I often find my self seriously considering that I was born in the wrong era. The eighties and all of their self indulgent behavior, the nineties and all their grit and the two thousands and all of there alarming societal self destruction just don’t seem to fit in with my views on the way life should be led.
The thirties and all of it pre war speak easies, the forties and the beginning of the cocktail revolution and the Rat Pack era, hard drinking but classy days are where I belonged.
This was a time in the world when people like Humphrey Bogart exuded class and Lauren Bacall dripped with sexuality. Dean, Frank and Sammy tore up the charts (and a few nightclubs) with there cynicism, good looks, voices and whit. These my friends were the Golden Era of the Bar Industry. Martinis had taken over the world and Manhattans were closing in fast.
These were the Golden years of Ray Flynn’s Golden Dollar Bar.
Anyone who is privy to my previous blogs is aware what special and deep rooted memories I have of Tommy Flynn and his bar. Tommy Flynn was a gracious man with a big heart. His smile and personality were the essence of what the Hospitality Industry was built on. Tommy oozed class and charm. He was the nest Bartender I have known and the nicest man I have ever met.
One vivid memory I have from my youth of Tommy Flynn occurred in March of 1992. My Grandfather had passed away a year before and my family made their yearly pilgrimage to Ray Flynn’s. I missed my Grandfather, He and Tommy had a long standing friendship which went back to their youth.
I remember climbing a bar stool, which at the time seemed like an insurmountable tower. I was ordering a pop when Tommy came around the bar and smiled at me. I smiled back. I remember his crooked smile and his powder white hair.
I summed up all my enthusiasm and said “Hi Flynn!”
Tommy erupted with a fit of laughter as did half the people standing around. “Hi kid.” Tommy said with a smile. I remember looking at his big smile.
“You knew my Grandfather.” I said with the wide eyed innocence of a five year old child going on six. I remember feeling remorse; this was my first Parade without Popsi.
Tommy just smiled. “Yeah kid, I did, that’s right. He was one of the best men I ever met.” I remember getting my soda after that and going to open birthday presents. I remember seeing Tommy every year after that.
And then I remember the sorrow in Tommy Flynn’s sad eyes when he announced to the bar that he would be closing for good. It was 1999, I was 13 and it was the last time I ever saw Tommy Flynn.
I would be lying if I told you I made an overt effort to contact Tommy. I had many times considered it. But I never thought he would remember me, much less care to tell me stories about my Grandfather. Then I received a post on my blog. It was from Tommy’s daughter. She told me how much my memory of her father meant to her. My memory, that amused me. I described her father’s bar as a palace of peeling possibly toxic lead paint.
But then I stopped to consider her feelings of the place. To her, just like me, that broke down bar meant the world. She had glorified it as I had. It was truly a palace to us. The memories of family and friends and the time spent in that bar are what truly glorified it the most for everyone.
Then something stranger happened. Tommy’s daughter sent me an e-mail. Her father had passed away. Tommy Flynn was eighty years old. He had finally given his last toast. It was now time for him to walk around and take a seat on the stool, time for Tommy to finally rest. If there is a Gin Mill in the great beyond, I bet you it looks a lot like Ray Flynn’s Golden Dollar Bar.
The world could learn a lot from the charisma and charm of Tommy Flynn. We have truly lost a class act. Buffalo has truly lost a legend.
Cheers Tommy, this drink is for you.
Mac The Bartender
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
Anthony Bourdain in Buffalo
Any who know me well understand I am a fanatical Anthony Bourdain and No Reservations fan. The fact that he is premiering his "Rust Belt" episode which puts itself deep into the heart of my hometown is amazing to say the least.
Buffalo, New York gets a bad wrap. We have horrible winters, lousy summers a half polluted lake, Canadians to the north of us and a football team which holds the record for being the losingest Super Bowl team in the history of the NFL. Our economy is depressed and the governmental leaders are to busy handing out patronage jobs to their friends and the "loyal supporters" (AKA Wallets) which put them in office. I mean Jesus Christ, our Mayor is being investigated by the FBI right now.
But there is a different side of Buffalo rarely discussed in the national spotlight. With everything that is wrong with our city there is so much that is inherently right.
Over the past several years we have become a gastronomic hub. Fantastic restaurants like Ditando's, The Left Bank, The Blackthorn, Doc Sullivan's and Tempo show that we are capable of so much more than the Buffalo Wing (by the way, we just call them wings around here…) or Beef on Weck. We have Five Star gourmet restaurants and Blue Collar pubs all which produce a quality of food which can not and will not be paralleled anywhere else. Come and try some of our pizza and tell me I’m wrong.
Our night life is a booming industry, Nightclubs and Local bars dot the landscape like trees in the wilderness. Chippewa District bars like Bada Bing, Crocodile Bar, Club W and Jack Devine's offer a diverse array of entertainment.
Allentown gets in on the action with Hardware, Brick Bar and the Old Pink.
You move on down to Elmwood and places like the Thirsty Buffalo, Nektar and Fahrety’s cater to a more mid twenties crowd. Any college Student will tell you Main Street by UB is the place to party when school is in session. Mojo’s and The Steer are always packed to the rafters.
