Buffalo Eats Podcast

In 2016, Christa Glennie chatted with Kerry Quaile and Rachel Wright from the Bar Biddies. Get full access to Buffalo Eats at buffaloeats.substack.com/subscribe

In 2016, Christa Glennie chatted with Megan Lee & Jess Wegrzyn from Marble + Rye. Get full access to Buffalo Eats at buffaloeats.substack.com/subscribe

Today’s episode features Donnie talking to Chef Brad Rowell of the upcoming restaurant The Grange Community Kitchen in Hamburg. They chat about craft beer, starting dinner service at Elm Street Bakery and taking over a Hamburg institution.Recorded on 3/2/16 Get full access to Buffalo Eats at buffaloeats.substack.com/subscribe

Today’s episode features Donnie chatting with Pete Cimino and Chris Dorsaneo, the owners of Lloyd Taco Trucks and the newly opened Lloyd Taco Factory. They talk about their experience with reality TV, the struggles of opening a restaurant and their plans for the future.Recorded on 2/15/16 Get full access to Buffalo Eats at buffaloeats.substack.com/subscribe

On today’s episode, Donnie chats with Jeremy Horwitz in the office of soon-to-be opened Aro Bar de Tapas in Williamsville. They chat about Jeremy’s former food blogging life, Black Sheep’s Sticky Toffee Pudding, what happened to Mercado and his plans for Aro.Recorded on 1/26/16 Get full access to Buffalo Eats at buffaloeats.substack.com/subscribe

Today on Grain of Salt, Donnie chats with his best friend Mike about a recent meal they shared at Damon Baehrel. Considered by some to be the most exclusive restaurant in the world, they shared a 22 course meal over six hours. Chef Baehrel not only served delicious food that was beauitfully plated but he also shattered any preconceived notions that Donnie and Mike might have had about ‘farm to table’ dining. (Photo source: Eater.com) This episode was hosted by Donnie Burtless and produced by Tom Burtless. Release Date: 7/22/15 Get full access to Buffalo Eats at buffaloeats.substack.com/subscribe

This week Donnie talks with the young and talented Brett Brennan, the Kitchen Manager of Oshun. Donnie and Brett chat about his start in the kitchen and culinary school, working under talented Chefs like Mike Andrzejewski and Ross Warhol and the learning curve of running a kitchen at 22 years old. This episode was hosted by Donnie Burtless and produced by Tom Burtless. Release Date: 6/17/15 Get full access to Buffalo Eats at buffaloeats.substack.com/subscribe

This week Donnie talks with the young and talented bartender Joshua Campbell of Buffalo Proper. They talk about diving head first into your passion, the bar program of Buffalo Proper, comparing Rochester and Buffalo’s drinking scenes and what he’s been obsessed with lately. This episode was hosted by Donnie Burtless and produced by Tom Burtless. Release Date: 6/10/15 Get full access to Buffalo Eats at buffaloeats.substack.com/subscribe

This week Christa talks with chefs Ed Forster of Buffalo Proper, Steve Gedra of The Black Sheep, and Mike Obarka of Ristorante Lombardo about whether or not culinary school is worth your while. This episode was hosted by Christa Glennie Seychew and produced by Tom Burtless. Release Date: 6/3/15 Get full access to Buffalo Eats at buffaloeats.substack.com/subscribe

This week on Grain of Salt, Christa talks with sommelier Tony Rials of Bourbon & Butter and the wine director and general manager of Ristorante Lombardo, Tommy Lombardo. Why isn’t wine as popular among the cool kids as craft beer and cocktails? Why are so many restaurants allowing distributors to create their wine lists? What can you do if you want to learn more about wine? Today you’ll hear two of the local restaurant industry’s most educated palates discuss these issues and more.This episode was hosted by Christa Glennie Seychew and produced by Tom Burtless. Release Date: 5/27/15 Get full access to Buffalo Eats at buffaloeats.substack.com/subscribe

This week on Grain of Salt, Christa talks with three chefs about the nature of being a woman working in a professional kitchen. She’s joined by Jennifer Boye, executive chef of the Mansion on Delaware Avenue, Kate Elliot the food and beverage director for Global Spectrum and Jennifer Marabella, the executive chef of Siena.This episode was hosted by Christa Glennie Seychew and produced by Tom Burtless. Release Date: 5/20/15 Get full access to Buffalo Eats at buffaloeats.substack.com/subscribe

