboard again extolling the beauty of Oliver's. I wrote a full feature

Recently I was invited to attend SAMPLE's monthly cocktail course. Regular readers know about my penchant for their Roasted Pineapple Mojito and Lavender Honey Martini. I'm really much more of a beer or wine drinker, but SAMPLE's cocktails are winners when it comes to the use of fresh, whole ingredients and innovation.

This month's class provided students with a tutorial for three different cocktails, all of which were just lovely. The first was a punch featuring blood orange juice and vodka, another was a papaya margarita served with a chip of peanut and cumin brittle. Yum! The simplest drink, and perhaps the most seasonally appropriate was a simple mulled cider, perfect for the upcoming holidays or any winter event where the host is interested in serving a signature coc…

A few weeks ago in an Everything but the Sink article we mentioned the new gelateria that will be opening in the storefront next door to Urban Roots on Rhode Island. David Simpson, former partner at Dolci, professional server, and gelato maker extraordiniare is the owner, and he's planning to open his doors by November.

Gelato G's is the name, and Simpson and Urban Roots are working together to unify the storefront, lending beauty and value to the building by making updates and changes to the currently unoccupied space. The glass windows that lend great light and nice detail to the front of Urban Roots will extend over to Simpson's side of the building, and in addition to other interior improvements, the two businesses will be joined by an open doorway in the same way that Cafe Aroma and Talking Leaves “share” a space on the corner of Bidwell and Elmwood.

The shop will o…

South Buffalo often seems like a city unto itself. The Basilica, Tifft Nature Preserve, Botanical Gardens, and Olmsted's Cazenovia Park all serve as a means to pull us into the area a few times a year, but what else does South Buffalo have to offer those of us that are not part of its close-knit community? We've seen retail begin to take root here, but when it comes to food, pizza joints and taverns prevail.

There is at least one dining establishment in this neighborhood that has taken a more contemporary approach to food, and Caz Coffee Cafe is it. Upon first entering this little shop, you can see the owner…

I generally receive restaurant news or food news through chefs and business owners, email, phone calls and the Nearly Omniscient Newell (aka queenseyes). This news can range from exciting “don't tell” rumors of new restaurants to passing mentions of changes that are taking place in existing establishments. Most often, the breaking news has been mentioned in our city channel, or the stories are in the early stages of development, not yet warranting a post all to themselves. That, however, does not make them any less interesting, so here I offer you an assortment of YUM! related news.

--O'Connell's Hourglass has been re-invented with a new name (O'Connell's American Bistro), a new menu, a new interior and newly added lunch hours. The menu promises good food with a French flair. The grand opening …

A number of weeks ago I noticed that some construction was underway at a building located near the corner of Elmwood and Kenmore Avenues. The signs in the windows announced: Coming Soon and Amigo's.

As soon as I had the opportunity, I swung by to chat with the owner. Edwin Ortu, a Buffalo Fire Marshall with a passion for cooking and the restaurant business, has undertaken a major project with his new restaurant, scheduled to open in November or December.

The building, a former insurance office, has been stripped bare and is currently being outfitted with a new electrical system, plumbing, kitchen, office, bar and dining room. Ortu has done much of the work himself. Having purchased the building is a big step in and of itself, but Ortu's investment of his own sweat equity is even stronger proof of his love of the city and t…

*The word "fable" comes from the Latin "fabula" ("a story"), from "fari" ("to speak"). Fable, a story with a moral, usually with animals as characters.

Sometimes a business comes along that can change your perceptions about an environment. Take, for example, Fables Café located inside the Buffalo Central Library. Fables is in its third year of business and judging by the looks of it, the restaurant has certainly held its own during that entire time period.

When I stopped in for lunch last week I was surprised (as I always am) by the number of people eating there. The place was packed. That’s because Fables has some of the best lunch sandwiches in the city (at fair prices), and the 3-year old redesign makes it feel like you're back in college (the hustle and bustle certainly helps). I’m the fir…

A few weeks ago we told our online readers about a soon-to-open restaurant on Main Street, near Artspace and the constantly expanding medical corridor. The restaurateur had contacted Buffalo Rising to ask if our readers might help him name his new venture. We ran a contest online with a prize of a $100 gift certificate to the new restaurant, and received over 100 suggestions. We then announced the owner's top ten choices--they appear below next to the handles of their creators.

