Hey Folks,

Thanks to all of you the ratings for the first weeks show were great! I appreciate all of your support and its obvious that we all love our local restaurants.

As the weeks go by we will be visiting many more of my friends and colleges and we are going to have a blast.

Crazy Fun!
 
I do need your help though.
 
Its easy.
 
I promise.
 
A simple favor.
 
You probably are already doing it.........
 
Spread the word.
 
Simple, right?
 
Spread the word.
 
Three simple words, easy enough.....right?
 
Tell your friends about your favorite independently owned restaurant.
 
Tell your friends about your favorite memories that you have dining at your favorite restaurant.
 
Tell your friends about your favorite chef or professional cook that works at your favorite restaurant (and if you don’t know who the chef is, don’t be afraid, introduce yourself they won’t bite, and you may end up with a new friend for life.)
 
Tell your friends about the new recipe that you tried recently..... whether it was good or bad! You will have a good laugh if it didn't turn out the way you hoped. I know my colleagues and I always remember and laugh about the recipes that we came up with that uh ...well.....SUCKED:-)
 
Tell your friends about the new restaurant that you might have visited.
 
Last but not least.......
 
Tell ME the same things.... really....I want to know!
 
E-mail me, hit the forums section of our web site, leave a comment on the blog,call me, sent a carrier pigeon with a message........
 
You wont get the pigeon back though I got a great recipe for pigeon from an old school Italian guy when I was a kid....seriously......pigeon is a delicacy in Italy...that’s what he told me anyway.....well whatever ....either way....let me know what’s going on in YOUR culinary world and you may tune in Sunday night and see YOUR favorite restaurant on the show.
 
My new job is uncovering the hidden treasure restaurants in our community and sharing what I have learned with you.
Sometimes it’s visiting our old friends, the tried and true, the icon restaurants that we may have not forgotten but might have not visited in a while, getting re-aquatinted, popping in and saying hello.
 
The great thing about our true friends, and it’s the same with the restaurants that we love, you can be out of touch for months or even years and when you show up it’s as if a day has not passed....we are welcomed back with open arms and left wondering why we haven't stayed in touch.
 
 
Dining Out? Be Smart. Choose Independent.

Thats our new slogan, live it and spread the word.

See you Sunday night On, CW 23 At 10:30 after the news.


Your friend,

Chef Binks

P.S. Save the date! F.I.R.S.T. Group will be doing a fundraising event for the earthquake relief fund. Visit any of the participating restaurants on May 7th and 20% of the proceeds will go to the fund. Go to chefbinks.com /TV and Radio /schedule for details.
Great cause!
I will be going to Lunch at Curly’s and dinner at Ilio DiPaolo’s that night to support the cause, but don’t tell Chef Mike, Im hoping to sneak up on him and throw him in a head lock......payback baby..... payback.......YEA RIGHT!...if you don’t here from me after May 7th its because im in traction at the hospital.

The long wait is finally over!



We have been filming at some of the best restaurants in Western NY for the past six months and we are ready to share with you all that we have learned and all of the wonderful experiences we have had along the way.

 


 

This is the week.

 

This Sunday

 

10:30pm

 

CW 23 

 

The wait is over.....

 

In the immortal words of Joey Ramone..........    HEY HO... LETS GO!  HEY HO... LETS GO! HEY HO... LETS GO!  HEY HO... LETS GO!

 

Ahem...sorry, I get a little carried away some times.

 

Now for the official scheduled press release.

 

 

Key Video announces the premiere of their latest half hour programming offering: "Dine Out! Dine In! with Chef Binks."  This weekly half hour show takes viewers behind-the-scenes of local restaurants and is hosted by Chef Steven Binks. The program airs Sunday nights at 10:30 P.M. on WNLO-TV beginning April 19th and is sponsored by Sysco and Key Video Productions.
            

The mission of "Dine Out! Dine In!" is twofold.  Firstly, its goal is to promote local restaurants and encourage viewers to choose those establishments when dining out.  Secondly, it is to share recipes and techniques with viewers to improve their at-home dining experience.

 

 

Now that we have got that out of the way....ENJOY THE SHOW!

This week my mission...no wait ....my sole purpose in life has been crystallized. I met a few more people in the biz that blew me away and made me realize how important the work we are doing on Dine Out! Dine In! really is.
 
Beef and Barrel in Olean is a 2nd generation run family owned and operated business that has been around since the 70s.
While we were shooting at their restaurant, I had a chance to kick it with PJ, one of the owners.
I asked him how business had been and he said, “Good it has supported 4 families since its inception” (dad and the sons)
 
But then I realized something...
 
“Hey PJ how many employees do you have?”
 
He responded “over a hundred”.
 
Over one hundred...
 
I started to do some quick math with him (mind you I suck at math)
 
If this restaurant employees 100 and if each employee is part of a family of 4 not counting the support people (delivery drivers, the produce guy, the meat company ETC.ETC.ETC,)
 
This restaurant helps support over 400 people....add in that the people then go and spend their money in the local economy at shops (which there are tons of in Olean) fueling the local economy ........I believe that this restaurant supports well over 1000 people ...right here in WNY..
 
Not in some factory somewhere else...
Not in some far off “food manufacturing facility”
 
Right here...
 
Our neighbors.
Our friends.
The people we see in church
The people who help push your car out of the snow when it’s stuck
 
The people who make this country what it is.
 
Individuals...not robots.
 
True hard working Americans.
 
Diverse hard working individuals taking care of each other....
 
This is what America is all about...
 
Our way of life is disappearing and disintegrating around us.
If we don’t support our local restaurants, they will disappear along with our neighbors our friends, our way of life...
 
Then all we will be left with is the super duper chimmi chunga fry platter offered up by the vertically integrated chains...
 
When that day comes, I will be found dead in my barn from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head...........

 Allow me to help put Chef’s comments in perspective.  (He tends to engage in hyperbole – but that does not mean he doesn’t have a point!)
            What would you guess is the percentage of independently owned (so called “small”) restaurants compared to the giant chains?  Most people would likely say 20:80 (20% “Mom n Pop’s” as compared to 80% of the “One – in – every – strip” big-box, mega restaurants.   Surprisingly, the numbers are actually almost reversed!   The ratio of independents to chains is 70:30.   The reason that surprises so many people is perception.  The public’s perception is driven by advertising, and the bigger the operation, the more likely they are to advertise.
The more they advertise, the more revenue they generate – and the bigger they become.
            That’s where our mission statement comes in.  "Dine Out! Dine In! with Chef Binks’" stated goal is to “enlighten the community to local restaurant treasures and the benefits of fresh, home-cooked food.”  We use the power of radio, web and most importantly, television, to showcase the wealth of culinary talent in Western New York.   And our strength is in the numbers.  The more we collectively shout from the rooftops – the more diners will rethink their restaurant choices.
            It’s just an added bonus that we are having so much fun putting the show together!  In this past month, we’ve shot everywhere from Kentucky Greg’s Barbeque to Dina’s in Ellicottville; and made everything from pancakes to crab cakes at twenty two different establishments in between.  The television show begins its run in five weeks – April 19th at 10:30pm (WNLO-TV the CW network following Channel 4’s “The Ten O’clock News.”)   And for the sake of our mission, we hope you’ll watch.
            Honestly, I hope Chef Binks is wrong and our country is not disintegrating into one giant super-duper chimmi chunga fry platter.  That would be a terrible waste.  Unfortunately, though, I think this time, he is right -- unless we all do something about it, one meal at a time.