Plus Crabman farewell, more Mangalitsa chops at Milton’s, and which option to pick for your annual double cheeseburger
Balanced Bite plans to bring vegan breakfast to Lancaster, with plant-based versions of bacon, eggs, and sausage in the former Flourish Cafe.
At its Feb. 2 grand opening, Balanced Bite, 5476 Broadway, Lancaster, will offer meal prep pick-up, smoothies, avocado toast, and sandwiches, from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Vegan breakfast starts the next day, 7:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Expect an animal lover’s omelet with ham, cheese and sausage that’s somehow creature-free, and more.
Balanced Bite chef Jonathan Kaupa offers vegan versions of familiar Buffalo eats like chicken wing soup, beef stew, mac and cheese, and Buffalo chicken salad with blue cheese. Plus vegetables, of course. Working on the cooking side of the business with partners Nick and Alexis Delcarlo, Kaupa has developed a seasoned rice sheet that reminds folks of crispy bacon.
The trio have known each other since Lancaster High School, Class of 2005 (Nick), 2006 (Kaupa), and 2008 (Alexis). Nick Delcarlo also runs two Frosty’s Ice Cream locations with his father, and noted that Frosty’s, too, has an extensive vegan menu.
Balanced Bite will “start small,” two days a week, Nick Delcarlo said. But Sunday breakfast and eventually a weekly vegan dinner night could be the next blossoming of Balanced Bite.
REVIEW
China Taste: Feeding tipsters pays off again with a rediscovery of the topflight Chinese Chinese dishes at China Taste, on Sweet Home Road near the University at Buffalo’s Amherst Campus. Sweet-and-sour pork that redefined the dish for me, a Chinese relative of Korean noodles in icy broth, and a potato-eggplant-bell pepper dish that showed what skilled cooks can do with humble ingredients. (For paid subscribers.)
OPENINGS & CLOSINGS
Crabman endgame: The Crabman, 341 Franklin St., announced that the seafood boil restaurant will close after another week. An earlier closing date was scratched because of snow.
Its batches of buttered seafood will be on sale at buy-one-get-one rates after the snow passes, until sold out. Phone: 716-322-6001.
Seneca goes dry: Tommyrotter Distillery has stopped making gin and other spirits at 500 Seneca St.
Tommyrotter will still produce its gin, at another site. Bourbon and whiskey is out of the picture for now.
Bobby Finan and Sean Insalaco started the distillery in 2015. “We want to thank all the Tommyrotter whiskey drinkers who poured a TR dram over the years,” they said on Facebook. “We’ll still see you bar-side, but we’ll just be raising a gin gimlet or negroni to you.”
Yemeni Black Rock: Raha Coffee House, Yemeni coffee specialist and pastry purveyor at 370 Amherst St., continues inching forward to opening at Grant and Amherst. Raha has started hiring baristas and cashiers.
If you’re interested, send your curriculum vitae to rahacoffeehouse@gmail.com.
EVENTS
St. Leo spaghetti: All-you-can-eat spaghetti, meatballs, salad, rolls, and dessert is the menu Feb. 4 at the St. Leo the Great Roman Catholic Church parish hall in Amherst.
At a spaghetti dinner raising money for its roof fund, church volunteers will feed everyone who shows up 3 p.m.-6 p.m. at 885 Sweet Home Road.
Adults $15, children 12-5 $7, under 5 free. Family pricing: two adults, two children under 12, $40. Additional children $5. Beer and wine available at cash bar.
Tickets available at parish office, at door, or online at StLeotheGreatAmherst.com/Events.
Rock-n-Bowl fundraiser: The Conor Casey Foundation, created to honor the former Coco executive chef, takes over “300” at Transit Lanes for a Feb. 4 fundraiser.
From 4 p.m.-8 p.m., live music, food and drink will be augmented by bowling opportunities.
Beer, wine, and tastings of bourbon and tequila are on tap. Pizza, wings and beef on weck will be on the table, plus black bean and chicken chili. A “booze toss,” wherein pitchers aim to land rings on bottlenecks, winning choice bottles like Pappy van Winkle 10-, 12-, and 15-year-old bourbon.
It’s $50 per person, $10 more to bowl. Tickets at conorjcaseyfoundation.com.
PORK CHOP UPDATE
Adrian Bylewski has more 60-day dry-aged Mangalitsa chops from Always Something Farm on tap for Wednesday. As in, low single digits.
Still, if you were thinking about checking out Bylewski’s Cast & Coal menu at Milton’s, you might be in luck. It’s 4 p.m.-9 p.m. Wednesday-Friday in the Hotel Statler lobby bar, at 107 Delaware Ave.
ASK THE CRITIC
Q: My girlfriend and I made a New Year’s diet resolution for a healthier 2024. This time, it includes a “hall pass” for each of our favorite splurge meals during 2024. What would you recommend for us if we can stick to it and only have one cheeseburger this year?
– Sara H., Lancaster
A: The fewer cheeseburgers I eat, the more I appreciate grass-fed beef, which reminds me of steak. With a nod to all the righteous cheeseburgers in town, if it’s a one shot, one craving kill hunger-sniping situation, here’s two places that hit the mark, and a wild card.
This Little Pig, 10651 Main St., Clarence, thislittlepigeats.com, 716-580-7872
The Local Cheeseburger ($18) is six ounces of beef raised at Belleview Farm in Corfu. On a house-baked roll, topped with cheddar cheese, housemade pickles, lettuce, tomato, it comes with house-cut fries or house salad.
Marble + Rye, 112 Genesee St., marbleandrye.net, 716-853-1390
The double cheeseburger ($21) is built with two smashburgers of local grass-fed beef, American cheese, red onion, mayonnaise, and mustard on a house-baked brioche bun. Crispy smashed potatoes, chimichurri, crème fraiche, and housemade pickles round out the ensemble.
Yankee BBQ, 3379 Lake Shore Road, Hamburg, yankeebbq716.com, 716-768-4991
Does this sound better? Eight ounces of ground beef brisket, seasoned, smoked, and seared, topped with American cheese and a slice of smoked beef brisket, plus sauce, and pickles. That’s the Yankee brisket burger, and if you want one, you need to order ahead for pickup on Saturday, the only day it’s available. Click here to order ahead.
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