In Buffalo, Bartenders are celebrities in their own right. You could speak with a multitude of people about our night life and names like Paul Hartel, Billy Domiani, Ben Bell or Vinny Demarco will instantly spark up fond memories of evenings you may not wholly remember.
Buffalo is built upon a proud heritage of hard working and hard playing people. We have rags to riches stories like Tucker Curtain (who although he may not be liked by all) is definitely and inspiration.
Buffalo has a history of being a “Blue Collar” town. The Steel Industry here helped work on the Manhattan Project and produced steel for a great deal of the infrastructure which this country is built on.
We are the largest "small town" in America. People inevitably grow to love the community around them. Why do you think most of our professional athletes stay or return here when they retire? Because we are an amazing place to live.
Jeremy Jacobs, the owner of Delaware North Companies Inc. is a Buffalo native. He headquarters his business on Main Street in Buffalo. He has enough money to spend his life in Antigua if he really wanted to, but chooses to stay here.
The Goo Goo Dolls could have forgotten about Buffalo when they made it big. However they chose to give back to their community. They have played free shows and yearly hold a free concert called Music is Art in Buffalo. Robby Takac, the bassist of the Goo Goo Dolls also opened a recording studio in Buffalo as a way to help give local entertainers opportunities and amenities which weren’t readily available to him when he started out.
I am not discounting the problems we have as well. Any place you will live will have short comings. But for once I am happy to finally see Buffalo put in the national spotlight for its merits rather than its athletes or demerits.
Cheers Buffalo.
Mac The Bartender
Buffalo, New York gets a bad wrap. We have horrible winters, lousy summers a half polluted lake, Canadians to the north of us and a football team which holds the record for being the losingest Super Bowl team in the history of the NFL. Our economy is depressed and the governmental leaders are to busy handing out patronage jobs to their friends and the "loyal supporters" (AKA Wallets) which put them in office. I mean Jesus Christ, our Mayor is being investigated by the FBI right now.
But there is a different side of Buffalo rarely discussed in the national spotlight. With everything that is wrong with our city there is so much that is inherently right.
Over the past several years we have become a gastronomic hub. Fantastic restaurants like Ditando's, The Left Bank, The Blackthorn, Doc Sullivan's and Tempo show that we are capable of so much more than the Buffalo Wing (by the way, we just call them wings around here…) or Beef on Weck. We have Five Star gourmet restaurants and Blue Collar pubs all which produce a quality of food which can not and will not be paralleled anywhere else. Come and try some of our pizza and tell me I’m wrong.
Our night life is a booming industry, Nightclubs and Local bars dot the landscape like trees in the wilderness. Chippewa District bars like Bada Bing, Crocodile Bar, Club W and Jack Devine's offer a diverse array of entertainment.
Allentown gets in on the action with Hardware, Brick Bar and the Old Pink.
You move on down to Elmwood and places like the Thirsty Buffalo, Nektar and Fahrety’s cater to a more mid twenties crowd. Any college Student will tell you Main Street by UB is the place to party when school is in session. Mojo’s and The Steer are always packed to the rafters.
In Buffalo, Bartenders are celebrities in their own right. You could speak with a multitude of people about our night life and names like Paul Hartel, Billy Domiani, Ben Bell or Vinny Demarco will instantly spark up fond memories of evenings you may not wholly remember.
Buffalo is built upon a proud heritage of hard working and hard playing people. We have rags to riches stories like Tucker Curtain (who although he may not be liked by all) is definitely and inspiration.
Buffalo has a history of being a “Blue Collar” town. The Steel Industry here helped work on the Manhattan Project and produced steel for a great deal of the infrastructure which this country is built on.
We are the largest "small town" in America. People inevitably grow to love the community around them. Why do you think most of our professional athletes stay or return here when they retire? Because we are an amazing place to live.
Jeremy Jacobs, the owner of Delaware North Companies Inc. is a Buffalo native. He headquarters his business on Main Street in Buffalo. He has enough money to spend his life in Antigua if he really wanted to, but chooses to stay here.
The Goo Goo Dolls could have forgotten about Buffalo when they made it big. However they chose to give back to their community. They have played free shows and yearly hold a free concert called Music is Art in Buffalo. Robby Takac, the bassist of the Goo Goo Dolls also opened a recording studio in Buffalo as a way to help give local entertainers opportunities and amenities which weren’t readily available to him when he started out.
I am not discounting the problems we have as well. Any place you will live will have short comings. But for once I am happy to finally see Buffalo put in the national spotlight for its merits rather than its athletes or demerits.
Cheers Buffalo.
Mac The Bartender
Monday, March 16, 2009
The Parade...
So I survived another year. We all did. The insanity I would face was clear as soon as my car rolled onto Delaware Avenue. Hordes of drunken idiots with backpacks full of beer. Had it not been for missing my family I would have probably thanked having to work. I should probably apologize to my boss at my real job. He didn't deserve to have to deal with all the whining I did on Sunday before I went to work downtown. But I digress.
