Taste Of Buffalo 2013: Healthy Option Preview

Don't call me a kill joy. I love the Taste of Buffalo. A lot. It's the first event I put into my calendar when the new year hits and I countdown to all the deliciousness in one place. Besides sampling a bunch of new items each year, I always have a sample of Fat Bob's mac & cheese, used to love getting a Polish Villa pierogi (they are no longer a part of the event) and finding some ice cream from Nick Charlaps (Side note - This is my personal attempt to request the guys at Lake Effect Ice Cream join the fun next year. I'll work your booth, for free if you do!). 

This year though, for the first time, I'm going to attempt to do the Taste of Buffalo a little healthier. I have been doing a great job losing weight over the past month and a half (15 lbs. down and still going), and summer is always tough in Buffalo (or anywhere for that matter) because of festivals, summer picnics, and ice cream. 

It's not going to be easy. I'm not even entirely sure it's doable, but I'm going to try my best. Thanks to Independent Health and their mandatory, "healthy option" for each restaurant, I spent a lot of time investigating the choices and narrowing down some options for the health conscious Buffalonian who wants to enjoy all the fun without feeling left out. Fun fact: Special props to The Taste of Buffalo, as they are the ONLY food festival in the country that has the healthy option requirement! 

PLEASE NOTE: I don't know the fat or calorie content for most of these items. The Taste of Buffalo lists that to qualify as a "healthy option" it needs to have a lower fat, sodium and cholesterol count. I'm not sure how liberal they are with this, or the specific requirements. You can find out more information on the Healthy Options Buffalo website. 

Krystal's Top Five Healthy Finds:

Alex's Place Restaurant: Garlic Grilled Shrimp Skewers (7 tickets). 

*If you are a seafood lover, the shrimp skewers sound like a great pick for a low calorie option with a lot of flavor. 

Anderson's Frozen Custard: Loganberry Ice (3 tickets)

*According to the Anderson's website, 4.5 ounces of flavored ice is only 92 calories with no fat. Skip the ice cream and try a local flavor instead!

Go Veggies Cafe: Spinach Burger (8 or 4 tickets)

*I haven't checked out this cafe yet, but I'm excited there is another vegetarian option in Buffalo. The spinach burger sounds intriguing, and I'm looking forward to checking it out at the slider size (with only half the bun!)

Lloyd's Taco Truck: Krazy Korn (6 or 4 tickets)

*Vegetable topped with all sorts of yummy deliciousness = yes! (Even if what it's topped in isn't really "healthy", it will be among your favorite items of the day - I guarantee it!)

Manhattans: Purple Popeye Sandwich (7 tickets)

*Their website lists the item as a "crispy breaded eggplant topped with spinach, roasted red peppers, provolone and asiago cheese drizzed with honey dijon mustard." Everything about that sounds delicious, and while probably not the healthiest of the "healthy" items on the list, it's worth a shot! 

Each restaurant has a healthy option and has a heart next to its description. You can find the full restaurant menu list, HERE. 

Remember - you can get "taste" portions of most menu items for 2 tickets - so you can always go a little healthier by getting the smaller sample size of items you really want to try. 

As they say, "everything in moderation". I'm going to do my best and will report back and update this post after the Taste with my reviews on these and other items. 

If weight loss or eating healthy isn't an issue for you this weekend, you need to try the bacon wrapped ribs from R & R Barbecue. They sound, look and smell incredible. 

Cheers, Buffalo! To great food and 30 years strong as one of the nation's largest food festivals!!

Lloyd's Taco Truck - Krazy Korn

Buffalo Festival Dates 2013

This week, I started laying out plans for summer 2013 in Buffalo. I've already purchased tickets to a few summer concerts, my brother is getting married in July, and my boyfriend surprised me with talks of taking a family cruise this summer! With so much going on, I needed a game plan to lay out the rest of my summer so I don't miss all the great festivals and events going on in the City! 

Summers in Buffalo fill up quickly. There are hundreds of events to choose from throughout the summer months, and while I can't do them all, there are a handful (or two) of summer staples I have to attend!

Here is a running list of some of the big Buffalo summer festivals. I'll put out a summer concert post towards the end of this month once they are all released! 

