Sunday News: Conchas arrive in Buffalo, thanks to homesick baker

Meet cookbook authors at Read It & Eat series, searching for vegan with wine list

Homesickness has done more for Buffalo’s eating possibilities than most of us realize.

This week’s example: Emily Gonzalez missed home, and Buffalo got conchas.

At a panaderia, the sweet buns known as conchas are named after the seashells they resemble. Baked-on butter crusts, sculpted in wavy lines, add accents of flavor. Vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry versions are common Mexican bakery standards.

Gonzalez, raised near San Francisco to Mexican parents and a Mexican bakery within walking distance, moved to Buffalo on purpose, with her partner Ben Green, a photographer for the Buffalo Bills. She enjoys living here. Restaurants like Taqueria los Mayas and Manito Taco Shop have fed her tacos that made her happy.

“We never made conchas at home in California, because we didn’t need to,” she said. “Tradition was, we’d pick them up fresh and warm on a Sunday, just like we did back home in Mexico. It wasn’t until I moved to Buffalo that that was no longer an option for me.”

But Buffalo does not have a Mexican bakery. So Gonzalez looked up some recipes on the Internet, made them her own, and got to work. She was apprehensive at first. Would Buffalo get conchas? The answer: absolutamente.

So far, Gonzalez said, she’s met two kinds of concha customers.

“It’s either ‘Oh my gosh, you make conchas. I’ve been missing these for so long. I love them at home, or I tried them in Mexico City. Wow, I’m so excited.’

Or, ‘What is that?’ ”

“The really magical part is those folks will go, ‘Okay, I guess I’ll try one.’ Then come back five minutes later with crumbs on their face. ‘Oh my God, I’ve never had anything like that.’ That’s really exciting,” Gonzalez said.

She started her business at Massachusetts Avenue Project, the non-profit urban farm where she is communications director, using its inspected and permitted commercial kitchen.

Colibrí Panadería started delivering conchas to Farm Shop last fall. They arrive at around 3 p.m. Thursdays, often to waiting customers. At 235 B Lexington Ave., with the door around the corner on Ashland, the Farm Shop is a store slightly larger than a minivan packed with the efforts of local food artisans and others. It’s where Butter Block won its first fans.

Colibrí Panadería conchas are $5 for regular, another $1 or so for jam-filled versions. Gonzalez also bakes to order, if you have quinceañera or other event coming up.

Cinnamon sugar buñuelos might be next, or novias, swirls of dough like cinnamon buns.

Cinnamon-sugar buñuelos might be next on the Colibrí Panadería list.

Gonzalez named her fledgling panaderia colibri, Spanish for hummingbird, because she likes the metaphor.

“In Mexican and Mesoamerican cultures, they represent strength and luck,” Gonzalez said. “In the environment, they play an important ecological role, migrating between the north and south regions of the Americas to pollinate a diversity of plants that serve as food for many other animals.

“As Colibrí Panadería came to life, I like to think that I too am pollinating new blooms to grow in Buffalo’s food scene.”

REVIEW: Manito Gonzalez and his family worked long hours in a taco truck parked in a lot next to a mothballed Wrights Corners building north of Lockport. Their tacos and other Mexican dishes found such an audience that the Gonzalez family bought the building they were parked in front of all that time, and turned it into a popular family restaurant. With a full fresh salsa bar to properly deck out your tacos and carne asada queso fries, Manito Taco Shop is the best Mexican restaurant in Niagara County. (On Tuesday, for patrons.)

COOKBOOK CHATS

Read It & Eat Bookshop’s Summer Cookbook Author Series kicks off June 21 with a Queer Dessert Potluck at 5 Loaves Farm. Tickets for series events are $10-$25.

5 Loaves Farm is a West Side urban farm a block away from Niagara Street, at 1172 West Ave. Bring a dessert to share, and hear from author Justin Burke about his new book Potluck Desserts. Part of the ticket price goes to GLYS WNY.

On June 28, culinary anthropologist Ozoz Sokoh arrives at Read It & Eat Bookshop, 2929 Main St., for an afternoon of conversation and cuisine inspired by her latest book, Chop Chop, the first comprehensive introduction to Nigerian home cooking. Among her credits is organizing the first World Jollof Day in 2017.

On July 12, Rebecca Firkser presents her new book Galette!: Sweet and savory recipes as easy as pie with a discussion on the fine points – how to prepare a perfect crust, take advantage of seasonal ingredients, and more. Two galette samples are part of the experience.

On July 26, pie expert Helen Nugent presents Small Pies, Big Flavor in a relaxed afternoon of sweet treats and conversation. Attendees can enjoy mini pies and curated teas from Cup of Communitea.

Falafel Bar has Buffalo’s best falafel and hummus.

ASK THE CRITIC

Q: My son and daughter-in-law are coming to town in June. They eat a vegan diet. Where are the best places to take them? Do any have a wine list?

Jackie, Cheektowaga

A: If you’re looking for a Buffalo-area restaurant to impress vegans, the first places that come to mind are:

Waxlight Bar a Vin, the award-winning restaurant at 27 Chandler St., whose chefs’ creativity and skill makes vegan dining simple. Waxlight also gets top marks for wine, under the direction of master sommelier and partner Jessica Forster.

My other top suggestions do not have wine lists, per se.

Strong Hearts Buffalo Southwestern chicken salad with ranch, 100 percent vegan.

Strong Hearts Buffalo, 295 Niagara St., is essentially a vegan all-American diner, down to the “wings,” “cheese fries,” and cupcakes.

Falafel Bar, 3545 Sheridan Drive, Amherst, operated by Israeli chef Oded Rauvenpoor, is a vegan star for his best-in-town falafel and hummus, backed up with with loads of eggplant dishes and spicy Moroccan carrots.

Mysore bonda, left, and vada, vegan South Indian snacks at Nellai Banana Leaf.

There’s no shortage of vegan opportunities at Indian restaurants. My favorite is Chettinad cuisine specialist Nellai Banana Leaf, 4303 Transit Road, Clarence, where dishes like ennai kathirikkai, eggplant simmered in tamarind-garlic gravy and stir-fried paratha in chile sauce redefine vegan adventure.

More reading from Michael Chelus: