Oh Canada! Friday: Bye Bye Buffalo

Friday I headed over to Charlie the Butcher’s. You place your order at the counter where the day’s side dishes are displayed. The set-up allows you to ogle the carving station from anywhere in the restaurant. An old man sitting near me heckled the carver, “Slice it thicker!” It wasn’t even his sandwich. You tell 'em, old boy!



My roast beef arrived in big slices so tender it was nearly falling apart. The beef is served on a weck (kummelweck), a kaiser roll dotted with kosher salt and caraway seeds. It is without a doubt one of the top 5 sandwiches I have ever eaten. If I had never been to New Orleans, it would probably be number one. Various mustards and horseradish are available to gild the lily.



Charlie's a butcher - not a baker



Did anyone else see The Shining?



Right across from Charlie’s was another graveyard. Seriously, they just find me. I remember as a kid begging my dad to stop at a cemetary on a boring car trip. He said, "Someday you're going to spend an awfully long time in one of those places. I don't see any reason to start now."




I stopped off at my hotel and decided after missing my last ride, I should call the next cousin early to organize Saturday's transportation. It turned out there was a huge festival in Niagara Falls that weekend and he could pick me up in a few hours at the rental car place while shopping. Rock concert? Tasting booths from local restaurants? You don’t have to ask me twice. Of course I didn't realize that by leaving I would be missing the world's biggest fish fry. Dang.



I packed faster than I have ever packed in my life so I wouldn't get charged an extra night. In my haste I left the Purple Haze in the minifridge, as well as forgetting my favorite wooly sweater. Sometimes it seems like I spent last month steaming across the continent leaving articles of clothing and artisanal cheeses in my wake.

On the way to Niagara Falls, I would be passing a Ted’s. The first Ted's was opened in a tool shed in 1927. I'm like a kid hearing the siren song of the ice cream truck. I am just not responsible for my own actions. “Ermm, sorry I’m late. There was this foot-long calling my name…” I could only finish half of my charcoal-grilled dog. I was still full from lunch at Charlie's. An embarassment of riches.





I bought a jar of their amazing spicy-hot pepper relish, but was disappointed to discover that they don't can them, so the relish has to be kept refrigerated.

How creepy is this motel?



I love bridges!

Oh Canada! Thursday: Shuffle off to Buffalo

Amongst all the confusion of visiting this cousin and that cousin, I somehow ended up missing the ride to the next destination. I looked at the railroad map and realized that we were supposed to meet up eventually in Niagara Falls, so why didn't I just take a little side trip to Buffalo for some hot wings?

The train trip wasn't that long, but they kept us at the border forever, so I managed to read an entire book on the way. Luckily I had packed up some of the fruit and cheese I'd bought from the markets, so I had a nice picnic instead of microwaved train burgers.

A Scottish couple sitting behind me bitched the entire way about every little thing. You can even hear them quietly bitching in the background of the video I posted of the bridge here.

I rented an SUV with GPS in Buffalo and almost immediately started talking back to the disembodied voice. The Courtyard by Marriott I'd booked was right by the freeway (damn you, google maps!). The room was spartan compared to the Westin, but it was comfortable and had these groovy lamps.





The view from my room:



I went for a drive and passed a cemetary. They aren't set apart and surrounded by hedges and walls like they are here. There is a block of houses, then a block of gravestones, then another block of houses. It's like every vacant lot has been turned into a little cemetary.







I stopped in at Wegman's for supplies. I love Wegman's; they even had Purple Haze cheese.

For dinner I hit Duff's. Even though hot wings were invented at The Anchor Bar, Duff's has the reputation for serving the best wings in Buffalo. The room was crowded and raucus. Teenage boys videotaped each other in hot wing eating contests for Youtube.







The floor looked clean, but was really slippery. I shuffled over to a waitress and asked why it was so slippery. Without missing a beat, she shrugged and replied, "Chicken grease."

The menu warns:

Medium is HOT
Medium Hot is VERY HOT
Hot is VERY VERY HOT

I ordered ten Medium wings to fill me up and 10 Hot wings for the adventure. I ordered a side of milk, which is my secret weapon for eating spicy food.







The medium wings were incindiary. I moved on to the hot, and wasn't that impressed. I guess it's like getting punched in the face. The difference between getting punched really hard and getting punched really, really hard isn't that noticable.

I found myself longing for Bob's hot wings. He cuts the heat with lemon and gives them a final pass in the broiler to fuse the sauce onto the wings. It's funny how you have to travel so far only to discover that what you were looking for was right there at home all along.