Review: At Grange Community Kitchen, enjoying the casual genius of my No. 1 restaurant in WNY

Happier cooks redefine standards at Hamburg's farm-to-table destination

Prawns in pepperoni butter at Grange Community Kitchen.

Even on the mornings when my coffee doesn’t taste quite right because it lacks an old-fashioned color comics section to pore over, digital media still beats dead trees and ink six ways from Sunday.

In the paper era, impact was extrapolated from letters to the editor, incoming phone calls, and vibes. In the digital world, gauging reader enthusiasm is mercilessly precise.

So when I say Grange Community Kitchen coming to Buffalo was our community’s biggest restaurant story of the year, I have the receipts, the cold, hard facts, to back up that claim. (Double the readers of the next-best-read restaurant story, actually.)

Personally, I punched the sky like my favorite team won a playoff game. I’ve fanboyed Grange hard since Brad Rowell and Caryn Dujanovich transformed an actual former Grange hall into the best reason to drive to Hamburg hungry.

Grange’s Caesar is kale, with a blizzard of toasted sourdough crumbs for well-distributed crunch.

The secret is out: Hamburg is worth the drive for dinner. Breakfast and lunch, too, if you’re hungry and they’re nearby Grange is the first check-off on the list. Likewise West Rose in Ellicottville, or Wayland Brewing and Grange Outpost in Orchard Park.

The Grange group’s overall excellence level stems partly from its better-than-average employee wages and conditions. Workers stay longer. Plus, Grange can attract talented restaurant people who could find a decent job in most metro areas but want to live in Buffalo.

Manuel Ocasio and Gina Nalbone, for instance. Ocasio started at The Black Sheep before honing his craft at Philadelphia standouts Zahav and Jean George. Nalbone worked at Del Posto, Sqirl, and Philadephia’s Fiore Fine Foods before she and Ocasio decided to move to Buffalo to work at Grange Community Kitchen. They will help lead the kitchen at Mira, the Grange’s takeover of the former Pano’s on Elmwood Avenue.

Before that comes to fruition next year, consider heading to Hamburg to get a taste of what you’ve been missing.