Whether it’s worth the drive to Geneseo may depend on how recently you’ve eaten in Poland

One standard data point I collect when taking diner biographies is how far a hungry person will drive to slay a particularly ferocious craving. Driving to Toronto is a shrug for some. Others are hard-pressed to find the energy to drive past one pizzeria to a better one a mile away.

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 lamp. You’ll be fine. 

My favorite Euro Cafe table is a four-top near the front windows. The two-tops in their cozy Main Street view perches are cozy, but those tables don’t have enough real estate to meet my professional needs. 

One table deeper into the decked-out dining room still gives you glowing natural light, and you can watch what the ladies from Warsaw have wrought.

In Geneseo, conveniently located on the Route 63 cut-through to New York City and environs, Soviet-era Polish refugees Krystyna Skrzypek and Margaret Zdzieszynski combine cheerful efficiency with every-plate-matters stylishness to create the sort of destination restaurant that many diners feared extinct.

Euro Cafe first came to my notice when I asked people who’d spent time in Poland where they went to address hungers earned overseas. I was telling my lunch companion that Buffalonians drive here to dig deeper into Polish cuisine than cabbage rolls and potato pancakes, when a fellow from the next table stopped to say hello.

It was a friend of Polish-American heritage, there with his wife to eat Polish food, buy sausage and other Polish treats, and drive back to Buffalo. 

Point made, we dug into the soups ($11/$13). Euro Deli offers at least four, including zurek, sour rye soup made with a fermented rye flour base, carrots, parsley, and smoky pork. At once creamy and zingy, it shakes up soup’s placid reputation with rowdy character. 

Barley mushroom, Ukrainian style borscht (beet and cabbage soup), and peasant soup, another smoky number with potatoes, carrots, and onions with bacon were each good enough by themselves. They arrived with a dollop of sour cream, peasant getting a sprinkle of sunflower seed kernels too.

House salads, thrown in for free, signal the base effort level in the kitchen. Euro Cafe’s was a sprightly arrangement of greenery, tomatoes, radish, cucumber, shredded carrot, onion, cheese, and a whisper of dressing. Not bad for January.

Vienner schnitzel ($31.99) is pork cutlets breaded and fried, with two pierogi, mashed potatoes, and vegetable. Even more formidable among porcine pleasures is the Polish country style ribs.

Spare ribs coated with spices and herbs are cooked till meltingly tender, without smoke, and napped in rich brown gravy. Alongside are potato dumplings, surprisingly chewy, like a pomme de terre gummi bear.

Smoke was back with another entree, smoked pork loin over potato dumplings ($27.99). Fat-tipped batons of smoked pork are sauteed with caramelized onions, then bedded over the dumplings. The irresistible combination had me wondering how many barbecue shacks there are in Warsaw.

Desserts are worth reckoning with at Euro Cafe. Nalesniki ($18.99), dessert crepes filled with farmer’s cheese, apricots, and raisins, are dusted with powdered sugar and served with fresh fruit. 

But the housemade bakery offerings, like chocolate raspberry, raspberry meringue, and poppyseed cakes ($9), pose a real dilemma to cake fans. Fortunately, there are takeout options so no cake must be left behind.

Euro Deli could get far on its sharp cooking, but the ladies from Warsaw have also set a standard for swift, lucid service, waitstaff with answers and refills at the ready. Occasionally, when the ebb and flow of semesters leaves them short qualified servers, Euro Cafe’s owners have closed rather than compromise the overall experience.

If the drive to Geneseo is long enough that it would rankle to drive back empty-handed, call and make a reservation. That means if anything changes, you’ll get a call saying so. At least check Euro Cafe’s Facebook page, or call, before you go.

Yes, it will require leaving Erie County for dinner. Be brave, like a Viking. I’ve seen how far Buffalonians will drive for a Flardfull or Knutstorp at Ikea. Maybe they can be convinced to go as far for a zurek. 

Euro Café Real Food & Deli

Location: 82 Main St., Geneseo, 585-447-9252, euro-cafe.us

Hours: noon-8 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday. Closed Sunday-Tuesday.

Parking: Street

Wheelchair accessible: yes

Gluten-free: bigos (hunter’s stew), salads

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