Here's to another wonderful summer in Buffalo!

2013 Summer Festivals In Buffalo, NY

Buffalo Niagara Film Festival: April 10th - April 14th

Buffalo Pride Festival: May 28th - June 3rd

Buffalo Greek Festival: May 31st - June 2nd

Polish Heritage Festival: June 7th & June 8th

Allentown Art Festival: June 8th & June 9th (11am - 6pm)

Juneteenth Festival: June 15th & June 16th

Discover Amherst Street Festival: June 15th

Buffalo Blues & Brews Festival: June 16th (12pm - 9pm)

Citybration: June 21st - June 23rd

National Garden Festival: June 21st - August 4th

Niagara Falls Music & Arts Festival - June 28th - June 30th

Taste of Diversity Festival: June 29th (11am - 7pm)

Old Home Days (Williamsville): July 9th - July 12th

Taste of Buffalo: July 13th (11am - 9pm) & July 14th (11am - 7pm)

Canal Festival: July 14th - July 21st

Buffalo Infringement Festival: July 26th - August 4th

Niagara County Fair: July 31st - August 4th

Italian Festival: August 1st - August 4th

Eden Corn Festival: August 1st - August 4th

Lucille Ball Comedy Festival: August 1st - August 4th

Chalk Fest Buffalo: August 3rd & August 4th

Taste of Williamsville: August 4th (12pm - 9pm)

Erie County Fair: August 7th - August 18th

Taste of Ellicotville: August 10th & 11th

Elmwood Ave Festival of the Arts: August 24th (10am - 6pm) & August 25th (10am - 5pm)

Buffalo Chicken Wing Festival: August 31st (12pm - 9pm) & September 1st (12pm - 7pm)

Beer & Bacon Fest: August 31st (12pm - 6pm)

Music Is Art Festival: September 21st (10am - 10pm)

Buffalo International Film Festival: September 20th & October 3rd - October 6th 


...more to come...

Taste Of Buffalo 2012 - Krystal's Picks

The Taste of Buffalo is one of those staple summer events that many Buffalonians look forward to each year. This two day event brings together over 50 restaurants, a handful of local wineries and vendors from throughout WNY to put on the largest two day food festival in the United States.

We decided to hit it up right when it opened on Saturday, July 7th at 11am. My boyfriend and I each bought $20 worth of tickets, and off we went. 

With $40 worth of sampling to do, we were able to taste so many different items. Out of everything we tried, there were only a few misses among so many outstanding items. The best part about The Taste of Buffalo is that it always gives me a handful of new restaurants to try out! 

I won't go into the details of every item we tried, but here are my top five picks from the festival, with a few other honorable mention items to follow. 

The Cheesy Chick's Lucky 7 Sandwich - It was the first item we tried for the day, and besides the fact that it was the biggest "bang for the buck" in terms of ticket cost and what we got, it was absolutely delicious. The sandwich is a combination of seven different meats and cheeses with onion, garlic and spices on Italian bread. It was absolutely outstanding, and set the bar high for the rest of the day! 

Papaya's Koren BBQ Short Ribs - This was one of the last items we had and it was cooked perfectly. The ribs were tender and full of flavor. I was at Papaya for the first time a few weeks back, and I'm already looking forward to getting back there. 

Garris Bar-B-Que's Catfish Nuggets - While I thought they could have used some kind of sauce to dip them in, the catfish nuggets were one of the items I was looking forward to trying and they didn't disappoint. They were crispy and the fish was delicious. I need to check out the restaurant on William Street soon!

Carmine's Seafood Stuffed Mushrooms with a Lobster Sauce - These mushrooms were huge and packed with flavor. The lobster sauce to finish it off was delicious. I have never checked out Carmine's before, but am looking forward to getting there soon. 

Eddie Ryan's Pot Roast Sandwich & Reuben - Both were delicious and both were incredibly flavorful. Good reubens are hard to find, but this is one place you need to check out! I kept asking myself why I haven't been there before, but quickly realized I hardly ever get out to Lancaster. Now I have a reason to! 