Trying to park was insane as always. I only had to park four blocks away this year... A personal best. My walk down to the bar was calm and serene. The noise of Irish music and those big green horns street vendors sell filled the air. Head down; I walked through the streets taking my time and watching people as they partied. They were juiced and prime real estate for a lucky slob like me waiting to take their cash hand over fist. I wanted to have to bring a dump truck in to haul my loot away.
I walked up to the Club and stared in amazement. The line was six or seven people wide and streaming down the street to get in. I had an uneasy feeling the first few hours were not going to be fun. I pushed my way through the mass of people, hundreds of them all here to see Jackdaw and drink their faces off. Works for me... I duck under the lifting section of the bar and jumped to work. The bar was so busy, we weren’t even ringing if we didn’t have to. Know the change? NO SALE the drawer and give them their change. We'll do an open liquor charge for whatever is extra in the drawer later.
About fifteen laps in and I realize the bar is slowly drowning. There are too many people and I'm starting to lose my cool. I start to retaliate at the angry drunken idiots.
Snap your fingers at me? Back of the line.
Get an attitude with me? Back of the line.
Don't know what you want, after you spend twenty minutes screaming for me?
Fuck you, get out!
A woman starts screaming at me and pounding on the bar top.
"Are you fucking serious? Hurry the fuck up!" I shoot her my thousand yard Vietnam stare and drop everything I am doing.
"Listen you needy fuck, there are 300 people jamming cash in my face for a drink and you just walked in. So shut the fuck up and wait." I get a round of applause and a few shocked looks from the people around her. I don't care, that type of self entitlement people carry around with them seriously pisses me off.
"Fuck this I'm leaving!" She screams.
"Good, one less asshole in the bar to deal with." I retort.
I'm in the weeds and now I'm yelling at drunken people. This isn’t a good combination. All of a sudden I see a face that calms me down. It's Rick and he's offering to help. He jumps back and goes nuts.
You see, Rick is an old friend. He owns the Electric Avenue, a bar just north of the Central Library. He's a great bartender. He's fast, he's funny and he just doesn’t give a shit.
Now it's Nick, Travis, Rick and Me all working out of the same drawer. I have this new kid, Matt, that I had seen hanging around the Club backing us up running beer, liquor, ice and change. Matt saved my ass. Now I kind of feel bad for making fun of him for teaching himself Java or C++ or something gay like that. Kind of... Time seems to be zipping by. It seems like I just got here and it's already 7:00. Three hours gone in a flash.
I keep running by this guy who looks like a mix of Jim Henson and Quai Gon Jinn from Star Wars... Weird thing is I'm pretty sure I know him. He stops Rick and me and offers to buy us a shot. This guy has already tipped me nearly twenty bucks and given me a pile of pens to use for credit cards. We graciously accept. I could use one right now, it'd probably calm my nerves. I realize this guy is my friend's boss and the Bar Manager at The Left Bank. No wonder he is so friendly. He knows what it's like.
Jackdaw finishes up and the bar thins out a little. Rick rolls over the top of my bar and gives me the finger.
"Fuck off, I quit!" He screams in usual fashion. He smiles and starts hitting on some woman (who bears a striking resemblance to the less two famous girls from Destiny's Child) who was standing next to him. They are making out before I even have a chance to reply. I smile, he saved my ass today and I owe him big.
We start rotating breaks. When it's my turn I stumble out into the warm sunlight. Trav runs and picks us up some hot dogs. Mine are gone before my body had a chance to know they were in my hands. Still not enough. I'm starving. Thank God there are donuts in the office. Back to the grind.
My feet are throbbing. At this point I'm on ten solid hours of work. I'm lucky I have such a solid team behind me... Michael Bly band starts playing and my family shows up. They are all annihilated. I go and snag my big fancy camera from downstairs and snap off some shots of my drunk, dumb family. Blackmail. My family drinks and parties until I call my father to come pick them up. Being sober and watching this I realize why he doesn't come down anymore.
Don't get me wrong. I loved seeing them, it's been too long. But I just don’t have time to play personal bartender for my mom and her family. The bar is still moderately busy and I'm looking to start cutting staff and cleaning. No need for seven bartenders right now. Laura, Mike, Jenna and some new kid who busted his ass are all cut. Laura because she's wasted and acting like an idiot. Mike and Jenna are pretty much playing grab ass and that new kid busted his ass so hard he can't feel his feet.
I ask Jenna to sweep up a little before she leaves and she bitches about Nick pulling her drawer and sending her home. Long story short, she didn’t help with any of the cleaning.
Staples is out shortly after. I still can't get over how much he looks like my friend Charlie. It's fucking uncanny. Even my girlfriend thinks he is somehow cloned or a bastard of one of Charlie's parents. I opt to keep Lisa, Jamie and Matt (who has sworn up and down that after he finishes his current task he is leaving, but just finds something else to do and keeps working.)
