source: tripadvisor.com
If you haven’t noticed, this year Alli and I have really tried to step up our game as locavores by recognizing the awesomeness of and buying goods from local farms. We are actually very lucky in the fact that WNY is surrounded by wonderful places like T-Meadow, Painted Meadow, Dan Tower Farm, White Cow Dairy, First Light Farm and Creamery, Green Heron Growers and Oles Family Farm (for a more comprehensive list with links check out Feed Your Soul). Many of these farms offer amazing produce, meat and dairy products that you can find at farm markets around WNY. In addition, you many not even realize that a lot of the food you eat at some of Buffalo’s very best restaurants (see below) are supplied by these farms.
Oles Family Farm (located in Corfu, NY) is one of the best known and highly respected farms in the area; their produce can be found in some of the greatest restaurants in Buffalo and they were voted by Buffalo Spree as the Best Farm in Western New York this year. Their Promised Land CSA is also gaining popularity with the general public and provides households with some fantastic locally grown produce from May to November (roughly 25 deliveries).
Earlier this week a fire broke out on Oles Family Farm and destroyed their barn (which houses livestock in the winter), several bays of hay, three refrigerators packed with meat and farm equipment. Luckily, no one was hurt but the damage was significant. Because the food community in Buffalo is filled with awesome and supportive people, several restaurants and chefs are coming together to raise money to help the Oles family replace some of what was lost in the fire. This week you have yet another reason to go eat at three of our favorite restaurants and help raise funds for the Oles Family. Here are the fundraising events going on this week…
- On Thursday 10/11, $25 at Shango Bistro will get you hors d’oeuvres, Flying Bison draft beer, and live music from 6pm-10pm with 100% of the proceeds going to the Oles family.
- On Friday 10/12 and Saturday 10/13, Bistro Europa will be donating 50% of their proceeds from lunch and dinner service. (We will be there Saturday for lunch, join us!)
- On Saturday 10/20, Trattoria Aroma has a benefit dinner planned on the Oles Family Farm. Tickets are $150 a person and 100% of the proceeds will be going to the family.
