Back in April, ‘Character’ – a property company (affiliate of Legacy Development) – announced that it was moving forward with a business concept competition (called Make-it on Main), where entrepreneurs would vie for a new restaurant space at 808.5 Main Street.
After ploughing through a number of business plan concepts, three rose to to the top. It turned out that the three businesses were all restaurant oriented – Khoshmazeh, Dark Rose Deli and Knishery, and Dimples.
Similar to how tech start-ups compete for a variety of fiscal and service-oriented offerings, Character feels that the restaurant industry could greatly benefit from similar tactics.
On Wednesday, August 25, the three finalists will go head to head, competing against each other in a food truck event that will allow the public to see who has the chops to make it to the top. The winner of the battle will be offered the dynamic new restaurant space, along with a year of free rent, and plenty of “supportive resources” to ensure that the new tenant is able to successfully establish itself.
The three restaurant concepts vying for top honors (and the spoils) are as follows:
Khoshmazeh (means delicious Dari) seeks to introduce the rich culinary history of Afghanistan to Buffalonians in emphasizing traditional home cooking recipes that that emphasize richness, depth of flavor, and fresh ingredients. A small family-run restaurant, the team gained success with their pop-ups in the Broadway Market. As the only true Afgan restaurant in WNY, Khoshmazeh seeks to fill the gap in this cuisine and bring its flavors to a broader audience.
Dark Rose Deli and Knishery is the offshoot of “Bloom and Rose,” is a modern Jewish deli whose tagline is “Vaguely Traditional/Weirdly Delicious.” Currently the team operated out of a ghost kitchen and focuses on artisanal knish manufacturing. The Dark Rose Deli was inspired by many of NYC’s Jewish delis, as well as those that they grew up hearing stories about along Hertel Avenue. The team hopes to reignite this cuisine on the local market serving from-scratch traditional concepts with a unique, trendy twist.
Dimples (Dutch Mini Pancakes) is a fast casual pancake house and café. Inspired by the food his Dutch grandparents made him, this operator plans to bring traditional Dutch pannenkoaken and poffertjes to Buffalo. Pannenkoeken are large, thin pancakes often made savory and eaten for lunch or dinner. They differ from crêpe due to a different batter, thickness, and most importantly by featuring ingredients cooked into the pancake. Poffertjes are Dutch pancakes and are the core sweet aspect of the Dimples menu. Dimples aspires to blend international experiences and flavors with local ingredients and products in the curation of this unique offering.
In order to get these contestants into the food truck ring, Lloyd Taco has offered three of their trucks for the day.
“This should be an exciting event, tasting the finalists food and seeing them in action!” said Eamon J.P. Riley, Director of Development at Character: A property company.
This is going to be a tough one, because all of these concepts sound like terrific ideas. Let’s hope that the runner-ups are offered similar deals by other progressive Buffalo developers, so that they can further establish themselves in Buffalo as well.
The public is invited to come taste the food and cheer on their favorite teams.
Make it on Main (Food Truck Battle)
Wednesday, August 25 , 2021
Starting at 5:30pm
808.5 Main Street Buffalo NY