Sully shows up talking with an Irish Brogue. Obviously Quote had a good day. I pour shots for his friends and my remaining staff. We shoot the breeze talking about how great it was today and how much the weather helped. We make plans for Tuesday and part ways. I sell a couple more shirts and finally turn up the house lights and call it. It's been a long day and I just want to find a hot dog vendor and a cold beer. Rick shows back up and we all pile into vehicles in search of somewhere that is going to be open this late. We luck out at Staples on Allen. Chris is falling asleep (literally) at the bar. We finish our beers and decide to call it a night.
My bed could not have come soon enough. I passed out somewhere around 5:00 this morning and didn't move for a solid nine hours. I needed it. I iced a few calls and laid around for a little while before returning them. Brian called from work. He is swamped with payroll and the Bar is busy. Guess I'm going in early... Back to the grind... What can I say; I love what I do...
Until next time... Don't do anything I wouldn't...
Mac The Bartender
Trying to park was insane as always. I only had to park four blocks away this year... A personal best. My walk down to the bar was calm and serene. The noise of Irish music and those big green horns street vendors sell filled the air. Head down; I walked through the streets taking my time and watching people as they partied. They were juiced and prime real estate for a lucky slob like me waiting to take their cash hand over fist. I wanted to have to bring a dump truck in to haul my loot away.
I walked up to the Club and stared in amazement. The line was six or seven people wide and streaming down the street to get in. I had an uneasy feeling the first few hours were not going to be fun. I pushed my way through the mass of people, hundreds of them all here to see Jackdaw and drink their faces off. Works for me... I duck under the lifting section of the bar and jumped to work. The bar was so busy, we weren’t even ringing if we didn’t have to. Know the change? NO SALE the drawer and give them their change. We'll do an open liquor charge for whatever is extra in the drawer later.
About fifteen laps in and I realize the bar is slowly drowning. There are too many people and I'm starting to lose my cool. I start to retaliate at the angry drunken idiots.
Snap your fingers at me? Back of the line.
Get an attitude with me? Back of the line.
Don't know what you want, after you spend twenty minutes screaming for me?
Fuck you, get out!
A woman starts screaming at me and pounding on the bar top.
"Are you fucking serious? Hurry the fuck up!" I shoot her my thousand yard Vietnam stare and drop everything I am doing.
"Listen you needy fuck, there are 300 people jamming cash in my face for a drink and you just walked in. So shut the fuck up and wait." I get a round of applause and a few shocked looks from the people around her. I don't care, that type of self entitlement people carry around with them seriously pisses me off.
"Fuck this I'm leaving!" She screams.
"Good, one less asshole in the bar to deal with." I retort.
I'm in the weeds and now I'm yelling at drunken people. This isn’t a good combination. All of a sudden I see a face that calms me down. It's Rick and he's offering to help. He jumps back and goes nuts.
You see, Rick is an old friend. He owns the Electric Avenue, a bar just north of the Central Library. He's a great bartender. He's fast, he's funny and he just doesn’t give a shit.
Now it's Nick, Travis, Rick and Me all working out of the same drawer. I have this new kid, Matt, that I had seen hanging around the Club backing us up running beer, liquor, ice and change. Matt saved my ass. Now I kind of feel bad for making fun of him for teaching himself Java or C++ or something gay like that. Kind of... Time seems to be zipping by. It seems like I just got here and it's already 7:00. Three hours gone in a flash.
I keep running by this guy who looks like a mix of Jim Henson and Quai Gon Jinn from Star Wars... Weird thing is I'm pretty sure I know him. He stops Rick and me and offers to buy us a shot. This guy has already tipped me nearly twenty bucks and given me a pile of pens to use for credit cards. We graciously accept. I could use one right now, it'd probably calm my nerves. I realize this guy is my friend's boss and the Bar Manager at The Left Bank. No wonder he is so friendly. He knows what it's like.
Jackdaw finishes up and the bar thins out a little. Rick rolls over the top of my bar and gives me the finger.
"Fuck off, I quit!" He screams in usual fashion. He smiles and starts hitting on some woman (who bears a striking resemblance to the less two famous girls from Destiny's Child) who was standing next to him. They are making out before I even have a chance to reply. I smile, he saved my ass today and I owe him big.
We start rotating breaks. When it's my turn I stumble out into the warm sunlight. Trav runs and picks us up some hot dogs. Mine are gone before my body had a chance to know they were in my hands. Still not enough. I'm starving. Thank God there are donuts in the office. Back to the grind.
My feet are throbbing. At this point I'm on ten solid hours of work. I'm lucky I have such a solid team behind me... Michael Bly band starts playing and my family shows up. They are all annihilated. I go and snag my big fancy camera from downstairs and snap off some shots of my drunk, dumb family. Blackmail. My family drinks and parties until I call my father to come pick them up. Being sober and watching this I realize why he doesn't come down anymore.
Don't get me wrong. I loved seeing them, it's been too long. But I just don’t have time to play personal bartender for my mom and her family. The bar is still moderately busy and I'm looking to start cutting staff and cleaning. No need for seven bartenders right now. Laura, Mike, Jenna and some new kid who busted his ass are all cut. Laura because she's wasted and acting like an idiot. Mike and Jenna are pretty much playing grab ass and that new kid busted his ass so hard he can't feel his feet.
