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The Cheeto shrimp burrito from The Lime House Sushi & Ramen has a wrap coated in orange Cheeto crumbs. It is among the new food items at Taste of Buffalo.
With only two days and one stomach, it is best to navigate the Taste of Buffalo with a game plan.
The last thing you want is to fill up on goodies at the beginning of your trek down Delaware Avenue before you even get a chance to try the Cheeto sushi burrito.
The 41st annual Taste of Buffalo returns July 13 and 14 along Delaware Avenue from Chippewa Street and into Niagara Square. There will be 43 restaurants and 14 pop-up chefs selling a combination of their most popular foods and creative entries to the festival’s thousands of visitors.
Most vendors will be there for the festival's duration. However, a new feature this year allows some of the region’s most well-known chefs and popular kitchens to participate in the festival for a shorter time. Fourteen chefs and restaurants will rotate through the three Rock Star Kitchen pop-up tents throughout the festival, selling their inventive dishes for a couple of hours.
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Looking for a healty option at Taste of Buffalo? Try the sweet chili-glazed Brussels sprouts from Resurgence Brewing Company.
I've selected 13 noteworthy foods that are new to the festival. Some are from newbie restaurants, others are from returning participants with new menu items and a few are from the ephemeral chefs.
Allen Street Hardware: Chilled cucumber dill soup (booth 7)
Another Taste of Buffalo newcomer, Allen Street Hardware is bringing a refreshing option to the table with its chilled cucumber dill soup. Available in a smaller, four-ticket portion, the cold soup could be a welcomed palette cleanser while digesting heavier “tastes.”
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Beef on weck rolls from The Barrel Factory is a new item at the Taste of Buffalo.
The Barrel Factory: Beef on weck barrel roll (booth 34)
Chef Cornell Williams is paying homage to Buffalo's culinary history while adding his own twist with a caraway seed-and-salt coated beef on weck egg roll served with horseradish cream.
D.A. Taste: Beef birria taco (booth 37)
D.A. Taste is bringing its cult-followed tacos to the Taste of Buffalo for the first time. The beef birria taco contains cilantro, red onion and slow-cooked beef, which the Larkinville taco restaurant stews for 10 hours in a 27-ingredient Mexican spicy consommé.
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The beef birria tacos at D.A. Taste showcase beef stewed in a consommé made from 27 ingredients. It will be available at the Taste of Buffalo.
KT Caribbean Cuisine: Mango and jerk mac and cheese (booth 30)
Macaroni and cheese doesn’t typically come in fruity flavors, which is why KT Caribbean’s mango and jerk mac stands out among the festival offerings. If you’re unsure about the combination of savory cheese with sweet, citrusy mango and smoky jerk seasoning, you should know that it is not much of an investment. The dish is also available in a smaller, four-ticket portion.
Kith & Kin Bakeshop & Bistro: Pulled pork parfait (booth 23)
Parfaits filled with anything other than yogurt are typically fan favorites at food festivals, likely because of the convenience. They’re easier to eat while standing. Kith & Kin is offering an entirely gluten-free stacked container of honey blueberry barbecue pork, layered with cornbread and coleslaw. This is not an ideal choice for those who detest when their foods touch each other. It is more for the garbage plate crowd.
Lime House Sushi & Ramen: Cheeto shrimp burrito (booth 17)
Fingers won’t be spared the cursed, orange Cheeto coating while holding Lime House’s Cheeto shrimp burrito, as the seaweed wrap is dusted entirely in neon Cheeto crumbs. Inside the burrito, you’ll find shrimp, imitation crab, cheese, avocado, cucumber and mayo.
Moneybags Dumplings: Soy shroom dumplings (booth 31)
Vegans will rejoice to find the soy shroom dumplings from Moneybags. Don’t be thrown by the dumpling’s green exterior, which is colored naturally with spinach juice. It conceals an earthy filling of shiitake and portobello mushrooms marinated in soy sauce, sesame oil, carrots and spring onion.
