The Menternet

As some of you may or may not know I am originally from Buffalo New York. This economically depressed city in the heart of the rust belt is where I called home for eighteen years. I grew up playing on the snow drenched shores of Lake Erie looking forward to the day where I would be out on my own and contributing my thoughts, anctedotes, and vast knowledge of all things with the world. Well, that day has arrived and has given me time to pause and reflect on my life growing up in Buffalo and the things I miss most.  Given the type of town it is (high rates of unemployment, almost no nightlife)  I wasn’t surprised to realize that there isn’t much about ”home” that I missed (sorry Mom and Dad, I still love you), but there are however a couple of things that really make me wax nostalgic from time to time. There is of course the hometown sports teams the Buffalo Bills and Sabres, I’ll always be a faithful fan of the Bills but lately this underachieving team has left me less then enthusiastic about the upcoming season (Hey Hey Ho Ho J.P. Losman has got to go, there I said it, and I’m not taking it back) and as for the Sabres, their annual run at Lord Stanley’s Cup always has me on the edge of my seat until the inevitable happens and they lose to some terrible team in the playoffs (oh by the way please re-sign Daniel Briere and Chris Drury so I can have one more year of really getting my hopes up only to have my heart crushed). So with both those things not really giving me what I need and making me feel less then I turn my thoughts to the other great things Buffalo has to offer, which is food. I’m not talking high end fining dining here I’m talking just absolutely delicious hometown grub. There are of course Chicken Wings, but let’s face it the wing market has been absolutely saturated over the last few years and you can go to anytown USA and find a good wing (if you are in NYC, check out Scruffy Duffy’s, in my humble opinion, it’s the best in the city). Also in the poultry category of my fave hometown grub there is Chiavetta’s chicken BBQ a local catering establishment that is a staple at any sort of fair, church lawn fete, or carnival in the Buffalo area. Their vinegar-based marinade is legendary in the area and quite frankly some of the greatest sauce I’ve ever tasted (I’m actually having a pavlovian response to this). Luckily for me the good people at Chiavetta’s BBQ have made there sauce available online (http://www.chiavettas.com/products.php3) so I never have to do without this tasty treat. Another place I miss is Ted’s Hot Dogs (http://www.tedsonline.com/). It’s your basic hot dog stand, but I don’t know what they do with the diggities there but I have never found one that tasted this good (sorry Nathan’s but you can go scratch in my opinion). Once again I am fortunate enough thanks to the invention of the double wide interweb to be able to purchase this delicacy online (http://www.citymade.com/madeinbuffalo/products.asp?dept=38&pagenumber=8&sort_on=&sort_by=) even though I can never fully re-create the absolutely grilled to perfection taste of a dog from the restaurant it’s a satisfactory substitute to qwell my cravings for one.  Then last but certainly not least is my personal (and Buffalo in generals I believe, we’ll get into that in more detail in a minute) favorite food Mighty Taco (http://www.mightytaco.com/). Mighty Taco is a local chain of about 15 restaurants that serves up by far the greatest fast food taco that has ever crossed my lips (believe me when I say I have had a lot of fast food tacos). I don’t know whether it is the slice of cheese that is melted to perfection across the top of the savory beef or the sauce they use to kick the flavor up a notch but the Mighty lives up to it’s name and delivers a taste that is enough to knock your Aunt Connies socks off time and time again. Unfortunately due to quality control issues (I’ve spoken to the owner about this) the company doesn’t wish to expand beyond the Buffalo region to ensure every taco served is of the utmost quality and taste (I applaude the owners decision to forgo the big bucks of franchising  to make sure his customers are getting the taco craftsmanship they’ve come to expect and deserve) which leaves me in a bit of pickle as there is no way for me to easily get my hands on my favorite home town dish. However a few years back I had an epiphany of sorts and realized in this day and age of modern refrigeration and shipping techniques I could in theory have someone go to the local Mighty Taco pick me up a cooler full of tacos and have them shipped to me overnight.  Soon after this revalation I called my sister and told her of my genius strategy, her first reaction was “You’re Crazy!” but with a little begging and pleading I managed to convince her to participate in my half baked scheme and a few days later my first shipment arrive and let me tell you friend it was glorious. I feasted for days on those delicious Mighty’s and was finally satiated for the first time in years. So now every couple of months my sister get’s her ass out of the house (just kidding sis you know I love you for it) and sends me a cooler full of tacos. Now, whenever I get a shipment people ask me about it and I tell them about my super system of taco shipping and the response from the general public is much like my sister’s initial reaction “You’re Crazy” and that’s when I tell them this story.  Earlier this year my beloved Buffalo Sabres were playing the New York Islanders out on Long Island and being the die hard fan that I am I made a pilgrimage out to that filthy dilapidated hole of an arena that the Islanders call home. I arrived in my Sabres jersey feeling confident that my league leading team would easily handle the near cellar dwelling  Islanders. Much to my surprise there was a huge contigent of Buffalo fan’s (I’m talking a couple of thousands) at first I wasn’t sure if they were transplanted Buffalonians or just band wagon fans (at the time the Sabres were leading the league and looked like shoe in’s for The Cup) that’s when this happened. The second period had just ended and much to my and the legions of Buffalo fans the Sabres trailed the Islanders by two goals. As I waited in line for a beer with my adopted little brother (Islander’s fan in uniform) an unusual chant started slow and low and escalated to a frenzied noise that could be heard ringing through the halls of Nassau Colliseum. The Buffalo fans had started to chant MIGHTY TACO, MIGHTY TACO. I couldn’t believe my ears and was to put it as simply as possible in shock.  Thousands of Sabres fans trying to rally their team with the chant of the hometowns favorite food it was mind blowing. The chant continued throughout the game but unfortunately it wasn’t enough to get our team to overcome the two goal deficit and we had to put one in the L column that night, but as the Buffalo fans headed to the parking lot they were not down and out but upbeat and happy as the cries of Mighty Taco continued and could be heard throughout the night. So now whenever someone scoffs at my having Mighty Taco’s shipped to me and questions me about how good these tacos can be that I’m willing to spend over a hundred dollars a pop to have them delivered, I tell them the tale of how the Mighty Taco became the rally cry for thousands of Buffalo fans that evening and if just chanting Mighty Taco can lift so many people’s spirits, you can only imagine what tasting one of these delights would do for one’s soul.