How We Eat: Mama’s House
Posted on Friday, July 9th, 2010
by block club
By Ben Siegel
She made it with pork chops. That was her secret. She used beef for the meatballs, maybe a little veal for diversity, but she used pork chops in her sauce. I didn’t know what mysterious ingredient had made my grandmother’s sauce––gravy, some Italians call it––so sweet and meaty, so absolutely delicious that you wanted to sit there and down the whole pot while waiting for the pasta water to boil.
We did not eat most Sunday dinners at her house, though my selective memory attacks that part of the story whenever we start talking of Nana’s sauce. Every bowl of spaghetti (or Gondola cheese ravioli) and red sauce––every meal really––felt like Sunday dinner there. The table talk, the moment to sit down, to feel realxed and not judged, the knowing that everyone at the table was in need of a respite just like you… and a bowl of that sauce.
It doesnít matter how suffocating your busy workweek schedules were: if you weren’t at Sunday dinner you were making a statement. I suspect it’s similar to the scorn you might receive if you slept in and didn’t show up to church (not coincidentally, also on Sunday). These are family events that require not an invitation but an understanding that yes, you will be there and yes, you will look nice. We have never been so formal in our house, but there was also never a good enough exaplanation of where else you might possibly need to be while dinner was being served at home. “Who would want to eat anywhere else,” my grandmother would quip.
The red sauce made its appearance on a regular basis when we ate at Nana’s. Sometimes we had brisket or barbeque ribs, with mashed potatoes or a baked sweet potato, popping with tacky natural sugar. At our house, my mother’s sauce––decidedly chunkier and sweeter than her mother’s, though still a treat––was a regular fixture on our plates. In the summer, we’d grill burgers and dogs, boil some local corn and dig in. It’s always been a vertiable “who’s who” (or “what’s what”) of cuisine on our tables.
Difficult as it might be to tell from my account of these meals, the food was not the focal point of the night. It was talked about, gushed over, eaten in as many servings as we figured our stomachs could handle. But it was the blueprint on which our busy weeks would unfold. • Some mealtime conversations were mere summations of what happened to us that week, which while not exciting is still a comforting thing to know you can do in the presence of other people. Sundays are about decompressing. Other times, we would convene to strategize an upcoming project or dilemma. Who would give mom a ride to and from work the day that she had to take her car into the shop, and would that interfere with getting me to my after-school piano lesson?
Details, details, details. Love, love, love. We’ve all heard the studies that stress the importance of nightly family dinners. As a result, kids supposedly steal less and parents supposedly yell less. That’s not for me to say, but I can tell you this: when you have Sunday dinners, and when that meal includes a pork chop, then you’ve got something special.
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How We Eat: Potlucky
Posted on Friday, July 9th, 2010
by block club
By Leslie Church
I was a little nervous about going to the community potluck at the Nickel City co-op house on North Street and Elmwood. For someone who has trouble talking to total strangers, the idea of sharing a dinner with them was enough to cause an upset stomach.
My first concern was what to bring. I hate to stereotype, but I will anyways. A juicy slab of hamburger meat probably won’t get mouths watering in a house of eco-conscious, bicycle-riding, more-than-likely vegetarians. So I went with green beans in pesto sauce. Green, a co-op dweller’s favorite color!, I mused. I walked up to the house, and before I had time to second-guess my use of Saran Wrap as a cover for my dish (very un-green of me), it quickly became clear that this was a judgment-free zone.
It felt like the first day of college, where everyone you encounter introduces themselves with a handshake and a smile. “Co-op” seemed like less of a hippie-dippy term and more like a new way to define community.
In a neighborhood, you share front lawns and sidewalks. In Ol’ Wondermoth (the co-op house’s name, an anagram of North and Elmwood), residents share bathrooms, chores, philosophical debates, and perhaps most importantly, food. Everyone puts in money for a shared stockpile of items in the kitchen.
The communal kitchen gives housemates a chance to bond—it’s a tried and true cliché that food brings people together. On Wednesdays, the house opens its doors to share that experience with the public.
It’s about more than food. It’s about sharing, and building something greater than you can on your own,” said Anna Miller, a regular potluck attendee from Buffalo. For Ben Madoff, a house member, it is about the food, but the food is a peek into who a person is, and he likes to see what people bring to the table.
