Chef Steven Gedra of Black Sheep is a loud-mouth. In all of the best ways. His passion for cooking is obvious, and when you wear your passion on your sleeve you are going to speak your mind. Chef Michael (Mike) Obarka of Ristorante Lombardo is similar, but comes with a bit more Midwestern reserve…at least at first. Both of them create some of the most consistent cuisine in the city, and despite some obvious differences in their business models, they share the same values.

Last month, I had the fortune to sit down with Obarka and Gedra. We discussed seasonal menus, keeping customers happy, and what to do when you have a pig in the kitchen.

 SG:  Designing a seasonal menu is difficult because you know what is coming, but not how much. You just have to be really creative and take it as it comes.

 MO:  For us, seasonality is most important with the pasta dishes. Right now we have squash and a maple cream. It’s heavy and not the kind of thing to run in the spring.

 SG:  Exactly. Like our gnocchi. Right now it’s a mushroom bolognese with Flat #12 Mushrooms (a local supplier) and a parmesan espuma. It’ll probably change to something like morels with fiddleheads, ramps, and some sort of sauce. Robbie (proprietor of Flat #12 Mushrooms) is pretty good with the mushrooms since he is indoors. It evolves.

 MO:  Plus there’ll be such an abundance of things coming in, and some of it will be week-to-week. If we can only run a preparation for a week or two, that’s what we do. Pea leaves don’t last forever, and sometimes you get a shipment of peas that aren’t so good. 

 SG:  Take ramps, for example. They will be everywhere soon. If it is really hot, they’ll go quick. But, if it cools, they’ll be around for awhile. Hopefully we can get a lot in and pickle them, put them in brines, or whatever. We can freeze them. There are lots of options. They are definitely a hyper-seasonal, finite product. Last year they were around for 2 weeks.

 MO:  As bad as I feel for saying this, I am so sick of squash right now. And root vegetables. And beets. So I feel equally bad for agreeing that I too am looking forward to ramps. I just like the smell of them. I mean, you’re trying not to be too, I guess, run-of-the-mill with them like ramp pesto. Fuck it. I am looking forward to them even though they’ll be everywhere. Same goes for asparagus. Very thin, super fresh. It’s the Italian idea of abbondanza: You get a lot of something, you use the hell out of it until it’s gone, but while you have it, it is at it’s peak.

 SG:  Mike is talking about everything that we have to take into account. It’s something that I’m always thinking about. Always thinking about. And it’s something that diners don’t see, and that’s fine. I don’t expect anyone to care about how the restaurant business works. There is a lot of thought that goes into every plate. Some plates are in my mind a month before they appear, and sometimes it isn’t there until the shipments come in.

 MO:  We try to keep our menu fluid—paper is only so expensive. We’ve got menu standards, some of which seem like they’ve been here even before the place opened. Like the recipe was where the parking lot is now when they broke ground. And some things can’t move, like the bolognese. I tried to make it seasonal, and took it off, but then we had people asking for it. In the summer. Sitting on the patio. When it’s 80 degrees. We’re a business, we have to keep people happy. 

 SG:  We once took Ellen’s [Steven’s business and life partner] Sticky Toffee Pudding off the menu. That thing is never going anywhere! In 2010 when we tried people nearly burned [Bistro] Europa to the ground! People love it. We’re told it’s the best dessert in Buffalo. I haven’t had one in months because it gives me heart palpitations.

 MO:  We want to keep things evolving and fresh for us, too. Who wants to do the exact same thing at their job all the time? If that means asparagus is around for two weeks then it’s gone, we change the prep. For example, the veal rib chop. We’ve had it on the menu for three years, that’s not going anywhere, but we’ll change what we season it with. Now we have a porcini rub. We grind dried porcinis, sugar, salt, fennel seed, and chili flakes and then sear it and finish it in the wood-fired oven. It’s served with a pear mostarda (a sweet and sour condiment) because pears are a winter thing and a hash of local potatoes, but it’s changed in the last few weeks. Dan Oles (a local farmer) now has spinach, so we’ve added that, and cipollini onions because those are available now too. But it’s in the specials where we really get to flex.

 SG:  Specials is where the playground is! For example, I got a lamb and a half a week ago and I won’t see another one until November, so now I have five lamb dishes on the menu. In May, I’m getting half a veal, so there will be veal everywhere. That’s just kinda how you have to do it. Sometimes your guests get it, something they don’t. Even after all this time I still have people looking at the menu and then walking out, which is just crazy. They “can’t find anything to eat.”

 MO:  I’ve got a lamb from Stillwater and a half-pig and that will swallow up the space allotted in the specials. I mean, we have to get rid of the whole thing! People will comment, “You have a lot of pork on here.” and I think, “Yeah, I’ve got a pig back here.” So it’s not about going lighter with the proteins—those are set. It’s the preparation that lightens up: braises, ragus, those tend to leave and then I’ll finish dishes with fruitier olive oils, citrus zest, things like that. By the end of April you should see most of the menu lighten up, but there is no mandated time.

 SG:  We just integrate stuff as it comes. We don’t have a specific date either. We are used to being nimble like that. We slowly phase things in as they come. We’ll print as many menus as we need. It’s just paper—who gives a shit?

 MO:  Yep. What happens is I go home, have a couple glasses of wine, mull it over, and have a chicken-scratch sheet of paper in front of me and we’ll see what sticks. 

 THE BLACK SHEEP 
 367 Connecticut St, Buffalo 
 blacksheepbuffalo.com 

 RISTORANTE LOMBARDO 
 1198 Hertel Ave, Buffalo 
 ristorantelombardo.com