Buzz went last night to Iris, on Maple Road in Amherst, to see the jazz singer Mary Stahl. That is Mary pictured above with her pianist, Jim Calabrese, in a News file photo we love.
The musicians were great. But the restaurant's menu was equally entertaining.
It is the most eggheaded menu we have ever seen!
There is a burger called Beowulf. It is a bacon cheeseburger identified with a quote: "The squealing beast hath been slain."
Another burger is the John Steinbeck. "No mice, no men. Only beef, I promise."
The "signature burger" topped with nacho cheese and jalapenos is called the Inigo Montoya. That one has the best quote: "You killed my father, now prepare my meal." Darned if we know what that quote means, but it is certainly dramatic.
Alas, this bodes ill for the economy.
There must be English majors back there flipping burgers!
A buddy went to the Niagara Falls Walmart the other day to choose a cheap turkey. She could not help noticing that gathered around the display of bargain turkeys were customers with carts piled high with them. We are talking dozens of big, slippery turkeys! Unlike Tops and Wegmans, Walmart placed no limit on turkey purchases.
Our friend, who is holding a small gathering, searched high and low until she found just the right turkey to suit her needs. She set it aside and, as she did so, spoke up, Buffalo style, to the other shoppers.
"This is my turkey," she laughed. "I'm just going to run and get a cart."
When she got back two minutes later, her turkey was gone. It was in a cart with a dozen other turkeys! The owner of the cart was standing over it, hostile. He would not give it back.
It is a turkey-eat-turkey world out there!
Our friend says she learned that the turkey-gobbling shoppers were from Canada and they were buying the bargain birds to resell them up there.
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light, and it is the light of the refrigerator, stocked with goodies for the holidays ahead.
You know Thanksgiving is upon us when the diet police come calling!
Best Fitness, with branches in Tonawanda and Buffalo, is the latest voice crying in the wilderness, telling us we can all expect to gain between one and two pounds this season.
One or two pounds? That's all? Best Fitness read our mind. "Even though this doesn't sound like a lot, the subjects did not lose the weight," they write, citing a ponderous study.
The bitterly competitive battle is now on for Most Useless Holiday Diet Tip. Looking over Best Fitness' list, we nominate:
"When you are at parties, pick up a small plate and fill it up with veggies and fruit."
All we hear is: "Pick up a small plate...." You can fit a lot on one small plate!
And: "Eat small low-calorie meals throughout the day."
Buzz found an several-inch-high pile of coupons for Dunkin Donuts at, of all places, the Buffalo Athletic Club. Huge sheets of coupons, for all kinds of treats. They were front and center, too. At the counter where you sign in. This was at the BAC For Women, on Colvin in Tonawanda.
"Doughnut coupons at the gym!" we marveled.
The attendant just laughed. (Ho-ho.... ho!)
Those doughnut makers are becoming brazen!
By the way the Donut Queen above comes from Mom's Basement, a site with all kinds of vintage ads.
When did you ever hear of anyone taking a cab to a Bills game?
But they did!
They called Buffalo Metro Taxi and were picked up at home in North Buffalo and whisked out to Ralph Wilson Stadium. When the game was over they called the same driver and he was there in 15 minutes. They got home in half an hour. "He knew how to drive!" they gloated.
The total tab for the round trip? $120, including tip.
Not bad!! That is $60 each. Take along two more people and it would be $30 each.
Seen, and admired, at Tokyo II, the Japanese restaurant on Delaware at Linden:
The cat is about a foot high. It sits by the koi pond when you walk in. And the reason the arm is blurry is that it waves at you.
Note the cleaning supplies in the background. This is one of those places where they have been known to sweep through on aggressive and stinky cleaning crusades while you are still eating your sushi.
Buzz doesn't care for the smell of the cleanser. But on the other hand there is that classic cat.
That, and they let you re-use your 10 percent off coupon.