Ciao Main queenseyes Tre Otto GoldenLark Fiore tdimatteo Fresco scandyjj Midtown Trattoria WIGS Piazza fredrico Nuovo (from Nuovo Impresa Italiana) STU Sugo MRo…

I love the Lone Star. It’s one of those places where everything just is what it is. Upon first entering, some diners might be a little put off by the resin patio chairs, the faded framed posters, new country music, scruffy self-serve soda machine and less-than-Martha-Stewart open kitchen.

But please, don’t be put off by such trivial concerns. The Lone Star has been serving up “Tex-Mex” cuisine from its little storefront on Hertel for years, and though you may not find it an appropriate establishment in which to hold a business dinner or take a date you’d like to impress, it makes the food no less tasty.

I grew up on Tex-Mex on the West Coast, and the Lone Star hovers toward the top of the list of things I miss most about life there. The Lone Star is not my ideal Tex-Mex restaurant, but it ain’t bad.

The vibe is very casual, diners order from the front counter a…

We're winding down to the top three chefs in BR's Chef's Challenge: White Cow's Yogurt. The third place winner is Chef Kevin O'Connell of O'Connell's on Kenmore Avenue.

He loved our product of choice, White Cow Dairy's Plain Yogurt, and recognized the quality of it from the moment he twisted the lid off of one of the little glass jars. What he wasn't happy about was how many tries it took for him to end up with a dish he was content with. He had initially planned to use it in gnocchi, but the texture was too loose and the gnocchi dough didn't quite achieve the structure necessary to survive the shaping and cooking process.

Chef ultimately decided to prepare a protein and side dish for us, using the yogurt in three distinct fashions. The dish consisted of perfectly (and I mean perfectly) pre…

Less than beautiful, The Hatch's drab concrete exterior is built to endure our harshest seasons, but it doesn't really scream “waterfront”. That is until you pass through it to the deck that runs along the river's edge, providing diners with a view of the lighthouse and our blue, blue lake.

The Hatch is anything but formal, consisting of a large building with counter service, a handful of tables and a smaller “shack” that serves seafood, snacks and ice cream.

Inside, the menu is decidedly Buffalo summertime fare: Sahlen's hot dogs, hamburgers and sausages are the most popular choices, but one can find sandwiches, salads, soup and even breakfast here. Beer and wine are available, and karaoke, coupled with the Friday fish fry, keeps The Hatch hoppin' on the weekends.

The price points are reasonable, especially when you consider that many waterside establishments infl…

If you’re looking for fresh seafood, La Marina may not only be your safest bet, arguably, it may be your best one.

Rosalie and Charlie Morreale have been running La Marina for a decade, offering fresh fish and seafood to it’s customers from its location on Hertel Avenue.

But the Morreales have been in business on Hertel for a long time, and the neighborhood is as fond of them as they are of it. Rosalie started as the “fry girl” at Jerry’s Seafood in her teens. Later, she and her husband bought the place. Once children came, they closed their doors to spend more time with the family, but once the kids got to be a little older, they opened up La Marina, a restaurant and seafood market of sorts.

Every piece of fish or seafood served at La Marina is inspected by Rosealie, a stickler for quality and a very knowledgeable purveyor. And her vendors know it; you can’t s…

Toro is the first restaurant to be featured in the countdown toward the winner of BR's Chef's Challenge: White Cow Yogurt.

Toro’s arrival on Elmwood five years ago marks a time when the avenue was transitioning from a “strip” into a “village”. Owner Nick Kotrides helped to bring about that change with his first establishment, Faherty's, the popular bar with a neighborhood feel that is located next door to Toro.

Toro’s current chef, Justin Brink, studied at the Institute of Culinary Education in Manhattan and then spent a number of years cooking in vacation hot spots for the likes of Emeril Lagasse. Brink has been with Toro since its inception, donning the toak of the executive chef last autumn after Chef Dino Debell moved to Hertel’s Empire Grill, which is Kotrides’ third restau…