Zilly

"Courage is letting go, doing this feels brave." - Zilly Frazier Rosen

Two weeks ago I sat down with Zilly to share a sweet and coffee and to chat with her about life, business, and cake.

She began with cookies, and ten years of hands on learning in a small bakery in Chicago. Followed by pastries and pie in St. Louis, and eventually as a baker at Dolci here in Buffalo.

Dolci is where she found her passion. Feuled by cake and her love of teaching, her imagination, artistic expression, and the unique ability to listen to others as they shared their story helped to create some amazing pieces. As the demand for her pieces increased she made the big decision to take up residence on Elmwood at her aptly named shop, Zillycakes.

From baby shower cakes with baby bottoms peeking out, to wedding cupcake towers like what she created for my wedding, Zilly listened and put her best into every piece. Artisanal, unique, singular. Among the other extraordinary pieces she created was the portrait of then candidate Barack Obama displayed at Buffalo's Democratic headquarters in 2008.

A year later, an installation of a double portrait featured the new president side by side with his hero, Abraham Lincoln, during the Smithsonian's celebration of Lincoln's birthday bicentennial. There was also the Food Network's 9th season of Cake Challenge, which had her talents once again shining on the national stage.
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Over the last few years the pressures of being a mother, a daughter, a wife, a business woman, a boss, an artist, a baker all began to exert a great deal of strain.

The nature of the business is one of challenges. With a thin profit margin, staff needs and demands, Fridays and Saturdays taken up with cake, years of missing so much, Zilly came to the conclusion it was time to seriously consider what needed to take precedent.

She made the decision to slide out of the front end of the business and tried to present the opportunity to take over the business as a sweet deal. It sure was a sweet deal, but not one that too many people were in the position to take on. At the time of our meeting, she had six people who were considering it.

You can imagine how surprised I was when Zilly messaged me this past Wednesday to invite me over to hear the details. "We have our big announcement ready, with a press release and everything, so there's a happy "end" to our story!"

Wendy Egloff, owner of Firefly Cupcakes, will be creating a second location. This Spring Wendy will be coming in and renovating the space to mirror her East Aurora's Firefly cupcake location's theme.

So inspired by her "Elvis", Wendy will create a cake studio space for Zilly to be a master teacher and creator. Which of course, when Zilly told me, I burst into happy tears which had her starting to tear up too. It's so good to know that the spirit of Zillycakes remains, as does the exceptional Zilly herself! 

Keep an eye out for a second article to feature Wendy and Firefly!

Buffalo Eats - Eat It Up: Episode 54

I was interviewed by Donnie Burtless recently. We laughed over Paula Donuts, bemoaned the loss of Grant Street's B. Ferrante's, got grossed out over margarine, marveled over prepping for International Dinners and nerded out over Portal Cake and Nyan Cat Poptarts.

Japan Culture Day and Ichiban Japanese Restaurant

On Sunday, November 4th, the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society hosted a Bunka no Hi, or Japan Culture Day.  The celebration of Japanese culture included dancing, a demonstration on how to put on a traditional kimono, calligraphy,

ikebana (flower arranging), a matcha tea ceremony, origami, sweets, and more.

Members of the Friends of the Japanese Garden of the Buffalo Olmsted Park Conservancy, The Japanese Group of Buffalo, The Buffalo Kanazawa Sister City Committee, Buffalo Bonsai Society, International Ikebana Club Chapter 50, Rotary Club of Buffalo Sunrise, Serene Gardens Garden Center & Cafe, the Asian Studies Department of UB, and the Buffalo office of the Consulate General of Japan were present to create a fully immersive event.

After the event we visited the Ichiban Japanese Restaurant in Bladell, NY. The unassuming store front hides a beautiful izakaya. My youngest daughter was enamored with the dolls in the alcoves, my eldest with the flowers drawn onto her plate, and my step-son actually savored his selections!

 

The chefs created artistic pieces that disappeared all too quickly.


I loved the freshly sliced pale yellow ginger and the house made panko crunch.

Everything was so fresh. Sweet and delicate with none of that tank flavor you find at some places. All of the sashimi and nigiri sushi were well proportioned and a great deal of attention went into each plate's preparation.

We will certainly be returning to this location and I highly recommend trying out the Holiday roll.

NOFA-NY's 3rd Annual Locavore Challenge Begins this September

The Locavore challenge starts with “vote with your dollar,” and takes it a few steps further, by encouraging folks to participate in a variety of events and challenges that support their local economies, encourage organic and sustainable growing practices and propel the movement.

Like last year, the rule is 250. Products from within a 250 mile radius is the main challenge you'll be aiming for. This challenge asks you to commit to eat as close to 100% locally and sustainably produced food during the month of September.
You can choose to take a day, a week or a month-long 250 mile diet challenge.
Click on the Challenge Button to the right to learn more about the challenge and to register.

There are a few exceptions to the rules that you can choose to use to help you through the challenge.

Marco Polo Rules
Salt, spices and seasoning do not need to be local. Feel free to use yeast, baking soda, baking powder, etc. (Though, if you can, try to locally source these too!)

