By Andrew Z. Galarneau

A restaurant's people are as important as its products. The face that greets you when you come in out of the cold and the hands that prepare your meal shape your experience more powerfully than its physical manifestations: the walls, the furniture, the plates. Over decades of steady performance, furniture and plates become worn. They break. So do people, except they are much, much harder to replace.

That is at the heart of what makes San Marco such a precious restaurant. Frank Grimaldi has greeted its customers since Walter Mondale was nominated to run against Ronald Reagan. After settling in, they learn what the chef, Frank's wife, Nancy, has ready for dinner. Nancy can really cook, and Linda Kiah has been her sous chef for the last 28 years, which helps explain why San Marco's cuisine has the polish of a much larger operation.

Read more

Source: http://buffalo.com/