Mission

Feed Your Soul is both proud and thrilled to present Western New York with Nickel City Chef, a fun and exciting opportunity to get to know some of our area’s top chefs and best farmers in a unique and entertaining way.

Nickel City Chef is as much about Western New York as it is about cooking and entertainment.  We are privileged to live in an area with a rich history enhanced by hearty ethnic foods and one of America’s greatest contributions to casual cuisine– the chicken wing.  And while these culinary icons are as important to Buffalo as professional sports teams and world-class architecture, in culinary terms, they are not all that we have to offer.  In kitchens all over the city, chefs with serious technical skills, adventurous natures and pristine palates are preparing well-composed plates that would dizzy even the harshest critic.  Nickel City Chef is designed to expose these chefs to the everyday Western New Yorker, providing them with an arena in which to showcase dishes that may be too daring or complicated to warrant a permanent position on a dinner menu.

And while tasty food is available at every turn in our city, many of our most dedicated foodies are unfamiliar with the breathtaking bounty that grows mere miles from our doorsteps.  With over 1,300 farms in Erie County and more than 6,000 more in surrounding counties, our region is a large contributor to New York’s well-established annual yield of apples, grapes and milk.  But what you may find surprising is that we have farmers who grow a wide variety of premium crops as well.  Produce like kiwi fruit, mushrooms, artichokes and rainbows of heirloom tomatoes aren’t unheard of in these parts.  Still others raise unique breeds of hogs and cows, collect honey or make artisanal cheeses.  By using a locally raised or produced item as our secret ingredient, Nickel City Chef hopes to enlighten and encourage pride in our region’s fantastic agricultural abilities.

Investing your hard-earned food dollars in Western New York, whether it is at locally-owned restaurant or in your supermarket’s produce section, will have a positive, long-term impact on our regional economy.  Did you know that spending your money with a locally-owned restaurant keeps 3x more money, here, circulating in WNY as it does when you eat at a chain? Additionally, locally owned businesses reinvest in the local economy at a 60% higher rate than a chain.  We are confident that WNY can re-imagine a brighter and bolder economic future if its everyday citizens will begin to rethink the way they spend their hard-earned money on food and other consumables.

Thank you for supporting the many restaurants and farms connected to Nickel City Chef.

Happy Eating!

Christa Glennie Seychew
Owner, Feed Your Soul