On the corner of Pennsylvania and Normal Avenues, across from Kleinhans, sits a stalwart of old Buffalo dining. And it has a name that ends in an apostrophe s to prove it.
Bellini’s Bistro hasn’t been open a year, but its pedigree extends back to 2001, when a version of it operated on Delaware Avenue in the building that now houses Snooty Fox. That location closed in 2006. But step inside its newest incarnation, and you’d be hard pressed to determine time has passed. If many of the restaurants that have cropped up in the city in the past handful of years are New School, as Andrew Galarneau describes them, then Bellini’s is decidedly and unapologetically Old School.
I don’t mean that pejoratively. I have fond memories of eating out with my parents as a child, when mid-level Buffalo dining seemed to mean white tablecloths, heaps of serviceable Italian-American fare, and dining rooms full of guests in pleated-front Dockers sporting unironic mustaches and asking servers for “pop” with a nasality that would give Fran Drescher pause. Back then, restaurant interiors weren’t painstakingly wrought from lath wood under the guidance of design consultants, and food was straightforward and comforting. The scene wasn’t particularly urbane or polished, but it had its distinctive charms.
It’s Bellini’s Old School charm that prompted a friend to recommend it to me in the first place.
“To me, it’s the perfect place on a cold or rainy night to pop into and escape the madness, he sad. “It’s comfortable. Sometimes I just want a restaurant that lets me relax, without any hype.”
On the night I dined, service was a folksy, somewhat hurried exchange that rang familiar. The concise, conservative menu was bereft of trends, but it did offer intriguing options, including a traditional Bolognese ($19) that one local chef I know considers the best in town. Having tried the dish, my opinion does not necessarily align with hers. But food is subjective like that.
Chicken Milanese ($19), duck breast au poivre ($27), seafood fettuccine ($26), and pesto pasta ($16) rounded out the entrees that night. An appetizer called scallops Rockefeller ($14) benefitted from nicely cooked shellfish, even if the accompanying risotto and spinach cream sauce were somewhat gluey.
At the behest of our server, a tipsy party of six baby boomers at a neighboring table cajoled us to order dessert. The homemade cakes are delicious, they promised with authority of regulars. And they were right. An exceedingly moist triple-layer coconut cake was a highlight of the evening.
Bellini’s is not a destination restaurant if you’re seeking out the city’s progressive restaurant scene. But for a taste of Old School Buffalo, a convenient pre-Kleinhans meal, or a wonderfully squidgy old fashioned dessert, consider it on your radar.
Bellini’s Bistro | 350 Pennsylvania Street | Buffalo, New York, NY 14201 | (716) 342-2388 | Facebook