I ask Jenna to sweep up a little before she leaves and she bitches about Nick pulling her drawer and sending her home. Long story short, she didn’t help with any of the cleaning.
Staples is out shortly after. I still can't get over how much he looks like my friend Charlie. It's fucking uncanny. Even my girlfriend thinks he is somehow cloned or a bastard of one of Charlie's parents. I opt to keep Lisa, Jamie and Matt (who has sworn up and down that after he finishes his current task he is leaving, but just finds something else to do and keeps working.)
Sully shows up talking with an Irish Brogue. Obviously Quote had a good day. I pour shots for his friends and my remaining staff. We shoot the breeze talking about how great it was today and how much the weather helped. We make plans for Tuesday and part ways. I sell a couple more shirts and finally turn up the house lights and call it. It's been a long day and I just want to find a hot dog vendor and a cold beer. Rick shows back up and we all pile into vehicles in search of somewhere that is going to be open this late. We luck out at Staples on Allen. Chris is falling asleep (literally) at the bar. We finish our beers and decide to call it a night.
My bed could not have come soon enough. I passed out somewhere around 5:00 this morning and didn't move for a solid nine hours. I needed it. I iced a few calls and laid around for a little while before returning them. Brian called from work. He is swamped with payroll and the Bar is busy. Guess I'm going in early... Back to the grind... What can I say; I love what I do...
Until next time... Don't do anything I wouldn't...
Mac The Bartender
Monday, January 26, 2009
Bar talk...
The other night I had the distinct pleasure of sitting with a very good friend of mine on the eve of his Hunter S. Thompsonesque trip across the great terra firma of the United States.
Instead of being a guided by a briefcase of uppers, downers and inbetweeners it would be guided more by his love for adventure, his thirst to write and most importantly his need for a purpose... and ok let's face it, one or two sips of Jameson will more than likely be involved as well.
Sitting around the club sipping some Ellicottville Chocolate Cherry Stout, which we enjoyed very much, we got to talking.
Now it's hard not to like my friend Charlie... Wait a minute, who the fuck am I kidding?
Charlie is one of the most sarcastic, smart assed people you will ever meet. Either you love the kid or you want to strangle him in the first ten seconds you spend with him.
But on the flipside he is also one of the most intelligent, responsible, articulate and witty people you will ever come across. Charlie had an odd life and honestly has had the worst luck out of anyone I have ever met. Especially on the job front.
That’s not to say he gets shit canned a lot. You see, Charlie has two college degrees English is one and I forget the other. He is an astoundingly talented author and probably the best bartender I have met in a long time. He has worked in collections, restaurants, financial consulting firms and for a few smaller newspapers in the 5 or so years I have known him.
However with all of Charlie's outstanding talent, articulate whit and charming personality, he has been passed over for every last thing he has deserved. Positions within a company he has worked at for almost 10 years.
10 years, two degrees, outstanding qualifications and a line of people giving glowing references and recommendations and yet, nothing to show for it.
Enter: disillusionment. Enter: resentment. Enter: depression.
Enter: Buffalo, New York.
Charlie, like most people I know, is a Buffalo native. He spends his free time working on various articles for local publications, drawing, painting, playing guitar, working out and enjoying an adult beverage whenever possible.
He spends his work time bartending for me, he is without a doubt the best I have ever employed and one of the best friends I will ever have.
But unfortunately like most Buffalonians, Charlie is cursed.
We have the stink of a city who lost four consecutive Super Bowls. A city who lost the
Stanley Cup in triple overtime and who's main claim to fame is being "where Niagara Falls is." Even though the damn things are nearly 30 miles away.
Most people either think were in Canada or near New York City (although I could probably spit and hit our neighbors to the north in some spots of Buffalo.)
So Charlie, like so many other young up and coming, intelligent, valuable commodities of our youthful and exuberant generation must leave Buffalo in search of his millions. A sad testament to a City, who until around 1957 when the St. Lawrence Seaway opened was one of the biggest industrialized cities on the face of the earth. Hosting one of the biggest populations in the United States which topped out at almost 590,000 people.
Johnny Rzeznik, of the famed Buffalo band the Goo Goo Dolls, put it best in the band's hit song "Broadway" (a song about a street running through what used to be a heavily Polish neighborhood which Rzeznik grew up in) "Young men sitting in an old man's bar waiting for his turn to die."
Put equally as well by a local sculptor, Zach Boehler was something like this, "Buffalo is a city where young men inherit their father's seat at the corner bar and pray for the mircale that never comes."
Sadly enough both statements are inevitably true. The horror and power of an image where an entire city of people have become so depressed and complacent (with a metropolis that is crumbling from a morally and financially bankrupt infrastructure) that they wait for death or a miracle.
Over the years I have seen much of my family and friends leave the area for what they hope will be greener pastures. They have relocated, like many Buffalonians to North Carolina, South Carolina, LA, Boston and Miami. The list goes on and on. Unbelievably I have found that I can not go anywhere in this country and not find someone from here.