This week on Grain of Salt, hosts Christa Glennie Seychew and Donnie Burtless talk about trends in dining–from small plates and snack bars to shared dishes and dining at the bar. This episode was co-hosted by Donnie Burtless and Christa Glennie Seychew and produced by Tom Burtless. Release Date: 5/6/15 Get full access to Buffalo Eats at buffaloeats.substack.com/subscribe

Grain of Salt’s twenty-fourth episode features Matt “Buffalo Brewhound” Kresconko, the beer reviewer for Buffalo.com and the content manager and co-founder of WNY Craft Beer Magazine. Matt joined Donnie Burtless for a conversation about past as a blogger, Buffalo’s local beer scene, and how he fell in love with craft beer. This episode is hosted by Donnie Burtless of BuffaloEats.org and produced by Tom Burtless. Release Date: 4/29/15 Get full access to Buffalo Eats at buffaloeats.substack.com/subscribe

Episode twenty-three of Grain of Salt features Josh and Satomi from SATO, the popular Japanese restaurant on Elmwood Avenue. Donnie Burtless talks with the couple about ramen and making noodles, the opening of second location, SATO Ramen, and this weekend’s battle against Nickel City Chef Edward Forster of Buffalo Proper. This episode is hosted by Donnie Burtless of BuffaloEats.org and produced by Tom Burtless. Release Date: 4/15/15 Get full access to Buffalo Eats at buffaloeats.substack.com/subscribe

In episode twenty-two of Grain of Salt, the owners of Black Market Food Truck and Frank Gourmet visit Donnie’s studio to talk about their second year in the food truck business. The truck owners sort through the ups and down of the industry and share their big plans for 2015. Release Date: 4/1/15 Get full access to Buffalo Eats at buffaloeats.substack.com/subscribe

Today’s episode features the incredibly talented chocolatier Ben Johnson. Ben talks about discovering his love of chocolate making, the beginning of Blue Table Chocolates and why he’s ok with people ordering just Salted Caramel. Release Date: 3/25/15 Get full access to Buffalo Eats at buffaloeats.substack.com/subscribe

Today’s episode features Christa talking about artful plating with Chef Jennifer Boye of the Mansion on Delaware and Chef Bruce Wieszala of Bourbon & Butter. The group discusses plating trends and styles, why plating matters, and how it impacts the dining experience. Get full access to Buffalo Eats at buffaloeats.substack.com/subscribe

Today’s episode features Tim Stevens, the owner of Ballyhoo, an exciting new bar that opened Downtown in the First Ward. Tim talks about his start in the bartending world, the time he spent in San Diego’s exciting cocktail scene, why creating a good vibe for a bar is so important and his fantastic sausage. Get full access to Buffalo Eats at buffaloeats.substack.com/subscribe

Today’s episode features Christa speaking with Buffalo Proper’s Jon Karel and ex-pat Jason LoGrasso. Karel, credited with being a pioneer in Buffalo’s cocktail movement, found mentorship in San Francisco bartender LoGrasso during the early part of his cocktail career. Listen to the friends and barkeeps tell the story of how they met, how the local scene measures up to San Francisco’s, and share tips on how to discern a real craft cocktail bar from a phony one. Get full access to Buffalo Eats at buffaloeats.substack.com/subscribe

This week Donnie is talking to Dustin Murphy, the Executive Chef of Tabree in Snyder. They talked about his upcoming Nickel City Chef battle, how Dustin found his way into the kitchen, what it’s like to work under two talented local chefs and the time he unknowingly cooked for Andrew Galarneau. Get full access to Buffalo Eats at buffaloeats.substack.com/subscribe

This week Donnie is talking to Sam Scarcello and James Rayburg from public espresso + coffee. They discuss about the start of their love of all things coffee, how public went from a hobby to a business and their upcoming plans for the residency at the Hotel Lafayette and their Grant Street cafe/roastery. Get full access to Buffalo Eats at buffaloeats.substack.com/subscribe

