Torches finds niche in WNY community
by NICHOLAS J. PRIMERANO Ken-Ton Editor
Torches, the newest restaurant in the area, is heating things up in Kenmore.

In the kitchen, Kevin Richert, left and J.J. Richert, right cook up favorites with flair with sous chef John Mederski. Photos by John Rusac Purchase color photos at www.BeeNews.com

The brothers Richert, Kevin and J.J., both Williamsville residents, have set up shop at the 1141 Kenmore Ave. eatery much to the delight of patrons, who have been filling their tables since the restaurant opened a few weeks ago.

Kevin Richert, who was a chef at the Westwood Country Club, Siena and Nektar, joined J.J., a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, and a former chef at Nektar and Prime 490, to do something that they have been itching to do for almost five years.

"This has basically been a lifelong dream for us," said Kevin. "We've been looking for our own space for about the past four years."

J.J. said the best meal he has ever eaten in his life was with his brother at the former Tsunami Restaurant, which is where their eatery is located.

The brothers are great fans of Tsunami owner Mike Andrzejewski and were able to secure the restaurant space before it went on the real estate market.

"We are just living our dream here," said J.J. "Our idea was for our menu to appeal to everyone - it is extremely down-to-earth."

When Kevin and J.J. said they wanted to "make food fun," perhaps they meant the sandwich they call "Hamburgers 'n Hotdogs" - two miniature Angus hamburgers with the center punched out and a hot dog nestled in the middle.

"We're not limited to doing anything. Creatively, we can pretty much do anything we want with the menu," J.J. said. "We've been perfecting the menu for many years, and we're excited about doing a lot of things."

And the two are doing something that is traditionally Buffalo - keeping their business a family affair. With J.J. and Kevin in the kitchen preparing new and creative menu items, J.J.'s fiancee, Cyndi Berends, is the restaurant manager and pastry chef.

J.J. said he and his brother are trying to keep everything as local as possible, buying their food only from local distributors and serving Flying Bison beer at the bar.

The torches that are affixed to the outside of the restaurant were purchased at the auction for the Park Lane Restaurant.

"We tried to keep some Buffalo history when we opened our own place," J.J. said.

For more information, call 447-1447.