Flight Time
When I remembered the magical candy counter in my late father’s hometown (see this week’s Café), I thought of another culinary connection to that place. The little town of Lockport, New York, is right outside Buffalo, where Buffalo chicken wings were invented.
My old man missed out on that historic event because he moved to the Midwest in the 1950s. Buffalo is famous for other things besides chicken wings, of course — including the extraordinary beef-on-weck sandwich, which can be found only in Kansas City at Café Europa.
Buffalo also has an average annual snowfall of 93 inches and is the birthplace of President Grover Cleveland, penis amputee John Wayne Bobbitt and porn stars Lee Baldwin and Keri Sable.
According to the Buffalo Convention and Visitors Bureau’s Web site, the first order of Buffalo chicken wings was prepared in 1964 by bar owner Terressa Bellisimo, who made it as an impromptu snack for some patrons at her family’s business, the Anchor Bar at 1047 Main Street.
The Web site tells the history this way: “She took some chicken wings that were left over from the day, deep-fried them, added some hot sauce and served them crisp and hot. Her friends loved them and gradually other restaurants throughout the city — and eventually the world — began serving this new delicacy.”
The Anchor Bar is still located at 1047 Main Street in Buffalo, but the most successful vendor of Bellisimo’s invention may be the Minneapolis-based restaurant chain, Buffalo Wild Wings, which has seen sales increase by as much as 11.8 percent in some locations.
Buffalo Wild Wings has four locations in the Kansas City area, but my wing-nut friend Ben doesn’t think the chain’s product is all that. “They’re small and not very meaty,” he says. He reiterates the common wisdom about wings in KC: The best are at The Peanut bar and grill downtown.
Another friend of mine insists that no matter where you get them, Buffalo wings are vastly inferior to the delicious basil chicken wings served in the metro’s Thai Place restaurants. “They’re what wings are all about,” he says.
That and helping a candy freak make a soft landing from a sugar high.
