Buffalo Rising Online

Madame Mocha’s Espresso Pub & Tea Room recently opened for business, and has immediately distinguished itself by bringing a unique mixture of drinks, light fare, music, and magic to Lovejoy Street.

The décor mixes the casual atmosphere of a café with some nice accents that play along with the mystical feel of the shop- crystal balls, drums, mirrors, and tarot cards (they even offer readings, if you’re brave enough!). The fresh flowers which line the walls and tables demonstrate the owner’s eye for detail.

The drink selection is varied and interesting, ranging from standard coffee shop offerings to smoothies and (coming soon) wine and wine slushies. All teas and coffees are certified fair trade and organic.

Currently, Madame Mocha’s offers a house blend as well as single-origin coffees from East Timor, Ethiopia and Sumatra, imported by Café Campesino (http://www.…

Ranking at the top of our Honorable Mention category is the respected Left Bank, long considered by local foodies and critic Janice Okun as one of the best restaurants in the city.

Left Bank's Sunday brunch is one of the nicest in the city, not only delicious but also accompanied by a string quartet. Wednesdays offer guests the opportunity to experience some high-end Thai and Vietnamese cuisine. Additionally, the bar itself is a really enjoyable place to meet friends or a date for those not fond of the scene found at old pubs or Chippewa's watering holes.

For the specifics regarding the competition, please see our initial post which describes the structure of the challenge and …

They may want to make Hertel our Little Italy but wise diners will also find each other on Bryant and Ashland at Trattoria Aroma. Dave Cosentino and Keith Dulak have brought, hands down, the best Italian food and wine to the Elmwood Village. This is authentic Italian, and I'll just cut to the chase - you won't be disappointed.

The daily specials list is always interesting and typically includes a soup, antipasti, pasta, fish, and meat entree as well as a calzone. One pasta special should not be missed if it's on the menu. The spaghetti with prosciutto, peas, cracked pepper, and roma tomato in a parmesan-egg sauce shows how skilled and authentic the cooking is at Trattoria Aroma. This dish can go downhill quickly if the sauce is made imperfectly, which is certainly not the case here. Instead of a tacky, lip sticking feel the egg based sauce is pulled off with deft skill. …

As most of our daily readers know, we recently organized the BR Buffalo Chef's Challenge: Chayote in which seven local chefs “battled” each other in a cooking competition. Each was presented with a mystery ingredient and given 24 hours (give or take a few) to develop an original dish showcasing the aforementioned mystery ingredient. This challenge will be held on a quarterly basis, if you are a restaurant interested in participating in our next challenge, please contact me through email.

For more information regarding this challenge, please see the initial post detailing the event. Each chef is ranked in first, second or third place (which happens to be a tie) or in one of three positions in our honorable mention category. The winners are rev…

It’s too soon for the locally grown apple cider we’ve all come to know and love. However, it’s the perfect time for a hard cider.

Chateau Buffalo of Hertel Avenue is now bottling and releasing a hard cider deemed “Dancing Buffalo Hard Cidre.” Made of NY state grown apples, aged in oak, and bottled on-site, this beverage weighs in at 8.5% alcohol by volume; a bit less than wine, a bit more than most beers.

Featuring a picture of the famed Buffalo Central Terminal on the label, this is a local product that is worth checking out. If you’re interested in purchasing a bottle, it is available only at Chateau Buffalo.

Chateau Buffalo, 1209 Hertel, 14216, 873.0074, www.chateaubuffalo.com

photo courtesy of Chateau Buffalo

Those of you that read our introductory post on Tuesday explaining our latest culinary undertaking, the BR's Buffalo Chef's Challenge, know that on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the next few weeks we'll be ranking the participants in our little “cook off”. The competition will end on June 14th with the announcement of the winner and a thorough investigation of their remarkable entry.

Placing in our Honorable Mention category is the North End Bistro located on Hertel. Formerly Little Talia's, the business changed hands and became the North End a number of years ago. More recently it was purchased by chef/owner Marc Marotta. The cuisine remains decidedly Italian, with a good mix of both classic dishes and a few originals developed and honed by the chef throughout his career. The most popular…

The bad news is that The Coda served their last brunch of the season on Sunday. The good news is that I was able to enjoy it. I joined two friends right at noon in one of the cozy booths, while a few other tables were already filling up.

Brunch is not brunch to me without a good Bloody Mary. We started with a round, and with the addition of some hot sauce, it was a lively way to begin our meal. While perusing the menu, our server brought us bread and some homemade butter; one was regular and the other flavored with strawberry, lemon and pastis-a French, anisette-flavored liqueur. The bread was delicious and was quickly devoured.

