1 week Ago
Emily Gonzalez was standing over a stainless steel work table baking a tray of conchas. The sweet Mexican brioche-like rolls, topped with a thin and crumbly layer of sugar cookie, are a specialty of her pop-up bakery, Colibrí Panadería . Emily Gonzalez, the owner of Colibrí Panadería, checks on a tray of vanilla conchas.
She painted a layer of water onto the unbaked rolls, then topped each with a pale pink, strawberry-flavored blanket of flattened cookie dough. She imprinted a seashell shape onto each concha using a plastic stamp and stuck them in the oven. Once baked, the conchas have a signature, swirly crackle.
“I love the colors," she said. "The creative expression." Gonzalez has lived in Buffalo for three years, mostly working in marketing.
(She works part time as the Massachusetts Avenue Project’s communications manager.) She opened her part-time bakery to introduce a piece of her Mexican-American cuisine to the area. Freshly baked vanilla conchas from Colibrí Panadería.
The daughter of Mexican immigrants, Gonzalez grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, where conchas were ubiquitous in grocery stores and bakeries. Her family would come over for conchas and coffee on the weekends as a “communal, ceremonial tradition.” “I don’t think I realized until I left California how great it was to be surrounded by my culture,” Gonzalez said.
“Moving away from home has just even further deepened my appreciation for my culture.” She bakes all of the conchas at the Massachusetts Avenue Project shared kitchen and sells them at a few spots each week. On Thursdays, find her conchas at Farm Shop Buffalo .
On Wednesdays, she sells them at Massachusetts Avenue Project’s indoor farmers market. Customers can also preorder on her website and pick up their order on Fridays at Wildroot Floral . About half of her customers have tried or heard of conchas before.
Some share Gonzalez’s heritage and drive up to an hour for a taste of their culture. The other half are trying the sweetbreads – either in the traditional flavors of chocolate, strawberry and vanilla, or some of her more experimental flavors such as lemon poppyseed and apple pie – for the first time. “Representation is important,” Gonzalez said.
“Finding that cultural food where you live makes you feel included and makes you feel welcome.” Think of a pop-up as a test run for culinary ideas. Rather than investing in a brick-and-mortar or a food truck, budding restaurateurs can cut their teeth on a low-cost, low-risk and creative alternative, often while keeping their day jobs.
Gonzalez, wearing a pair of silver hummingbird earrings, said she feels like a hummingbird, transporting a small piece of home for thousands of miles to a new place. Her bakery name, Colibrí, is the Spanish word for hummingbird. “It’s like pollinating new blooms to grow,” she said.
News North Tonawanda coffee shop Coffee & Stone is planning to open a second location in North Buffalo. Coffee & Stone is moving into the former CRAVing restaurant (1472 Hertel Ave.) with a similar food and drink concept to its original café.
It will open this summer, according to co-owner Bill Corbett. A new brewery and entertainment center is open in Niagara Falls. Falls Brewery opened at 2408 Military Road in a plaza that used to house a video game store and tattoo parlor.
It has a pair of golf simulators, mini bowling alleys, arcade games and a cornhole league. Hours are 3 to 10 p.m.
Tuesday and Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.
m. Thursday through Saturday and 10 a.m.
to 9 p.m. Sunday.
Juicy Burger Bar has officially left Hamburg and has opened at 1275 Delaware Ave. Its hours are 11:30 a.m.
to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
Juicy Burger closed its Hamburg location on the lake after half a year in business. Before that, it was in the village of Hamburg for nearly a decade. Pour Taproom has closed its downtown Buffalo bar at 490 Pearl St.
It opened in 2021 with a self-pour beer wall that was a rare concept within the area at the time. Its Ellicottville location, which opened in December, will remain open. Food events The Eid Festival will return from 4 to 8 p.
m. March 31 at the Buffalo History Museum (1 Museum Court). The Asian Pacific American Public Affairs Buffalo Niagara chapter is organizing a festival to celebrate the end of Ramadan, a month of fasting and prayer for Muslims.
There will be cultural food, along with performances, henna art, vendors and family-friendly activities. Satiate your hunger for food and knowledge at the 17th annual Edible Book Festival , from 11 a.m.
to 2 p.m. April 5 at WNY Book Arts Center (468 Washington St.
). "Edible book chefs" will bake culinary re-creations of classic books for the crowd to ogle − and later eat. Admission is $5 ($3 for members).
ICYMI What will it take to ‘bring back Bailey'? New restaurant coming to Buffalo's Outer Harbor The historic Niagara Club in Niagara Falls could soon become a restaurant, rooftop bar Two fast-food restaurants in Niagara Falls get tax breaks Could Costco be coming to the former Seneca Mall site? New architectural center hopes to boost local restaurant tourism Stay up-to-date on what's happening Receive the latest in local entertainment news in your inbox weekly! Food & drink reporter {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items..