You would think in a country with a population of 305,595,000 you would be hard pressed to go somewhere without a Buffalo connection. Especially when you come from a city whom accounts for as minute as one half of one percent of the national population. It unfortunately show the depravity of a society of desperation.
The one thing about Buffalo is this. We are fiercely defensive of our roots and heritages. Especially in the different neighborhoods of the area.
South Buffalo (as the south of almost any city in the North Eastern portion of the country) is predominately Irish. Street signs appearing in both English and Gaelic.
North Buffalo being predominately Italian home of Pizzerias and some of the finest gourmet restaurants in the city.
The West Side being a mix of Puerto Rican and other Hispanic cultures having some of the best ethnic markets in the city.
Finally the East Side consisting of a predominate mix of Polish and African American heritage is the home of Buffalo's Famous Broadway Market and the sight of the yearly Dyngus Day festivities.
A struggling Buffalo economy is one of the reasons that proportionately we have a far higher crime rate than New York City. Most of the East and West side being a harbor for a lot of the financially strapped citizens of the community they are the constant target of crime and drug sales.
Unfortunately like anywhere else, desperation leads to people doing what they have to do to survive. Theft is prevalent and unfortunately drugs have become a rampantly controlling part of our society. Both legal and illegal. Bars and crack dealers alike thrive in the area. Unfortunately proving that everyone here wants to forget their mounting debt and current societal status.
However, believe it or not, things are appearing to be on the up turn. Information Technology, Collections and a mounting appreciation for Gourmet food are starting to cause this once great city to employ and become more attractive to its more youthful and exuberant citizens.
The main problem however is the lack of educated youthful people in an area with one of the best employment areas in the country.
You see as I mentioned before, most of them have all left. Buffalo is in short supply of these gems of youth. What we are in high supply of are Blue Collared men and women who have for their entire lives toiled and earned from their sweat in a place that at one point housed one of the biggest steel making industries in the world and formerly on the biggest employers of US auto workers outside of Detroit. These companies have become either closed their doors or moved on.
And sadly for Buffalo's youth, these companies which are starting to develop in Buffalo (while growing considerably in the past 10 years) are not growing fast enough. With the country's latest bout of economic woes it appears that if things continue on the way they are we will all be running to somewhere else and looking for something that may not actually be there...
I hope that for my friend there is a sliver lining in his clouds. If nothing else his trip which will take him through much of the south, Midwest and West Coast will do him some good. Refuel his batteries and recharge his spirit. Things always look darkest just before the light, and thankfully for Buffalo it can not get much darker.
Through all of this you probably have gotten the gist that our conversation about Buffalo wasn't the happiest of our lives. It may, at times even sound brutally harsh. I will agree. You see us also, like many other Buffalonians are fiercely protective of our homes.
We are a city filled with pride. Even though we are one of the most disparaged places around we are fiercely proud of who we are. Proud of a city filled with hard working salt of the earth people. We have in our opinions some of the best food on the face of the earth. Home of The Anchor Bar (The originator of chicken wings, referred every where else as Buffalo Wings,) La Nova Pizzeria, Mothers, Schweble's, Louie's and the best Fish Fry you will ever have.
Buffalo New York and the surrounding areas are also filled with some of the most beautiful landscape and architecture. We have three buildings designed by renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright, countless state parks with some of the most scenic beauty in the country. One of the most powerful and awe inspiring feats of nature in the world (Niagara Falls, I know not in Buffalo, but I did say surrounding area as well!)
We have a world renowned art Museum, two professional sports teams (who will both have it next year! At least what we keep telling ourselves.) We are the North American home base of the world's biggest beer company; InBev. Home base of one of the world's largest concession companies in Delaware North Companies; the owner of which, Jeremy Jacobs is a Buffalo Native and one of the biggest philanthropists in the USA and one of the biggest employers in the world.
Unfortunately we are at least 15 years off from being able to hold our own sons and daughters in our neighborhoods. Maybe when my two and a half year old niece is my age things will look mroe promising.
Until then I will pray. Pray things look up. Pray we can keep our youngl and employ them. Pray as many do that I will see the Bills win a Super Bowl, and that they will still be a Buffalo team the day it finally happens.
Finally I will pray that I never have to follow my friend Charlie out of the city that I love. That my prospects become so sad and downtrodden that I have to leave the only place I have known as home. The place my roots and family are.
I hope for my old friend that he finds what he is in search of and that he can someday ride into town and tout what a success he is. I just wish that he and all of Buffalo's ex-patriot sons and daughters could have done it here.
Until the next time friends, don’t drink anything I wouldn't.
Mac The Bartender
Instead of being a guided by a briefcase of uppers, downers and inbetweeners it would be guided more by his love for adventure, his thirst to write and most importantly his need for a purpose... and ok let's face it, one or two sips of Jameson will more than likely be involved as well.
Sitting around the club sipping some Ellicottville Chocolate Cherry Stout, which we enjoyed very much, we got to talking.
Now it's hard not to like my friend Charlie... Wait a minute, who the fuck am I kidding?