The soups and salads sounded intriguing-chilled melon soup, cream of spinach and a refreshing combination of romaine, watermelon and feta-but I was in the mood for classic Eggs Benedict. Other brunch options included French toast, frittata and s…

A light, delicious summertime treat, gelato is Italy’s version of ice cream, with three major differences. First, gelato has a more dense texture than ice cream, due to the fact that no air is mixed into the batch. Second, it’s moved into a forced air freezer immediately after it’s made, which keeps it about 10-15 degrees warmer than ice cream. Lastly, gelato has significantly less butterfat than ice cream, typically 8% versus ice cream’s 10% (and often much higher). By no means does that difference in milk fat mean it has less richness. The flavor develops as it melts in your mouth, giving you the guilty pleasure of ice cream with a smidge less guilt.

Ross Runfola, owner of La Dolce Vita, finds that his crowds get a bit larger in the summer, when the café serves up seven different flavors of gelato. Their gelato is available for take-out in three different sizes,…

Let me tell you, I have a real barbecue addiction. Yes, there’s some rumbling amongst the professional “inner sanctum” of the barbecue elite regarding the “correct” spelling of the term (BBQ, barbecue and barbeque). However, it would be difficult to find anyone griping about the actual product produced by the technique and the flavors that accompany it.

This far north of its homeland, you would expect barbecue to be hard to find, but that isn’t the case. Of course, nothing beats the thrill of perfecting your own sauce and preparation techniques, but that isn’t a challenge that the average barbecue lover tends to meet head on. Here in the city, there is always a good selection of vendors that offer smokey meats at the local festivals, Fat Bob’s is one of the longest standing barbecue spots in town, Chippewa features the Buffalo Smokehouse, and both Lee’s Bar…

No news to anyone in Buffalo that Kuni’s To Go sells fantastic sushi from its relatively new and completely adorable location on Lexington. But did you know that they also carry a small selection of Japanese groceries? When I say small, I mean really small, but nonetheless appealing. You can buy pickled ginger, soy sauce and other sushi accompaniments like chopsticks and tableware. They also have a cute selection of sweets, most of which are made of rice flour.

I’ve become addicted to these beauties (pictured above), a cookie quite unlike anything I’ve had before. Made of rice flour, they are crisp and light as air. The flavor profile of the biscuit itself is slightly salty which is augmented by the sweet maple icing on the top. They really are an experience, and I’ve greatly enjoyed watching people taste them for the first time. They come in a large bag for $3.…

Amy’s Place is a Buffalo favorite and has been for a very long time. Located across the street from UB’s South Campus, its atmosphere and clientele really typify the college dining experience. In many ways it is a classic greasy spoon, but its menu also caters to vegetarians and vegans with a number of flavorful offerings modeled after the cuisine of the Middle East.

Honestly, I have only ever had breakfast/brunch at Amy’s. I’m not one for sweets at breakfast, so I generally stick with eggs and home fries or a good omelet, and Amy’s does both well. Recently I have had an acquaintance rave to me about the french toast on a few occasions, so when I was in the neighborhood the other day, I decided to give it a try.

The L.A. Cinnamon Toast is available as a meal for $4.50, or as a side for $2.50. Why its called “L.A.” Cinnamon Toast, I cannot be sure. The use of…

Here's the lowdown on Sangria, providing a perfect opportunity for you if you're looking to serve a refreshing beverage at your next get together. Sangria is a fantastic warm weather cocktail. Though there are many versions of the drink, and it is a recipe simple enough to alter to your own specifications, it is basically made by combining a fruity, red wine with citrus and allowing it to sit for at least 24 hours.

The best thing about choosing sangria as your party's signature drink is that it must be made well in advance of the shindig. So instead of mixing every cocktail to order, this option allows you more time to focus on the food and your guests. Better yet, since the quality of the wine is relatively unimportant, it’s a very affordable option as well.

Party on the move? It's perfect for a picnic or the beach as well. In that case, perhaps a little sangria bla…

I had lunch at the gas station again. You heard me. I’ve told you about the Delta Sonic once before, and here I am again. You really can’t get much lower on the culinary food chain than gas station cuisine. But that’s not the case at the Delta Sonic. It positively trumps every fast food chain you can think of when it comes to good, affordable food. And everything is super fresh.

Lunchers enjoy a good selection which includes hand carved turkey and roast beef sandwiches, the ever-present panini, BBQ pulled pork, brick oven pizza, mac and cheese, roasted veggies and really good salads.

I get a salad from the Sonic Café at least twice a week. For $4.40, it really can’t be beat. It seems to me that it the portion size is much larger if you get it to go, so I would suggest that you do just t…

Meet Bruce Deachman. Bruce is a writer for the Ottawa Citizen paper. He's in town today to see what there is to do in Buffalo. After a certain Ottawa hockey goalie claimed that there was nothing to do in Buffalo he figured he would come in to see if the statement was accurate.

After getting in late last night he made it over to City Hall this morning to witness the friendly bet wagered between the Mayors of Buffalo and Ottawa. Bruce clued me in that he would be spending the rest of the day touring Buffalo in order to report (back in Ottawa) on what our city was really like. This was not the first time that he had paid a visit to the city, and he was very upfront about his not-so-fond memories (mostly passing through without looking around). That meant that an insiders' tour was in order. David Granville (City Hall) and I decided that the best thing to do was to load Bruce into …