Carte Blanche — Restaurant in Town of Hamburg

Hello Everybody. Just a few moments ago I completed my nightly dinner, which today was from Carte Blanche. Due to the emotional turbulence I experienced during my meal I feel the need to tell the people of Western New York my story, so that in the future patrons of this restaurant will know what to expect.

Let me begin by saying I am merely human, same as you. Same as your neighbors. We are in this together. I do not have all of the answers for you today. I am not hear to preach to you about my god... or how to raise your kids... or whether you should choose the 2016 Chevy Cruz (27 mpg highway, clean title, and low miles) or the 2017 Subaru Legacy (fully loaded with all wheel drive, for only $4k more).

I am only here to tell you about my meal tonight.

To put my Carte Blanche experience in perspective let me tell you about some of my most emotional and momentous experiences in my short 26 year lifetime on this earth.

June 16th, 2006. Highland Playground, Derby New York. MY FIRST KISS. For the very first time I knew what love was. My girlfriend at the time (Claire Humphries, you dont know her she went to a different school) showed me that with love, anything is possible. Thank you, Claire. Forever grateful (still a babe btw. Doesnt have social media so dont bother looking her up).

July 2nd, 1977. Oakland Coliseum Stadium, Oakland California. FRONT ROW. LYNYRD SKYNYRD.

And then the gee-tar sang.

Free Bird.

Vibrations were high. A community of 50,000 strong. Shoulder to shoulder. Hand in hand. Heart to heart. All friends. No enemies. All was one and one was all. A moment that will continue to resonate with our spirits for millenia to come.

Then what...?

May 8th, 2020. 61 Buffalo Street, Hamburg New York. Order Placed. Pulled up curbside. BAG SECURED...

But before we proceed, do me a favor. Find your husband, your wife, your significant other... and look them in the eyes and say those three little words (because lets be on honest you can never say it enough)...

Blueberry. Maple. Demiglaze.

Thats right. Bacon. Wrapped. Tenderloin. Sweet. Potato. Mash. And some of the greenest beans a green bean can be. Who knew that just a few short moments later I would be sitting at my dining room table indulging in what would come to be a borderline enlightenment experience. Is this what the Buddha envisioned just a few short thousand years ago when he sat under the bonsai tree?

Pan seared, fresh never frozen pork. Beans and potato grown in that fresh Erie County Soil. Farm to fork. Wrapped in bacon tighter than the knee high gold toes your meemaw left in your stocking last Christmas. Tater’ mash sweeter than that sweet sweet game 7 overtime victory.

Disclaimer: I do not write this from a land bound by your 3 typical physical dimensions; I write this form the Nth dimension. The dimension of flavor.

Have you ever felt what maple blueberry demiglaze sounds like? Have you ever had your dinner taste like a Bob Ross painting??? If not you will when you dine at Carte Blanche.

Free Bird. Full Stomach. Carte...

Amazing! I held my baby shower Sunday morning with 15 attendants and this was the perfect venue.

We had an upstairs room partitioned off with a half curtain for a bit of privacy from other patrons. The place itself is absolutely gorgeous as is, but they welcomed us to decorate to our preference. I wanted "winter woodland" and this couldn't have been a more perfect space that just naturally fell into that theme!

We had a mimosa bar, fruit bowl, and popovers with cream, vanilla raspberry spread, and caramel sauce. A French press coffee service was brought out between appetizers and brunch. The drinks we're absolutely lovely! The decaf coffee didn't even need creamer--so smooth.

The service was absolutely amazing. With the half curtain, we we're in full view of the bar, so at all times the servers could see when we were ready for the coffee service, when the mimosa bar needed restocking, when the plates needed to be cleared, and waters refilled. They were prompt, polite, and added wonderfully to the experience.

I had 3 choices for brunch: chicken and waffles, eggs benedict, and cheese omlette. Each dish was absolutely WONDERFUL and the perfect amount of food. I had the chicken and waffles and was so happy with it! Since we started with appetizers, the brunch portion was just enough for each guest to finish the plate and not be overly full. I asked around and each guest enjoyed her breakfast immensely.

Carte Blanche was so accommodating and kind while we played a little game, unwrapped presents (they even brought out a trash hamper just for wrapping paper!), and welcomed the smokers to step out on the upstairs patio. When our party was over, they even helped me walk my presents out to the car. Truly above and beyond!

I absolutely cannot say enough nice things about this experience. The venue, the food, the drinks, the service--everything came together into the most perfect baby shower a girl could ever dream of! Thank you so much for making the day so special not just for me, but for all my guests. If you have a shower coming up, I can not think of a better...

We arrived for an early dinner at 4pm (that was the only reservation time left and the food is so good we decided to take it). Anyways, I think this man is the owner. White hair gentleman in his 60’s. When we arrived I nicely asked if there was anyway that we could be seated in a sunnier part of the restaurant (two other couples were there) the owner thinking he was being funny said “you’ll sit where I put you!” Now, I get sarcasm but it was rude and not funny. I shrugged it off. We actually got a great table. Anyways, we order drinks apps a meal each (3) a bottle of wine and one dessert (we were hungry!) around an hour and 20 minutes into our meal the slender grey hair man approached us and said you need to go. You’ve exceeded your time here and we have someone else waiting! He saw we just had dessert so he said “oh you have dessert?” Uhhh yeah it’s a restaurant and it’s in your menu. So my friend said we will eat it fast and be fine in 10 mins. Can we get our bill and you need to cork our wine (we had a half bottle left) he looked at my friend and said “10 mins is too long!” Again we didn’t have our bill! Our waiter was amazing and embarrassed the food as always was amazing but I don’t think I could eat there again because of how rude the grey hair man was. I’m pretty sure he is the owner. We own a business that’s 150 years plus and as some unsolicited advice please allow me to tell you the way you treated us “isn’t how you keep costumers!” Thank you to our wonderful waiter Jack and the wonderful kitchen crew. To the owner/manager your rude and not funny!

UPDATE just received a call from the manager at Carte Blanche. She apologized for our disappointing experience at the restaurant! How refreshing that was! Thank you. As stated the food and service was excellent and I will now be returning to this restaurant. Thank you for the call and taking care of...