Charlie is one of the most sarcastic, smart assed people you will ever meet. Either you love the kid or you want to strangle him in the first ten seconds you spend with him.
But on the flipside he is also one of the most intelligent, responsible, articulate and witty people you will ever come across. Charlie had an odd life and honestly has had the worst luck out of anyone I have ever met. Especially on the job front.
That’s not to say he gets shit canned a lot. You see, Charlie has two college degrees English is one and I forget the other. He is an astoundingly talented author and probably the best bartender I have met in a long time. He has worked in collections, restaurants, financial consulting firms and for a few smaller newspapers in the 5 or so years I have known him.
However with all of Charlie's outstanding talent, articulate whit and charming personality, he has been passed over for every last thing he has deserved. Positions within a company he has worked at for almost 10 years.
10 years, two degrees, outstanding qualifications and a line of people giving glowing references and recommendations and yet, nothing to show for it.
Enter: disillusionment. Enter: resentment. Enter: depression.
Enter: Buffalo, New York.
Charlie, like most people I know, is a Buffalo native. He spends his free time working on various articles for local publications, drawing, painting, playing guitar, working out and enjoying an adult beverage whenever possible.
He spends his work time bartending for me, he is without a doubt the best I have ever employed and one of the best friends I will ever have.
But unfortunately like most Buffalonians, Charlie is cursed.
We have the stink of a city who lost four consecutive Super Bowls. A city who lost the
Stanley Cup in triple overtime and who's main claim to fame is being "where Niagara Falls is." Even though the damn things are nearly 30 miles away.
Most people either think were in Canada or near New York City (although I could probably spit and hit our neighbors to the north in some spots of Buffalo.)
So Charlie, like so many other young up and coming, intelligent, valuable commodities of our youthful and exuberant generation must leave Buffalo in search of his millions. A sad testament to a City, who until around 1957 when the St. Lawrence Seaway opened was one of the biggest industrialized cities on the face of the earth. Hosting one of the biggest populations in the United States which topped out at almost 590,000 people.
Johnny Rzeznik, of the famed Buffalo band the Goo Goo Dolls, put it best in the band's hit song "Broadway" (a song about a street running through what used to be a heavily Polish neighborhood which Rzeznik grew up in) "Young men sitting in an old man's bar waiting for his turn to die."
Put equally as well by a local sculptor, Zach Boehler was something like this, "Buffalo is a city where young men inherit their father's seat at the corner bar and pray for the mircale that never comes."
Sadly enough both statements are inevitably true. The horror and power of an image where an entire city of people have become so depressed and complacent (with a metropolis that is crumbling from a morally and financially bankrupt infrastructure) that they wait for death or a miracle.
Over the years I have seen much of my family and friends leave the area for what they hope will be greener pastures. They have relocated, like many Buffalonians to North Carolina, South Carolina, LA, Boston and Miami. The list goes on and on. Unbelievably I have found that I can not go anywhere in this country and not find someone from here.
You would think in a country with a population of 305,595,000 you would be hard pressed to go somewhere without a Buffalo connection. Especially when you come from a city whom accounts for as minute as one half of one percent of the national population. It unfortunately show the depravity of a society of desperation.
The one thing about Buffalo is this. We are fiercely defensive of our roots and heritages. Especially in the different neighborhoods of the area.
South Buffalo (as the south of almost any city in the North Eastern portion of the country) is predominately Irish. Street signs appearing in both English and Gaelic.
North Buffalo being predominately Italian home of Pizzerias and some of the finest gourmet restaurants in the city.
The West Side being a mix of Puerto Rican and other Hispanic cultures having some of the best ethnic markets in the city.
Finally the East Side consisting of a predominate mix of Polish and African American heritage is the home of Buffalo's Famous Broadway Market and the sight of the yearly Dyngus Day festivities.
A struggling Buffalo economy is one of the reasons that proportionately we have a far higher crime rate than New York City. Most of the East and West side being a harbor for a lot of the financially strapped citizens of the community they are the constant target of crime and drug sales.
Unfortunately like anywhere else, desperation leads to people doing what they have to do to survive. Theft is prevalent and unfortunately drugs have become a rampantly controlling part of our society. Both legal and illegal. Bars and crack dealers alike thrive in the area. Unfortunately proving that everyone here wants to forget their mounting debt and current societal status.
However, believe it or not, things are appearing to be on the up turn. Information Technology, Collections and a mounting appreciation for Gourmet food are starting to cause this once great city to employ and become more attractive to its more youthful and exuberant citizens.
The main problem however is the lack of educated youthful people in an area with one of the best employment areas in the country.
You see as I mentioned before, most of them have all left. Buffalo is in short supply of these gems of youth. What we are in high supply of are Blue Collared men and women who have for their entire lives toiled and earned from their sweat in a place that at one point housed one of the biggest steel making industries in the world and formerly on the biggest employers of US auto workers outside of Detroit. These companies have become either closed their doors or moved on.
