The Scribe

by Angelica Reyna

Finals week is here and students are under immense stress as they are working towards the end of the semester. Jill Spalawski, the Director of Residence Life and Judicial Affairs, Student life, Hallmark Dining and the Student Government Association hosted an event for residents and commuters called “Exam Snacks.”

Throughout the semester these organizations have hosted events for the students.  “Exam snacks is three nights of late-night food for our residents and commuters to enjoy the food and the fun” said Spawlaski. Exam Snacks was hosted at the residence hall of Trinity, from December 11, 2018 to December 13, 2018 from 9:30 P.M. until everything was gone. Every day there was a new menu with many choices.

“Next semester we hope to plan on wrapping it up better at a different location for the students,” Spawlaski said. Residents not only have access to this phenomenal event, they were also given goodie bags, with the organizers wishing them good luck on their exams. Throughout the week of exams students had a great deal of support and good luckk wishes, including in the library where the staff had apple cider, hot cocoa, cookies and more.

Although the semester is crazy as can be, the students had the support and encouragement for them to keep on doing great until the end. Good luck to all.

The Scribe’s Garrett Derkovitz interviews his grandfather, Norm Derkovitz.

by Michael Goodberry

Early Tuesday morning I went to the Iron Kettle in East Aurora. The restaurant looks very underwhelming from the outside, like a house surrounded by trailer homes. The inside starts with a cramped foyer that opens to a main dining room to the right. A bar and family room on the left, and a banquet room in the back.

I sat in the main dining room where I had a perfect view of the fireplace decorated for Christmas. They have garland and lights around the top of the fireplace. At each table is a pinecone to give a decorative winter feel to the atmosphere.

For breakfast, I ordered the Iron Kettle, 2/2/2, which is your choice of eggs, a choice off bacon or sausage and the choice of French toast or pancakes. My custom order consisted of scrambled eggs, bacon and French toast.

Within moments, the food came out. The bacon was crispy salty and cooked very well as always. The French toast was. The French toast is two soft slices of Texas toast fried so it is golden brown, yet very soft. The toast has the option of being served with fluffy powdered sugar or sweet maple syrup. The only part that was not as delicious as expected was the scrambled eggs. The eggs were not as fluffy as typical restaurant quality eggs. However, if you put salt on the eggs, they are still very good.

If you wake up in time for breakfast, East Aurora’s Iron Kettle is a great place.

by Michael Goodberry

The other day I went to Alton’s in West Seneca. Upon arrival, the restaurant seems small yet well managed. While entering, there is a warm feeling and general aroma of delicious food. People are seated mainly in booths with tables placed in close by.

With the timing being in early December, the place was neatly decorated in Christmas ornaments wrapped in wreathes. The servers and hosts are all dressed in very fancy apparel.

I was seated in a booth and ordered lobster bisque for my soup and chicken parmigiana. The bisque had a wonderful aroma to it. The texture was slightly grainy but still had the same wonderful creamy flavor. In the middle of the bisque was two tiny balls of lobster meat and lightly garnished for visual appeal. The tender lobster complemented the bisque perfectly.

Moments later the chicken parmigiana arrived in all steaming glory. If you love good Italian food, you will love this dish. There are two large, lightly breaded chicken fillets, covered in stringy melted mozzarella cheese and homemade marinara sauce laid on a bed of perfectly cooked spaghetti.

On the side was fantastic garlic bread, cut into thick pieces perfectly toasted to a golden brown with the proper seasonings to make the flavor explode on your tongue. Over all the meal was very filling and made excellent left overs the next day. For top quality Italian food, put Alton’s on your list.

by Michael Goodberry

On Veterans Day, I went to Smokey Bones BBQ with my father.

Walking up to the restaurant, I noticed the outside looked modern with neon lights. Yet, it still looked old fashioned with the brick siding. On the inside the restaurant  feels like a family friendly bar. The lights are heavily dimmed while there are neon lights around the bar with television screens everywhere showing any sport event you want to see.

Although the large bar is the first thing seen when you walk in the booths for families somehow takes up more room.

We were seated at a tall table with tall chairs and I ordered a blackberry lemonade, which is always perfect. It starts sweet due to the blackberries then has a tart after taste. I ordered their pulled pork, St. Louis style ribs with a side of French fries mac and cheese. While waiting we tried the sauces they put out on the table.

The food arrived and everything was cooked perfectly. The pulled pork was juicy and tender and the sauces on the table added to the flavor while highlighting the natural flavor of the pork. I had a hard time choosing between the sauces. Classic Kansas City sauce that is a tomato-based sauce with flavors that are sweet, smoky, and had the right amount of twang to it. The Carolina mopping sauce was another favorite that is an apple vinegar based sauce that had an acidic level to it, yet remained sweet and helped bring out and enhance the natural pork flavor. I alternated sauces with each bite.

After I finished the pulled pork, I dug into the fries because most fries do not reheat well. They serve a thick stake fry that is fried to a perfect golden brown then perfectly salted and seasoned.

The mac and cheese is very buttery and very cheesy. They add a lot of fresh cheese and melt the cheese so the side dish is very stringy. The mac and cheese also incorporates some seasoning I could not put my finger on. Whatever it might have been, the seasoning was a great addition that made the mac and cheese seem fancier than normal.

By this point, I was very full and I was struggling to eat more. I managed to take a few bites of the St. Louis ribs. They were high quality ribs with a nice bark (the dark char most good BBQ has that holds most spices and smoky flavor). The sauce was great; it was like the Kansas City sauce with more of a spicy kick that was very noticeable but not too overpowering. While I was picking at my ribs the waiter brought over free doughnuts and informed my father there was a ten percent discount because my father served in the military.

I did not have to chance to try the doughnuts because everything else was so filling. Overall Smokey Bones is easily one of the top BBQ spot in the northeast with great food and great service and I always enjoy eating there.

The Scribe’s Jamie Hehir and Angelica Reyna discuss memories from their childhood.

by Jamie Hehir

Rami Malek gives the performance of his life as he portrays Freddie Mercury like no other could as the film follows Freddie’s background and the challenges of the band Queen. Throughout the movie Freddie is in a constant battle with his identity as he defies stereotypes and makes a name for himself within the music industry as this is extremely relatable to any artists around that time period and to this date.

The film makes sure to show Freddie as a musical genius thriving in and out of the studio as Queen becomes a high rising band. This leaves the audience in awe as they showed the trials and errors the band had gone through to make sure their music was to their own liking. This shows the determination of Freddie and his drive to push his fellow band mates into stardom.

The energy in this film is unmatched as it covers the luxurious life of rock and roll artists even if some moments were not ideal and arguably dark, it had just been the way of the music industry. Consumed by lust, drugs, music and alcohol Freddie finds himself in a downward spiral mentally and physically. As his personal life had been pushed into the spotlight causing accusations towards his sexuality he fights his realities until he is faced with the diagnosis of AIDS which as that time period was highly dangerous.

The ending gives chills as the film creates the spitting image of Queens performance for Live Aid for that is arguably Freddie’s best performance he ever gave on stage. The nostalgic feel comes alive and reminds the audience of the inspiration Freddie had help create as he is still an influencer to dreamers and music lovers around the world.