Old-Fashioned ENJOYMENT
New Allentown bar/restaurant spotlights rye whiskey and will offer late-night dining
Against a backdrop of exposed brick, Jesse Haik pours a rye whiskey sour.
Using a special ice stamp, Haik goes the extra mile to add some style and imprints a Pennsylvania Dutch hex atop the singular square ice cube.
Pennsylvania Rye Company — owned and operated by Haik and Daniel Gonzalez — has the feel of a dark, elegant speakeasy with the twist of having modern American dishes paired to accompany a wealth of rye whiskeys, Scotch, bourbon and more. Their bar and restaurant opened recently at 536 Hamilton St. in Allentown in the space formerly occupied by Grain, which closed in 2018.
Haik and Gonzalez designed their bar and restaurant to serve two needs downtown. The first, of course, directly comes from the restaurant’s name, offering an extensive collection of rye whiskey, focusing on Pennsylvania producers.
A quick side note: There are two different spellings of whiskey, which have to do with where they are crafted. Whiskey with an “e” refers to grain spirits distilled in Ireland and the U.S. while whisky with no “e” refers to Scottish, Canadian, or Japanese grain spirits.
At Pennsylvania Rye Company, you can enjoy one-ounce flights as well as an extensive cocktail list including a Kentucky Mule, featuring bourbon, lemon and house-made ginger beer and a Maple Old Fashioned, featuring rye, Pennsylvania maple syrup and Angostura. They also have a variety of bourbons and Scotch.
Pennsylvania Rye Company also has 16 rotating beer taps and a boutique wine list.
One last thing on the beverage side: Haik and Daniel Gonzalez are working to open a bottle shop next door to the restaurant by November. Haik said they hope to offer some take-and-go food in the shop as well.
Speaking of food, Haik and Gonzalez designed Pennsylvania Rye Co. to fill another need: Late-night customers. The bar/restaurant is open till 2 a.m. Wednesday through Sunday and you can get food until 11 p.m.
You can eat at the bar or upstairs and the menu has small bites and main courses crafted by Executive Chef Eduardo Aburto.
Must-try dishes include:
Goat cheese croquets over a Romesco sauce: Super fluffy and light, expertly crispy with a balanced sauce ($10)
Grilled octopus with chorizo, olives, avocado, Romesco sauce: This is a bestseller. ($21)
Info: https://www.paryeco.com/
Recycle with a purpose
Since 2013, Habitat for Humanity Lehigh Valley ReStore at 1053 Grape St., Whitehall has been the place to get new and gently used home improvement goods, furniture, home accessories, building materials and appliances — all benefiting Habitat for Humanity, which helps build and renovate homes for low-income families.
Now the store is testing out a space at the South Mall on Lehigh Street, Salisbury Township. Think of it as a pop-up of sorts. In the large, central space in the mall (where Black Rose Antiques was for years), you can go on the second Tuesday of each month, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., to look over their inventory. Once they see how well they do there, they will decide on next steps.
More to come!
Chain lands in Emmaus
Wingstop — a national chain focusing on cooked-to-order traditional and boneless chicken wings and strips — is coming to 1328 Chestnut St., Emmaus adjacent to the Weis supermarket and near the East Penn Diner.
Work is underway at the site, but no information was available on an exact opening date.
This restaurant would be the third for the chain in the Lehigh Valley, with other locations on Liberty Street in Allentown and Nazareth Road in Palmer Township.
The Dallas-based chain, founded in 1994, operates and franchises more than 900 restaurants worldwide.
A bite of news
We have a quick update on Zekraft Curators of Taste’s third location.
On Monday, the new eatery on Cedar Crest Boulevard, across from the Lehigh Valley Health Network campus, is scheduled to open.
The new location, at the site of what was 3 Men & A Bagel, will be Zekraft’s third location to open in just over a year. The original location at 306 S. New
St. on Bethlehem’s South Side opened in September of 2021 and the second opened in May at the Simon Silk Mill in Easton.
Personal note
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