The Seasons Change

It’s late summer and I am hoping for many more evenings of dinners on patios. And just a few more stolen afternoons on the beach. In Buffalo, the collective psyche draws a line in the sand on Labor Day and begins a descent into fall. I hope to make this transition to winter a slow one. Here are some ways to cope with the oncoming dark and cold.

Rouladen with spaetzle and sweet and sour red cabbage at Scharf's Schiller Park. (photo by Rose Mattrey)

Take a ride! Route 16 is Seneca Street. Drift down from the city on a crisp night and stop into the Blue Lantern Lounge (6120 Seneca Street, Elma, 652-2583). A homey-looking white building stands on the right side of the road, with the aura of an old-fashioned steak and prime rib joint. Open the door, and you find yourself in a sleek, earth-toned bistro with a shiny bar in the front. The tablecloths are white, and the menu is upscale. Tom and Donna Pease, the owners, have created a welcoming zone where they and the servers greet you to make sure you are comfortable and comforted. The atmosphere they have fashioned makes even a first time visitor feel like a regular. One guy at the bar says he almost expects to be called Norm when he walks in.

And the food? The regular menu will continue this season, with specials reflecting seasonal changes. Top seller at the Blue Lantern is the $17 Sir Lawrence signature burger. If your eyebrows rose at the price, wait till you see the burger. A pound and a quarter of meat, it’s enclosed in an eight-inch roll made specially by D and L Bakery in Depew. (My husband has been buying bread from D and L for 20 years—they are a fantastic local bakery). Onion rings rise on a spike from the top of the roll, and encircle it as well. Go to bluelanterninelma.com to get the full effect. While I did see one man eat the whole thing, it can easily be split among three people. Cobb salad, lobster cakes, steaks, and other meat and fish entrees round out the offerings.

The chef is Tyrol Spring, who has been there about a year. Dustin Murphy, the sous chef, recently spent four months in Italy, interning at various restaurants. While it is too early for them to be very specific on what the fall menu will hold, they expect to repeat some of last year’s successful specials—comfort food such as pot roast, and mashed potatoes with butternut squash. Dustin’s Italian experience will be put to use in inventing new menu items, so expect some surprises.

Traveling north, you can pick up the 190 to the Robert Moses Parkway, take it to the end, make a left, and in 1.5 miles, pull into Ray’s Tavern (1694 Lake Road, Youngstown, 745-3657), on the right side of the road. I recommend a different route. Head to Lewiston, drive through town, and turn right on the River Road. Travel along the Niagara River, ogling the gorgeous houses and the great river view of the burnished leaves in Niagara on the Lake. Use your map, and find Ray’s on the outskirts of Youngstown. Or don’t use your map, and wander through Niagara County, stopping at the farm stands along the way for the incredible produce of autumn.

When you are hungry, though, it is time for Ray’s. Diane and Ken Eckert are your hosts. They have owned Ray’s for 18 years, having bought it from her parents, who opened the tavern in 1957. A venerable roadhouse, Ray’s is a casual bar with a dining room and a stick-to-your-ribs menu for people with a passion for homemade food. What better way to usher in fall?

Ray’s hamburgers are renowned. One half pound of beef is ground and cooked to order with special spices. Accompanied by the freshly cut deep-fried potatoes, it goes for $6.25; soup or salad can be substituted for the fries, but why would anyone do that? Burger toppings include onions and mushrooms sautéed in cheddar cheese, or Swiss cheese and mushrooms. On Sundays, chicken and biscuits are the special. And they are special. Lasagna, spaghetti and meatballs, and meatloaf round out other days of the week.

Desserts are homemade. Pies reflect the season, so while lemon meringue is always on hand, apple pies are coming up soon. Hawaiian wedding cake, a white cake with pineapple, whipped cream, and coconut, is a customer favorite.

The bar at Amaryllis. (photo by Rose Mattery)

Pick some apples, buy a pumpkin, and go to Ray’s for your reward.

Octoberfest. Can we have fall without it? Not so long as Scharf’s Schiller Park Restaurant is in town. So much of the flavor of Buffalo was built on corner bars catering to working men and women and their families. So much of that has been lost. Scharf’s epitomizes the German tradition of our city so prevalent before people dispersed to the suburbs. Margaret Scharf, who lives above the restaurant, started it all 41 years ago. Nestled in a lane dead-ending at a park at 34 Crossman Street, Scharf’s is a tavern with a rollicking menu. Potato pancakes, at $7.25, crisp and served with applesauce, are the number one favorite food item. Duck, Wiener schnitzel, yager schnitzel, and zigeurner schnitzel (all in the $13 range) are served by the dirndl-wearing waitresses, many who have been there for what must be decades.

Margaret Scharf’s special dressing tops the salad, and bottles of it are for sale. For a good fall vegetable, how can you beat red cabbage or sweet and sour cabbage to accompany your meal? And the spaetzle. Mouth-warming. Try it. You can’t imagine how you have lived without it.

In October, Saturday nights will feature live accordion music. There is no cover. A mug of Spaten Octoberfest beer from Munich is $1.50.

For more information, go to Scharfsrest.com.

Amaryllis Restaurant (675 Delaware Avenue, 878-2741) actually has its entrance on North Street. You step down a few carpeted stairs into what was the site of St. George’s Table years ago. It is the kind of place where you imagine women in fox capes or mink coats entering and men with fedoras holding the doors open for them. It is just the sort of cozy and warm atmosphere a fall dinner calls for. With entrees ranging from about $25-$33, this restaurant features well prepared food by a skilled chef. Jennifer Stainrook is up to the challenge.

Amaryllis’ menu changes several times each year to accompany seasonal variations. On September 23, the autumn menu will be unveiled. If previous years can be used as a prediction, some variation of a sweet potato gratin (thinly sliced potatoes bound in custard, maybe with a few apples added in) will be a highlight of the fall menu, accompanied by pork tenderloin draped in a cider sauce. Guided by the farmers’ markets, Jennifer has found Brussels sprouts to be an excellent fall choice—boiled in salted water and sautéed in butter, the perfect autumn vegetable. Duck breast in mustard sauce and mushroom risotto are other additions to the fall menu that have proved popular with the restaurant’s diners. Soups, homemade, reflect autumn’s bounty. Butternut squash, roasted, and pureed is pure and perfect.

Apple crumble, homemade cinnamon ice cream, and a seasonal galette of pears and crème anglaise bring fall to a taste tingling delight.