Warm and delicious:
Western New York eateries excel when it’s hot

by Joshua Maloni, Chris Michel and Jill Endres
July 13, 2006

The Top of the Falls Restaurant – Niagara Falls State Park

The Top of the Falls Restaurant.

If we humans could turn “Transformers”-style into an appliance, we’d undoubtedly be label makers. We are in a grammatical Depression Era, where adjectives are in short supply. So, instead of saying Katharine McPhee is a soulful singer with a hearty voice and pitch-perfect delivery, we say, “She sounds like Christina Aguilera.” Or, in place of slow-cooked venison simmered in a creamy base, we say, “It tastes like chicken.”

When it comes to tourist locations, like Niagara Falls State Park, we like to sum it up as “too expensive” and “too corporate.”

The Top of the Falls Restaurant, by far, offers the best view of Niagara Falls. Its executive chef, Brian Sterner, is a Western New York native who got his start at the Steelhead Restaurant in Lewiston. Its signature dish, the Oneida corn chowder, is priced under $6.

Too expensive? Too corporate?

Hardly.

For what it costs to sit under the “Golden Arches” and look out at Grimace and The Fry Guys, one can sit in an air-conditioned restaurant, on comfy cushions amid classy décor, and gaze in awe out the big glass windows at our very own “Wonder of the World.”

Indeed, as Food and Beverage Manager Keith Jedlikowski says, there are no white linen table clothes or fancy bottles of water on the tables.

“We are a casual dining facility,” he said, noting there are just as many wet and wild Cave of the Winds riders eating in the restaurant as suit-and-ties.

That said, you’d be hard-pressed to find a menu prepared with fresher ingredients – many coming from local merchants such as the Village Bake Shoppe in Lewiston – and paired with choice spirits from Becker Farms and Warm Lake Estates.

“We do prepare high quality food,” Jedlikowski said, as Sterner added, “It’s important to me that we’re using the freshest and best quality items.”

Among the most popular menu choices, the corn chowder is tops. It’s made with roasted sweet corn, tomato, onion, bell pepper, wild rice and venison. Other recommended selections include the “Niagara Gorge” nachos, a generous pairing of baked tri-colored chips with cheddar and jack cheeses, jalapenos, diced tomatoes, black olives, scallions, sour cream and guacamole ($8.25); and the “Devil’s Hole” burger, a half-pound of flame-broiled angus beef served on a pretzel roll with lettuce, tomato, red onion, cheddar cheese and grain mustard aioli ($10.95).

The Top, once again this summer, is offering live music on Friday nights. Jedlikowski hopes to see more locals come out to the eatery.

“When we get the locals, nine out of 10 say, ‘Wow, I didn’t know about this place – it’s a gem,’ ” he said. – JM