Thank you, Jennifer Ceaser, for giving New York City subway riders, coffee-shop customers and right-wing zealots one of Buffalo’s favorite festivals recognition.

In today’s New York Post article “I remember when it used to be about the food: 8 tasty festivals that get back to the basics,” Ceasar includes the Taste of Buffalo among food adventures that defy the “...Food Network-sponsored festivals (that) are leaving a bad taste in your mouth.” 

See photos from the 2011 Taste of Buffalo on Buffalo.com.

Ceasar remarks that “If you thought the only food Buffalo produces is wings, then you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the worldly fare—Asian, Greek, Caribbean, Polish, Indian and Italian among them—at this 29-year-old festival.” She also calls attention to the fact that the Taste of Buffalo is the largest two-day food festival in the country (take that, New York City! I mean, thank you) and notes some of Taste’s regional highlights. Nice.

Other festivals that made Ceasar’s list include the Hawaii Food and Wine Festival, the Gilroy (Calif.) Garlic Festival, the Asheville (N.C.) Wine and Food Festival, San Antonio’s Culinaria, the Brighton and Hove Food and Drink Festival in merry old England, Oregon’s Feast Portland and the Wellfleet Oysterfest in Wellfleet, Mass.

You may ask—is Jennifer Ceasar a transplanted Buffalonian who, embedded in her new community, is secretly spreading Buffalove? It does not appear to be so—a quick glance at Ceasar’s public LinkedIn profile shows that she has a fine international and Ivy League education as well as a successful writing career, but no direct links to the Queen City of the Lakes. If you know otherwise, feel free to share.

Regardless: Jennifer Ceasar, today you earned some Buffalo credibility. If you come out for the Taste of Buffalo this year, you’re getting a Junkyard Dog and a wine slushie on us.

Photo by Nate Benson.