Published: May 14, 2009 12:19 pm      

VIDEO: Come inside the Bakery Restaurant

NIAGARA FALLS —

(This video requires a Quicktime Player. If your computer does not have a Quicktime program go to Apple.com and download a free version for Mac or PC)



The old black telephones are still there on each table in the large comfortable bar area of The Bakery Restaurant, so patrons can call friends at other tables.

These days, however, they’re just as likely to be talking about the food coming out of the kitchen, with the hiring of chef, Anthony Renda.

Renda, who last worked at the Seneca Niagara Casino, is now heating up the kitchen at The Bakery at 30th and Niagara St.. He’s now offering some upscale dishes to compliment the old standards that include barbecue ribs, a long-time favorite at the restaurant.

“We get a lot of rave reviews about our barbecue ribs here, especially how the meat falls off the bone,” he said during a recent interview in his tidy kitchen.

Renda, who wears a crisp white chef’s uniform to work each day, has revamped the traditional steak and baked potato menu to feature some more unusual and exciting flavors, including his own family’s traditional red sauce for the “all-you- can-eat spaghetti and meatballs,” on Tuesday nights.

He said his crab cakes have also proven to be a crowd favorite at the eatery, which has been owned for the last 30 years by Valerie and Kevin Young.

The Youngs converted an old Polish bakery into a charming, two-tiered, kitsch-filled family restaurant open for dinner on Tuesdays through Sundays. The couple runs the operation with their two sons, David and Kevin Jr.

Their place also boasts a regular over-30 bar crowd who apparently still use the phones to talk from table-to-table, the owners say.

Recently, Chef Renda shared his recipe for crab cakes, which features lots of fresh crab and diced peppers and onions for a bit of crunch. Renda tops the cakes off with a special remoulade sauce that he created himself.



MICHELINA'S CRAB CAKES

The recipe for the crab cakes, which are named after Renda’s three-year-old daughter, Michelina’s Crab Cakes

1 lb. of cleaned crab meat (lump or claws)

¼ cup diced red peppers

¼ cup diced green peppers

¼ cup diced red onions

¼ cup unsalted butter

½ cup white wine

¾ cup mayonnaise

2 teaspoons mustard

2 teaspoons horseradish

bread crumbs

2 tablespoons olive oil



Melt butter in a sauté pan on high heat. Put onions and peppers in pan and cook for five minutes or until vegetables are soft. Deglaze with white wine and reduce until almost completely evaporated. Put vegetables in a container and chill. In a separate bowl take crab meat and break apart. Add chilled vegetables, mustard, mayonnaise, horseradish and bread crumbs and mix well.

Preheat over to 400 degrees. Take 3 ounces of mixture and form into a patty, then coat all sides of the patty in bread crumbs. Heat oil in sauté pan on high heat, then place crab cakes in pan. Brown on both sides, about two minutes each. Place on a non-stick baking pan and put in the oven for ten minutes. Test the internal temperature with internal thermometer to 150 degrees. Serve with remoulade sauce.



Spicy Remoulade Sauce



1 cup 1000 Island salad dressing

2 tablespoons mustard

¼ cup cayenne seasoning





CONTACT Reporter Michele DeLuca

at 282-2311, ext. 2263.

Mix well and chill. Serve with crab cakes.