happy 254th mozart

Mike and Barb

Last October B and I attended the NCCC fundraiser where B bid on and won 4 tickets to the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra in the silent auction. We could choose among any of the classical series of concerts to redeem our tickets. We chose to celebrate Mozart's birthday by attending the Happy Birthday Mozart concert last night. Mozart turned 254 on January 27th. We usually celebrate his birthday by watching Amadeus which has always been a favorite movie of ours. We invited Mike and Barb to go with us to the concert. Barb and I discussed restaurants where we would like to go to dinner before the concert. At first we were thinking Rue Franklin because I have never been there. Then Barb heard a review on Kiss 98.5 one morning about this new restaurant that had recently opened up.....The 31 Club.


one of the dining rooms at The 31 Club

According to their website The 31 Club was an exclusive supper club that got it's start in the 1940s catering to socialites and Buffalo's law community. It enjoyed four decades of success before closing it's doors in 1983. The building sat abandoned and in disrepair until recently when it was renovated and a new swanky modern supper club returned. The new restaurant retains the same class, style and sophisication of the previous restaurant but with a fresh, modern and comtemporary flair. It is very pretty. Too bad I didn't get any pictures of the spiral staircase with zebra print wallpaper or the bar or the really neat flooring....brown ceramic tile with smaller black marble tiles interspered. The color scheme was all brown and black. I did get this shot of the dining area. I had the arugula salad with lemon viniagrette. Everyone else had the field greens salad. Barb and B had the free range chicken entree, Mike had a freeform eggplant Napoleon and I tried the foie gras meatloaf. Barb, Mike and I followed up our main course with vanilla creme brulee and three spoons. B abstained. All the food was great and the staff very attentive. The waitress asked if we would attending the theater after dinner because the restaurant offered free shuttle service to Shea's. We told her we were headed to Kleinhans Music Hall and she said the shuttle would take us there too. Even to the stadium for Sabres games.


Kleinhans

So feeling like those socialites who long ago frequented The 31 Club, we accepted the offer and were dropped right at the door of the music hall thus avoiding looking for a place to park in the traffic mess around Kleinhans and also avoiding the walk in the frigid cold. The concert was great. A young seventeen year old Grammy nominee, Caroline Goulding, from Cleveland played a concerto with the orchestra. She certainly drew your attention with her beautiful red gown and alabaster skin and remarkable talent. The concert ended, we called Jake and within five minutes our van arrived to shuttle us back to our car at the restaurant. Barb remarked that she felt like she was on a little mini vacation and I had to agree. It was a very pleasant evening with very pleasant company.