Buffalo Rising Online

A year ago, Larry Mattison and Shelly Reed bought a restaurant and built a time machine. “We want to recreate the 1940’s Supper Club,” Larry says. The 1905 restaurant they are revitalizing is located on Tonawanda Street, just across from the historic Riverside Park.

Supper clubs, I read on Wikipedia, are a special type of restaurant native to the U.S. The first supper clubs appeared in the 1930s and 1940s. As their name suggests, supper clubs are primarily open at “supper” time, between four and ten. Fortunato’s On the Park keeps evening hours Wednesday through Sunday and intends to cater lunches for area businesses. In addition to serving supper, “supper clubs” have a special atmosphere that is formal but not snooty. Supper club food is typically casual American, at Fortunato’s surf and turf is at the top of the menu.

Perhaps the most distinctive feature of a supper club is its entertainment. In keeping with, and reviving, this tradition, (resum…