The Food of Buffalo! It’s more than just wings
Discover the food of Buffalo beyond the chicken wing.
If you ask someone what Buffalo is known for most likely they will say Buffalo wings, Niagara Falls, or the Bills. As this blog is on the food of Buffalo, we’ll go with the first answer. There is debate over where Buffalo wings originated, Anchor Bar or Duffs. Regardless of which side you’re on, people love them. However delicious they are, there are many more regional Buffalo foods that people should know about. And I’m going to share my favorites with you.
New York City isn’t the only place in the state with good pizza. I love this pizza place so much that I bring a cooler so I can take one home. This, after already eating it while in town. Bocce Club Pizza (go to the one on Hopkins Rd.) has one size. You can get less, but it’s either half the size of the pizza or a quarter. Friends and family also enjoy their wings. As I am in the small group of people who do not like Buffalo wings, you’ll have to take their word for it. My favorite toppings at Bocce Club are artichokes, spinach, and garlic.
Named after a park down the street, this restaurant has another Buffalo specialty - Beef on Weck. This sandwich is thinly sliced, juicy roast beef on a kummelweck roll served with jus. Kummelweck is a hard roll with caraway seeds and coarse salt on top. At Glen Park Tavern you should also order the sweet potato fries. They come with honey butter and are the best sweet potato fries I’ve ever had.
Sweet Jenny’s is my favorite ice cream place, ever. I’ve been getting ice cream there for decades. The shop has moved around Williamsville a few times but is now in the neatest location - the old water mill.
Sweet Jenny’s
Constructed in 1811, this building was converted to house Sweet Jenny’s production, shop, and a comic book store upstairs. Besides delicious ice cream (double dark chocolate is my favorite), Sweet Jenny’s has chocolates and confections including another Buffalo specialty, Sponge Candy. This confection is an airy toffee that looks a bit like a sponge, hence the name, covered in chocolate.
Travel Tip - Buy extra sponge candy
Get some ice cream to eat and while you’re there buy some sponge candy for a snack later or, if there is any left, a gift for someone back home.
Chef’s has been operating in Buffalo for over 100 years. The walls are covered in photos of people, quite a few you might recognize, who have made a stop to sample Chef’s Italian cuisine. They are known for their spaghetti parm. Spaghetti Parm is a plate of spaghetti topped with butter and cheese and broiled. It is then served with a side of their sauce. That is what I get every time because it is that good. You can get a smaller side of spaghetti parm to go with a different entree if you like. Their eggplant parm is also very good. And don’t worry about getting sauce on your clothes, they provide a cloth bib to spare you having to do laundry.
There are new food experiences popping up all the time. And while I have my favorites I like to revisit, I also try to find new ones. This trip I came across Five Points Bakery. When my mom saw the menu she wasn’t so sure, as besides the pastries at the counter, it is mostly different toasts. She soon changed her mind and was convinced that Five Points Bakery knows what they’re doing.
They have unique combinations of different toasts and toppings. I got Chocolate Cherry Toast with mascarpone cheese and cherry jam. The French Toast is different from anything you’ve had before. It has the custard soft inside, but the outside is crisp and you are able to pick it up and eat it like toast. It came with mascarpone and fig maple jam.
A butter block is what is used in patisserie to get flaky layers like in a croissant. It is the perfect name for this bakery and their patisserie. Right down the block from Five Points Bakery, we picked up a selection to have for dessert that night and for breakfast the next day. You will have a hard time deciding what to get, as you will want to try everything. Our box had 2 chocolate hazelnut croissants, an apple white cheddar danish and a chocolate bouchon. I would eat them all again, but the hazelnut croissant just edges the others out.
I hope this has inspired you to seek out the variety of foods that Buffalo has to offer. The wings are delicious, but there is so much more to discover.
Eating in NYC: Oh the Decisions!
Brooklyn Bridge Pizza from Grimaldi’s Pizzeria
There are so many good places to eat in New York City that its overwhelming. You can find anything you’re looking for. There are the New York classics, places that bring memories of other places, and entirely new dishes to discover. I’ll share what we ate and why. This shouldn’t be the only place you research NYC food. I’m sure I missed something amazing or a new place has opened. I’ll just have to discover them next time. So here are some of the places I ate in New York City and why.
Secret Food Tours
I had been on a Secret Food Tour in a different city and really enjoyed it. So we went on the Greenwich Village Food tour through them. Food tours are good because you get a little bit of a lot of classics and in the case of Secret Food Tours they are are places you probably wouldn’t find on your own. Its enough food for a meal and you get some history of the area as well. We had falafel, bagels, pizza, donuts, and a few other tasty treats. Would recommend, do again and go on other tours with them.