Honorable Mention Items:

- Krazy Corn from Lloyd's Taco Truck - Where the heck has this stuff been all my life and how in all the times I've checked out Lloyd's did I not get this? So beyond delicious. 

- Fat Bob's Mac & Cheese - This is one item I get every year and it always makes me happy. In my opinion, they have the best mac and cheese in Buffalo. The rest of their menu is great too! 

- Turkey Slider from Dinosaur BBQ - All I have to say is, DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO GET THESE PEOPLE TO BUFFALO! I have heard there are more serious talks to bring them to Buffalo, and I know I'm not the only one happy about this. 

If you missed out on this year's Taste of Buffalo, you need to make sure it gets put on the calendar for next year, NOW! Out of towners, this is the perfect weekend to make a trip to Buffalo. It is truly a community event that is filled with so much Buffalove!

Allentown Art Festival Recap 2012

As the weather gets nicer and summer gets closer, one Buffalo event has always officially kicked off summer for me; The Allentown Art Festival. While I enjoy attending all the local festivals, The Allentown Art Festival is my favorite for a couple reasons: 1.) It's really the first major festival of the summer in Buffalo and it sets the tone for summer, 2.) Artists are cool people to talk to! They will talk to you about their art and are incredibly proud of what they do, 3.) Looking at art in the middle of the street in one of the coolest neighborhoods in Buffalo is just damn awesome. 

This year's festival was the 55th one in the area, and it didn't disappoint. They know how to do it in Allentown!

I was totally bummed when it rained for a good part of the day on Saturday. Festivals are a huge part of income for local artists, and I was happy to hear on Sunday (when I went) that many people still came out on Saturday, umbrellas in hand. 

While Saturday was a rainy mess, Sunday was a steamy June day in Buffalo. We wanted to get going early and arrived downtown at 10:40am (20 minutes before it officially opened). There were already a lot of people exploring the booths and we jumped right in. We spent over three hours enjoying the art work, splurging on purchases and enjoying a bite to eat. It was great to see some of my annual favorites and see what new pieces they put out this year, but, what was even better was finding so many new artists!

After the day was over, there were really four booths we were still talking about and/or that we made purchases from. All four of them were "new" finds for me, so I decided to give you a little background on them. If you don't click on the links below and check them out for yourself, you are missing out! 

Four "Finds" (In no particular order):

1.) Tanya Zabinski's "Peaceful Activist" Series: These pieces really hit home for me, and I have been thinking about them a lot since the event on Sunday (and honestly, thinking of ways to find more wall space for them). The Peaceful Activist Series consists of 25 pieces based on words/phrases; words/phrases like "do your best",  "go local", "bike" and "volunteer". The series embodies all that I try to be, and all that I promote to anyone who will listen. While it applies to all cities, I love that the series was created by a Buffalo artist (fellow Buffalo State alumni). Check out the link above to see the series. Oh, and "go local" and support Tanya!

2.) Buffalo History: Buffalo and history are two of my favorite words, so when you put them together, I'm going to gravitate towards your booth. The booth was full of everything Buffalo from vintage prints, to modern prints, note cards, and maps of the area. My favorite find there had to be the blueprint of the Memorial Auditorium (if you are looking for this print on the website, it's not there yet. It's brand new, and they are working on getting it up there soon). What really impressed me though, was getting a six year old's undivided attention as I explained to him how the Falls froze over (he then insisted we buy one of those prints). Art is a great medium for learning, and especially a history lesson! What could possibly be better than getting a six year old to love Buffalo history as much as I do?

3.) Shooting Star Jewelry: When we started our day of exploring I said, "If I only leave here with one thing, it is going to be a new ring." I have a thing for rings. The Allentown Art Fesitval is a great venue for finding unique jewelry, and Shooting Star jewelry had so many options. I have my boyfriend to thank for this find because I overlooked it on first glance.  He insisted I check it out on the way back down the street. They had a large selection of jewelry, and a table full of unique sterling silver rings.  I narrowed it down to two final options (although I would have been happy with about ten of them) and let my boyfriend make the final selection. I love it! 

