February tidbits: Beer, supper clubs, rebirths and tomato pies

Openings, moves, rebirths and “gastrogestations.” So much happening on the food scene in Bucks County and across the river in New Jersey.

Openings

The Doylestown Brewing Company has lots going on. The brewery, which began in a small space in the Main Street Marketplace, is growing by leaps and…hops?

Last year they opened the Hops Bar & Grill in the alley off 52 East State Street. Now they’ve redone the restaurant space across the alley (previously Bobby Simone’s) and opened Doyle’s Down the Alley on January 13.

“We felt a need for a larger, family and group-friendly space,” says Samantha Levy Szygiel, director of sales and marketing for the brewery.

“Although the menu is very similar to the Hops Bar & Grill, we also offer different entrée items after 4 pm, like ribs, pork chops, pasta, chicken parmesan and homemade meatballs.” Of course you can get all of the brewery’s beer on tap at both locations.

During the winter, Doyle’s Down the Alley is open Wednesday through Saturday at 4 pm. The Hops Bar & Grill, is opens at 11 am Tuesday through Sunday.

The brewery has also moved its production facility from Main Street Marketplace to a new 5,000 square foot warehouse near the Doylestown Airport, with plans for a tasting room and event space. This Thursday (February 2) they are brewing their first beer in the new location—Airport Ale, of course.

Cha-cha-cha-changes

The Farm Cooking School has left its modest digs at Tullamore Farms in Stockton and moved to a roomier kitchen at Gravity Hill Farm in Titusville. The kitchen is in the Community Building, which also houses a market selling produce from the farm and local food producers. See their schedule of classes and special dinners here.

Another big change is that Malaika Spencer, owner/farmer of Roots to River Farm in Solebury is now managing the Gravity Hill Farm. Learn more about Roots to River and their Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program here (time to sign up for 2017!).

But the cozy stone farmhouse that the Farm Cooking School has vacated has new culinary occupants.

The Rosemont Supper Club moved into the space in December. Co-owners and chefs Alida Saxon and Paul Mitchell, most recently of The Pass in Rosemont, began the supper club as a series of pop-up dining experiences in the summer of 2016. The reception was so positive, they decided to find a permanent home.

Although the food is upscale and innovative, Saxon and Mitchell want to keep the same casual and fun feel of the pop-up dinners.

You don’t need to be a club member to dine but you do get some bonuses for signing up for a modest annual fee. For more details, see their website here. They are open for dinner Friday and Saturday evenings, 5:30 pm – 9 pm. Let them know you heard about it on Bucks County Taste!

After two years in Stockton, NJ, Brian Held’s restaurant NoLa is undergoing a rebirth. Held calls it a “gastrogestation,” meaning “the period of time it takes a chef to develop the right look, feel, and style of cuisine for a new restaurant.”

In honor of Held’s former restaurant in Newtown, the new eatery has been named Bistro Rouget and Held promises it will be “fun, stylish and unfussy.”

The new menu definitely has a more casual feel with French bistro favorites like Salad Nicoise, French Onion Soup, Goat Cheese & Leek Cheesecake and Steak Tartare for appetizers. For entrées, try the classic Trout Almondine, Roasted Chicken Breast with Wild Mushroom Ragout or Duck Confit with Potato Dauphinoise. The menu also offers a Bistro Burger with Frites and a Croque Monsieur or Croque Madame sandwich.

Bistro Rouget opens Wednesday, February 1 and is located at the corner of Bridge & Main Streets in Stockton, NJ. Call 609.460.4863 for dinner reservations. BYOB and cash only.

On the horizon

De Lorenzo’s Tomato Pies is coming to Bucks County! The famous Trenton pizzeria is setting up a new location in Lower Makefield. The restaurant is scheduled to open by the end of this summer on the Yardley-Langhorne Road in the historic crossroads village of Edgewood. The pizzeria was a landmark in the Chambersburg section of Trenton for years until it closed in 2012. Their current location in Robbinsville (Hamilton Township) opened in 2007.

The Doylestown Farmers Market, the oldest farmers market in Bucks County (over 40 years) is now being managed and overseen by  the Bucks County Foodshed Alliance (BCFA).

BCFA has been sponsoring the vibrant Wrightstown Farmers Market for 10 years. The Wrightstown Farmers Market has grown to over 30 vendors offering local, seasonal, sustainable produce, meats, eggs, dairy products, baked goods, and more.

Under new management, the Doylestown Farmers Market will continue to be the place in Doylestown to buy the freshest local fruits, vegetables, farm products, prepared foods, and locally crafted items that customers have enjoyed since the beginning. BCFA will support the market by including educational materials, promoting the vendors, and market events.

Market hours will remain the same, 7 am – 12 pm, Saturdays from mid-April through November (with the exception of the weekend of the Doylestown Arts Festival).

“We are very excited to be part of this phenomenal Doylestown Farmers Market that the Buckingham Township Civic Association has worked so hard on for over 40 years and we will continue in that tradition” says BCFA President, Gavin Laboski.

Hello Fishtown! The Pineville Tavern will be opening an offshoot of their popular Bucks County restaurant in one of Philadelphia’s hippest neighborhoods. The new restaurant will be called The Pineville, and will be located at 2448 E. Huntington Street in Fishtown.

The Fishtown location will be a two-story, 2,500-square foot bar, restaurant and lounge in the space formerly known as Yesterday’s Tavern, a long-time popular neighborhood joint that has been vacant for more than a year. The menu concept will be ‘elevated tavern fare’ that the Abruzzeses say will appeal to millennials, their parents and longtime neighborhood residents.

The menu won’t be exactly the same as Bucks County’s Pineville Tavern, but will feature many of the menu items that have been mainstays for years, as well as a steam table featuring hand-carved meats.

Drew plans to stock the second floor with a raw bar featuring oysters, clams and shrimp, which he says is “a tribute to the bars of yesteryear along the Delaware river that used to provide complimentary oysters to customers.” At least one variety will be offered for “buck-a-shuck” everyday. The Pineville will have 8 to 10 locally brewed craft beers on tap, including neighborhood favorites such as Miller High Life and Pabst Blue Ribbon, as well as Schaefer, Schmidt’s and Schlitz.

The Pineville will be open seven days a week, serving dinner Monday through Friday, Saturday lunch, Sunday brunch, and family-style Sunday dinners beginning early on Sunday afternoons.