Sweetness 7 awaits liquor license renewal

By Ryan Beiter and Jonny Moran
Bengal News Reporters 
      If you have gone to Sweetness 7 Café, 220 Grant St., recently in hopes of grabbing a beer while relaxing in the upbeat atmosphere, you were most likely told to visit the other location on Parkside Avenue.  
      Sweetness 7 has not been able to serve alcohol since early March, and owner Prish Moran said it is because of a legal matter. 

Prish Moran, on the cafe liquor license:
 

     
      Moran said her lawyers have advised her to incorporate her café separately from the rest of her building, which consists of storefronts and a performance space. The move has delayed the renewal of her liquor license, which she's had for two years. 

      Moran owns all the buildings on her block, which she bought for renovation in 2007 for $112,000. Besides the Sweetness 7 building, Moran owns five storefronts on the block, seven apartments and a church that she says she's building into a performance space. 

      Moran's attorneys originally advised her against spending the money to get her café incorporated separately from the rest of the building space. 
     “They’ve been under the same corporation for eight years, and no one ever thought my café would work,” Moran said. "But it’s worked quite well.” 

      The café's inability to serve alcohol at her Grant Street location stemmed from her unknowing of just how complicated the process of branching off from her building was. While Moran said the Liquor Authority has taken longer than expected to pass her application, she expects to be able to serve alcohol again within the next few weeks. 

      “It takes a long time to get a liquor license,” Moran said. “It’s kind of silly, but the law is the law so I didn’t mess around and stopped serving liquor until the transition happens ...It’s like applying for a new license, so the timing was just a bit off. Nothing’s changed with the corporation, but with the way the law’s written, I have to apply as a brand new applicant. “ 

      The Flying Bison Brewing Co. and Community Beer Works stickers on the windows of Sweetness 7 are indicative of Moran’s passion for seeing local business thrive. “We sell only local draft beer,” Moran said. "We sell a lot of it." 

          She said craft beer has been popular with college students, who would often come in and drink a few while working on schoolwork. 

      Moran estimates that a quarter of Sweetness 7's business comes from alcohol sales, but she won't know for sure until the end of tax season. Still, she said, business hasn't changed that much in the weeks since alcohol's absence. 

     Joel Standard, a cook at Sweetness 7, said the café is not typically sought out as a drinking location, but customers appreciate the option. 

     "This isn't a place where people typically come to drink, but sometimes a customer may want a mimosa or bloody Mary with their meal, or a shot of whiskey in their coffee," he said. 

Caffé Aroma, 957 Elmwood Ave., is another local coffee shop that serves beer, wine and liquor. Their alcohol sales closely resemble Sweetness 7's, with a majority of their sales being in craft beer and whiskey for coffee, according to barista Jon Bonini. 

     While she has been able to serve alcohol at her other café, Moran said there will be a slight change coming that will add to their selection.
      "My Parkside location currently has a beer and wine license, but will have a full liquor license before summer," Moran said. 

Grant St. bustling again, a shop at a time

Jeanenne Petri owns Westside Stories with her husband Joe

By Amber Rinard
and Dallas Taylor
Bengal News West Reporters
          Grant Street is not just a street, but its own little community.

When you walk down the street, you can smell all the different ethnic foods, hear the sounds coming from the shops, and see the different nationalities and races coming together to shop and work in one area.

             On a two-mile long street, three small stores are starting to revive the area into what it used to be.  A neighborhood.

Westside Stories, Press Raw Food & Juice, and Sweet_ness 7 are rebuilding the neighborhood by establishing a relationship between each other and the customers that regularly shop there.

Jeanenne and Joe Petri, owners of Westside Stories, 205 Grant St., opened the bookstore in June four years ago. Since then, they have been working to enhance the neighborhood to make it a better place.

            The Petris originally chose to live on the West Side, because before they met with their real estate agent   they had coffee at Sweet_ness 7 Café, and loved it so much that they decided to buy whatever house was the closest to it.

            “We chose to open the shop in the neighborhood because we firmly believe that a strong retail corridor really helps to create a vibrant neighborhood,” Jeanenne said. 

Jeanenne Petri, on the value of a neighborhood bookstore:

            Her older customers tell her there used to be bustling shops up and down Grant Street. 

