Taste of Buffalo 2009
Delaware Ave. & Niagara Sq., Buffalo, NY 14202
Web: Taste of Buffalo 2009
Phone: 716.983.0978
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Buffalo Desserts Drinks Favorites Festivals

As much as we love the appetizer and entree choices at every year's Taste of Buffalo, we always - always - save room for desserts, and try our best to sample some of the drink options from local cafes and wineries. This third part of our 2009 Taste of Buffalo report focuses on some of the desserts, non-alcoholic drinks, and wines we tried this year; part one discusses American and Italian options, part two discusses more far-flung ethnic food offerings, and our 2009 Golden Fork Awards highlight the best items on our list.

Sweet Melody's. This dessert specialist offered a wide variety of different gelatos and sorbets, and we awarded a Golden Fork to the Pineapple Sorbet, a light, fresh, and nicely balanced dessert that manages to taste like pineapple without even the slightest hint of artificial flavor.

Craftsmen Cafe. Craftsmen was offering various "Monkee" cookies, so we tried the Cinna-Monkee, a fairly dense cookie with oats, cinnamon, flaxseed oil and sugar. Neither of the two of us who tasted it liked it much; it wasn't bad, though.

Anderson's. We love Anderson's Lemon Ice, but the Loganberry Ice - a hometown-flavored dish of icey loganberry drink, almost completely frozen, is more of a standout, and won a Golden Fork Award. Try to find this outside of Western New York - we dare you.

E.M. Chrusciki Bakery. As fans of caramel and amusingly named desserts, we were interested in sampling the Caramel Confusion even before we'd actually seen it in person. It turned out to be a square of apple strudel with caramel drizzled on top, which was a disappointment, though it was inherently a fine dessert. Confusion is a fair name given what we felt after trying it.

Landies Candies. We've continued our chocolate-dipped frozen banana quest in an effort to locate a really fresh, wonderful alternative, and went straight to Landies in hopes that we'd find one. After sampling the Milk Chocolate Fun-Ana, only one of a number that are offered here, we weren't totally impressed; the bananas were pre-assembled rather than dipped as we waited, and were only fine, not great.

Danny's Restaurant. Two of us liked but didn't love the Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Pie here, a piece of very creamy and only moderately peanut butter-flavored pie, with a chocolate syrup topping. With a stronger peanut butter taste, this would have been great.

Ms. Goodies. The biggest "surprise" in the Banana Surprise was in the textures of this creamy fruit and cookie pudding dessert; there wasn't a pineapple taste, but there was a pineapple-like texture in some of the fruit here, one of several factors that led to a Golden Fork Award. It's worth trying if you're a fan of banana desserts, as it's unique.

Woodbury Vineyards. We tried a glass of the Fredonia, NY Woodbury Vineyards' gentle, sweet Red Renard, having previously sampled and felt generally positive about its Sweet Cherry and Blueberry Wines. Mild and gently sweet, this was a nice dessert-class drink for those who aren't looking for their wine to overwhelm the flavors of an accompanying cake or pie.

Clarence Center Coffee Company & Cafe. A favorite from last year as well, the Mango Smoothie is one of the nicest iced fruit beverages we've ever had, with enough real mango inside to separate it from the many phony alternatives out there. We've discussed it and mango competitors at length here; it was worthy of a Golden Fork Award.

Canadian Wine Shop. Exhibiting on behalf of Wayne Gretzky Estates, the Wine Shop was selling Gretzky's No. 99 Vidal Icewine 2005. Four of us tried and loved this sweet but silky gentle Canadian wine - one great enough to truly deserve the Wayne Gretzky name and number. Other wines from the Great One were also available.

Chateau Buffalo. Maker of the Dancing Buffalo Cidre line, artisanal brewer Chateau Buffalo offered Perry, a sweet Hard Cider made from an apple base. Lighter and milder than we're accustomed to in hard ciders, the Perry was more compelling in our view than the semi-dry Mambo, which tasted almost watery. We were really pleased with Perry, and felt it to be deserving of a Golden Fork Award.

Other dessert and drink vendors at the Taste of Buffalo have been profiled in earlier Buffalo Chow reviews, including Anderson's, The Bavarian Nut Company, Niagara Landing Wine Cellars, Merritt Estate Winery, Sweet Melody's, and Village Desserts. Read more on this event in our Taste of Buffalo 2009 Golden Fork Awards roundup and basic show guide.

See also: Part 1 on Ameritalian foods, and Part 2 on ethnic foods.