Sweet Melody's: Buffalo peanut butter and jelly sundae (booth 39)
Sweet Melody’s has created a gelato sundae around two flavors that are an undeniable part of Buffalo’s DNA: Loganberry and Cheerios. The dark purple, blackberry-and-raspberry Loganberry syrup is drizzled on top of peanut butter gelato and topped with Cheerios and peanuts. (Maybe the General Mills plant will even grace the festival with its wafting cereal scent.)
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Southern Junction chef Ryan Fernandez will offer a taste of his James Beard award-nominated Texas barbecue at the Taste of Buffalo.
Rock Star Kitchen pop-ups
Bratts Hill: Truffle cassava fries
Chef Sinclair McCalla is bringing a taste of Jamaica (by way of Larkinville) to the festival from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at the pop-up tent on Delaware Avenue at Cary Street. McCalla is frying slices of cassava, a starchy root used in Caribbean cooking, and drizzling them with truffle mushroom oil. The result is a fry that sits somewhere in the middle on the sweetness scale between French fries and sweet potato fries, with a nutty flavor from the cassava and an earthy taste from the truffle oil.
Black Iron Bystro: Crispy golden polenta with feta and za’tar tomato jam
From 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday, swing by the tent at Delaware Avenue and Niagara Square to try Black Iron Bystro’s gluten-free and vegetarian option. Chef Bryan Mecozzi is crisping cornmeal polenta to serve with whipped feta cheese and sweet and savory tomato jam spiced with za’atar, a fragrant Middle Eastern seasoning blend.
Dopest Dough: Beignets
East Aurora bakery Dopest Dough is deep frying New Orleans beignet pastries in two savory flavors. They will be available at one of the Rock Star Kitchen pop-up tents at Delaware Avenue and Cary Street during both festival days. From 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday, you’ll find a cacio e pepe (Parmesan cheese and black pepper) beignet. From 3:30 to 6 p.m. Sunday, try a Japanese-inspired beignet made with yakiniku sauce, which is a Japanese barbecue sauce, and umami-packed bonito flakes.
Orso Nero: Japanese Katsu-style arancini
Michael Diletti is combining Italian and Japanese cuisine in a Katsu-style arancini. The fusion dish includes arancini, a deep-fried ball of breadcrumb-coated risotto and fontina cheese, cooked in white wine, served in Japanese curry with vegetables and topped with Parmesan cheese. It will be available from 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday at the pop-up tent on Delaware Avenue at Niagara Square.
Southern Junction: Coconut-spiced pork belly burnt ends
Chef Ryan Fernandez will offer a taste of his James Beard award-nominated Texas barbecue infused with South Indian flavors from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at the pop-up tent on Delaware Avenue. He is serving juicy cubes of smoked pork belly, cooked low and slow, spiced with coconut, alongside pickled vegetables and white rice. The pork is sourced from Always Something Farm in Darien.
Preview
The festival runs from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. July 13 and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. July 14. Before you go, check out the Taste of Buffalo festival guide at tasteofbuffalo.com so you know when and where to find your favorite chefs.
Food: You can’t walk up to a vendor and purchase food with cash or cards. Instead, stop at a festival ticket tent, where you can buy a sheet of 10 tickets for $6. Food items cost between two and 12 tickets.
Anything healthy? For those hoping to try something new and nutritious, you'll find hummus and pita at Venus Greek & Mediterranean (booth 29), sweet chili-glazed Brussels sprouts at Resurgence Brewing Company (booth 40) and homemade coleslaw at Carrubba's Chicken Pit (booth 43).
Music: Live bands will be playing a mix of classic rock, country, R&B, blues, jazz and Celtic music at six places scattered around the festival. DJs will play more dance-worthy music (including a Rick James dance party at 1 p.m. Saturday) at the Genesee Beer Garden at Niagara Square.
For kids: Children's activities, such as coloring, crafts and story time, will be in the Buffalo Architecture Foundation tent at Niagara Square. Children can also help color a giant cartoon mural of the Taste of Buffalo and receive free samples of Cracker Jack, Lay’s Stax, Nerds and Fruity and Cocoa Pebbles.