May 23, 2013 - 9:08 AM
BY ANDREW Z. GALARNEAU
Here's the story behind Iraqi samoon bread and the sandwiches available for $3.50 a throw at Al-Salam Market & Grill, 1615 Kenmore Ave., Kenmore (447-1400), in the Gusto section of today's Buffalo News.
Personally, I'd go for the kabab (seasoned ground beef) with toumiyeh (garlic mayonnaise), but the beef shawarma, chicken shish taouk and falafel are all legit.
email: agalarneau@buffnews.com
May 22, 2013 - 11:49 AM
While various municipalities struggle with rules for food trucks, Larkin Square has taken a bold stance on Tuesday evenings: Come on down!
Starting next week, a variety of food trucks have been invited to park and sell their wares from 5 to 8 p.m. every Tuesday at Larkin Square, Seneca and Swan streets. The roving trucks will join the permanent Square 1 Sandwiches, which is operated from a picturesque 1964 silver Airstream trailer by Harry Zemsky, and the Larkin ice Cream Truck.
Invited trucks include Lloyd, R&R BBQ, Roaming Buffalo, Whole Hog, Sweet Hearth, Ooh La La Boutique. Amy’s Truck may join the group in the future. The event will be held all summer.
Speakers outside will play the music of the Buffalo bands that are heard Wednesday nights in Larkin Square, and beer, wine and soft drinks will also be available for purchase. Those who attend can enjoy the games, including hula hoops, pickleball, Kan Jam and ladder toss.
"We enjoy hosting Buffalo’s beloved food trucks in Larkinville, and it’ll be fun to have so many of them here together every Tuesday," said Harry Zemsky. "We’re ready to make Larkin Square a happy hour and dinner destination."
To keep up with the lineup for each Food Truck Tuesday, follow Larkin Square on Facebook (www.facebook.com/larkinville).
-- Anne Neville
May 21, 2013 - 12:24 PM
BY ANDREW Z. GALARNEAU
Everyone's making plans for the summer, so if you're wondering what there is to eat on a given weekend, Buffalo Eats will help you visualizeyour options. Especially if you're not averse to eating standing up.
Sure, you know about the Italian Heritage Festival on Hertel, the Buffalo Chicken Wing Festival and Taste of Buffalo. But what about the Polish Harvest (Ag. 16) and Macedonian (July 12) festivals, and the Cuba Garlic Festival Sept. 21? Plus a bellyful of other options.
Here's the Buffalo Eats guide.
email: agalarneau@buffnews.com
May 17, 2013 - 12:17 PM
BY ANDREW Z. GALARNEAU
Ben Tsujimoto of Buffalo.com explores the offerings of La Kueva (1260 Hertel Ave., 936-4933), the growing restaurant strip's newest opening. They offer several different kinds of plantains, including the sticky sweet ones that are my favorite, and roast pork with crunchy skin.
Check out his words and pictures here.
email: agalarneau@buffnews.com
May 17, 2013 - 9:07 AM
BY ANDREW Z. GALARNEAU
Chef-owner Jim Guarino, of the Main Street Cajun-inflected Shango Bistro, (3260 Main St., shangobistro.com) will offer a menu of local-centric dishes May 29 as a fundraiser for Slow Food Buffalo Niagara.
His menu:
“SALAD - Poached Duck Egg, local greens with pork belly & pickled ramps
II. APPETIZER - Grilled Painted Meadow Quail with Andouille & green onion
stuffing, spring pea mashed potatoes & a local fruit mustardo
III. ENTREE - Roasted Rack of Lamb with minted lentils, Oles Farm asparagus
& lamb jus
IV. CHEESE COURSE with Blackman Farms preserves
V. DESSERT - Rhubarb Crisp with Ginger Basil Ice Cream”
It’s $65, including tax, tip and $5 to support the work of Slow Food Buffalo Niagara. 6 p.m. cash bar, 7 p.m. dinner. For reservations call 837-2326.
The local chapter of an international food lovers’ organization, Slow Food Buffalo Niagara aims to not only celebrate local food, but strengthen connections between farmers and their customers.
email: agalarneau@buffnews.com
May 14, 2013 - 11:44 PM
Mix up some tarator — a tahini dressing popular in Arab cuisine — to dip your favorite crunchy vegetable in.