4.) Rusted Grain: At some point my boyfriend wandered away from our group. When I located him, he was at the booth for Rusted Grain. The second I walked up to him I could see he really loved the pieces. When he started explaining it to me, I absolutely fell in love with them too. Rusted Grain takes reclaimed Buffalo wood and turns it into furniture, cabinetry and other pieces. They work closely with the Green Demolition Team from Reuse Action to get wood from deconstructed Buffalo area homes. 

The amount of local talent in Buffalo is just incredible to me. I'm overwhelmed by the art, culture and pure love for the city that I saw at The Allentown Art Festival. I'm sure this trend will continue throughout all the festivals this summer. 

It's going to be a great summer in Buffalo. There is so much to do, it's hard to keep it all straight! One thing is for sure, there's no other place I'd rather be!

Buffalo Festival Dates 2012

Here are some of the Buffalo 2012 Festival dates to get you excited for the summer :)

Buffalo Niagara Film Festival: April 12 - 22nd

Allentown Art Festival: June 9th & 10th

Buffalo Citybration: June 21st - 24

Taste of Buffalo: July 7th & 8th

Old Homes Days in Williamsville: July 10th - 13th

Italian Festival: July 12th - 15th

Canal Festival: July 15th - 22nd

Niagara County Fair: August 1st - August 5th

Taste of Williamsville: August 5th 

Erie County Fair: August 8th - 19th

Elmwood Avenue Festival of the Arts: August 25th & 26th

Buffalo Wing Festival: September 1st & 2nd

Buffalo International Film Festival: September 2012

PLEASE NOTE: We will add more to the list as we find out about them!!!

Looking forward to the announcement of all the summer concerts!! We will update as soon as we hear any news.

Buffalo Soupfest 2012

I was lucky enough to score a free pair of tickets to Buffalo Soupfest at The Millennium Hotel in Cheektowaga (right next to the Walden Galleria Mall) so we made it a family afternoon and went down to check it out! Thanks to Yancey's Fancy for the pair of tickets.

This event is relatively new to the Buffalo food festivals, and is always held in January (and this year was on the perfect snowy Sunday!). Admission is $5 to get in the door, (children under 10 are free) and then you purchase soupbucks which cost $1 each. All the soup samples run between 1 - 2 soup bucks for small but filling samples. Most of the participants also have the option to purchase bigger containers of soup to take home for around 5-6 tickets.

All the restaurants/participants were in the ballroom area, and also another atrium area in the hotel. We bought in for $20 worth of soup bucks, and were able to get a ton of great samples.

My overall pick for top soup of the day was: The Wellington Pub's "Steakhouse Cheddar & Ale". It was absolutely nomtasic and it was a kid favorite too, as Jacob wanted another sample!! (We also took two quarts of it home with us) I was excited to see there was a pierogi soup, but the broth and flavors fell flat. Some of the other ones we all enjoyed were "Beef on Weck" from Danny's Restaurant, "Poutine" from Torches, "Spicy Artichoke and Pepper" from Brodo, "Chicken Dumpling and Noodle" from Savory's, and "Black Truffle Creamy Mushroom" from Crooked Door Tavern.

Overall, the atmosphere inside The Millennium was great. It was a fun afternoon and another great way to showcase the delicious food Buffalo has to offer. The only gripe I heard about the day was that it was too cramped, which I agree with, and the restaurants did not always have their soup types displayed properly, makig it was hard to see what each place had until you were right up to their table.

Soup Fest organizers should be proud of this newer Buffalo tradition and I'm sure in the years to come will continue to expand.

Niagara Ice Wine Festival 2012

I love wine...like LOVE wine. I’m a white wine girl, and can always go for a good glass of Reisling after a long day, or if I’m being totally honest, after most days! I host a wine tasting party with my girlfriends every year where each person brings a wine and we sample, play games, have lots of good food, and rate all the wines. Not to brag or anything, but my bottle of wine wins every year as favorite wine! I make it my mission to scour the area for a local winery to pick as my choice for the party. I typically go on a few wine tasting outings during the year and one of my favorite spots to tour is Niagara On The Lake in Canada.

Earlier this month, my boyfriend and I ventured up to the North to attend the Niagara Ice Wine Festival. During our Sunday excursion we stopped at eight different wineries (five new ones) and I continue to fall more in love with the region (and the best part, it's less than an hour drive!).