Today’s episode features Christa talking with Chef James Roberts of Toutant and Chef Brad Rowell of Elm Street Bakery about truth in menu, the farm to table movement, and sourcing. Get full access to Buffalo Eats at buffaloeats.substack.com/subscribe

Today’s episode features Victor Parra Gonzalez, the Chef/Owner of Jaguar at the Bistro in Youngstown, NY. Victor discusses his ups and downs of his culinary career. From growing up in Mexico, schooling and working in Montreal, the chaos of a Casino kitchen and finally the authentic Mexican fare that he’s serving today in his restaurant. Get full access to Buffalo Eats at buffaloeats.substack.com/subscribe

Today’s episode features Christa and Donnie in a conversation with Andrew Galarneau, the food editor and restaurant critic for The Buffalo News. They talk about the critique process, the influence of a reviewer, Yelp’s effect on dining and Buffalo’s dining scene. It’s a long one but a good one. Get full access to Buffalo Eats at buffaloeats.substack.com/subscribe

Today’s episode features an interview between Donnie and Bryan Meccozi, the young chef who has transformed his grandfather’s old print shop into one of the area’s hottest new restaurants, Black Iron Bystro. Get full access to Buffalo Eats at buffaloeats.substack.com/subscribe

Today’s episode features Christa talking with Jonathan and Jerod of Leonard Oakes Winery, Tom from Lockhouse Distillery, and Ethan and Rudy from Community Beer Works. The group discusses New York’s Craft Beverage Act and the growing Buffalo booze scene. Get full access to Buffalo Eats at buffaloeats.substack.com/subscribe

Today’s abbreviated episode features Christa and Donnie discussing the upcoming season of Nickel City Chef. They’ll summarize this year’s match-ups and, for the first time ever, Christa will announce the fifth Nickel City Chef joining the series in its seventh season. Get full access to Buffalo Eats at buffaloeats.substack.com/subscribe

Today’s episode features Christa and Donnie’s annual year-end wrap up. They chat about the good and bad of 2014 and the things they look forward to in 2015. Get full access to Buffalo Eats at buffaloeats.substack.com/subscribe

Today’s episode features Kate Hey and Dana Szczepaniak from Betty Crockski, Buffalo’s first and only Polish food truck. They chat with Donnie about starting a food truck, traveling to Poland for inspiration and quick rise in popularity. Get full access to Buffalo Eats at buffaloeats.substack.com/subscribe

Today’s episode of Grain of Salt features Christa talking with Cameron Rector and Jason Woods of Vera. They chat about cocktails, connectivity, and how these two expats have become boozy ambassadors for Buffalo. Get full access to Buffalo Eats at buffaloeats.substack.com/subscribe

This week on Grain of Salt, Donnie talks with Chef Adam Goetz of CRāVing Restaurant. They discuss Adam’s time at the Waldorf Astoria, how the chef with the biggest pantry wins, and Goetz’s six years as a Nickel City Chef. Get full access to Buffalo Eats at buffaloeats.substack.com/subscribe

Today’s episode features Christa talking with Brandon Davis and Patrick Finan, the founders of Block Club, about the integral role that vision and design play in creating and sustaining a successful restaurant. They’ll also discuss the recently-revealed branding for the new Hotel Henry at the Richardson Complex. Get full access to Buffalo Eats at buffaloeats.substack.com/subscribe

This week on Grain of Salt, Donnie is talking to Allison, Emily and Tori from BreadHive, a local co-operative bakery that opened earlier this year. They talk about starting a business, how they fell in love with baking bread, some necessary shout outs and what it’s like to go viral on the internet. Get full access to Buffalo Eats at buffaloeats.substack.com/subscribe

This week on Grain of Salt, Donnie is talking to local urban farmer Robbie Gianadda. Over the last two plus year, Robbie has been growing some of the area’s best mushrooms out of his Elmwood Avenue home. What started as a fun hobby with spent grains from SPoT Coffee has turned into a full time production facility, pumping out nearly 100 lbs of mushrooms a week to the best local restaurants in the area. Learn about the health benefits of mushrooms, his plans for the future and more. Get full access to Buffalo Eats at buffaloeats.substack.com/subscribe

