WNY Food: New book offers 195 curated choices

By Elmer Ploetz

Andrew Galarneau is in the middle of an experiment, and you can make book on that. 

In fact, he already has. If you’ve read this site, you’ve no doubt seen his food writing for his Four Bites project on The Buffalo Hive. And now he has added the “Four Bites: Where to Eat in Buffalo” book to his offerings. 

Galarneau was the one who started the ball rolling to create The Buffalo Hive just about two years ago and he’s been one of our best collaborators and biggest supporters (check out his “You Can’t Say That in a Restaurant Review” from the week we launched!). So we decided it was time to put the spotlight on him and talk a little about Four Bites and the new book. 

Four Bites launched just over two years ago, on Dec. 1, 2023, with the mission to “see if readers would pay for a steady stream of reliable, actionable eating intelligence centered around Buffalo.” That’s the experiment. 

And that was after Galarneau had spent 35 years in daily newspapers, the last decade-plus as food editor at the Buffalo News. 

The answer to the question so far is … yes, to a point. The Four Bites site has drawn a significant number of paying subscribers. But like many creators, Galarneau has been able to diversify. And that has led to things like his book. 

“This book exists because I live with my partner, Jen Regan, and she’s wonderful. And one of the ways she’s wonderful is she pokes me in good places,” Galarneau said in a conversation on Tuesday. “She was in Cleveland, and she was flipping through a ‘what’s good to eat in Cleveland’ book, and she sent me messages like, ‘Why? Why haven’t you done this?’”

That was in September. The books arrived earlier this month. 

“One of the things about me is that I’m always willing to see if I can write a check and then make my ass cash it; I dare myself,” he said. “And it’s not a good way to get things done, but it makes life exciting.”

That’s typical Galarneau: brash and self-deprecating at the same time, insightful and maybe a little profane, matching the tone that makes his food writing so much fun to read. 

It is a Herculean challenge to turn around a book in that short of a time, but Galarneau was working with an impressive cache of reviews and stories he had written since launching Four Bites.

He said part of the reason he was able to do it was teaming up with Hannah Gordon, who he had worked with at the Buffalo News and who now is involved in publishing. 

Galarneau said, “She said, ‘I’ve published books before. You can do that. … If you give me files in November, we can get it done.’”

So what is the book  like? This writer’s copy is on the way in the mail, but the book covers 195 locally owned restaurants, bakeries and food stores. There are over 600 photos of the actual dishes served at the restaurants.

RELATED MEDIA: The editor’s conversation with Andrew Galarneau.

Galarneau said he couldn’t have done it alone, quoting from his acknowledgment page: 

“It’s my byline on the cover, but the truth is more complicated,” he said. “The Four Bites report is a community effort. Since 2012 when I started writing about food and Buffalo, I have implored anyone who would listen to drop a dime on tasty news.

“Today about 100 people send me texts, emails or photos about things they notice, a dish, a sign that says ‘restaurant coming.’ Some contributors will park their car at a new restaurant, go inside and emerge with a photo of the menu and a cell phone number of the owner. Some I have never met in person.

“Others have become regular dinner guests because my tipsters get fed. Policy stipulates that a tip I need to check out in person equals an invite to dinner on me. So there’s a built-in incentive to hit me with the new hotness. That’s how I find half of the truly hidden gems.”

Galarneau dedicates his new book to those tipsters. 

The book has been a learning experience. Its arrival wound up coinciding with the update and relaunch of Four Bites on a new platform. 

“Note to the file: don’t do that,” he said. “But I got this thing together in enough time and got it printed.”

You can order the book online HERE, or you can find it at these bookstores (so you don’t have to worry about it arriving by Christmas): 

• Read It & Eat Bookshop, 2929 Main St.
• Miller’s Thumb Bakery, 258 Highland Parkway, Tonawanda
• Mojo Market, 3030 Delaware Ave., Kenmore
• Buffalo History Museum, 1 Museum Court
• Talking Leaves Books, 951 Elmwood Ave. 

You can also catch Galarneau in person for a book signing tonight (Thursday, Dec. 18, from 6 to 8 p.m.) at Lock City Books, 8 Market St., Lockport, with food by Jessica Dittly. 

But books aren’t the only way Galarneau has branched out. He said that Four Bites has been a learning experience, whether it’s becoming more aware of visuals for photos or branching into video. 

“You know, for 38 years I was a sentence guy …  my whole life, right?” he said. “How many goddamn collective years of my life that I spent writing perfect, descriptive paragraphs of interiors. I mean, sweat it all day long. You only get 100 words. You’ve got to describe the interior of a room. … (now) all I have to do is show people a picture, and I can get on to other things.”

Like video, with this one from a recent story created during a trip to Oaxaca, Mexico. 

“I’m always gonna remember that as the point where something clicked,” Galarneau said. “That video has 68 different images in it, some only for a second, and to get comfortable enough with what I’m trying to do …”

And so the experiment goes on, and you can read about it (and watch it) as it happens by subscribing to Four Bites. Galarneau shares his Sunday News with us, but you can get even more of his stories, including reviews, with a subscription.

---

Elmer Ploetz is editor-in-chief and executive director of The Buffalo Hive