Phone-friendly Four Bites 2.0 site drops Oct. 14
Help for food biz startups Oct. 15, ramen returns to Yankee BBQ Oct. 7
Four Bites 2.0 launches Oct. 14, at fourbites.net.
The new phone-friendly site helps you solve your daily dilemma: What’s to eat?
Get answers in more than 300 reviews, recipes, and news columns, in a site made for phone browsing and laptop digging.
Four Bites will stop posting to Substack in two weeks. Four Bites subscribers will be automatically transferred to the new site, where they’ll pick a new password. Starting Oct. 14, you can sign up fourbites.net, at the orange SUBSCRIBE.
Why bother getting Four Bites? Here’s the biggest difference: Today, most food influencers show you what they get paid to review.
I have old-fashioned journalism ethics. I pay my bills, and never sell reviews.
I only want one boss: you.
Four Bites takes your hunger personally. I have developed a very particular set of skills, acquired over a very long career. If there is an answer, I will find it for you.
Mention a dish you miss, and if it’s in town, I’ll find it.
Can’t decide between restaurants? We’ll talk to figure out what you really want. Then I’ll empower your decision-making with a dossier of information vetted by a prize-winning investigative reporter.
The new site strengthens Four Bites’ bottom line, a 10 percent raise by eliminating Substack’s fee.
Another plus is independence. I’ve grown increasingly aware that Substack has a “Nazi problem.” Now people who won’t support Substack can support Four Bites.
Transparency requires me to add that Four Bites takes this step forward on the shoulders of New York Marketing, the digital team I hired in April. They helped a 58-year-old sentence artiste to grow into a producer of snappy little documentaries.
Sign up for free for the Sunday News, full of profiles, events, and answers to reader questions and quests. Or support my efforts by becoming a patron, part of the group that keeps Four Bites going. Eight dollars a month, or $50 a year, 14 cents a day.
At its new home, Four Bites will do even more to make your life in Buffalo better, three times a day. Because everybody’s gotta eat.
REVIEW: After the all-out exertions of a Bills Sunday Monday is a day of rest. Except at Casa Azul, where the prep starts at 9 a.m. for dinner, making mole, simmering beans, and pressing fresh tortillas for the day’s tacos. Just about everything at Zina Lapi’s essential Mexican restaurant at the heart of Allentown is made from scratch, a level above most Mexican efforts in Western New York. (Coming Thursday, for patrons.)
FOOD STARTUP ALERT: Have a recipe, farm product, or kitchen creation you think could grow into a business? Explore the possibilities in a free workshop offered Oct. 15 by Niagara County’s Cornell Cooperative Extension in Lockport.
Join CCE Niagara’s Beginner Farmer Educator Heather Nedroscik, Niagara SBDC Certified Business Advisor Bree Bacon, and WNY Food Incubator and Commercial Kitchen Program Manager Jen Regan for an evening exploring the essentials of launching a value-added venture. Topics include business planning basics, market research, and licensing requirements.
It’s 6 p.m.-8 p.m. at 4487 Lake Road, Lockport. Register for the free workshop here.
RAMEN ALERT: If you wish Buffalo had better ramen, there’s still a table open at Tuesday’s Ramen Night at Yankee BBQ.
Brian Nagy and Adam Buckley offer reservation-worthy ramen: chicken-and-kombu double broth, bamboo shoots, housemade cold-smoked noodles, marinated soft-boiled egg, and the meats: smoked beef cheek or pork belly. Forty hours of work for a bowl of soup, and it’s still just $19.99. Reserve here.
I’ve gotten several tips about Konbini, the new onigiri and ramen spot at 523 Main St., but haven’t gotten there yet to see for myself. If you’ve been, please do fill me in at andrew@fourbites.net.
More reading from Michael Chelus:
Andrew told us the story behind Ernie’s Pop Shop [Four Bites]
Frankie Primo’s +39 will soon open a new location in Amherst [Buffalo News]
Francesca told us how Westfield is try to regain its title as the largest Concord grape growing region in the world [Buffalo News]
42 North Brewing is celebrating its 10th Anniversary with a month of special beers and events [Buffalo Beer League]
You can eat dinner while watching a spooky movie outdoors at Quenelle [Buffalo News]
Brett wrote about a new European-inspired cafe and market in Williamsville - Filled with Love Cafe & Market [Step Out Buffalo]
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This is a principled stand, Andrew. Proud of you as always! Beautifully written, too.