European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - November 10, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse Putting the zing in a Wing Chicken titbits win acclaim for Buffalo restaurant by Stephen i Bell associated Pressi t was a Quarter of a Century ago thai Teressa Bellissimo first barbecued some soup pol Chicken wings Al Iho Anchor bar and started a food lad among the Bee Rand a shot crowd in Bullaro by. The popularity the Langy titbits thai Camo to to called Buffalo wings has spread tar and wide along the Way winning the acclaim of people like writer Calvin Trillin in the new pc incr and food Odilow Craig Claiborne inthe wow York times. Same southerners and ethers might argue that he Anchor bar did 1 invent barbecued Chicken wings. But none can dispute thai a late night Experiment at the Buffalo watering Hole prompted a lot of other restaurants to put wings on their menus there s no question that Buffalo wings did establish Chicken wings As a food item says Donald will owner of will poultry. Which Sells wings to 13 of the Buffalo area s lop 25 Wing restaurants. Ii took a Long time to Lake hold in the country bul it has in a lot of places today the Anchor bar and its heritage Are in Iho Handset 64-year-old Dominic Roosley Bellissimo Whoso parents founded Frank and Teressa s Anchor bar and italian restaurant in 1935. It has been at its present Mains Reot location since 1940. The egg shaped Bellissimo pats backs Calls Oul names and shakes hands As the noontime lunch crowd fills his 250-Seal restaurant it s a cluttered attic of a bar lined with old License plates baseball Caps team pennants stuffed animals foreign currency ship s wheel lobster pots. Football jerseys a stuffed collection of Ceramic roosters conch shells a papier mache shark and perched on the main beam a . Dominic probably single Anderly has revolutionized the Chicken Industry by pulling a value on something that used to be thrown Oul or saved Lor soup says h. Dennis Smith marketing services manager Tor Cleveland s Durkee foods for whom Bellissimo is a consultant. You can go into a supermarket anywhere now and see Chicken wings Lor around 99 cents a Pound Smith adds i grew up on a Chicken Arm Down in South Carolina and my father would have Given his fight Eye tooth to have gotten 5 cents a Pound for Chicken Bellissimo was invited by Macy s in Manhattan to show its patrons How to put the zing in a Wing. When Bone marrow specialist or. Robert p gals returned to Buffalo from the soviet Union where he helped treat victims of the chernobyl nuclear disaster his first Slop on a saturday night was the Anchor bar for wings. One of the questions the Buffalo Bills million Dollar quarterback. Jim Kelly had to held Al his recent signing was whether he d Ever eaten wings. And by mayoral proclamation each july 29 in Buffalo is Chicken Wing Day " it at began on a Friday night in 1964 Bellissimo most Beautiful in italian recalls Fiat he was lending bar while his father who died six years ago Al 84, was serving meals in the dining room his Mother who died last november also Al 34, was in the Kitchen. I had about six or seven of my buddies drinking Bellissimo recalls. In those Days we still do if i think somebody is spending a Good Buck i d bring out some Little hours d oeuvres and give them to the drinkers on the House. So i told my dad see if mom can come up with an idea a Little hours d oeuvre " Sinco the restaurant had Iresh plucked broilers. Mrs. Bellissimo look wings usually consigned to soup or Spaghetti sauce and split and barbecued them she served the wings on a plate with celery and Blue cheese dressing. To this Day. The wings Are served with the same combination Hough Bellissimo says that originally the celery not Iho wings Wero supposed to be dipped in the dressing. The wings Werea hit and soon Lher patrons were asking about the dish of. Our world famous Chicken Bellissimo would say. Coming right since then the sauce used Loco at the wings has been diversified into mild medium hot and suicidal versions. A fifth Kamikaze was recently added after radio commentator Paul Harvey discussed wings on his program and misnamed the suicidal version. Bellissimo says. So important Are the sauces which rely on Georgia Long red peppers Hal Bellissimo mixes them at a secret location because he says he fears one of the restaurant s 65 employees might take the recipe to a compe Lilor. The wings which originally sold for a Nickel each now go Lor $3.78 for 10 or Oom talc Holster bottle memo owner of Buff Bio s Anchor bar serves up platters of his Barte cod Chicken Wlna that have become famous. $4.86 for 20 and account for about half of the restaurant s total sales the Anchor bar Sells 0,000 pounds of wings each week. Thai s roughly 40.000 split wings contributed by 10.000 chickens. In a recent Survey by a local business weekly the Buffalo area s 25 largest Sellers reported they sell 34,570 pounds of wings each week with the Anchor bar accounting 23 percent of that local almost twice ils nearest competitor however other restaurants Are scratching Al the Anchor s reputation according to a Survey conducted this past summer in which restaurants outside of Buffalo were ranked ahead of the Anchor bar by viewers Bellissimo asked about reports Hal his Mother lifted the idea from another eatery said they re entitled to their own opinion. The notoriety All the proof is Hare. If one restaurant. One place becomes successful they want to imitate. I say nothing ii does t bother me. Everybody s got to make a Buck Erma Bombeck it s Tough enough for parents to instill the work ethic in their kids without Reading a headline recently that said Marv Lou Retton retires at 18. It s something our Kins have wanted to do Sinca they were 5, up until now. They had their hearts set on the magic number of 26, which was when Tennis Greal Bjorn Borg Hung it up the problem i m having is explaining to them that to retire you have to have something to retire from Mary Lou has paid her dues As Lar As i m concerned she has done the big three appeared on the cover of time Magazine written har autobiography and skied with or Ruth in a cel Etsity weekend. What s left As a Mother i always thought aspirations Ware soil thing born in every child. Every child wanted to be a doctor. Not wine. They gave that up the Day they discovered you had to Wash above your elbows every Little Catholic boy aspired to be a priest. So did mine until he Learned you have to work sundays. It was history. They did t want to be president of the United states because there was no future to it. Alter eight years you were unemployable. Being a fireman never appealed to them because you had to Wear dumb boots even when it was t raining. They talked about being a game show contestant because they liked the hours but lace it they re too cheap to buy a Vowel. I occasionally read Aboul athletes who sign con races for millions of dollars and computer whizzes who found companies have Stock that splits and become bored Willi the Lack of challenges and retire. What would you do with a. Kid who peaks Al 14? he could t hang out Al the club because a Doans 1 have one. He could t play Golf with his friends because his friends would be delivering on their paper routes and bagging groceries Al a convenience store. He could t travel extensively because he s not old enough to drive. Monday november 10, 1986 other than the obvious fact that we Are raising a generation of kids who look Al All the athletes retiring Early and figure when the Knees go. It s All Over we Are looking at a new timetable. The progression As we knew it from school to babies to relic email is All under construction now with detours at every Corner. Babies at 35back to school at 50millionaire at 25marriage Al 30. Retirement at 18. Somewhere in there they have to fit in menopause and puberty. Frankly i Don t see any place for a decent midlife crisis that makes any sense. For most of us who have worked since our teens retirement has been an illusive thing we be always been told we have to pay our dues serve our Lime and in 40 or 50 years we Are told we Don t have to do it anymore. Wal be earned the right to sleep in. Maybe nol. Just this morning. I Felt my Knees going act to dogs Tim a by Diu the stars and stripes Page 17
