Requiem for a Buffalo Soul Food Restaurant

Gigi’s Was An Institution

It is “Black Restaurant Week” in Buffalo, a wonderful tradition which I will celebrate as much as my girlish figure will allow.

I take this opportunity to remember Blondine Harvin, owner of Gigi’s, a Buffalo institution if ever there was one. Gigi’s was robbed at gunpoint about 20 years ago and I was the prosecutor who tried the case before a jury.

Blondine was a force of nature. I got to know her during my numerous, lunchtime “crime scene visits” as we prepared for trial. Blondine humored me as I sat in my blue suit at her counter, earnestly explaining the trial process and listing key points to remember during cross-examination.

She would pat my hand and give me another dish of collared greens (I couldn’t help myself). “Just tell me when to sit down at the witness stand. I’ll handle it.”

So I shut up, ate my greens, and let Blondine handle it. I miss her.