Here are some of my highlights from the day:

My absolute favorite stop when we get up there is Vineland Estates Winery, located at 3620 Moyer Road, Ontario L0R 2C0, CA. For the past two years we ended up tasting at the same spot, with the exact same man, Joe. He has an outstanding personality and is the person you need to ask for if you get up there. The previous year Joe told us about a sparkling Riesling they were going to be coming out with, but when we were there last it was not yet available for tasting. I was extremely excited to taste it this year, and it did not disappoint. Basically every wine we tried (both ice wine and an assortment of other wines) were great, and we left there with a few different bottles. The property itself is gorgeous, with a restaurant, chapel, tasting room, and small marketplace upstairs with cheeses and other products. If you are a white wine drinker like me, try the 2008 St. Urban Riesling, the 2009 Semi Dry Riesling, The Sparkling Riesling Methode Cuve Close, and the Cabernet Sauvignon Ice wine (although all the ice wines are delicious)!

Two other wineries we went back to for the second time were Tawse Winery and Flat Rock Cellars. Tawse has fantastic wines and I was excited to try the latest Riesling. The tasting specialists (for lack of a better term) and Tawse were friendly and fun, and we enjoyed the chit chat with them. They are surrounded by pretty scenery and I love the large glass room divider that shows off where the wine is made, behind the tasting room.

Flat Rock is one of the most fun places to hang out and enjoy the scenery. Their tasting room has huge windows that overlook their vineyard and on a clear day (which it was when we were there) you can see Toronto in the distance. They sell huge homemade marshmallows and have a big fire pit outside to roast them. We had to get them, and they were delicious. They have a good selection of wines and I'd suggest trying their "Twisted" wines mixing together a few different wines to make up this line.

As for the new places we tried we ventured out to Angel's Gate Winery, Organized Crime Winery, Crown Bench Estates Winery, Creekside Estate Winery and Stone Church Vineyards. I wasn't much of a fan of the last three. Crown Bench Estates is pegged the "most innovative" winery branching out and making flavored ice wines including hot ice (combining five different hot peppers), vanilla ice, and ambrosia chocolate ice, among others. We tried a few but weren't impressed with any. On the plus side, Crown Bench Estates sells these awesome ice wine glasses that I had to have, $7 each. Stone Church was our last stop of the day and I wasn't a huge fan of any wine, but they have pretty awesome spreads and dips for sale - try the caramelized onion and maple. As for Creekside, I just wasn't a fan of anything there.

Angel's Gate and Organized Crime were fun additions to our tour! While the tasting experience at Organized Crime wasn't my favorite; the tasting room is tiny and I mean TINY, and the owner's dog was in the room next door scratching on the door, they had my pick for favorite wine I tried of the day - their Reisling. Angel's Gate was our first stop of the day, and the winery is super cute. They had a pretty great patio and would be perfect for a summer night, overlooking gorgeous scenery.

The Niagara Ice Wine Festival offers a pass that includes food pairings at some of the wineries along with your tastings for $30. While it's a good deal, we've never purchased it. We typically purchase a bottle or two at most wineries we go to, and if you do that, in most cases, the winery will waive the tasting fees. During this trip we didn't end up paying for one tasting, but we did come home with 8 bottles of wine and a gorgeous set of ice wine glasses!

This weekend is the last weekend of the Ice Wine Festival, but if you can't make it up there soon, plan a day trip with your significant other or close friends, and explore all the great wineries just over the border! Red wine drinkers, don't worry, there's plenty of awesome red wines available for tasting too!

Buffalo Summer Festival Dates - Don't Miss Out!

Allentown Art Festival - June 11th & June 12th
Taste Of Buffalo - July 9th & July 10th
Williamsville Old Homes Days - July 12th - 15th
Italian Festival - July 14th - July 17th
Canal Fest - July 17th - July 24th
Erie County Fair - August 10th - August 21st
Buffalo Wing Festival - September 3rd & September 4th

I am sad to report that there will be NO Brighton Field Days this year in Tonawanda.


*Please NOTE: More will be added as I find them out*