Today on Episode of 2 of Grain of Salt, Christa Glennie Seychew is talking to Chef Edward Forster and Chef Steven Gedra about Buffalo’s exciting restaurant scene. Will the suburbanites travel to the city to eat? Will we oversaturate the market with all of these new restaurants? How hard is it to find talented young cooks? Can we retain more culinary talent? This talk is an excellent listen for people who are interested in our restaurant scene or are thinking about getting into the industry. Get full access to Buffalo Eats at buffaloeats.substack.com/subscribe

A couple days ago we announced that we were re-entering the podcast world with Grain of Salt, a podcast that will be co-hosted by Donnie and our good friend Christa Glennie Seychew. This new podcast will allow both hosts to engage in fun and interesting conversations with talented food figures (writers, chefs, farmers, etc) from all over Western New York.  Listeners will get an insight into the culinary world through our profiles on local figures, open discussions about specific topics and regular recaps of the latest developments in our scene.We are really excited about Grain of Salt, we hope you are too. Here’s episode #1 featuring Christa Glennie Seychew and Donnie Burtless talking about their plans for the podcast and recapping the last nine months… Get full access to Buffalo Eats at buffaloeats.substack.com/subscribe

Today on the podcast, we talk about our favorite moments from 2013 and unfortunately announce that episode 103 is going to be our last. After two years, we are closing up the studio. It’s been a fantastic ride and we’ve met some fascinating people and have made life long friends, but schedules and new living situations have made it near impossible to continue the podcast. To anyone who took time out of their crazy schedule to be a guest on our show, I can’t say thank you enough. Get full access to Buffalo Eats at buffaloeats.substack.com/subscribe

This week we have part two of our 2013 Year End conversation with Christa Glennie Seychew and this time we are talking about all the good stuff that happened this year. We touch on restaurant openings, the improving booze scene, the rise in popularity of our underground dinner clubs, Chippewa growing up and the four Nickel City Chef’s cooking at the James Beard House. It’s a long one but a good one. Get full access to Buffalo Eats at buffaloeats.substack.com/subscribe

Today on the podcast we invite our good friend Christa Glennie Seychew (Food Editor at Buffalo Spree, Founder of Feed Your Soul Productions) back to the studio to talk about all the stuff that made us sad in Buffalo’s restaurant scene during 2013. We discuss key members of the local scene departing, some restaurant closings, the lame trend of frozen yogurt and copy cat restaurants. We air it all out but don’t worry, next week is all about the good stuff that happened. Get full access to Buffalo Eats at buffaloeats.substack.com/subscribe

This week we are posting our 100th episode of Eat It Up and on this milestone episode we have four special guests. This week we invited back our friends Christian and Mike from The Black Market Food Truck and Frank and Paul from Frank Gourmet Hotdogs. All four guys were guests on the podcast earlier this year as they were just hitting the road with their food trucks. We followed up with everyone to see how things went for their first year on the street versus their expectations. We talked about trucks breaking down, legislation changes over the year, finding vending locations, how their menus evolved and more. Get full access to Buffalo Eats at buffaloeats.substack.com/subscribe

This week on the podcast is our friend Seamus Gallivan, concert promoter and founder of The Good Neighborhood. If you’ve seen live music in Buffalo, odds are Seamus was there as a fan or organizer. He’s worked with popular venues like Sportsmen’s Tavern, Nietzsche’s, Larkinville, Pearl Street and Buffalo Ironworks. Not only are his events a good time, but more often then not they are benefiting the city in some charitable fashion. We invited Seamus down to the studio to talk about his time away from Buffalo, how he found himself in his current position, the current local music scene and why he works with the folks at Larkin and Sportsmen’s Tavern. Get full access to Buffalo Eats at buffaloeats.substack.com/subscribe

This week on the podcast is Chris Daigler, the Executive Chef of Encore Restaurant and Bar. My first encounter with Chris was watching him compete against Chef Adam Goetz in Nickel City Chef XIX last year at Artisan Kitchens and Baths. It was my first Nickel City Chef competition and Chris really pulled out all the stops. Over the last two years we’ve gotten to know Chris a little better and finally got him to stop by the podcast studio. We talked about the menu at Encore, why he got into the kitchen, working at Oliver’s with Chef Mike A and owner Henry Gorino and why he can’t stand chain restaurants. Get full access to Buffalo Eats at buffaloeats.substack.com/subscribe