And sadly for Buffalo's youth, these companies which are starting to develop in Buffalo (while growing considerably in the past 10 years) are not growing fast enough. With the country's latest bout of economic woes it appears that if things continue on the way they are we will all be running to somewhere else and looking for something that may not actually be there...
I hope that for my friend there is a sliver lining in his clouds. If nothing else his trip which will take him through much of the south, Midwest and West Coast will do him some good. Refuel his batteries and recharge his spirit. Things always look darkest just before the light, and thankfully for Buffalo it can not get much darker.
Through all of this you probably have gotten the gist that our conversation about Buffalo wasn't the happiest of our lives. It may, at times even sound brutally harsh. I will agree. You see us also, like many other Buffalonians are fiercely protective of our homes.
We are a city filled with pride. Even though we are one of the most disparaged places around we are fiercely proud of who we are. Proud of a city filled with hard working salt of the earth people. We have in our opinions some of the best food on the face of the earth. Home of The Anchor Bar (The originator of chicken wings, referred every where else as Buffalo Wings,) La Nova Pizzeria, Mothers, Schweble's, Louie's and the best Fish Fry you will ever have.
Buffalo New York and the surrounding areas are also filled with some of the most beautiful landscape and architecture. We have three buildings designed by renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright, countless state parks with some of the most scenic beauty in the country. One of the most powerful and awe inspiring feats of nature in the world (Niagara Falls, I know not in Buffalo, but I did say surrounding area as well!)
We have a world renowned art Museum, two professional sports teams (who will both have it next year! At least what we keep telling ourselves.) We are the North American home base of the world's biggest beer company; InBev. Home base of one of the world's largest concession companies in Delaware North Companies; the owner of which, Jeremy Jacobs is a Buffalo Native and one of the biggest philanthropists in the USA and one of the biggest employers in the world.
Unfortunately we are at least 15 years off from being able to hold our own sons and daughters in our neighborhoods. Maybe when my two and a half year old niece is my age things will look mroe promising.
Until then I will pray. Pray things look up. Pray we can keep our youngl and employ them. Pray as many do that I will see the Bills win a Super Bowl, and that they will still be a Buffalo team the day it finally happens.
Finally I will pray that I never have to follow my friend Charlie out of the city that I love. That my prospects become so sad and downtrodden that I have to leave the only place I have known as home. The place my roots and family are.
I hope for my old friend that he finds what he is in search of and that he can someday ride into town and tout what a success he is. I just wish that he and all of Buffalo's ex-patriot sons and daughters could have done it here.
Until the next time friends, don’t drink anything I wouldn't.
Mac The Bartender
Saturday, January 17, 2009
An introduction of sorts... I suppose...
Well, here is the thing. I like food... Any food. I also like Vodka... But only good Vodka. You see I have spent so much time in restaurants and bars both working and socializing that they seem to be the only real places I actually feel comfortable. Especially behind a bar.
The only thing I can liken being a Bartender to (a good one at least) is being a Chef. I'm the guy who with near encyclopedic knowledge can not only make you nearly any drink, but do it well. I can look at a stocked bar an instantly start formulating recipes in my head, knowing what will go with each and how well it will taste. Which brings me to food.
You see to me food was (like alcohol) a comfort thing. Something I could enjoy and relish in. Spicy, sweet, salty and sour. Fatty and lean cuts of meat. All of which provide you with different flavors. They mix well, they pair well and most importantly they make you feel well...
You can spend nearly your whole life in search of the perfect meal or the perfect drink or the perfect restaurant. But I am here to tell you it is all subjective. What may be your perfect cocktail or meal today may be completely different tomorrow.
What happens when you find that perfect meal? Does life cease to hold meaning?
Or like me, do you eat it so often you become sick of it and have to find something else that seems "perfect?"
I'd be willing to wager that it's the latter of the two.
That's how the search for a perfect anything can hold so many answers, variations and torments. Because no matter how hard you look and how hard you try it is never going to be complete...
Until next time kids... Don't drink anything I wouldn't.
Mac the Bartender
The only thing I can liken being a Bartender to (a good one at least) is being a Chef. I'm the guy who with near encyclopedic knowledge can not only make you nearly any drink, but do it well. I can look at a stocked bar an instantly start formulating recipes in my head, knowing what will go with each and how well it will taste. Which brings me to food.
You see to me food was (like alcohol) a comfort thing. Something I could enjoy and relish in. Spicy, sweet, salty and sour. Fatty and lean cuts of meat. All of which provide you with different flavors. They mix well, they pair well and most importantly they make you feel well...
You can spend nearly your whole life in search of the perfect meal or the perfect drink or the perfect restaurant. But I am here to tell you it is all subjective. What may be your perfect cocktail or meal today may be completely different tomorrow.
What happens when you find that perfect meal? Does life cease to hold meaning?
Or like me, do you eat it so often you become sick of it and have to find something else that seems "perfect?"
I'd be willing to wager that it's the latter of the two.
That's how the search for a perfect anything can hold so many answers, variations and torments. Because no matter how hard you look and how hard you try it is never going to be complete...
Until next time kids... Don't drink anything I wouldn't.
Mac the Bartender
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