Try These Floral Foods and Drinks Around Buffalo

They’ve found their way into many Buffalo foods and drinks, from lattes to cocktails, rice pudding to ceviche.

For example, at Las Puertas restaurant, where chef Victor Parra Gonzalez changes the menu every five weeks, edible flowers are usually featured in at least one or two dishes. He has been sourcing edible flowers from Buffalo-based Rooted Locally for the past eight years.

“In summer, there is such an abundance of ingredients that we are spoiled for choice,” said Parra Gonzalez.

Waxlight Wine Bar chef Edward Forster cooks with flowers all summer long, whether he’s making dandelion sorbet or lavender mustard.

“Ingredients like these are a huge inspiration for us,” Forster said.

Chef Jessica Arends of Cornelia at the Buffalo AKG Art Museum garnishes her dishes with edible flowers from Crown Hill Farm in Eden. Arends wants the flowers to add flavor to each dish, but she’s found that many diners are hesitant to eat them.

“People are a little scared and ask, ‘What does it taste like?'” says Arends, adding that she tells them to “eat it and find out.”

Nasturtiums, which have a peppery, almost arugula-like flavor, are currently in season in the area, according to Missy Singer DuMars, owner of Crown Hill Farm. Marigolds and sunflowers will soon be ready to go from farm to table. In the meantime, many flavors, like rose and lavender, are used year-round in syrups and liqueurs by many local businesses.

Whether you’re inspired by the colorful sights you saw on a stroll through a local garden or you’re looking for a particularly pretty plate of food, here are some ideas for where to find floral foods. (The specials listed here will be available through at least the end of July, as some bars and restaurants rotate their menus throughout the summer.)

Cornelia at the AKG Museum in Buffalo (1285 Elmwood Ave.) uses edible flowers in three dishes. Edible pansies or nasturtiums garnish a citrus shrimp ceviche tostada, and the petals are sprinkled over a peach burrata salad with blueberry balsamic vinegar. Pastry chef Stephanie Balk also uses them to adorn a dessert, mango colada panna cotta, which is a mango-coconut custard with mango chutney and coconut whipped cream.

Graylynn Gin Bar (537 Main St.) uses edible garnishes on several dishes, including its baby gem salad with toasted spice vinaigrette, candied spiced walnuts and nutritional yeast.

In July, The doors (385 Rhode Island St.) Parra Gonzalez grinds dried nasturtiums into a powder that he adds to a ceviche dish with strawberries, micro cilantro and other vegetables. The flowers are featured in the Alligator Strawberry cocktail, which is a cocktail of pink vodka, lychee, lime and rosé with a pink flower.

Marble + Rye (112 Genesee St.) Chef Michael Dimmer also uses flowers in his ceviche, which includes cilantro flowers, scallops, charred poblano peppers, shallots, citrus and rice crackers.

Little Thais (27 Chandler St.) Chor Muang’s dumplings are floral in two ways. Owner Kae Baramee sculpts each dumpling to resemble a petaled flower and also uses butterfly pea flour to give them their signature periwinkle hue. The dumplings are filled with a mixture of peanuts, chicken and vegetables.

Waxlight Wine Bar (27 Chandler St.) uses squash blossoms — edible yellow flowers that bloom on zucchini — to fortify its ricotta cheese spread, which is served with summer zucchini and herbs on a dense piece of toast.

CocktailsThe Grange Community Kitchen (22 Main St., Hamburg) The Beesting cocktail includes gin, lavender, cardamaro (a wine-based aperitif) and honey.

Graylynn uses butterfly pea tea and orange blossom foam to mix a bright pink and blue gin-based cocktail, Nickel City Flora. It also features local rose jam, grapefruit, lime, elderflower and crème de violette.

High Violet (710 Elmwood Ave.) offers a Red Sea cocktail that includes hibiscus rose and raspberry infused gin, sake, Bitter Bianco liqueur, honey and orange.

Judas Tree (1507 Pine Ave., Niagara Falls) offers two floral spritzes. Prosecco and soda mix with orange blossom hibiscus liqueur in the Risato spritz and elderflower liqueur in the Fiorente spritz.

His (4516 Main St., Snyder) The Bella Luna cocktail is a mix of purple gin, elderflower liqueur, lemon and a splash of prosecco.

Lavender is a popular flavor to mix with espresso. Many local coffee shops, such as JAM Parkside, Kornerstone Coffee, Penny’s, Remedy House, and Unapologetic Coffee, offer lavender lattes.

Blue Eyed Baker (636 E. Fillmore Ave., East Aurora) offers two floral lemonades, a blueberry lavender lemonade and a hibiscus lemonade.

Community Cup (5416 Main St., Williamsville) uses flowers, such as butterfly pea flower, lavender, rose and marigold, in its loose-leaf teas available for purchase. At the beverage counter, the tea room sells a blueberry-violet lemonade.

Nellai Banana Leaf (4303 Transit Road, Amherst) serves a bubblegum rose milk drink, which is rose syrup mixed with milk.

DessertsAlmaza Grill (9370 Transit Road, East Amherst), a Lebanese restaurant, offers rice pudding made with rose water, infusing a strong floral flavor into this creamy, sweet dessert.

Chocolates from the Blue Table (799 Seneca St.) steeps dried violet flowers in oat milk to make one of its colorful vegan chocolates, the red-flecked raspberry-blueberry-violet chocolate.

Golden Hour Treats (735 Sycamore St.) makes a rose falooda milkshake inspired by a popular South Indian dessert. It features rose syrup, vanilla ice cream, basil seeds and vermicelli noodles on the bottom.

Harvest (444 Main St., Medina) Executive pastry chef Mary Sandy is making a Persian Love Cake throughout July. It’s a white cake made with walnut flour, rose water, a rose-citrus glaze, and accented with dried rose petals and pistachios.