          “A lot of old timers will talk about what an interesting place it was to grow up, and it’s great to see that revival coming back,” Jeanenne said.

            Westside Stories works together with many of the other stores on the street to create a place that is special and valuable.

            Esther Pica, owner of Press Raw Food & Juice, 197 Grant St., is a friend of the Petris.

          “We all tend to look out for each other. Knowing that they’re next door, gives me a sense of comfort,” Pica said.

            The stores on Grant Street also benefit from each other.

 “What makes this little part of Grant Street work is that the bookstore and I, and even Sweet_ness 7, we all share the same customer base,” Pica said.

            Many people discover the bookstore by going to Press Raw Food & Juice, and others discover the restaurant by going to the bookstore.

            “We’re more of a destination,” Pica said. “You pick up your juices; check out the bookstore, you stop for a meal, where as if we were just here isolated by ourselves maybe people could rationalize not making a special trip just to go to one place.”

            Dan Moscov, Manager at Sweetness 7 Café, 220 Grant St., said  businesses benefit from the others' traffic and benefit the community by creating neighborhood jobs.  

            “It’s great for the community to have small businesses,” Moscov said.

            When walking down the street, you can feel the sense of community between the store and the customers. Customers will stop into these stores simply to talk and see what is going on. 

            There is a great vibe that comes from Grant Street. The customers support their local small businesses and the businesses work together to change the West Side into a great community. There are over 40 languages spoken in the area, yet they are all united as one.  

            “We like being someone’s neighborhood bookstore, where they can stop in and see if they can find something interesting to read or something that inspires them,” Petri said.

         

Elmwood Village hosts holiday celebration

By Laney Hill and Stephanie Vogel

Bengal News West Reporters

            You better watch out, and you better not cry, because Santa Claus is coming to Elmwood Village. This Santa, though, comes with four rules and a green screen.

Kenneth Irwin, better known as Santa Ken, is convinced he’s Santa Claus; he even answers the phone in character. Santa Ken will be on Elmwood Avenue from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Dec. 12 and  Dec. 13 to take pictures and spread holiday cheer for the first Christmas in the Village.

“Twenty years ago people told me I was good at it,” Irwin said. “So now I’m part of a multi-billion dollar business.”  

 Santa Ken’s four rules are simple. One: Each child who visits with him gets one toy. Two: Children should use words like “please” and “thank you”. Three: They need to go to bed on time and brush their teeth. Four: Clean their rooms plus the living room, the dining room and under the couch, because Santa knows that children hide things under there. 

Santa Ken brings with him green screen technology, which is a green wall that kids can stand in front of and get their pictures taken. After that, a background of Santa is inserted into the scene, which allows for timid children to still get a good picture with Santa.

“We call this the no trauma drama zone,” Irwin said. “Some kids get scared of getting their pictures taken with Santa, so this eases kids into it.”

In the past, the Elmwood Village had Open Light Fridays, where each Friday in December there would be a different event, such as tree lighting and caroling. The main motivation behind Christmas in the Village is to celebrate the holidays on one main weekend, while bringing people to the shops and to support local businesses.

 “This is the first year that we’re doing this,” Ashley Smith, community engagement manager for the Elmwood Village Association, said. “We wanted something to add a different amount of interest and atmosphere to the holidays in the Elmwood Village to give people a reason to come here.”

            Each month Elmwood Village shop owners and the Elmwood Village Association meet to

Ashley Ohl of Renw Bath & Body

Ashley Ohl,  of Renew Bath & Body discuss how business and sales are going for the stores. The holidays are an important time for everyone, and this year they are switching from Open Light Fridays to something different.

            “If we could bill it as the catch-all weekend maybe we’ll get more people coming in, and it could be a bigger deal,” Smith said. “So that was the idea for Christmas in the Village.”

            Along with Santa walking through the stores, the businesses on Elmwood will be serving hot chocolate, hanging lights and decorating their windows.

            “We participate every year,” said Sue Marfino, owner of ShoeFly, 801 Elmwood Ave. “This is the first year of being one full weekend, rather than four separate days.”

            Manager of Renew Bath and Body, Ashley Ohl, is excited to participate for the first time in Christmas in the Village, and bring in business.

“We’re looking forward to all the lights being up on Elmwood and getting some new people who don’t always get to come down,” Ohl said. “You know, get some new faces.”

