It's Restaurant week in Buffalo

If I had to name the ten best things about Buffalo, the number one thing I would  list is the fact that we have so many restaurants that are fantastic. People complain about the cold, the unemployment, the crumbling neighborhoods, the politicians - but they NEVER complain about the food. We have that one all sewn up. And this week, for $20.11, you can eat very well at some of Buffalo's premier dining spots.


 The Marvelous Sauce , by Jehan Georges Vibert



When I googled "restaurant week" I was tickled to see that one of the images used to advertise the event  was an absolute favorite painting of mine hanging at the Albright Knox Art Gallery (another one of the top 10 things about Buffalo) and pictured here to the right.

And, because the world is full of serendipitous moments and  coincidences, tonight, at my favorite Buffalo restaurant, one of my dearest friends was explaining to me how she had just started an Art Appreciation class. Today, the teacher took them to the Albright and stood in front of Vibert's picture.  As soon as Nancy said "you know, the one with the cardinal..." I immediately jumped in:  "Marvelous Sauce!" She was so excited that I knew what she was talking about.

Dinner with 5 of my girlfriends was filled with laughter, wine and story telling. We've been together for quite some time, and we like to recall some of our hilarious times together. We're as different as we are the same including our politics, our ages, our marital status, and our employment . If you put us all together you would think we would never get along. But we all treasure the time that we make for each other - I think we all realize that our time with each other is better than 5 mintues with any therapist. By the way, as I was enjoying my time at dinner, Bill was at home preparing the marinade and starting the salads for the poker girls tomorrow. (Tell me again what I did to deserve this???).

It's so easy to say "no, I'm busy " or "I just can't get it together tonight" but these girls always make the extra effort. Our differences, when combined together, is a recipe for love:  A marvelous sauce, indeed.