Grand Central Station
The hotel we stayed at was a few blocks from Grand Central Station. Not only was this convenient, for getting places, but it also has a dining concourse. We ate there for lunch our first day and most breakfasts. Tartinery was where we ate the most, their patisserie is very good. The nice thing about the dining concourse is the option to get it to go from different places and eat at one of the communal tables. Doughnut Plant had a nice variety of doughnuts from classics to new and interseting flavors. I especially enjoyed the peanut butter and blackberry jam.
Travel Tip - Get Magnolia Bakery Banana Pudding at Grand Station instead of making a special trip to their flagship.
Scarpetta
As avid watchers of Food Network, we wanted to try one Food Network person’s restaurant. Since there was also a budget on this trip we decided on one very nice restaurant. Scarpetta, filled both these tasks, kind of. It, at one time, was owned by a Food Network star, but not at the time we ate there. We decided it still fit. Sarpetta had a lovely atmosphere, with darker tones, but still light filled. The food was very good. The one dish that blew me out of the water was my dessert. A marscapone panna cotta with macerated cherries, crispy milk, yogurt sorbet, and rose gelee. I don’t usually like floral tastes, but the rose gelee balanced with the milky flavors. The pop of cherry added a nice bit of tartness along with the yogurt sorbet.
The Markets
Chelsea Market - This being New York City I assumed Chelsea Market would be open later than it was. When we got there a little before 7 and had a look around we found that when we circled back to something it was closed. I would recommend coming here for lunch or an early dinner. Even though the building is open until 10pm, most places close by 7pm. We did have delicious halvah and korean fried chicken, but there were some other thing we missed out on.
Time Out Market - For a dinner in Brooklyn we went to the Time Out Market, specifically for their rooftop bar, but it started to rain. It got very crowed because of the rain, but we eventually found a place to sit. In spite of the rain, we had a nice drink and then went downstairs to pick which food stalls to eat from. I got the macaroni and cheese from Jacob’s Pickle., I was feeling childhood comfort food on a rainy evening. It was amazing!
Bao by Kaya
Pork Belly Bao and Popcorn Chicken
I love bao and since NYC has every cuisine imaginable I knew that I could find some good Taiwanese bao. Bao by Kaya did not disappoint. Their Taiwanese popcorn chicken was also delicious. The 2 baos and popcorn chicken combo is a pretty good deal. Added a milk tea, for a wonderful Taiwanese lunch.
Angelina
I first went to Angelina when I was in college. I was in Paris for a cross cultural class and my Aunt said her friend had been and it was delicious. She was right. Best hot chocolate I’ve ever had. So when I learned that Angelina had a restaurant in NYC, I had to go. The hot chocolate (which you stir whipped cream into to thin it out) was just as delicious as I remembered. I got a little excited when pouring my cup and forgot about adding the whipped cream. A dessert to go with the hot chocolate is a must. However, I would steer toward a non chocolate dessert. I love chocolate, but the first time I had Angelina’s hot chocolate I also had a chocolate tart. It was too much even for me. I love the Mont Blanc with it. Layers of light meringue, chantilly cream and chesnut cream. This is an especially fun place to go if you are on a girls trip.
Fraunces Tavern
Established in 1762, Fraunces Tavern is New York City’s oldest bar and restaurant. George Washington used it as a headquarters and famously said Farewell to a group of officers after the last British soldiers left America in December 1783. There is a nice little museum upstairs that is well worth it if you are interested in Revolutionary War history. Great historical atmosphere, topped off with scrumptious food. We had a wonderful cheese board with accompaniments and I had the fish and chips with mushy peas. It was pretty surreal to think about the fact I was eating in the same place George Washington had done the same over 200 years ago.
Worth Mentioning
Nom Wah Tea Parlor - Great Dim Sum, I especially enjoyed the scallion pancakes, roast pork bun and rice roll with fried dough.
Dominque Ansel Workshop - Dominque Ansel is known for the cronut. I didn’t want to stand in line early in the morning and would rather try the Kouign Amann anyway. So we went to the Dominque Ansel Workshop. Much less crowed with many choices for pastry, just not the cronut. I couldn’t get just one thing and ordered a cannele as well.
Tiger Sugar - Boba, but instead of having it with milk tea its just milk and a brown sugar syrup. It made a wonderful dessert.
Juniors - New York Cheesecake - enough said
