Grocery checkouts are lined with impulse buys strategically arrayed to snag your attention. They tend towards sweet indulgences, invitations to spend a little money on yourself.
At Lexington Co-op on Hertel Avenue, shoppers can extend that spirit to others via The Love Machine, a vending machine that dispenses compassion in bite-sized pieces. Feel like providing 10 balanced hot meals for folks in need at Friends of Night People? Step up to the machine, give it your credit card, and 100 percent of your money does what it says on the card.
Which you get to keep, or give as a gift, to yourself or others.
The machine is the work of the Conor J. Casey Foundation, which honors the former Coco Bar & Bistro chef by raising money for community groups feeding hungry people in Buffalo. Coco owner Maura Crawford saw a similar machine in Toronto and tracked down the manufacturer.
Now Buffalo has The Love Machine, which will move to various locations throughout the year, Crawford said. At a time when federal aid is uncertain, it simplifies giving directly to local groups caring for their neighbors.
The self-serve charity kiosk lets givers support 24 different groups, in amounts from $16 to $40. Colorful new bedding for a child facing homelessness, $25 through Family Promise. Tools for beginning community gardeners, $35 through Grassroots Gardens WNY. A bag of groceries for neighbors in need, $25 through Buffalo Go Green.
“The machine is actually a good metaphor for what we do,” Crawford said of the Casey Foundation. “We aren’t boots on the ground. We just have events and parties. We make money, we give it away.
“So this is just another way for us to give away money. We built the machine. We’ll support the move from location to location, we’ll do all the administration,” she said. “I hope next year to have multiple machines.”
REVIEW: Taqueria Los Mayas is one of those busy family restaurants where regular customers don’t bother trying to make reservations. They just show up and get in line, or when it gets cold, provide their phone numbers to the host and retreat to their cars to wait their turn. They know they could get a table faster at a proliferation of other Mexican places. They also know they’d end up wishing they’d just waited for the little place in Cheektowaga that makes its own tortillas. (Thursday, for patrons.)
FOUR BITES BOOK LANDS:
Give the gift of Buffalo homesickness this holiday season. Four Bites Where to Eat in Buffalo 2026, my first book, has dropped. It spotlights 195 locally-owned restaurants, bakeries, and food stores that make Buffalo one of the best eating cities, dollar for dollar, in America.
The 175-page 4-by-6-inch book has three or four color photos for each place to show people what they’re missing. Here’s some sample pages.
It’s a great stocking stuffer for people who have a hard time deciding where to go for dinner. Or for old friends you want to invite on new adventures
Taverns and diners for everyday eating, but also restaurants to trust with your big night out. From bakeries to pasta makers to the astounding international diversity of Buffalo’s current menu, you’ll find it here.
Here’s the map, if you want to poke around. It’s the distilled result of my 15 years on the food beat, built on the help of about 100 tastespotters. They dime out new restaurants with a quickness, because they know how Four Bites works: Tipsters get fed, so we can all find what makes Buffalo so damn tasty.
It’s $13.99. You can buy the book – along with my other new offering, T-shirts – here at the Four Bites shop.
I’m also showing up in person in bookstores and other places to chat and sign books.
Dec. 7, at Read It & Eat Bookshop, 2929 Main St., 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
Dec. 12, at Talking Leaves Books, 951 Elmwood Ave., 5 p.m.-6 p.m.
ASK THE CRITIC
Q: Where are the best empanadas?
– E. K., via text
A: There’s not many empanadas to choose from in Western New York, but we do have a dilly: Dulce Hogar Bakery.
The Colombian restaurant and bakery at 448 Oliver St, North Tonawanda, recently opened a second location at 951 Niagara Falls Blvd., Amherst, formerly El Palenque.
These empanadas ($3.99) sport chewy corn shells filled with well-seasoned shredded chicken or ground beef, accompanied by fresh tomato salsa. Dulce Hogar also offers the griddled corncakes called arepas ($13.99).
More reading from Michael Chelus of Nittany Epicurean:
- Andrew told us the story behind Cookies for a Cause [Four Bites]
- Dinosaur Bar-B-Que will open its new location in Hamburg on 12/23 [Buffalo News]
- Francesca told us why Buffalo is returning to the most basic form of shopping – vendor markets [Buffalo News]
- Mr. Galarneau told us that we should visit Hana Mart in Amherst to make Korean barbecue at home [Four Bites]
- Fancesca wrote about a new, free exhibit at the Buffalo AKG entitled “Dine In” [Buffalo News]
- Big Ditch celebrated its tenth annual Stoutsgiving this past week [Buffalo Beer League]
- The lineup for 42 North’s sixth annual Barrel Jam festival has been announced [Buffalo Beer League]
- Brian’s Buffalo Beer Buzz told us about Small Brewery Sunday taking place TODAY, 42 North’s collaboration on a new golf simulator in East Aurora and more [Buffalo Beer Leauge]
- Mr. Galarneau also wrote about one of the best authentic Italian restaurants around – DiTondo [Four Bites]
- Francesca posited a question – what happened to Buffalo’s diner scene? [Buffalo News]
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