Lina Brown-Young has brought John Young’s mumbo to life again
Sixty years years after John Young opened the first chicken wing restaurant in Buffalo, his mumbo sauce has hit the market, thanks to years of work by his daughter, Lina Brown-Young.
The coming-out party is set for noon-3 p.m. Jan. 6, at the Michigan Street African American Heritage Corridor building, 136 Broadway.
Brown-Young has been working on getting her father’s place in history, and his mumbo sauce, recognized in current-day Buffalo. Working with Buffalo Bike Tours operator Marc Moscato, she reviewed her father’s recipes and started bringing the John Young mumbo experience to groups of bicyclists. She saw how hard her father worked, and doesn’t want to run a restaurant.
So sauce it is, available to the public after years of regulatory and business hurdles. If you’re just interested in the sauce, a 16-ounce bottle is $9.99 at johnyoungsoriginal.com. Too late for Christmas, but there’s a good chance someone you love will fry up chicken wings next year, too.
Young’s role is discussed in full in the 1980 article “An Attempt to Compile a Short History of the Buffalo Chicken Wing,” Calvin Trillin’s ur-text of Buffalo wing history in The New Yorker.
Still available to read for free on the Internet, the piece could be enjoyed just for Trillin’s trademark cheeky reportage. “Fortunately, the actual moment that Buffalo chicken wings were invented has been described by Frank Bellissimo and his son, Dom, with the sort of rich detail that any historian would value; unfortunately, they use different details.”
What You Don’t Know About Buffalo Chicken Wings, a 13-minute video by Munchies, the Vice food site, provides another history lesson in a snazzy package.
Young didn’t claim to invent mumbo sauce, brought with him from Washington, D.C. Each mumbo practitioner tinkers with the formula, but the common ties are spicy, sweet, tomato.
REVIEW: In Southern Junction, Ryan Fernandez has fused his two culinary loves into a restaurant at 365 Connecticut St. where Texas barbecue and Keralan Indian move together like old, intimate friends. (For paid subscribers.)
OPENINGS & CLOSINGS
Balistreri’s open Christmas Eve: After the funeral for beloved patriarch Frank Balistreri, the family-centered crew at Balistreri’s Pastries Plus, 1757 Orchard Park Road, West Seneca, got back to work.
Holidays are where bakeries make enough money to stay open through the lean months of January and February, and survive to bake another year. So if you still have holiday baked goods needs, know that Balistreri’s is open today, Dec. 24, from 11 a.m.-6 p.m.
More importantly, go to Balistreri’s again when it’s not busy. In the bleak slog before spring, when you think of Frank Balistreri, also remember those carrying on the work without him, and go get some focaccia and danish.
Twin Petrels closing: Fizzy drink specialist Twin Petrels Seltzer Co., 1250 Niagara St., will close at year’s end.
“Twin Petrels Seltzer Co.’s name was a nod to my four-year-old twin daughters, who are my top priority and unfortunately, owning and operating a full-service restaurant and brewery (along with other businesses) has not quite fit with that at this time, and has taken a toll on our family,” owners posted on Facebook.
Regular hours are in effect through Dec. 31. That’s 4 p.m.-10 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday, 11 a.m.-midnight Friday, Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday. Closed Monday, Tuesday.
Lafayette Brewing taps out: The Hotel @ Lafayette brewery restaurant won’t renew its lease at 319 Washington St., with its last day of service Dec. 17.
The Pearl Street Brewing cousin ran the 34-room hotel as well, since 2012. Owner Rocco Termini told Buffalo Business First that he’s lined up a new operator.
Here’s hoping the new arrangement restores access to leaving one of Buffalo’s most memorable music rooms. The back room, a period piece in polished oak and stuffed animal heads, deserves an audience.
Figmor Cafe satisfies: The restaurant whose name stands for “finally I got my own restaurant” has been making fans in North Tonawanda since opening in November in the former Webster’s Kitchen space at 110 Webster St.
At Figmor Cafe, lemon ricotta blueberry pancakes, eggs benedict with spinach and tomatoes, and brioche French toast stuffed with strawberries and whipped cream cheese are customer favorites so far.
Hours: 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Wednesday-Monday, closed Tuesday. Phone: 716-260-2267.
ASK THE CRITIC
Last week’s in-search-of subject, the Manhattan style chopped cheese, is rare-to-nonexistent in the Buffalo area, it seems. Only one identified so far, and it’s a vegan version, so still not close to the real thing. That said, reader Brad Lolinger reported that Strong Hearts, the vegan comfort food restaurant at 29s Niagara St., offers a vegan version made with Beyond Burger. Chopped and grilled with vegan mozzarella, grilled peppers and onions, shredded lettuce, and vegan roasted garlic mayonnaise, $15.
#30#
