BETHLEHEM
This weekend I had the pleasure of eating at Blue Grillhouse & Winebar in Bethlehem, PA, a short drive outside of Philadelphia. The ambience was classic and inviting, your average steakhouse décor. I started the meal with a Chopped Salad, a simple appetizer consisting of iceberg and romaine lettuce, cucumbers, provolone, tomatoes, olives, roasted red peppers, chick peas, and caper berries. The dressing, however gratuitous, did not overpower the flavors, but it did make the lettuce just soggy enough to be noticeable. I also had the chance to try the 16 oz. Colorado Lamb Chops. They were perfectly cooked (rare of course) and the seasoning was subtle but flavorful. It was complemented with a small side of mint jelly, a necessary addition any, and I mean ANY, time you order lamb chops. If you get the chance to go to Blue, do not leave without ordering the Baked Potato. It’s loaded with sour cream, butter, bacon, chives, and two types of cheese and was nothing short of incredible. It’s big enough for two but I guarantee you’ll be fighting for the last scraps if you’re not too stuffed from the gigantic portions. For dessert we ordered the Apple Upside Down Pie, accompanied by a yummy scoop of vanilla ice cream and the Godiva Lava Cake, which was as good as it sounds. It takes at least 20 minutes to perfectly prepare this chocolate-coma inducing dessert, so make sure you ask your server about it early in the meal.
Musikfest is a ten-day-long community music and arts festival on the Delaware River in Bethlehem, PA on the site where the Bethlehem steel plant used to function as one of the top producers in the nation before shutting down in the early nineties. In short, it’s a really interesting place.
Musikfest was started in 1984 as a way to use the arts to revitalize the town of Bethlehem after the steel plant shut down. When the factory- known as Steelstacks- was closed, steelworkers planted trees at the top of the blast furnaces as a symbol of the potential that the area still had. Now, all these years later, the trees still grow and Steelstacks is being renovated into the new ArtsQuest Center. ArtsQuest’s goal in Bethlehem is to “take a unique setting and turn it into something positive,” Curt Mosel said. Mosel is the director of marketing and PR for ArtsQuest. “It will be a huge win for tourism and more opportunities for the 25,000 college students that live in the Lehigh Valley area.”
The Doobie Brothers kicked ass on Wednesday night and that’s all there is to it. Tom Johnston and Pat Simmons, two original members from the band’s 1970 California formation, still looked full of spirit after decades of playing. Johnston wears the most epic rock ‘n roll mustache and 80s hair ever while Simmons looks like the devil’s doorman.
They played three tracks from their first new album in ten years, World Gone Crazy. They were called “Nobody,” “World Gone Crazy,” and “Back to the Chateau.” They were classic DB and made more impressive by the fact that these guys have been writing new original material for over forty years!
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