Patrick Lango
This version of Christa Glennie Seychew’s piece on Patrick Lango didn’t make it into the latest issue of edible Buffalo due to space. Please enjoy this extended version of the delicious tale of one WNY’s local heroes and why his yogurt may be the best yogurt on the planet….
Tall, lanky, and dressed like your favorite literature professor, Patrick Lango, farmer, maker of artisanal dairy products and enthusiastic food radical, stands huddled over his wares. Snowflakes land on the shoulders of his tweed suit coat and bounce from the lenses of his tortoiseshell rimmed glasses. The Elmwood Bidwell Farmer’s Market (where he sells his artfully-crafted yogurts, custards and dairy drinks) is open until Christmas, but none of the other regular vendors are braving the bracing December wind and below average temperatures. “No ice,” he says, referring to why it is “a no-brainer” for him to be standing on a barren snow covered urban parkway selling glass jars of ultra-thick yogurt, “in the winter I don’t have to haul all of that ice to keep my stuff cold; this is nature’s refrigerator.” Plus, his customers are counting on him.
What many locals don’t realize as they pull quaint little jars of White Cow Dairy’s yogurt from the coolers of local supermarkets, is that these vessels of luscious, perfectly tangy, dairy goodness are treasures that people–especially foodies–across our great nation would gladly give an arm for. It seems that every month one of Lango’s fine products springs up from the pages of a glossy food magazine, respected newspaper or website. What is so special about this yogurt, after all? And, how is it that this man (along with his family and a handful of happy cows) has put East Otto, NY on the map? Let me tell you. Quality. Simplicity. Integrity. These are the three ingredients that make Patrick Lango a Local Hero.