This week on the podcast we are talking to Frank and Rachel Dispenza, the owners of Dispenza’s Meat Market and Slaughterhouse. Most people wouldn’t expect a discussion with slaughterhouse owners to be lighthearted or that interesting but the Dispenza’s have a great story and really care about doing the right thing with their business. They bought the Ransomsville market/slaughterhouse around 18 months ago and have been offering high quality cuts of locally raised animals to the general public and some of Western New York’s best restaurants. We talked about the process of opening a market, why they are so selective with the animals they offer at the market, how their lives have changed since opening the business and much more. Get full access to Buffalo Eats at buffaloeats.substack.com/subscribe

This week on the podcast our guest is my buddy Mac McGuire, the editor and chief of buffaBLOG. We’ve been friends with the buffaBLOG gang for years now, Mac has been a Buffalo Foodie and appeared on episode #11 of Eat It Up. We invited Mac back to the podcast studio to talk about the last two years, how running a blog has taken over our lives, his thoughts on Buffalo’s music scene, his favorite songs of 2013 and announces their Holiday Show lineup Get full access to Buffalo Eats at buffaloeats.substack.com/subscribe

This week on the podcast is our buddy Nick Guy, a local foodie and freelance writer for Serious Eats and The Sweet Home. Nick came down to the studio to talk about his love of craft cocktails, volunteering, how get got into writing about food, drinking in Portland and New Orleans, testing ice cube trays, what makes a great Banh Mi sandwich and more. Get full access to Buffalo Eats at buffaloeats.substack.com/subscribe

Today on the podcast we have Rick Criden, the purchasing manager and salesman for Schneider’s Premium Seafood and a former chef with over 15 years of experience in kitchens all over Western New York. We talked about his history in WNY’s restaurant scene, where he worked in the kitchens of influential restaurants like Danny Oceans, Just Pasta, Saki and more. We talked about the life of a chef, working in the hotel business, realizing he was ‘burned out’ of the restaurant industry and working in the food sales business. Get full access to Buffalo Eats at buffaloeats.substack.com/subscribe

This week on the podcast we have Joe Kennedy, the owner of Spar’s European Sausage & Meats on Amherst St in Black Rock. I’ve wanted to have Joe on the podcast for a long time and I’m really glad we were able to schedule a talk. We have been huge fans of their meats since we first found out about the shop in 2009 and have been trying to convert everyone we know since. Their T-Meadow Hot Dogs taste like heaven and you really can’t go wrong with their Flying Bison beer brats (or really anything in their glass cases). Joe talked about his start in the restaurant world, why he decided to get out of the kitchen and take up butchering and the state of food in the US. Get full access to Buffalo Eats at buffaloeats.substack.com/subscribe

This week on the podcast we have Chris Lindstrom, the founder of the Rochester food blog FoodAboutTown.com. Chris took the trip into Buffalo to talk about the Rochester food scene, the life of a food blogger, the pros and cons of getting to know more restaurant people and finding one’s voice when reviewing restaurants. It was a pretty fun chat and I highly recommend you keep track of what’s going on in Rochester through his blog posts and podcasts. Get full access to Buffalo Eats at buffaloeats.substack.com/subscribe

Today on the podcast we have Chris Connolly, the owner of Allentown’s Cafe 59 and Madonna’s. I’ve visited both of Chris’ restaurants over the years and had met him briefly at various food events, but this was the first time that I had an extended chat with the man. We talked about how and why he took over Cafe 59 a couple years ago, the decision to take over the infamous 62 Allen spot (formerly Atmosphere and Fiddleheads) and how Allentown’s restaurant scene has been changing over the years. Get full access to Buffalo Eats at buffaloeats.substack.com/subscribe

This week on the podcast we have Corey Catalano and Matt Kahn (left to right) from Big Ditch Brewing, a local brewery that is in the process of opening up in Downtown Buffalo. In July, Big Ditch announced the location for their brewery and tasting room will be 337 Ellicott St (right across from Tappo). We talked about their start with home brewing, how they came up with the idea for a brewery, the rise of Buffalo’s brewery scene and even tasted two of their beers on the podcast. Get full access to Buffalo Eats at buffaloeats.substack.com/subscribe