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Restaurateur Ken Silveri has died at 71

He was a king of wings decades ago.

Long before every bar in town served wings, a Buffalo transplant named Ken Silveri had them on his menu at Silveri's, the bar-restaurant he owned on 13th Street near Pine from the mid-1970s through the early 1990s. (Silveri's was opened as a fancier place called In Season. More recently, the space has been a day spa.)

Mr. Silveri, who with his wife, Jan, closed up shop and moved to Hamburg, Pa., died this week at 71. His widow declined to speak, beyond indicating that a funeral Mass would be celebrated in Buffalo.

Two years ago, a longtime customer sought Mr. Silveri's secret, so I called him to ask.

"Oh, it is so simple," he said, flattered about the memory. "Deep-fry the wings and coat them in a sauce of equal parts butter and Frank's Hot Sauce."