 

Ashley Ohl, on Christmas in the Elmwood Village:

Phil Kline, composer of Unsilent Night, is scheduled to perform at 7p.m. on Friday, Dec. 12.

“He made this musical piece in the 90s to be played on multiple boomboxes at a time,” Smith said. “It’s to create a moving sound cloud. You’ve got a couple of people playing different tracks that synchronize, and they’ve now adapted it so you can do it on smart phones. They want to have people play it on their smart phones and create a march.”

Throughout the weekend there will be local bands and street musicians playing, and the Lexington Co Op. will be roasting nuts outside and other activities.

“For the community it’s a really cute event,” Smith said. “People really like it.”

Chippewa in transition after under-21 ban

By Fran McCann
Bengal News West Reporter

Chippewa Street, also known as the nightlife district, has about 13 bars and restaurants that welcome thousands of people every week. The area has built its reputation as the hot spot for many people to gather, but many people see it heading in a different direction.

Since the under-21 ban in October 2012 because of underage crimes on Chippewa Street, the district has been trying to find another image. 

            Real estate developer Adam March, who owns The Lodge and buildings 67-79 W. Chippewa St., was one of the lead activists to protest the under-21 ban.

He, along with bar owner Daniel Valentine and University at Buffalo student Colin Miller, filed a lawsuit in late January 2013 against Mayor Byron Brown, Common Councilmembers, Police Commissioner Daniel Derenda and James Comerford Jr., commissioner of permits and inspections. They argued the ban hurt their right to earn a living and restricted their business. 

            “The lawsuit is at a pause right now,” March said. “It went through its initial run but we weren’t seeing any results.”

March said he believes the ban isn’t because of violence by people under 21, but instead because of a lack of police control over the crowd.

            “On any given night we would have 8-10,000 people in our bar and I don’t think the police wanted to deal with the crowds anymore,” he said. “Things will happen when people drink, but in our bar’s existence we have never had one crime occur other than an occasional scuffle. There were never any injuries and we handled the customers very professionally.”

            Thomas Cowan, owner of City Tavern bar at 51 W. Chippewa St.,  said he thinks the ban was a good thing for the street and city as a whole.

            “The bars that participated in the 18-and-up had a good thing going,” he said. “They created a fun and safe place for college kids to go and dance, but then again Chippewa is an entertainment district that was designed for the 21-and-up patrons.” 

Andrew Rechin, head of Security at Bottoms Up, 69 W. Chippewa St.,on what his job involves:

 

            Cowan said the ban has affected businesses in the area, and “Thursday nights have become a lot quieter.” He said he could see the area slowly starting to go in a different direction.

            “I think the ban was a positive step to rebuilding the entertainment district and in time the street will be back,” he said. “I think we will be more of a restaurant row in the next few years rather than a late night dance club street.”

            With Chippewa starting to rebuild its image as more of a restaurant scene, some might wonder what will happen to the nightlife. March said even though he believes the ban to be “unfair,” he is reinventing his investments. 

            “We’re in the process of investing in restaurants,” March said. “We have the idea of a high-end Japanese restaurant and we’re confident that it, along with whatever other ideas we have, will do well.”

Amodeo peddles pasta in family business

By Fran McCann
Bengal News West Reporter

The Pasta Peddler, which operates at Horsefeathers Market, sells a variety of pastas, sauces and many other products. 

The Pasta Peddler started in 1994 making gift baskets. In 1999 Mike Sedia bought the business but a few years later he was ready to sell.  A young man who was engaged to Sedia’s daughter decided to take a stab at the business, and in 2003 Eric Amodeo became the co-owner  of the Pasta Peddler.

When Amodeo hopped on board with the business, it was very difficult for him to figure out how to operate things.  He not only had to understand how to sell the pasta, but he also had to figure out how to make it.

“The first pasta I made was absolutely terrible,” Amodeo said. “The old way we used to make the pasta was with counter top machines and it required us to work the dough a lot more, which resulted in not a very good product.”


Eric Amodeo, on the machine behind The Pasta Peddler:

When Amodeo helped take over the business, his initial plans were to only concentrate on it during the summer. Working from his basement in the double he and his wife lived in, Amodeo, with the help of father-in-law Sedia, was selling product to the Lexington Cooperative and the Elmwood-Bidwell farmers market. In 2004 Amodeo’s wife, Andrea, decided to join her business, Blackbird Sweets, and try and help grow the business.

