Sunday, April 3, 2016

Cultural diversity showing up in West Side restaurants


By Jae Tomlinson and Jamal Richards 
Bengal News West Reporters
            A really hungry person could voyage 6,303 miles across the Pacific Ocean to Japan and enjoy Funazushi for lunch or go 8,299 miles in the other direction to Burma and enjoy Lahpet for dinner.          
There is no longer an ocean that separates people from experiencing the cuisine of other countries. Now people can step through a doorway to one of the many restaurants that fill the West Side with diversity
Diners enjoy Asian cuisine at the West Side Bazaar
As Buffalo continues to grow in immigrant populations one of the most apparent changes to come out of this growth is the diversity and cultural experimentation that has taken over the West Side. The different groups of people moving into the West Side brought with them a taste of their native countries.
            SATO, a Japanese restaurant at 739 Elmwood Ave., is one example of how new cultures have affected the residents of the West Side and their taste in food. SATO specializes in both modern and traditional Japanese cuisine. 


            Satomi and Joshua Smith opened the restaurant in 2014, bringing together her native Japanese culture and their shared world travels and experience in restaurant ownership.
 “We figured that we could bring something authentic to the west side and Buffalo in general,” Joshua Smith said.
A few blocks away at 25 Grant St., another cultural hub of food is packed into a building with enough different kinds of food to take people on an extensive journey.
 “It’s like traveling,” West Side Bazaar Manager Michelle Holler said.
International palates are catered to at the West Side Bazaar
Representing  Ethiopian, Loatian, Thai, Jamaican and Halal cuisines, the West Side Bazaar caters to the traditional taste of the many immigrant and refugee groups on the West Side while encouraging others to join in the adventure. A lot of traditional handmade merchandise is made and put on display. Clothing, wooden sculptures and jewelry grab the eyes of customers as they sift though all the unique clothes and decorations from other countries.
The food is only the result of a much larger trend that begins with the people. The rise in population from immigrants originating from other regions of the world has created a demand for foods from those countries,  according to Cindi Thomason, senior  advisor at the Small Business Development Center at SUNY Buffalo State.
“The West Side restaurants have a client base, they have built a demand for the comfort foods that people like,” she said. “Based on what I see in my office, there is a demand for food products of other countries and they wish to share it with their countrymen and others.”
            She also noted that the development of this built-in market has greatly contributed to the revitalization and growth of small businesses on the West Side. The development of international restaurants on the West Side shows no signs of slowing down and for all who live there, the experience of another country’s culture is right around the corner.