Sunday News: Caffe @ Amy's bringing back essential University Heights breakfast
Toutant and Gigi's Cucina Povera set to close, hiatus for Yankee BBQ
Amy’s Place is getting a heart transplant.
The once-essential University Heights cafe was opened in 1981 by Amy Betros. Part diner, part Lebanese bakery, part neighborhood hangout, it was a fixture in thousands of lives.
Betros sold the place 1993 and went on to co-found St. Luke’s Mission of Mercy. Greg Kempf, the remaining owner, has worn himself out working to keep it open. The restaurant has hosted live music, but stopped serving a regular menu.
Now a new source of energy will power the restaurant, rebadged as Caffe @ Amy’s, with a hoped-for March opening. What Amy’s Place partisans have wished for - an experienced operator with local roots to restore the essential breakfast nook to a neighborhood amenity - has somehow come to pass.
Jesse Schmidbauer went to Amy’s Place so often as a kid he doesn’t remember life before Amy’s. His father Joe, publisher of the Alt Press alternative biweekly, was a regular. Jesse’s a former Buffalo Public Schools special education teacher who’s going to run the place with his wife Michaela.
For 16 years, she worked at Caffe Aroma at Bidwell and Elmwood, returning to buy the place in 2023. So experience out the wazoo. Then, get this: They’ve been trying to open a coffee shop in University Heights for 15 years.
When Amy’s Place becomes Caffe @ Amy’s Place, hopefully opening in March, what will change? The Schmidbauers have already installed an espresso machine.
The menu will continue Amy’s lentil game, with the original recipes in hand. Plus some of Caffe Aroma’s best-sellers. Eggs in various forms, home fries, and a few other staples, keeping it simple but definitely still Amy’s with an extra dimension.
“It's going to be mostly counter service,” said Jesse Schmidbauer. “We'll deliver your food, but it's gonna be a cafe with entree diner options. It's going to be a little bit of a different model than the Amy's Place of the last 20 years.”
They met at Buffalo State College, as staffers at WBNY, the student-run radio station. He’s a former Buffalo Public Schools special education teacher. She’s owned Caffe Aroma at Elmwood and Bidwell since 2023, since working there from 2003-2019.
Independent of other Aromas in town, the Elmwood-Bidwell Aroma, serves coffee, baked goods, sandwiches, frittatas, plus beer, wine, and cocktails.
At Caffe @ Amys, “our intention is to run 7 a.m.-7 p.m. daily, every day of the week, and then have events after seven,” Schmidbauer said.
“If you go to Europe, France has brasseries,” he said. “It's more of a bar, but they have a couple entrees of the day, lasagna or something. That's what you get. You don't want it? Have an omelet.”
REVIEW: In a town where some steak-famous restaurants are cheating customers by serving choice-graded beef as prime, Prescott’s Provisions remains my first suggestion for a celebratory steak dinner and other delights. Vincent Thompson’s crew is detail-obsessed, down to the Swiss butter infused with toasted nutritional yeast that accompanies the housemade durum wheat focaccia. This six-year-old Tonawanda restaurant is redefining modern fine dining on the bank of the historic Erie Canal. (Later today, for patrons.)
86 Toutant: Popular downtown restaurant Toutant will close after service Feb. 15.
After a decade of service, owners James and Connie Roberts are going to pursue other interests. James Roberts is looking for a job.
Like other restaurants, Toutant doesn’t draw the crowds it did five years ago. The relentless math of restaurant finances did the rest.
I caught up with James Roberts for a conversation about the factors that led to the couple’s decision to close Toutant, more than a year in the making. More from our conversation later this week, where we explored why a restaurant like Toutant closes despite signs of success.
In three hours after the announcement, Roberts said, Toutant booked 2,800 reservations. How a restaurant that popular was not a stable business is worth exploring further.
Gigi’s Cucina Povera closing: Chef-owner Ann Marie Giordano is closing Gigi’s Cucina Povera after service Jan. 25. The Sicilian specialist opened Gigi’s on Kenmore Avenue in 2013.
“Please join us this week and next week, as we say goodbye to Gigi’s,” Giordano posted Jan. 15. “Our last day of operation will be January 25, 2025. Gigi’s building has been sold and another restaurant will soon be open at 981 Kenmore Avenue. We wish the new owners as much love and support from the community as you have always provided for us. Gigi’s is retiring!”
Yankee BBQ hiatus: Southtowns barbecue joint Yankee BBQ’s last day of service at its current Woodlawn location is Jan 25. In February, owner Brian Nagy expects to have the now hotness ready, he restaurant will reopen as a full-fledged restaurant and bar in the former Raphael’s, 4572 Clark St., Hamburg.
ASK THE CRITIC
Q: Several reviewers and commentators have said that Quenelle is the only French restaurant in Buffalo and the sole successor to Rue Franklin. Arguably, Coco Bar & Bistro on Main Street downtown has a very French vibe, and mostly French food. Webster's Bistro in North Tonawanda also has a largely French-influenced menu and is quite good. -Bill Newell
A: I hear that. In my experience, diners have varying yardsticks to decide whether a place is a “French restaurant.” Coco’s menu was the most French until Quenelle. Since my duty is differentiation, I used the term for Quenelle. I’m not saying that calling Coco or Webster’s a French restaurant is wrong. Just that it’s wrong for me.
More reading from Michael Chelus:
Mr. Galarneau told us that the Italian deli experience that we feared extinct is alive and well at Louie's Deli [Four Bites]
Andrew also wrote about the new owners of Nietzsche's [FourBites]
Christa interviewed Connie and James Roberts about the closing of one of my all-time favorites - Toutant [Buffalo Spree]
Francesca wrote about the return of French cuisine to Franklin Street at Quenelle [Buffalo News]
Andrew gave us a recipe for the big game - Mississippi Pot Roast [Four Bites]
You can now enjoy Thai, Burmese and Vietnamese dishes in Allentown at Bamboo Ridge [Buffalo News]
Newell wrote about Wildflower Meadery at the Niagara Frontier Food Terminal [Buffalo Rising]
Brian's week's beer news roundup told us of a new West Coast IPA from Southern Tier Brewing Company, the opening of Monster Beach Brewery & Tiki Bar and more [Step Out Buffalo]
More coverage of Other Half Brewing's move to the other side of Seneca One [Step Out Buffalo]
Brian penned a guide to local beer festivals [Buffalo News]
Britesmith is moving forages with plans to open its second location on Niagara Street [Buffalo Rising]
Donnie penned a love letter to Toutant [Buffalo Eats]
#30#