“When people have to bring food it usually means that they express something of themselves in the food,” he said. “Unless they bring chips. Then you can’t really get a read on them.”
Someone did bring chips, in fact. Tortilla chips. They might not have revealed much about their owner’s personality, but they sure were popular.
I hoped my green beans werenít shouting, “I don’t know how to cook!” sitting on the counter between some deliciously-marinated tofu and what looked like a handmade pizza. But as we sat around asking each other fun getting-to-know-you questions, the sounds of friendships forming was louder than anything my self-conscious green beans could have said, and my initial worries about eating with strangers dissolved.
Sharing a meal with someone here is a rich experience, one that forms quick, new bonds. If you plan on going to a potluck at Ol’ Wondermoth, expect to quickly go from nervous newcomer to part of the community in just a few bites.
BRING A DISH TO SHARE. Potlucks at Ol’ Wondermoth (208 North St., Buffalo) are held Wednesdays at 7 p.m. Its sister house, Plankton (126 Fargo Ave., Buffalo), has potlucks on Sundays at 7 p.m.
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Diary of a Foodie: Richard Mills
Posted on Friday, July 9th, 2010
by block club
RICHARD MILLS
DEPARTMENT CHAIR, CULINARY ARTS AND BAKING & PASTRY ARTS AT ECC CITY CAMPUS
If you had asked me a while ago to document “a day of my diet” it would have been significantly different. I recently lost 50 pounds, initially so as to not look like a penguin in my tux at my daughter’s wedding last year, but realizing that being that much overweight and looking at the rapid onset of my 60th birthday gave me a reality check.
My job would give me the opportunity, on occasion, to consume 1,000 calories or so just walking from my office and past three kitchens on the way to our E.M. Statler Dining Room. I still sample the occasional slice of foie gras pâté, chicken and sausage gumbo or apple pie with streusel topping during the academic year, but with much less frequency.
My breakfast most days will be Greek yogurt with granola, some dried cranberries and occasionally toasted coconut, and espresso. Or just espresso.
I admit to being a coffee snob, and after accompanying my wife, department chair for Modern Languages at Daemen, on several trips to Spain and Italy, I purchased my own espresso machine several years ago, which is used throughout the day.
The only breakfast variation would be an omelet or frittata with whatever is around, or my new favorite, scrambled eggs with smoked salmon (and espresso), common morning fare in London, where we just returned from visiting our daughter who lives there. For over 25 years, our eggs and chicken (and other local products) have come to our front door from Akron Farms Poultry.
I really do not eat lunch, per se. Veggies, fruit, cheese, 100-calorie snack packs (part of my weight-maintenance program), espresso and San Pelligrino sparkling water (my other Mediterranean-based indulgence) are consumed randomly.
Dinner, especially now, often arrives on the table from my grill. Asparagus, corn, zucchini, sausage, the occasional Sahlen’s, chicken, fish and shrimp are ususal fare. Our CSA delivery from Porter Farms is a weekly assortment of just-picked organic vegetables from the end of June until after Halloween, helping fill the dinner menu.
During the winter, when we are both working, take-out often comes from DiMarco’s Pizza, May-Jen Chinese, Taste of India or Saigon Bangkok. And when we do dine out, Shango, Torches, Betty’s and Sienna are usual destinations, giving me the opportunity to see some friends, and graduates, in the kitchen.
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Diary of a Chef: Karl Derry
Posted on Friday, July 9th, 2010
by block club
KARL DERRY
CHEF, MERGE RESTAURANT
When it comes to eating, I keep two thoughts in mind: sustainability and personal health. Here in Buffalo we have a vast community filled with a variety of locally owned stores that sell great products that are affordable and good for you as well. The main shops I tend to visit on a regular basis are the Pu Thai Asian Market, Guercio & Sons and The Lexington Co-Op, all of which are locally owned and sell food that is hard to find in an ordinary grocery store.