 As demand grew bigger, Amodeo soon realized the business was taking off and it was time to move into a bigger location. In March 2013, The Pasta Peddler moved into the Horsefeathers building  at 346 Connecticut St. Amodeo, his wife, and father-in-law worked together to maintain the business and keep its reputation  up. 

Although the business is doing well, the economic downfall in 2008 forced the Pasta Peddler to change its prices.

“During that time the price of wheat quadrupled,” Amodeo said. “We were forced to raise prices but since that time, our prices have not gone up.”

The Pasta Peddler sells a variety of gourmet pastas in individual 10-ounce packets, starting at $3.75.  Depending on the size of the order, the Pasta Peddler offers a discount and also a 10 percent discount for students with a valid I.D. card.

Blackbird Sweets also works with the Pasta Peddler selling baked goods. 

Joe Kirchmyer, a West Seneca resident and longtime customer of the Pasta Peddler, was never a huge fan of pasta until he came across the business.

“The ravioli is out of this world,” Kirchmyer said. “The freshness and flavor is so different and way better than something you would buy at Wegmans or Tops.”

Kirchmyer said people should consider buying local and keep the money in the community. He guarantees the food to be fresh and says it is great to “support the little guy.”

This upcoming spring to fall, you will find the Pasta Peddler at various farmers markets. Starting this spring, it will be at the Hamburg, Elmwood-Bidwell, East Aurora and Williamsville Farmers Markets.

Regular farmers market-goer Margaret Lalley is a supporter of local food businesses. During the summer, she finds herself going to a market at least once a week.

“I love the Pasta Peddler’s pasta and sauce,” Lalley said. “When you buy local and freshly made, you definitely pay a little more. In the end, I believe the quality is definitely worth paying a little bit more.” 

The demand for the Pasta Peddler is growing,  and Amodeo is looking into the future.

“Right now we’re in talks with a business called Mercado,” Amodeo said. “It’s a large-scale community market and we’re looking to add a location with them in the next 12 months.”

$3 million medical office planned for W.S.

By Angelica Rodriguez and Brandon Waz
Bengal News West reporters

            A new medical facility on the West Side is set for construction in mid-April, provided that tax credit approval will be gained toward the end of this month.

            The Greater Buffalo United Accountable Healthcare Network (GBUAHN), a free service through Medicaid located at 393 Delaware Ave., is investing $3 million in the facility, which will be built on a vacant lot on 7th Street, between Jersey and Pennsylvania streets. It will be placed just behind the Urban Family Practice on Niagara Street.

            The building will help expand GBUAHN’s primary care functions and provide a central location for the eight-practice collaborative. A 28,500-square-foot building, it will contain  offices for primary care, a behavioral wellness center, a nutrition and diabetes treatment center and a conference center. It already provides care for 1,500 Medicaid patients in the health home program and hopes to attract more from other parts of the city.

          

Dr. Raul Vazquez, on the 7th Street medical facility:

             Dr. Raul Vazquez,  based at Urban Family Practice and president-CEO of GBUAHN, said that the collective is moving forward with full support from the community at this point despite some misgivings.

            “There was a little misunderstanding in the beginning, because they thought we were going to have  a detox program at the facility, and that’s not what we do here at GBUAHN,” he said. “(We want to) expand primary and behavioral care, so once they found that out, they were all in agreement.”

            With that issue resolved, the facility just has to clear one more hurdle in the Erie County Industrial Development Agency, which GBUAHN is depending on for tax credits. Dr. Vazquez said the project will move forward if the ECIDA approves tax credits at its meeting this month.

            The facility will provide accessible health care for everyone in the vicinity while also creating job opportunities for those living on the West Side. Dr. Vazquez said the project will likely create over the originally projected 75-100 jobs, and, noting the area’s diversity, added that one of the collective’s goals is to engage  "people who look like the community."

            “In our offices, we have people from Somalia, Arabs, Puerto Ricans, African Americans… we want to serve all of that community,” he said.

            GBUAHN office manager Jillian Deuble stressed that above all, the new building would facilitate more of a community effort and that the West Side is the perfect location.

