Opening: Le Femme Boutique Dress Shop
Just in time for the madness of prom season, a new designer dress shop will open in West End Allentown.
From left to right: owner Jane and Morgan Heimbbecker, marketing director Amber Grace
Le Femme Boutique, located at 1931 W. Tilghman Street in the old Splitendz Salon, will host its ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday, February 1 at 5:30 p.m. The event is open to the public and will feature free food and wine, a trunk show, as well as an opportunity to meet the owner, Jane Heimbecker, and her daughter and co-0wner, Morgan, both lifelong West End residents.
“We are so happy we’re going to be a part of the 19th Street corridor,” Jane Heimbecker said. “I’m so psyched about the changes coming to the area. I really think that in a few years we’re going to have a great little shopping area here.”
Heimbecker launched a mail-order designer dress business in 2009, but due to its success, realized she needed a storefront to allow it to grow further. Le Femme Boutique features more than 30 designer gown lines, personal service, and private dressing rooms. The store carries one of each dress (so you don’t have to worry about prom body doubles) and can help arrange for tailoring to fit your size. Prom’s only one focus of the business, too. Jane says their dress styles are also fitting for mother-of-the-bride, charity events, or other special occasions where mall offerings may not do.
And listen up ladies: The first 100 people to make a purchase at Le Femme Boutique receive a free pair of rhinestone earrings.
“It’s a big girl thing in here,” Jane Heimbecker says. “We will have people in here hugging us as they leave. Just you watch.”
Jane also says she’s begun working with other fashion businesses such as Step in 4 Mor and BoutiqueToGo in the area to create a shopping network within the West End.
Interested in applying for a part-time position? Le Femme Boutique is hiring. Stop by the ribbon cutting on Wednesday or give the shop a call at 610.392.6760.
West End Event | West End Gastro Club’s “Inspirations” Dinner
They came. They saw. They ate. They drank.
Last Friday night, 88 people sat down to the sold-out inaugural dinner hosted by the West End Gastro Club. Attendees were greeted by live music, food-focused artwork, and candlelit tables, as aromas of the meal to come escaped from the back kitchen of the West End Youth Center. Hold your dodgeball jokes. WEGC founders Luis Loayza and Tim Howells put together an inviting, intimate, and seamless night of food and entertainment.
The menu, designed by Loayza and Howells, rivaled some of the most established restaurants in the Lehigh Valley and included duck confit, shrimp gumbo, wild boar belly, and a riff on Hess’ Patio’s strawberry dessert.
Each dish also arrived with a beer crafted by local Lehigh Valley homebrewers and ranged from a spin on Newcastle Brown Ale to a French-style saison. Guests also brought their own bottles of wine and shared at long tables positioned around the hall.
What’s next for the West End Gastro Club? If you missed out on the amazing food at the first event—or just want another taste—tickets are still up for sale for this Sunday’s pub takeover at Jack Callaghan’s Ale House over at the WEGC FaceBook page. Loayza said he’s encouraged by the turnout and the response he and Howells have been receiving from the community. More guerilla-style dining events await the West End’s gastronomic future, he says.
“The one event that we will be trying to launch for April is a West End chili contest, at the West End Youth Center, with proceeds going the center,” Loayza says.
West Enders, start prepping your chili pots…
West End Eats | Introducing the West End Gastro Club
Attention Allentown food lovers: the West End is about to go gourmet. The brand-new, foodie-focused, hyper-creative West End Gastro Club will be hosting its first dinner at the West End Youth Center on January 20th, 2012.
UPDATE: Buy your tickets for the event here. Seats are going fast!
Or, feel free to check out the WEGC’s Facebook page or blog.
What is the West End Gastro Club? Frustrated with the lack of respect West End Allentown receives for it’s great restaurant scene and potential to draw in additional eateries, lifelong West End resident Luis Loayza and friend Tim Howells decided to take matters into their own hands stomachs.
“In terms of a restaurant scene, there’s no reason for 19th Street not to be like Main Street in Bethlehem,” said Loayza, hanging out at Jack Callaghan’s Ale House one night last week. “I know the people of the West End love good food. We need something like a gastro club.”
Loayza has spent years working in the restaurant industry as a beverage specialist. He’s currently employed by Starfish Brasserie in Bethlehem with Howells, a chef. “We’ve been talking about this idea of a gastro club for years,” says Loayza. “Now we almost can’t believe it’s actually happening.”
Depending upon the success of the first dinner, Loayza and Howells would like to host monthly dinners at the West End Youth Center, which would seat about 100 people. Their additional ideas include a West End chili cook-off competition, beer pairing dinners, pop-up style restaurants, and pub “takeovers,” where guest chefs would create a special menu for a local pub for a limited time.
“We have so many ideas,” says Loayza. “Now all we need is for people to come out and eat.”