May 14, 2013 - 11:03 AM
BY ANDREW Z. GALARNEAU
Here's a passage from Sunday's front page story about New York's Swiss Chalet pilgrims, who cross an international border in search of sustenance.
Response to the story has been vociferous, and I'll be discussing the Swiss Chalet story on Shredd & Ragan (103.3 FM) tomorrow (Wednesday) at around 9:10 a.m. or thereafter, the radio boys say.
In the Montrose Road restaurant’s kitchen, the sauce is made pretty much like you’d do it at home. Powder is combined with water and simmered. The restaurant has invested in a steam jacketed stainless-steel kettle that holds gallons and will almost never scorch.
Beside the sauce kettle are the chicken cabinets, roasters holding rotating braces of seasoned birds. They’ll baste in their own fat jacket until the skin turns golden brown, in the way of all rotisserie chickens, and they meet the line cook’s machete-grade blade.
That fat, as it turns out, does more than keep the chicken moist. It’s the secret in the sauce, until you read the fine print. Chicken fat, in its powdered form, is fourth after cornstarch, salt and tomato powder. Anyone who’s transmuted pan drippings into a heart-stoppingly glorious gravy knows the truth: fat means flavor.
One American couple orders a soup bowl of it per person during their weekly visit, Hildebrand said. The sight of New Yorkers sipping from the sauce ramekin is no longer shocking.
Let's hear it for chicken fat, or is that too schmaltzy?
If you're still in denial, DO NOT SCROLL DOWN.
JUST DON'T.
OK, I warned you.
email: agalarneau@buffnews.com
Twitter: @BuffaloFood
May 11, 2013 - 8:24 AM
BY ANDREW Z. GALARNEAU
La Kueva, a Puerto Rican restaurant, is set to open its doors Monday at 1260 Hertel Ave.
The restaurant will offer pernil (roast pork), mofongo (plantains with garlic, bacon and more) and other Puerto Rican specialties, said Jahaira Rivera.
Its phone number is 936-4933, and it'll be open 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Mon.-Wed., 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Thurs.-Sat., and 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Sun.
email: agalarneau@buffnews.com
May 10, 2013 - 5:03 PM
BY ANDREW Z. GALARNEAU
Sightseers to the Canalside area along Buffalo’s waterfront can expect to see an unusual sight indeed tomorrow: food trucks selling their wares to customers.
The city’s licensed food trucks, barred from the Canalside area in most times, will be allowed to park and sell food tomorrow for the opening date of Canalside Food Fight, a season-long cooking competition, said organizer Matt Carlucci.
From noon to 4 p.m., seven trucks will be serving paying customers, Carlucci said.
At 12:15 p.m., a “secret inspiration,” described as “anything from snow to steel,” will be revealed to the audience. The five food truck crews competing will have two hours to fashion a dish, working in their limited truck kitchens, that best reflects the inspiration. (Fans of Food Network’s “Sweet Genius” will find the inspiration part familiar.)
At 2:15, the competing food trucks will submit their work to a panel of judges, who will pick a winner. Food trucks will be allowed to serve until 4 p.m., as part of the Canalside Open House event.
It’ll be the first of four contest days where food trucks can gather and sell food at Canalside, Carlucci said. The others will be in July, September, and finale in December, when points that the food truck competitors earn during the four events will be added up to determine a winner, he said.
There’s more information at Carlucci’s website, http://www.buffalosoupfest.com/foodfight.html
email: agalarneau@buffnews.com
May 7, 2013 - 10:46 AM
BY ANDREW Z. GALARNEAU
After two years of saying no, I finally sat down with Donnie Burtless, who with his wife Alli Suriani runs BuffaloEats.org, Western New York's premier restaurant blog.
Donnie started as a guy who liked french fries, and had something to say about that. Since then Alli and he have eaten in more than 400 restaurants, and offered readers original reports on 387 of them. Usually there are lovely color photographs too. Alli's a better writer, but Donnie can eat more, so it's a team effort. His brother Tom runs the soundboard for recording sessions.
They added recorded interviews - podcasts - with people in Western New York with something to say about food. The show, called "Eat it Up," recorded 68 episodes before mine, including a who's who of the Buffalo food world. And me.
On listening I sound a touch whiny, but that's the way it goes. I sat down with Mr. Burtless because the Buffalo Eats staff is offering hungry readers flavorful, unique intelligence on how to feed their appetites in Western New York. They are working for free, so this is straight-up payback.