            “It’s so close to where our office already is, but that is the community where it is hard to get around,” she said. “A lot of people there do take the bus, and there is very limited opportunity – if there is one, it’s not a very sustainable opportunity.”

            Mayor Byron Brown was on hand at a recent announcement GBUAHN's partnership with Rite Aid, called Rite Aid Health Alliance. The partnership links local physicians to Rite Aid professionals in working with patients various health conditions to set goals and improve self-management abilities. Buffalo is the third market to engage in the Health Alliance, and there are 10 stores within the city limits. Three of them – Niagara Street, West Ferry Street and Connecticut Street – are on the West Side. 

            Brown welcomed the idea of economic development and expansion in the city, as well as expanding much-needed health care to residents who cannot always access it.

            “I think it’s also important that medical practices located in the city of Buffalo grow and expand to provide more and new and better health care services to the residents of this community,” he said.

            “The physicians at GBUAHN have been doing that for a long time, they know how to do it well, and this unique partnership of physicians in an integrated health facility on the West Side of Buffalo is something that I think is very much needed.”

 

Press Raw Food plans to open on Grant St.

By Sean Dwyer and Youleidy Vega
Bengal News West Reporters
-->

After months of planning, Press Raw Foods & Juice is almost ready to open its doors to health food lovers on Grant Street.  Since moving from Horsefeathers Market on Connecticut Street, owner Esther Pica is excited to officially put down her roots on the West Side. 

Once open, Press will provide all organic raw food and products, including ready to order juices and smoothies. In addition, Pica also anticipates doing home deliveries for people who are taking part in cleanses. 

“Great thing about this place is that we have retail space so we can sell the ingredients to people to go home and experiment,” said Pica.   “Because the only license we could get without having to change the use of the building is food retail, everything is packaged to go.” 

Pica has called Buffalo home since 2011.  However, she freely admits the choice to make the move from New York City to open a juice bar occurred entirely by accident.  

Pica, on her transition from New York City to Buffalo: 

“The market in New York was oversaturated with juice bars, so I was looking for a college town with a warm climate,” said Pica.  “I started looking for a house based on zip codes.   But I had mistakenly transposed two of the numbers.  So, when I thought I was looking at a house in Georgia, in actuality, I was looking at houses in Buffalo.” 

Due to the cheap prices, Pica decided to buy a house in Buffalo originally as an investment.  Later, she started doing research and was encouraged by businesses like Prish Moran’s Sweetness_7 to look into opening her juice bar nearby. 

Sara Ali, is a SUNY Buffalo State  student who has written for Human Athletics  about the benefits juicing can have on the body and understands the important role a juice bar can have on the health of community. 

“Fresh juice is loaded with nutrients, vitamins and minerals,” Ali said.  “You can satisfy your body’s need for the essentials with (a) day of juicing.”

According to Ali, juicing can play an important role in the body’s ability to heal itself and is a key part of the Gerson method, which is a natural treatment that requires the intake of large quantities of raw juice. 

“By juicing fruits and vegetables, you remove the insoluble fiber which the digestive enzymes are locked away in,” said Ali.  “Juicing allows you to access those enzymes you normally cannot by eating the produce.”

Beyond providing products that are good for the body, Pica’s new building, located at 197 Grant St., also strives to be good for the environment. 

“This building is a green renovation,” said Pica. “It’s got geothermal heat and there are sun panels on the roof. We are marketing everything in as green of a way as possible.”

Pica boasts that all plastic products she uses are cornstarch based and biodegradable and has a goal to create as little waste as possible. 

“All the produce that we have is going to be merchandised,” said Pica. “With there being a lot of young families in the neighborhood, they won’t have to go all the way to Elmwood to get an organic banana.” 

Abaca Press, which is located at 9 Lafayette Ave., is owned and operated by Peter Sowiski. He agrees that providing families in the nearby area with more options, beyond shops on Elmwood Avenue, is positive for the entire West Side community. 

 “Obviously, when this happens it creates a spill over that benefits the whole neighborhood,”   Sowiski said

Pica anticipates  having a soft open before the New Year.   Once her shop is open, Pica plans on advertising coupons and sample opportunities on her shop’s Facebook page.  

Despite the delays, Pica is in no rush as she plans on being here for the long-haul.

“I love Grant Street,” said Pica. “My heart belongs to Grant Street and my house is right around the corner.”