Spring is here! Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center is introducing springtime to the region with a sit down dinner at the Club Level of Bijou Grille on Main Street in Downtown Buffalo. The Spring Dinner takes place on Sunday, March 9th from 5-9PM. Come and enjoy four hours filled with good food, beer, wine and interesting people united by the common cause of supporting the arts in Buffalo. A simple, fresh field green salad will be followed by your choice of entrée, either chicken francaise, sliced top round of beef, or pasta marinara. Dinner will conclude with coffee, tea and dessert.…
Author: John Carocci
Polar Bites ’08 pulled me out of my winter den to try some tempting samples for a good cause. But I needed a partner in crime because there was no way I could try everything and not look like Violet Beauregard being rolled away to the juicing room by Oompa Loompas afterwards. So I brought my husband, Mr. Meat and Potatoes, because our palates are polar opposites. This way we could cover the most ground. So Mr. Meat and Potatoes and I had a date! Willingly, we braved crowds, and in some cases long lines, to appease our appetites with…
February may be one of the harder months in the Northeast, especially here in Buffalo. The groundhog lets us know that either way we look at it, there are six more weeks until spring. There are not many better ways to liven up the bleak mid-winter and chase away the seasonal blahs than Mardi Gras–or, as Shea’s Performing Arts would have you believe–Martini Gras! The eighth annual Martini Gras event will take place Saturday, February 23 at Shea’s from 8PM until Midnight. Festivities take the form of psychic readings, a basket raffle, and gambling tables with “Shea’s Bucks”, all of…
There is a theory that promotes the idea that cold weather makes a heart grow fonder. One piece of evidence that could be offered up in support of this theory is the popular Buffalo Zoo fundraiser, Polar Bites. Polar Bites takes place later this week, a chance to emerge from your wintertime den and join the festivities in support of the Buffalo Zoo. Taking place at the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center on February 21st from 6-9PM, party goers will have the chance to sample culinary delights, delicious desserts, and beer and wine from 35 local and regional vendors. Selections include…
I’ve managed to work those seven words into every conversation I’ve had since August, and it’s great to say something other than “um, nothing” when people ask me what’s new. So yeah, I made a movie this summer. It all started innocently enough. Brian Milbrand (filmmaker, video artist and fellow member of Buffalo’s beloved Real Dream Cabaret) asked if I wanted to get involved in a project. I figured he meant a couple of hours on Allen Street, goofing around with a video camera and a box of wigs. But when I showed up for the first planning meeting I…
Every springtime; General Motors and the Olmsted Parks Conservancy team up to beautify and maintain the historical and much-loved Riverside Park in the Black Rock/Riverside neighborhood of the Western part of Buffalo. “We try to coordinate it with Earth Day,” says Mary Ann Brown, the Plant Communications Manager at the General Motors Powertrain Tonawanda Engine Plant, “but sometimes there is still snow on the ground then, so we do it a little later. We make a picnic out of it.” Powertrain has about 1800 employees, and between thirty and sixty of them put a day’s worth of “sweat equity” into…
“One day, I’d like to write a novel,” is a comment I’m very familiar with hearing. People have been known to think that writing a novel requires literary talent, fantastic language skills, years of planning and commitment. All of which is not true: writing a novel just takes is a firm, staggering deadline. And coffee. Lots of coffee. As Halloween ends at midnight on November 1st, hundreds of writers from Buffalo region will join more than 100,000 writers in over 70 countries as part of the largest writing contest in the world, by beginning to write a novel in 30…
The Urban Roots Community Garden Center held its first Fall Festival and Plant Swap on Saturday, despite a few thunder showers. Come on, you didn’t really think a bit of rain was going to stop the fun, did you? The Fall Festival provided a great opportunity for the neighborhood to see what the Center is about, and the final attendance tally for the day topped out at over 400 people! Members and passers-by traded plants – and gardening tips – at the plant swap, and there was face painting and pumpkin decorating for the kids, who also got to create…
Fall may be bearing down on Buffalo, but on Monday evening Delaware Park was as alive as I’ve ever seen it. The Buffalo Jugglers were in their usual spot over by the Rose Garden, throwing and catching all manner of objects, and the sidewalks teemed with walkers enjoying a late summer evening stroll. A new sight caught my eye on the Albright-Knox lawn… an artist, complete with easel and palette, hard at work on the gallery’s portico. Turns out he’s Tom Barlow (top), visiting Buffalo from New York City and taking advantage of a lovely view. The shimmering evening light…
Ladies and Gentlemen, it’s time to cast your vote! Last night, as my boyfriend was contemplating whether or not to trade his linebacker, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to work on my own fantasy “team.” Your suggestions in the first round were creative and interesting. Many even required that I do research. The top ten picks follow, along with a brief description of the dish. Cast your vote for our favorite dish by posting the number that corresponds to it. Buffalo Rising is in the process of finding a restaurant that will host a Buffalo Rising Night, featuring…