Author: CSeychew

You don’t need BR to tell you that The Black Eyed Peas are coming to town this week. The Peas are one of the few musical groups today that possess both tons of street cred and mass appeal. I think even card carrying AARP members could identify at least a single band member, and perhaps even hum along to one of their tunes.Wednesday, after the big show at HSBC, you can be sure that Buffalonians will tweet, text message or update their Facebook status with notes about where the band’s various members can be (or have been) spotted throughout the…

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Whether its a side effect of the economy, the lure of a lavish meal with friends, or the adventure found in allowing someone else to determine what you will have for dinner, this summer the number of supper club and buy-out dinners hosted in Buffalo at small local restaurants is happening with a regularity not found in recent memory. Additionally, the popularity of the prix fixe concept, which was once found only in French-American restaurants, has taken hold in chain restaurants and elsewhere.To begin, let’s define these terms for the sake of moving forward. In this instance, a buy-out occurs…

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I am proud to say that I have a very interesting and successful circle of friends. Some of them I tend to brag about more than others. Brian Johnson is one of those friends. He was the one brave person I knew who had the chops to pick up everything after graduating from Kenmore East Senior High School and move to New York City. Between graduation in 2003 and today he has managed to land significant roles in two of the freshest rock operas Broadway has seen in years, Spring Awakening and Green Day’s American Idiot. Both shows have been…

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Tomorrow, Saturday June 26th the Buffalo Indie Market – Citybration 2010 will kick off at 9am for the second year in a row on Bidwell Parkway at Elmwood Avenue opposite the Bidwell Farmers Market! Shop from over 20 Buffalo artists & designers, nine returning from last years show, plus six artists participating in their first Buffalo Indie Market Show together in celebration of our great city! Many handmade Buffalo inspired products to choose from. Make sure to check out Erin Makes Stuff (image) the Buffalo Indie Market Pick of the Month! Erin K. Busch, owner and creator of Erin Makes…

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Even though the weather seemed a bit iffy, it was great to see a solid turn out early this morning for the 13th annual Rediscover Amherst Street Festival. For the third or fourth year in a row I was invited to judge the Best Pie in Black Rock contest, along with rock star-turned foodie, Nelson Starr and the uber-talented baker and owner of Carriage Trade Pastries, Shandra Beutner. Nineteen pies were entered; the only rule on the books was that they be submitted by someone “who loves Black Rock”. Well, that’s easy enough. Each year the contest grows, and the pies…

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Last month’s discussion of where President Obama should dine during his brief visit to Buffalo inspired a comment from a reader with the handle “boozehound”. Our reader suggested that the banana cream pie at Mazurek’s was noteworthy, and that I, myself (after complaining about Buffalo’s “poor pie possibilities”) should give it a try. So I did.I’d stopped into Mazurek’s before to pick up fresh donuts for a meeting and was pleased to find both old-fashioned charm and a large array of sweets. The couple responsible for shoring up their neighborhood with good fresh rye bread (still warm from the oven…

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For the last few years I’ve had the distinct pleasure of being a judge at the annual pie contest that is held in conjunction with the Rediscover Amherst Street festival. The neighborhood has undergone so many changes since then, and the pies get better every year. This year I will be joined by fellow judges and pie aficionados, Nelson Starr of All-Access Pass, as well as neighborhood baker, Shandra Beutner of Carriage Trade Pastries (we recently covered her killer sticky buns, if you’ll remember).ANYONE can enter, as long as they aren’t a pro. Pies must be delivered to Assumption Church…

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Author Michael Perry (Population: 485; Trailer) will be in town on Saturday promoting his latest book, Coop: A Family, A Farm and the Pursuit of One Good Egg (HarperCollins). Perry, who supports his small, family farm with his work as a writer, shares the trials and tribulations of returning to the farmhouse and land of his youth, a disheveled, thirty-seven acre lot located in Wisconsin. Coop has garnered much praise, and we look forward to his appearance here at Talking Leaves on Main Street. In between tour stops, he had the time to answer a few of my questions:Buffalo Rising:…

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With tableaus as stunning and detailed as the one above, it is easy to define Art Alive as art itself. The annual event, held by Albright-Knox Art Gallery, features volunteer “artists” ranging in age from pre-kindergarten through senior citizen, modeling – through form, art supplies and ingenuity -one of the gallery’s featured works. What is almost always a steamy summer day is certainly one of the most enjoyable events of the season. The level of creativity displayed each year is increasingly inspiring, and with Buffalo’s lack of buskers, street artists, murals and commissioned public sculpture, it is a refreshing reminder…

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Those who regularly tune in to Buffalo Rising know that we’ve been eagerly awaiting the official unveiling of SeaBar’s newly expanded digs and menu. For years now, Chef Mike Andrzejewski has offered guests some of the freshest and most inventive sushi in our area – along with a handful of other dishes – from his small, sparsely decorated downtown location. Its parent, the suburban SeaBar, closed its doors a month or two ago in preparation for the expansion of the downtown location, which now includes a large lounge and bar area, as well as more than doubling the number of…

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