Every morning I follow the same eating routine: a shot of Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar with a blueberry juice chaser followed by two rice rolls filled with either a hard-boiled egg or sardines along with mesclun greens and any other veggies I have in the fridge. I eat this every day because of my father, who fought a bout with colon cancer, leaving me with a high risk of contracting the same disease. So, it is very important to me to keep my digestive system in track. Also, breakfast is the only time I can eat a meal in peace because working in a kitchen requires me to work late afternoons and into the night, leaving no time to eat a full lunch or dinner.
To acquire my food I usually visit the Pu Thai Market at least twice a week where I purchase Three Sisters brand rice paper for only $1.35 a package. Comparing the price to the same brand sold at Wegman’s for $4 a pop, it’s a steal. Other items sold here are inexpensive, such as chili sauce and sesame oil. They also sell a variety of hard-to-find produce such as Asian plums, lotus root, Thai basil, fresh coriander, cassava leaf––the list goes on––all on average at a cost of $1 to $3 a pound. Shopping here supports local immigrants as well as their awesome business. I consider the Pu Thai Market my hidden sanctuary of the West Side.
Most of my conventional produce comes from either Guercio’s or local farmers’ markets. I choose these because their product is always changing with the season. This tells me the produce is either local or came from an ordinary farm, not a corporate-owned plantation.
When going out to eat I tend to stick to places within walking/biking distance. One of my favorite places to eat is JJ’s Diner on Kenmore Avenue. It isn’t exactly the healthiest place to eat but the restaurant is cozy and the owner is the nicest guy you’d ever want meet. They’re known for their 99-cent breakfast––well it’s now $1.50 but it was only a dollar when I was a kid. In this meal come the best home fries you’ll ever try, two eggs and toast. Add a bottomless coffee for just one extra dollar.
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How We Eat: Fourth Meal
Posted on Friday, July 9th, 2010
by block club
By Leslie Church
If you haven’t ventured too far from Buffalo, you might not realize how lucky we are to have such a long list of late-night establishments open when hunger strikes in the early morning hours. Well past the bedtimes of most Americans, the neon signs for Jim’s SteakOut, Mighty Taco and the last of the 24-hour diners still light up the night sky.
Your beer-goggled eyes might not be able to make out the menu, but chances are you already know what you want. Something fried. Something greasy. Something that will take full-advantage of your liquor-induced lack of inhibitions. It’s a high-calorie slap in the face of your regular diet, and you love it. You won’t regret it in the morning because you probably won’t remember it. But when the first bite hits your lips, you swear you’d marry it if you could. It’s the ultimate one-night-stand.
Perhaps we should be thanking Buffalo’s industrial past for it. When the night shift workers would get out of the factories, they’d step into a bar to wind down with a cold beer, which accommodated the now-notorious 4 a.m. last call. With bars staying open later, the restaurants would naturally follow suit by offering after-hours meals well into the morning.
Maybe itís not exactly a cultural selling point—drinking to excess and then downing a mind-boggling amount of bad-for-you food. But look at it from a different standpoint––like after you’ve had a few drinks––and you’ll see a city of people who know to enjoy themselves to the fullest (literally). And that’s not such a bad thing at all.
COLLEGE PLATE. Only in the University Heights could this mountain of food look appealing. University Hots (3225 Main St., Buffalo) is responsible for the fabled College Plate––don’t call them Garbage Plates; that’s a Rochester thing, and copyrighted!––a styrofoam container stuffed mercilessly with macaroni salad, baked beans, home fries, weiners, hamburgers, grilled cheese sandwiches, chicken fingers, pulled pork and a fried egg, if your late night turns into an early morning.
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Diary of a Food Writer: Lisa Hunter
Posted on Friday, July 9th, 2010
by block club
LISA HUNTER
EDITOR, EDIBLE BUFFALO MAGAZINE
My mornings are fairly routine. I’m an early riser, so each day must begin with coffee. I admit I was an ardent drinker of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee until recently. But these days I am thrilled to be drinking New Day Coffee’s Brazil Bob-O-Link roast. New Day is a local coffee roaster who specializes in fair trade, direct trade and organic coffees. I’ve become particularly fond of this roast because of its smooth, rich flavor which doesn’t require copious amounts of half and half or raw sugar to drink. Most days I drink it black, it is that good.
