Sunday News: Amabel Provisions gives Buffalo a proper cheese shop, finally
Get WNY Empanadas before they exit, and healthy Elmwood lunch tips
Until a husband-and-husband team of restaurant veterans opened Amabel Provisions in August, Buffalonians who love fine cheese were in a bad whey.
Stores that sold their favorites were careless. Invest in $40-a-pound Lively Run Cayuga Blue for a celebration, and you might get a nasty surprise when you unwrapped it at the party: stinky in a bad way, ignoble rot.
Fine cheese is alive. Plastic suffocates it, accelerating biological breakdown. On Mother’s Day, would you bring the person who brought you into this world dead flowers?
At Amabel Provisions, cheeses are wrapped in special cheesemonger paper, engineered to allow the right amount of oxygen to keep it happy. Julian Dell’Oso and Clayton Edison, whose restaurant careers included years of cheeseherding, have given Buffalo’s cheeseophiles a safe place to get reacquainted with old favorites.
Edison managed at The Dapper Goose, and Dell’Oso managed at Buffalo Proper and 100 Acres. Now they’re taking their attention to detail and customer service, and focusing it on their own business.
“Wine and cheese are both living, breathing things,” Dell’Oso said. “As soon as you cut a piece of cheese and wrap it in plastic, that starts the death cycle.”
Best-in-show plus education is what Amabel aims for, offering charcuterie, canned seafood, chocolates, baked treats, and other specialties of the table.
The shop also makes sandwiches with character from its carefully sourced ingredients. Pork country pate, prosciutto, arugula, dijonaise, and Kriemhild Dairy butter on rustic bread ($15) is “Paradise By the Dashboard Light.”
Cheesophiles can join the Cheese Club, and pick up a monthly foursome of the cheese world’s most interesting characters. Club members can pick up their subscription at the shop, 1006 Elmwood Ave., or at Miller’s Thumb Bakery & Cafe in Tonawanda. Each installment comes with a Dell’Oso-produced micro-zine illuminating each month’s selections.
Amabel Provisions cheese boards will become available at Miller’s Thumb Bakery during the upcoming holiday shopping season, he said.
If you’re cheese-curious, consider one of the Cheese 101 classes Amabel provides. It’s a way to meet a lot of cheesy characters while getting answers about why they are that way.
That’s the difference an expert cheeseherder can make.
“When you're paying 40 plus dollars a pound for a quality cheese that somebody has really put their heart into,” he said, “you should be getting it at its best.”
1006 Elmwood Ave., amabelprovisions.com, 716-277-6823
Hours: 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday, Monday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Thursday, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday. Closed Tuesday, Wednesday.
REVIEW: The menu mashup of Chinese, Indian, Tibetan, and Malaysian at Inchin’s Bamboo Garden invites prospecting. My panning turned up nuggets worth sharing at this Williamsville Plaza restaurant in Amherst, like sambal lamb racy with pickled chile, salt-and-pepper shrimp husky with smoky “breath of the wok,” and properly incendiary paneer 65. Its world cuisine is offered in a genteel setting, reassuringly clean, with a full bar, and plenty of parking. (Later today, for patrons.)
Last call for WNY Empanadas: There’s a month left to get WNY Empanadas’ buttery, flaky baked bundles of handheld joy.
David Brown and Otonio “Otto” Garcia wrap up their business, selling at North Tonawanda and Lockport farmers markets and from 27 Chandler St., Dec. 14.
“This has been a great season for the two of us at WNY Empanadas and we are very grateful to everyone that has made that possible,” they wrote on Instagram. “We've made the difficult decision to wrap up our empanada baking on December 14th, 2024. It's not a question that we approached lightly.
The short and simple explanation is that we'll be moving out of NYS next year to be with family.
In the meantime, we still have a couple of upcoming markets and are planning a sale to clear out any seasonal ingredients we have in storage. See you soon!
-David and Otto ❤️
Butter Meat Co has announced it will wrap up its dairy-cow-centric food shop in Perry.
“While we'll be saying goodbye to our physical space, Butter Meat Co continues online at buttermeatco.com, where you'll find our dairy beef and tallow soap available for shipping.
The last day to shop in Perry will be Saturday, December 7. Gift cards can be redeemed in-store over the coming weeks. After we close, you'll be able to use them on our website.”
If you’re interested in renting the space, it’s available. “I'd love to see a new business take root here by next summer's Letchworth tourism season.”
ASK THE CRITIC:
Q: Any quick recommendation for a somewhat healthy lunch (not wings, dogs, beef on weck) opportunity today? They're on Elmwood, but will drive anywhere.
A: Three quick ones:
Street Asian Food, 516 Elmwood Ave., has terrific Thai and Burmese food vegetarians dig. Papaya salad, ginger salad, the Burmese hit tea leaf salad. Also, I recommend the egg curry if they enjoy hard-boiled eggs.
Lexington Co-op prepared foods section, 807 Elmwood Ave. Made fresh daily, it’s the healthy lunch spot for many Elmwood Villagers.
Strong Hearts Buffalo, 295 Niagara St. All vegan, all good, all the time. I’d suggest the Southwest Chicken salad.
More reading from Michael Chelus:
Mr. Galarneau told us about his favorite Mexican place - Taqueria Los Mayas in Cheektowaga [Four Bites]
Bloom & Rose Deli will open a bar-restaurant in Williamsville next summer [Four Bites]
The Spree put out its annual Tom & Jerry guide with notable examples to be found at Schwabl's, The Place and more [Buffalo Spree]
The team from Britesmith Brewing has opened up a new café and bakery in Hamburg - Ladybird Deli + Bakery [Buffalo News]
Chef Anne Burrell will be at Batavia Downs Gaming & Hotel for a cooking demonstration on 11/24 [Buffalo Rising]
Brett wrote about the newly opened Farmcraft Brewery [Step Out Buffalo]
Brett also wrote about Steel Leaf Brewing on Hertel Avenue [Step Out Buffalo]
Brian's Buffalo Beer Briefs told us of a holiday beer release at Resurgence Brewing Company, a new IPA for charity from Southern Tier and more [Step Out Buffalo]
Southern Belle Diner in Depew is making real deal chicken-fried steak [Four Bites]
Big Ditch has made Buffalo’s first NA beer since prohibition [Buffalo News]
More coverage of Big Ditch’s NA release [Buffalo Rising]
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