Plus ask Miller’s Thumb baker questions, and how to accommodate low-sodium diets at This Little Pig

On Feb. 24, the James Beard Foundation announced its list of 2023 semifinalists for restaurant and media awards.

For the first time in its 32-year history, the list included two restaurants in Buffalo, N.Y.

A day of jubilee, indeed. Buffalo’s restaurants are trying to figure out how to broaden the city’s food image past wings, pizza, and beef on weck. Any sign that their efforts might be working is welcome.

Run from James Beard’s townhouse on W. 12th St., the James Beard Foundation’s mission is celebrating and supporting the people behind America’s food culture, “while pushing for new standards in the restaurant industry to create a future where all have the opportunity to thrive.” Besides running the awards, which culminate in a Chicago summer finale, the foundation has organized chef showcase events in the first two floors and backyard garden. 

Buffalo is the second largest community in the Empire State, but its restaurant community is beneath the notice of The New York Times. As a sworn partisan for Buffalo restaurants, reading the Beard noms every year has been a task of resigned duty, recalling Saul Steinberg’s New Yorker cover, “View of the World From 9th Avenue.”

So when Waxlight Bar a Vin and Southern Junction both made the cut, it came as a surprise – to me, at least. Waxlight is the most satisfyingly inventive restaurant I’ve ever seen, where you can satisfy your belly while blowing your mind. Southern Junction is the birthplace of Keralan-Texan cuisine, satisfying vegans and brisket freaks alike.

Both unique, in the strictest sense of the word.

What do the honors mean for the larger Buffalo restaurant mission? We’ll see. I’ll be talking to the people in the spotlight for an appropriately thorough story next week. 

I am occasionally asked: When will the famed Michelin stars reach Buffalo? 

Short answer: It won’t. Since Michelin’s ratings are limited to seven cities in the United States, its restaurant inspectors are not coming to Buffalo any time soon.

In the meantime, make your reservations to Waxlight and get in line at Southern Junction –  early if you want guaranteed brisket – to experience a level of excellence in food, drink, and hospitality that any community would love to call their own.

REVIEW

Euro Cafe: One of the standard data points I collect when taking diner biographies is how far a hungry person is willing to drive to slay a particularly ferocious hunger. Driving to Toronto is a shrug for some. Others are hard-pressed to find the energy to drive past one pizzeria to a better but more distant option.

So when I suggest that Valentine’s Day reservations are still available at a restaurant 75 minutes’ drive from Buffalo City Hall, just close your eyes and pretend you’re going to Ikea for a box, and you’ll be fine. 

The two main reasons to go are Krystyna Skrzypek and Margaret Zdzieszynski, Soviet-era refugees who cook Polish dishes, soups, and konditorei-level cakes in Geneseo. Euro Cafe is where Buffalonians go for food that reminds them of the Poland they knew. But the cooking, management, and tableside charms of the ladies from Warsaw gives you a better-than-even chance you won’t mind the drive back. (Coming later today for paid subscribers.)

CALL FOR QUESTIONS

Flour and baking expert Steve Horton of Miller’s Thumb Bakery & Cafe steps up to the plate on the Four Bites Show Monday evening. The award-winning veteran baker and miller will talk about what he and partner Jill Collela have accomplished so far in Tonawanda, and what’s to come.

Having been nominated for Beard awards three times in his Minneapolis work at Rustica, and operated Baker’s Field, he’s a good person to ask what difference nominations can make.

Anyone can send questions to andrew@fourbites.net, and paid subscribers can join the 6:30 p.m. call live. As with other Four Bites Show episodes, it will be published on the Four Bites YouTube channel.

ASK THE CRITIC

Q: My husband has been put on a low sodium diet. I’m looking for ways to navigate this. 

Lynda Rosen, via Substack

A: When I saw the question on my review of This Little Pig, it was simple to get an answer. 

Jeff Cooke Jr., chef-owner, said that at his place, you can tell the server that one of your party is looking to stay low-sodium, and they’ll help you select appropriate dishes. Particularly amenable to low-sodium presentations are steak, salmon, sauteed dishes, and salads. Barbecue, not so much.

This is the sort of thing Four Bites was made for. Send me your questions, and I’ll get you answers. I’m at andrew@fourbites.net, and I aim to help.

MORE RESTAUTRANT READING

For more than a decade, Michael Chelus has been compiling a best-hits roundup of Buffalo area food media and publishing it at Nittany Epicurean, his food and wine review site. For more than a decade, I’ve shared his reports on social media. Now he’s agreed to let me add them to the Sunday News, for the time being.

Michael Chelus: Every Sunday, I’ll post some of my favorite local stories from the worlds of food, wine, beer, cocktails and spirits.

Every Sunday, I’ll post some of my favorite local stories from the worlds of food, wine, beer, cocktails and spirits.

This week on the Nittany Epicurean, I wrote about the 2018 Cameron Hughes Wine Lot 947 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir, the 2022 Oberon Sauvignon Blanc Napa Valley and the 2020 Grgich Hills Estate Crljenak Kaštelanski Miljenko’s Selection.

• Mr. Galarneau reviewed one of my favorite places – This Little Pig [Four Bites]

• Local breweries are preparing to compete in the New York State Craft Beer Competition [Buffalo News]

• Brian urged us to enjoy craft beer at local festivals like Barrel Jam IV at 42 North, the Niagara Wine and Beer Fest and more [Buffalo News]

• Chef Ryan Fernandez of Southern Junction is honored with a James Beard nomination [Four Bites]

• Francesca urged us to try five new bars in Buffalo including Saint Neri, Milton’s at Statler Buffalo and more [Buffalo News]

• More coverage of Saint Neri [Step Out Buffalo]

• Brian’s Buffalo Beer Briefs told us of a new releases from Froth Brewing, Wayland Brewing and more [Step Out Buffalo]

• Newell also wrote about Saint Neri [Buffalo Rising]

• For the second year in a row, Waxlight Bar à Vin is nominated for the James Beard award for Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program [James Beard Foundation]

• Newell wrote about Rise of WNY, a new “pay what you can” coffeehouse [Buffalo Rising]

Have a suggestion for a story or article? Contact me via email, message me on Facebook through the Nittany Epicurean page or Tweet at me @michaelchelus.

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