Category Archives: Food & Drink

Niagara St Adopt-A-Block

We love our Niagara Street cycle track but it could use a bit more love from all of us. Although the City of Buffalo does some maintenance, and the Buffalo Sewer Authority works on the stormwater gardens, trash, glass and grit builds up quickly. We’re delighted that the Niagara River Greenway is organizing a collaboration of businesses, organizations and individuals to adopt bits of the blocks. Folks will take responsibility for a section of the trail and help keep it in better shape for bicyclists and pedestrians.

March 23rd from 10am to noon, teams will spread out from Busti Avenue to Hertel Avenue on Niagara Street for a spring clean up. Gloves, garbage bags and high-vis vests will be provided to volunteers. Folks can pick one of three sections to help out:

  1. Busti to Breckenridge – meet at Rich Products
  2. Breckenridge to Amherst St – meet at Campus Wheelworks
  3. Amherst St to Hertel – meet at Black Rock Riverside Alliance

 

Lunch options with discounts available at Mint Mojito Bar, Free Street Tavern, West Side Bazaar* (*limited swag bags) and Turning Bridge Tavern.

Mortalis Tap Room

Something special is coming to Upper Rock. Mortalis Brewing of Avon is opening a tap room at 1250 Niagara Street, perhaps as soon as October 7th! Owners Paul Grenier and Gretchen Salber-Grenier graciously opened their doors to Vision Niagara for a tour. The renovation is beautiful, including gorgeous tile in the kitchen and under the bar. They’ve taken advantage of the large factory windows by planting succulents all along the window sills. The living wall of plants will be re-invigorated, as well.

The menu will be beer-infused, such as brewer’s Nachos with pulled pork. Chef Ian Marshall will be creating Southern comfort style food in the expanded kitchen.

Mortalis has a loyal Buffalo following already so it wasn’t a hard choice to pick our city as their new destination for expanding. They will be offering mead from Illumination Meadery on tap, too. Paul sees exciting collaborations to come with the new and existing businesses in Upper Rock. We do, too!

Provisions 139 Moving to Upper Rock

We recently had a conversation with Crystal Selk, Executive Director of West Side Community Services about the food pantry, Provisions 139. WSCS opened the pantry during the pandemic with an eye towards offering healthy options. Crystal gave us a tour of the pantry – so impressive! Visitors pick options from various food groups, e.g. proteins and grains, based on the number of people in their household. Donations come from several sources including Feed More and fresh produce from the Providence Farm Collective.

We’re excited to welcome Provisions 139 to the neighborhood! They will be moving to 44 Breckenridge, a significantly larger space. WSCS is hiring a full time staff member who will be able to coordinate more programming for clients: e.g., nutrition classes, prepping and cooking, and yoga. Provisions 139 joins a few other amazing not-for-profits in the neighborhood, including Stitch Buffalo and Buffalo String Works, creating a nice mix with new and existing businesses.

Brush Up Broderick 2023

Vision Niagara and Friends of Broderick Park invite you to our annual Brush Up Broderick – May 13th from 10am to 1pm.

Our park is the jewel of Buffalo parks. Let’s get it spruced up for the warm weather! We’ll be mulching and weeding.

We’ll have lunch and goodies for our volunteers. And, if the weather obliges, we’ll have music to keep you entertained.

Everyone’s help is greatly appreciated. We can’t do it without our volunteers! It’s always a fun event.

AND…if you’re ready to jump in sooner, be sure to join Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper’s Spring Sweep. Sign up here and choose Broderick Park from the list of locations. That’s April 22 @ 10:00 am.

Shop & Stroll Returns for 2022

Shop Small Saturday is November 26th. Instead of visiting those big box stores, we invite you to support your local businesses. We’ll make it as enticing as we can with discounts and specials offered in Upper Rock.

And we will have a pop-up location at 1270 Niagara Street – stop in for refreshments and pick up an Upper Rock passport. Visit 5 of our lovely establishments and you will be entered in a raffle for a cash prize – $100. Our hours are 11am to 4pm. Stop back to show us your stamped passport or send a photo to Vision Niagara’s Instagram by 4pm and we’ll drop a raffle ticket for you.

Participating businesses have special offers! Check our Instagram feed for updates.

Signing As Art

Something amazing is happening on the West Side. Kamil Gerald offers free signing lessons at various locations. The photograph of Kamil conveys just a smidgen of her enthusiasm and effectiveness. She began her project “to bring hearing loss awareness to the community and how to communicate with the hearing loss community effectively.”  We became aware of Ms Gerald’s work through Creative Mornings’ founder, Kelly Atkinson. If you don’t know about CM, check them out, too! We’ve met amazing people in the community thanks to their monthly programming – the 2nd Friday of the month.

Kamil Gerald was recently awarded a grant through the Awesome Foundation. She will also have an event at Community Beer Works this Friday, October 21 6-10 pm. Fall Festive REMIX.

Brush Up Broderick Returns!

Our beautiful Broderick Park is ready to be spruced up for summer events. Friends of Broderick Park is lining up a packed summer of music, art, and performance.

We’ll be at the park April 30, from 10 to 1:00 pm, weeding, mulching and tidying up. It’s work but it’s fun, especially because our volunteers are enthusiastic about the park.

We’ll have lunch and take-home goodies for our volunteers this year, thanks to a grant from Air & Waste Management – Niagara Frontier Division. And, once again, Rich Products has donated mulch!

Register here.

Evolution of Niagara Street

The folks at Company B are offering an evening for history and foodie buffs. Great combination! kerry trainor of kta preservation specialists will speak about the history of electricity, transportation, a female CEO and a working class neighborhood. It goes back to the battle for the terminus of the Erie Canal through today. It is a story of time, people, and place. 

March 30 @ 6:00 pm. Drinks and delicious food are part of the package. As well as interesting people! If you’ve been to Company B’s Tasting Room, you know the setting is beautiful and inviting. Register at this link.

Bootleg Bucha

bucha

This new year, we’re starting a monthly interview series featuring our Niagara Street neighbors. First up is Todd Salansky speaking about what he and his partners, Jeff Empric and Heather Lucas, are up to at Bootleg Bucha:

What four words describe Bootleg Bucha?

Fresh, Local, Healthy, and Fun

Describe the work you do and the impact you’re trying to make:

We provide a healthy beverage using as many locally-sourced ingredients as possible. Kombucha is a probiotic tea that originated in East Asia over 2,000 years ago and can help with digestion, detoxification, joint care, and energy. We are currently distributing beyond WNY and plan to expand to the northeast.

What brings you to the Niagara Street Corridor?

Before relocating to the Niagara Street Corridor, we looked at numerous locations in the city limits including the East Side, West Side, Allentown, Larkinville, Medical Campus, and Downtown. 1250 Niagara had everything we were looking for: a beautiful brick building, great neighbors, room to grow, a good landlord, and solid infrastructure, all while being easily accessible.

What are you noticing in Buffalo that deserves more attention?

We feel that there is much more collaboration between businesses. There was a time when businesses wouldn’t collaborate for fear of losing a competitive advantage. Today, it’s key for us to all work together and grow, making our whole region stronger. More farmers markets, pop-ups, and friendly competition raises the bar for everyone. Now, we’ve even got new labels coming out featuring the logos of our local suppliers. And we didn’t do it to negotiate cheaper prices, we did it to encourage others to work together.

What’s your favorite number & why?

1250 😉

Receive next month’s interview and more Niagara Street updates to your inbox with the Vision Niagara newsletter.