Music producer, rock star and Buffalo Music Hall of Famer Nelson M. Starr has teamed up with award winning filmmaker John Paget to produce a brief video tour of three local hot spots on Buffalo's dining scene. It's all part of a contest to pull a world-renowned celebrity chef into Buffalo.
Celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain is most widely recognized for his ground-breaking book Kitchen Confidential and his current work as host of the Travel Channel's No Reservations. Recently, the producers of No Reservations held a contest called the FAN-atic Special. Footage from fans that think they have what it takes to tour Tony through the culinary landscape of their chosen city, country or region was the rite of entry. Starr and Paget have done just that, with a funny, slickly produced tour through Anchor Bar, Ted's Hot Dogs, and Ulrich's Tavern; all good choices for anyone interested in a mini-adventure through Buffalo's blue collar cuisine culture.
Currently, Starr and Paget's video ranks in the Top 20 of the hundreds of videos posted on the No Reservations site. It's up to you, Buffalo, to hop over there, log on, and propel that video to #1 with your four star rating. You will have to sign up in order to vote, but it's for a good cause! Wouldn't it be great to see Starr tour Tony through Buffalo on a top-rated network show?
Watch this great video and vote now by following this link.
I think Ulrich's was a great choice- Tony really loves a good bar. He's also a big fan of pork fat and offal and anything that includes them to any degree, so the hot dogs were a good call. Any visit to Buffalo has to include chicken wings, as much as many of the folks in the city wish we garnered as much attention for our many other culinary attributes. But I'd like to take this opportunity to pose this question to any of you that watch the show and feel like you know what Bourdain likes- Where in WNY would you take Anthony Bourdain and his No Reservations crew? Would you try to show him the modern and exciting restaurants we have? Maybe you'd prefer to take them through old Buffalo by focusing on the city's ethnic food traditions ? Would you take them out to the Niagara region's tremendous farms and vineyards?
I know that I'd take him to Spar's to watch Joe make magic in the back with that big, old, heavenly smoker. I also think he'd dig the old school rock 'n' roll vibe and the fried bologna at the Old Pink. I'll limit my recommendations to those- what I really want to know is where you think No Reservations should try to book a table.