Gliding around Rotary Rink, then stuffing your face, a golden consolation during the current Ice Age
Ice skating is one of the consolations of winter in Buffalo.
Not adept myself, I prefer the low-impact role of observer. There’s something about the steely-nerved grace of a couple gliding backwards under drifting flakes that’s a poem in motion.
At Fountain Plaza, in downtown Buffalo, folks can skate on Rotary Rink under the gold dome of the Buffalo Savings Bank as the train goes by. Or just watch others risk their necks.
As it happens, there are plaza tables where you can sit with a snack and appreciate bravery and beauty without going out there and prompting a paramedic call.
Free skate rental days are the first Wednesdays of the month, Feb. 7, and March 6. Otherwise, bring your own skates, or rent skates, at $2 children, $3 adults. Hours are 11 a.m.-2 p.m., 5 p.m.-9 p.m on those days.
Otherwise the rink is open, weather depending, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. and 5 p.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday. Closed Monday.
Either watching or skating can be peckish work. So here’s a few suggestions of places that can sort out your food and drink needs.
Like Flint.
Right next to the rink is a cafe-bakery with salads, sandwiches, build-your-own-bowl offerings, and a full lineup of coffee drinks, but it’s usually a surprise to people I send there.
Presenting the work of pastry chef Gina Nalbone, like croissants, danishes, and quiche of the day, Flint might be the most grievously overlooked restaurant in downtown Buffalo. (Pictured above, clockwise from top left: breakfast biscuit, breakfast bagel, quiche, pastries including cinnamon bun, savory onion danish, orange scone.)
City Fare Cafe, 483 Main St., is another surprise to all but the dwindling downtown office luncher crowd. Ex-Mother’s chef Matt Conroy offers a better-than-usual array of sandwiches, daily soup specials, and a Middle Eastern platter with hummus, babaganoush, and schug chile relish.
Graylynn, 437 Main St., open evenings after 4 p.m. except Tuesday and Wednesday, and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday. The mortadella sandwich, above top left, is like a fried bologna sandwich that went to finishing school. (Pictured above, clockwise from upper left: fried mortadella sandwich, frites with Old Bay, fish and chips, toasted cheese sandwich.)
Downtown Bazaar, 617 Main St., open 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. Buffalo’s only Ethiopian, Filipino, and South Sudanese restaurants, Burmese standards, bubble tea, plus wine and beer. (Pictured above, clockwise from top left: Abyssinia veggie combo, Nile River sambusas, Pinoy Boi pork sisig, Pinoy Boi beef kare-kare.)
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