I more often than not drink my coffee with some toast and yogurt. I vacillate between two slices of raisin cinnamon Monk’s Bread or two slices of whole-grain slathered with Blackman Homestead Farm’s Pear Port Butter (my fave!). Breakfast is rounded out by a small bowl of vanilla yogurt.
My office is out of my home, so lunch is never a sit-down meal but rather a series of grazing sessions. One of my favorite job perks is getting food samples to try. I recently took a trip down to Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture in Westchester County where I was meeting with my fellow New York Edible publishers. I scored lots of yummy things to bring back home, including vegan roasted coconut marshmallows from Queens, a not-big-enough-jar of pâté from the Piggery in Trumansburg, decadent chocolate brownies (pretty sure they were flourless) from Black Cat Bakery in Sharon Springs, and to top it off, a goody bag from Blue Hill Restaurant (this is considered Mecca for die-hard farm-to-table foodies). Included in the goody bag were a jar of local strawberry preserves, fresh-made granola and spicy glazed macadamia nuts, all from the Blue Hill kitchen. This potpourri has comprised much of my lunch grazing rotation these days. Throw in some New York State sharp cheddar cheese on cracked wheat crackers, a sliced Macoun apple and voila! Lunch.
Dinner is a frittata. It is fast, easy, and can be varied depending on what’s in season. I always use the same base: angel hair pasta mixed with a couple of fresh eggs (I use Windy Ridge Natural Farms pastured eggs) and shredded parmesan cheese. The rest is improvisation. Fresh spinach from the farmers’ market, capers, crushed whole tomatoes (Muir Glen organic––my stand-by when tomatoes aren’t in season), kalamata olives, fresh garlic and some anchovy paste (why not!). I always enjoy having a light red wine with an egg dish so I usually pair my frittata with Arrowhead Spring Vineyards’ Apogee or Freedom Run Winery’s 2008 Estate Pinot Noir.
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How We Eat: Lunch Break
Posted on Friday, July 9th, 2010
by block club
By Ben Siegel
Inside the contemporary office building on Delaware Avenue that now stands between Babeville––Ani DiFranco’s church-turned-arts center––and the WGRZ-TV news studios, is one of the most recognizable names in Buffalo’s food dynasty. You wouldn’t know from the looks of it, though. This sleek new structure, standing five stories tall and housing offices for M&T Bank and Conestoga-Rovers & Associates, an environmental engineering agency, screams the future. In this kind of office building, hummus wraps and Blackberry teleconferences constitute the new American business lunch. Which is why the presence of Risa Paonessa, tucked into the back of the lobby, carving away at a generations-old corned beef family recipe, is such a warm surprise.
Risa continues the tradition set forth by her father at his Hertel Avenue deli, Stumpy’s, known for its corned beef and other Jewish deli delicacies. Risa worked and later managed her father’s restaurant before closing the doors in 1997. She opened her own deli on Hertel in 2003, but when her lease there ran its course she closed and looked for a new location. The prospects of being downtown were promising, with the legal and medical corridors easily positioned for ample counter and catering traffic. It appears her new patrons, many of whom wear suits and converse in banking lingo, are happy to have her. They are a far cry from the Italian and Jewish retirees––“you know, street people,” she says––who populated Hertel, but downtown, Risa has settled in comfortably. Here, she is both doting mother, with her daily pot of matzo ball soup, and fellow businessperson.
Some don’t know what a matzo ball is. “A lot of the workers in the building ask, ‘What’s a matzo ball?’” she says. The Jewish dumpling––made from ground matzo (which is made from flour and water), egg and chicken fat––is served in a big bowl of hearty chicken soup, with vegetables and thick homestyle noodles. It’s mother incarnate. “You know, maybe people don’t like corned beef, but I won’t find someone who doesn’t like this soup. Talk about comfort food,” she says. “When you’re not feeling good: chicken soup!”
It’s that caring nature that has kept Risa’s kitchen busy the last few years. She has regulars at her new downtown location just the same as when she was on Hertel Avenue, where she had been known to have your regular order ready by the time you walked in the door. “We always knew what all the customers ate. Sometimes before they walked in the door, it was ready. That’s customer service. There’s certainly not enough of that anymore. I tell people, tell me what you want. We’ll make it for you [even] if it’s not on the menu. If I have it, we can do whatever you want,” she says with her familiar sly smile. Risa’s wisecracks are as legendary as her sandwiches. “I’m the boss.”