Hungry? We thought so. To hold you over until the first Jan 20th dinner, check out the tentative menu for the event…
Amuse
Sweet potato blini
duck confit/onion jam/fried sage
First Course
Shrimp and grits
tomato jam/chorizo/ quail egg
Second Course
Tostones
cumin pork/ plantains/ tomato onion relish/ avocado crema
Third Course
Duck with Rice
Seared Breast/ Cilantro-Pea Rissotto/ Roasted Red Pepper Puree/ Crispy Skin
Fourth Course
Cider Braised boar belly
roasted applesauce/potato foam
Fifth Course
Patio Dessert
strawberry tart/ whipped cream/ pistachios
2012 is going to be a big year for the West End, neighbors. Want to help improve the neighborhood? Consider helping out with this blog! We’re looking for writers, photographers, area historians, or simply people who know about the West End to contribute. Don’t think you have the expertise? Don’t worry. Just email us at AllentownWestEnd@gmail.com and we’ll find a way for you to get involved.
Party at the 2011 West End Oktoberfest!
It’s that time of year, neighbors, where the sun sets earlier, the weather becomes chillier, and West End porches populate with mums and pumpkins. Fall approaches, but not without one last block party to send summer off in style.
This Saturday, October 1, marks the yearly West End Oktoberfest. The festivities begin at noon and stretch until 10:00 p.m. The Civic Theatre will provide a moon bounce, games, and pumpkin painting for the kids. Adults can enjoy a mug full of fresh, cold beer from the Allentown Brewworks to wash down food items ranging from classic German fare to traditional carnival offerings. Have your mug from last year’s event? Bring it along for a discount on your first fill-up.
This year will also feature not one, but two music stages for polka, rock, and jam bands. The Allentown Fairgrounds was kind enough to provide power for the event to keep the party going. Air Products will also host a liquid nitrogen demonstration at 1:00 and 2:15 p.m. and drawings of the new 19th Street rehabilitation project will be on display.
Gather your friends, your family, and your neighbors and come out to enjoy the event. The West End Oktoberfest is not only a big money maker for the West End Alliance and the Lehigh Valley Arts Council, but a heck of a good time, too.
Go Local! | Hava Java Cafe
Nowadays, finding a good cup of coffee is easy. But finding a satisfying cup of coffee—a cup that tastes as great as it makes you feel—that’s becoming tougher. Sure, you can travel a few miles outside of West Allentown to the local Starbucks to find an fine Ethiopian blend, but you never leave the chain feeling as good as you do walking out of Hava Java Cafe in the West End.
This Allentown coffee shop on 19th Street has been welcoming caffeine-seekers into its doors for 12 years running, but it wasn’t until proprietress Dannielle Makdesi took over the property from the former owner three years ago that the place recently began to adopt its own vibe.
“I wanted to create a place where people could feel at home,” says Makdesi. “I wanted a place where people could feel comfortable, buy a cup of coffee, and relax.” Since taking over ownership of the shop, Makdesi, a former accountant, has upgraded the coffee quality, dropped in new furniture, added new food items (try the avocado and artichoke chicken wrap), and even painted the walls orange herself. To further add a splash of character she contacted local artists to help paint the shop’s tables and chairs, each a unique canvas.
Makdesi runs the business herself, along with her daughter and a few volunteers and often works 16-hour days, she says. “It was difficult at first, rebuilding the business. I had to basically start from scratch,” Makdesi says. So she began hosting events to build a clientele and she’s seeing the business build momentum.
Depending on the night, you’ll find wordsmiths reading at poetry night, college students competing at board game night, local bands rocking to caffeinated crowds, or small congregations of moviegoers enjoying the sidewalk seating (usually with a snack in hand) before or after a flick at the Civic.
“I completely enjoy 19th Street and I want to see it grow. The local business owners—we’re like a family,” says Makdesi. “We complement each other.” When she’s not at Hava Java working her butt off, Makdesi, an Allentown resident, enjoys running at the Parkway, shopping locally, and dining at Henry’s Salt of the Sea.
Regarding the planned rehabilitation of 19th Street and the surrounding areas, Makdesi says: “I think we’re worth it. Although the economy is tough, none of us on this street are scared. We are going to keep on trucking and make this street the Rodeo Drive of Allentown.”
So the next time you’re struck with a coffee jonze, go local. Stop by Hava Java, say hi to Dannielle, and stay awhile. Yes, the coffee’s good, but the feeling you’ll have when you leave is even better.
Hava Java is located on 526 N 19th Street. Poetry night is Tuesday from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Come see live music at the same time on Thursdays and Saturday. And if you’re looking for a chess partner, stop by on Friday nights. Give them a call at 610.432.3045 or check out their Facebook page.
West End Event | Third Thursday Recap
If you missed the chance to come out last night and celebrate the West End Theatre District’s first Third Thursday event, we’re going to have to level with you: You missed out.
After a rainy afternoon, the sun finally made an appearance in the evening, as did the first of the cool autumnal air. Residents, area leaders, and business owners all milled about the neighborhood, enjoying the live music, free food, and shopping deals. Here are a few photos from the night, but they’re a poor stand-in for experiencing the event firsthand. Take a look, then promise us you’ll come out for the next Third Thursday.
A sign marking the block of 19th Street between Allen and Liberty. Like the new logo?
19th Street storefronts, open for business. Many people at the event window-shopped, then hit the Civic Theatre for an evening movie.
Further up North on 19th, made-to-order hot dogs. This one with extra mustard.
Allentown Appliance rocked the party with dogs on the grill, beer, and live music that drew crowds until the sun came down.
If you have any pictures of the event—or of any of the West End’s happenings or beauty—send them along to AllentownWestEnd@gmail.com and we’ll post them on this blog.
