Yesterday, Buffalo, N.Y. – and much of America – celebrated the 50th anniversary of the invention of Buffalo style chicken wings.
History credits Teressa Bellissimo with creating the wings when her son and his friends wanted a late night snack at Bellissimo's The Anchor Bar in Buffalo...
Bellissimo gets the nod for everything from the size to deep frying to the sauce to the bleu cheese and celery.
Of course, The Anchor Bar celebrated this milestone yesterday, with much media fanfare.
I couldn't get to Buffalo and The Anchor, but I could get to my own local Italian-American bar and grill, Club Garibaldi, to celebrate with some of the best wings in town, thanks to owner Joe Dean.
Garibaldi's wings are moist and meaty on the inside, but dry and tangy on the outside – so they're not insanely messy. The blend of spices gives the wings a satisfying but not overwhelming kick and a few minutes on the grill gives a nice subtle char.
Wings run about 83 to 90 cents apiece, depending on how many you order ($10.50 a dozen, 18 for $15, $45 for 50, $85 for 100, etc.), but if you've got the time, stop in on Wednesday because it's wing day and wings are 50 cents each, which is a steal.
Happy birthday, wings!
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