It’s her fatherís popular corned beef that is the draw for many. The pickled brisket is popular in many ethnic kitchens, from the Irish to the Jewish. But even those who are difficult to persuade might change their tune once they take a bite, Risa says. “If they say they don’t like corned beef, I say, ‘Well why don’t you try this corned beef?’ Ours is different,” she says. “So just try it.”
Just as locations of businesses change over the years, so does the clientele. On Hertel, where at any time of day you could see a small table of guys wearing caps and playing cards, more traditional New York deli fare was popular. In her new space, suits come in for quick business lunches, which Risa points out now includes more salad and wrap orders than ever before. And in the breakneck of the afternoon, it’s a rush for the sweets. “I can’t keep up with brownies,” she says. “Three o’clock in the afternoon, people come down here for those brownies. They need that afternoon pick-me-up.”
Ask anyone whoís been to either location of Risa’s Deli, and they’ll vouch for her ability to pick anybody up, in a bowl of soup or between two slices of Jewish rye. Generations of customers have been coming back for a taste of Stumpy’s or a bowl of Risa’s. “The people my parents had, I get those people back. It seems like every store we’ve been in, the same people come back.”
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Reason No. 33: Going abroad.
Posted on Wednesday, June 9th, 2010
by block club
Oh, Canada! Gone are the days when one American dollar could buy dinner for four over the border, but nevertheless, our neighbor to the north still delights. It’s a unique experience to head to another nation for a quick romp, and it’s safe to say no Buffalo summer would be complete without a day trip to the Canadian shores. If you casually mention that you go to Canada for an hour or two to have dinner, take a dip or enjoy some shopping to anyone living outside of an international border zone, they will most certainly look at you as if you have two heads. And that’s when it hits you; it’s awesome that we live but a stone’s throw from another great nation! Best bets for summer include: Biking along the Niagara Scenic Trail, an afternoon in Niagara-on-the-Lake, strolls through Toronto’s Cabbage Town or Queen Street West neighborhoods, the beaches of Point Abino and Crystal Beach, dinner at Ming Teh in Fort Erie, sailing between Youngstown and Toronto and walking into Canada over the Rainbow Bridge (don’t forget your passport). Sarah Palin may have been able to see Russia from her house, but Buffalo, it sure feels good to see Canada from our backyards.
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Reason No. 32: Going topless on a bridge.
Posted on Monday, June 7th, 2010
by block club
Take that cookie jar savings fund and make good use of it today at the airport. You don’t need to pack your bags, just go to the Hertz rental counter and rent one of their convertibles (they are the only car rental company in the area with one available, apparently), because today you’re going for a ride. A day’s rental will run you about $125, which is still cheaper than a flight to New York City or a winter’s worth of parking tickets. Live a little! Once you’ve put your top down, it’s time to hit the bridges. The Grand Island bridges always offer a great “Weee!” factor, as does the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge overlooking the Niagara Gorge. So go topless this summer and live a little. Thelma and Louise did it, and so can you. (On second thought, they’re a bad example.)
Image courtesy seriouswheels.com.
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Reason No. 31: Popping a wheelie.
Posted on Saturday, June 5th, 2010
by block club
The saying goes that certain things are like riding a bike—once you learn, you’ll always know how. Well if you haven’t hopped on one since you were 12, you’ll find that this old adage isn’t entirely true. That being said, it’s never too late to hop on a two-wheeler and go for a ride. For a long distance trek with plenty of sightseeing, start at Fort Erie and work your way up to the Falls on the Niagara River Recreational Trail—about 20 miles one way. If you’re looking for a more leisurely ride, BFLO Harbor Kayak rents bikes (and kayaks, of course) by the hour in Naval Park where you can explore the downtown water scene. Or take a chance on a little nighttime adventure with a Midnight Bike Ride. Every Sunday at midnight a group of cyclists meet at the corner of Allen and Wadsworth Streets, in front of The Bend, and bike to a to-be-determined spot. Just don’t fall asleep at the wheel—this group is known to stay out ‘til morning. Image courtesy Bike Commuter Tips.