Wild Cards
You can choose up to five wild card ingredients that cannot be sourced locally but that you feel you cannot live without. Typical items include: coffee, chocolate, sugar, tea, olive oil, nuts and rice. You are encouraged to purchase Certified Organic and Certified Fair Trade items if they cannot be sourced locally.

New this year, is the 30 Challenges in 30 Days calendar to help guide consumers in exploring the challenge each day during September. The calendar will include daily challenges, recipes, tips, events and more.

The challenge ends with a state-wide potluck! You can join us Sunday, September 30th from 6 to 8pm at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Buffalo's Parish Hall. Please click on the link to RSVP to the potluck.

Apologies to all of my readers...

This heat and drought has left me making smoothies and grilling and that's not all that interesting to write about. One can only say so much about, "Throw eight fruits and a fistful of kale in a blender and blend on high speed till it's green and smooth". Meh...

But I will be talking about other people and their scrumptiousness!

Look for a write up on Lucy's Ethiopian Cuisine.

A tour of Community Beer Works!

A shout out to JJ's Jams and a recipe using their jelly. A brand new West Side business, created by canning duo, Jackie McGee and Jean Doerr. Their rhubarb jelly is stupefying!

Lastly, a NEWS FLASH concerning NOFA-NY's CSA Fund as well as their 3rd Annual Locavore Challenge that I will be captaining again this September, potluck and all.

So be patient and in the meantime check out some of my easy peasy summer time recipes from last year. Last year was the Year of the Long Wing, looks like this year is the Year of Grilled Fish...so stay tuned!

Wegmans and I'm in Love

So I'm standing in Wegman's vestibule, returning 4 dollars worth of beer bottles and cans. I have two, German (Lübzer Pils) and Japanese (Asahi), cans I can't return, a bag full of odd ball plastic bottles, and I'm wondering how it is we've drunk so much beer over the last two months.

I'm also wondering if organic kiwi in May in Buffalo is a good thing. Yeah organic, boo crazy fruit shipped 4000 miles from New Zealand. Seriously?! 

Look, I adore Wegmans! 

J'adore épicerie Wegmans!

It makes me want to skip like Eloise to see all of those organic seedless watermelons...in Buffalo...in May....sigh....

But regardless of my conflicted feelings for Wegmans, I do have to share with you world my love for Shaun Doyle Jr.! The delightfully irascible Shaun who penned this delectable ditty,   

 I Love WEGMANS! 

Oh Shaun, if only you weren't getting married so soon...I could come up with a dastardly plan to kidnap you from your husband to be, leave my family behind and take you to Wegmans where we would be married near the cake and pie cold case.... 

Maybe it's the headiness of the store. The intoxicating smell of lobsters and pizza and chocolate cake, and sizzling stir-fry. Dizzying! Shaun is right "We Buffalonians are a hardy people- we don’t need to be fed excitement on an aisle to aisle basis, but at Wegmans it’s like having an E Ticket to all the thrills you can take in!" 

I get to the register to cash out my slips and barely make it out alive with the rush of after school customers. Somehow I manage to leave with my pocketbook unmolested and change in my pocket and whistling Colbie Caillat's Brighter Than the Sun.

The Cheesy Chick Truck

Earlier this morning, I passed the 464 Gallery located on Amherst Street, on the edge of the Black Rock District and saw the Cheesy Chick pull up front as I headed back home from Wegmans. After lazing on the couch and watching Everything Must Go, I decided to head back and check out the grilled sandwich truck that was making quite the splash here in the city.

The tidy truck has the cutest menu ever! I had a hard time choosing for no other reason than wanting one of each.

Angie Bernier was slicing apples and prepping food in the front of the truck while Catherine Frandina manned the window taking orders and Alexis Andrzejak, the food truck's owner, zipped between the two prepping sandwiches and chatting with the girls and customers.

They had the most cheerful smiles and easy going attitude.

Truck license number 3. In my opinion the requirements and related fees are outrageous. I lived in Albany during my adolescence and one of my favorite things to do was come down to the Capital and eat with my Mom at the park outside of the State Legislature. Ten or so trucks would line up around the edges of the park and they would be mobbed for three hours every day the weather was clear.

From what I understand the Capital Region plays it loosey goosey with the food vendor rules and everyone seems to be pretty happy about it after all this time. Speaking of eating with parents, Catherine's Dad stopped by to have lunch too.






The gallery was having a sale in the side yard. The place was packed with people, dragging unwilling children and dogs to and fro, admiring the whimsical pieces in the window and sitting on the concrete steps munching down sandwiches.

On Alexis' suggestion, I had the ABC sans onion mayo. She and Angie built such a pretty sandwich with wafer thin slices of apple, cheddar, and bacon in between very crunchy slices of sourdough bread.

For a treat I picked the Nutella panini with slivered bananas. This I took home to share. It was rich, sweet, nutty and reminded me of mischieveous childhood moments of sneaking spoonfuls of Nutella out of the kitchen pantry.







The menu is very accessible, making even the pickiest eater happy. The prices were very reasonable and I was so happy not to see a single fried potato option! These sandwiches didn't need any accompaniment. They were perfect just on their own! Congrats to the Cheesy Chick for going after their dreams and making others happy with their playful and ingenuous food creations.