Buffalo Foodies: PIECE Apparel

The PIECE Crew

As you can tell from our “Wear Your Buffalo Pride” Links, we love the idea of local clothing companies and try to support them as much as possible.  For better or worse, that has lead to a large percentage of the companies to use catchy/quirky Buffalo related imagery on their shirts.  Don’t get me wrong, I love my I [heart/buffalo] Irish hoodie and my Buffalo Hockey shirt.  But the idea of having local Buffalo designers start to lean on their own creative style (instead of catering to a local audience) excites me.  PIECE Apparel is a new clothing line that does just that.  Founded by Alexis, Brett, and Glenn, they are trying to put Buffalo, NY on the fashion map.

Their Fall Line just launched recently and you can find their works in the Tony Walker Center located in Williamsville off Main Street.

Where are some of your favorite places to eat in Buffalo?

Alexis: I started going out to dinner with my mom at a very young age.  I pretty much grew up at Jimmy Mac’s (RIP) and always tagged along when she had her dinner/business meetings at places like The Park Lane, Just Pasta, and Hutch’s.  Since then I’ve taken a little more control over my restaurant choices; obviously my company and the hour has some influence over where I go but for dinner it’s usually Siena, Sonoma Grille, Wasabi, or Encore. Siena’s pizzas are amazing, so are Encore’s lettuce wraps. For late night it’s Mother’s, Jim’s Steakout, and ETS. I definitely like to look for places with a lively atmosphere. I’ve been meaning to get to Tabree but I haven’t gotten the chance to yet.

Also, I got to have dinner at Tempo a couple weeks ago for my birthday. It was the best sequence of meals I’ve had in my life (sorry Mom). Paul Jenkins is a genius.

Brett: Pano’s is without question a favorite spot, the manager Mike suggested the northern bean salad (grilled, with tomato and spinach) to me and it’s without question, the best dish you can order in Buffalo under $10. My family and I frequent The Irishman on Main St in Williamsville for some good dinners and drinks. When I’m out with friends, or driving around – I skip the fast food and get to Wegmans. Oh, and La Tolteca on Transit – fantastic mexican food.

Glenn: Every time we go to Pano’s on Elmwood it never fails to be a good time. Brett and I once had a solid streak of going every Friday with another friend of ours and it would be the start to an eventful night. Let’s say 2 bottles of wine later and some crab cakes and spinach artichoke dip appetizers and we’re prepared for anything Friday night had in store for us. Also, I had the chicken parm there once for lunch and it was fantastic and the leftovers lasted me 3 days.

Where do you like to go and grab a drink?

Alexis: Encore and 67 West are always a good time.

Brett: Coles is my favorite bar in Buffalo, the beer selection is unmatched, and there’s always something cool to look at (which comes in handy if you get bored with bar room conversation). When I stick around the suburbs, there’s nowhere else to go but The Aud.

Glenn: No question my favorite bar in Buffalo is Allen St. Hardware on a Saturday night. Hip-hop night is something everyone should experience. Whether you’ve had enough drinks to get down dancing or are just starting your night hanging in the back room, nothing beats the vibe of 80′s and 90′s era hip-hop and good company.

Being raised in Buffalo, What foods did you grow up on?

Alexis: My mom is an amazing cook, so I was fortunate enough to always eat really well at home.  I’ve always loved steak – once when we were out to dinner the waitress asked me if I wanted my steak Medium. I said “No, Large”.

Brett: I grew up with some great Polish food from both my Mom and Dad’s side of the family. Perogies and Polish Sausage were staples at most holidays, and my Dad makes the best Placek (Polish Coffee Cake) around, from scratch.

Glenn: Having mostly Italian blood in my system, dinner at Grams & Gramps on Sunday was something to look forward to. That being said, I was brought up on Gram’s sauce. It was the pastas and the meatballs and the salad and sneaking sips of Gramp’s wine when I wasn’t supposed to.

What do you wish there was more of (cuisine wise) in Buffalo?

Alexis: I just moved back from Chicago and they had a lot of Latin cuisine influences there. That was nice to have around just to switch it up a bit.

Brett: Buffalo is known for it’s good food, and I take pride in that when I visit other cities, however I wish we had more places like the Falafel Bar, to grab something quick, or a place to get a good Kebab.

Glenn: I’ll admit that I’m not the best to ask about food and what this city needs but something that I have recently been on the search for in Buffalo is the perfect lounge/bar. A scene from the movie Hitch has brought upon this “quest” and I have yet to find something similar. Sometimes standing at or around the bar is just not my style. Let’s order a drink, sit down on a comfortable couch and be able to talk and listen.

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We’d like to thank PIECE for taking some time out of their hectic schedule right now, considering they JUST launched their line recently.  For all your PIECE news/updates you can follow them on Twitter, read their daily Blog, or even listen to their amazing Podcast (It helps a day go by at the office).  And take a trip to the Tony Walker center and see their display (see picture above) and support a great new local company.