April 21, 2011
We love when you can contribute to a good cause while doing something you enjoy. That’s the spirit behind Dining Out for Life, a fundraiser happening on Thursday, April 28.
The way it works is pretty simple: you go out to eat at a participating restaurant (there are more than 100 in Center City alone) and 33% of what you spend on your meal goes to organizations engaged in HIV/AIDS education, testing and care.
Better still, you can also enter a raffle to win an Apple Vacation for two in the sunny Dominican Republic, Cancun or Mexico. If you make a raffle donation of $25 or more at the restaurant you’ll get a 20% off Tuesday card in the mail. This entitles you to 20% off your food bill, at participating restaurants, on Tuesday evenings throughout the year (excluding holidays).
Dining Out For Life began in Philadelphia back in 1991, as a fundraiser for ActionAIDs. Today, it’s international in scope.
Locally this year nearly 200 restaurants throughout the tri-state region join in the event and their donated proceeds will benefit ActionAIDS, AIDS Delaware, Family & Community Service of Delaware County, Planned Parenthood Association of Bucks County, Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania and Dooley House in Camden.
Hey, you have to eat anyway, why not dine out for life?
Click here for the full list of restaurants.
Dining Out For Life Philadelphia
When: Thursday, April 28
Where: Participating restaurants in Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery Counties) New Jersey and Delaware.
More info: www.diningoutforlife.com
April 20, 2011
Brew Fest takes the meaning of Manayunk — “a place to drink” — literally. (Photo courtesy Manayunk Brewery and Restaurant)
The banks of the Schuylkill River will be especially frothy on April 30, when tipplers can take in the 13th Annual Manayunk Brew Fest Extravaganza.
Hosted by Manayunk Brewery and Restaurant, this beer lover’s delight offers four hours of tastings of more than 50 beers made by some of the region’s best craft breweries along with several notable selections hailing from other parts of the U.S. And if the weather cooperates, they’ll be serving up the suds outdoors, on a spacious riverside deck.
Attending local breweries include Dock Street, Flying Fish, Lancaster Brewing Company, Philadelphia Brewing Company, Sly Fox and Yards.
For $45 you can taste to your hearts content, quaffing down the brews in a souvenir sampling glass. You’ll also get a 2011 Manaynunk Brew Fest T-shirt, plus a voucher for food from the restaurant menu; after all, you’ll want to have something solid in your belly as the day wears on to help soak up those tasty brews.
Advance tickets (highly recommended) are available online.
Manayunk Brew Fest Extravaganza
Where: 4120 Main Street
When: Saturday, April 30, 1-5 p.m.
Cost: $45
More info: www.manayunkbrewery.com
April 18, 2011
Sesame Place brings the Sesame Street TV show to life for kids with 14 acres of fun. (Photos courtesy Sesame Place)
As Ali Baba would say, it’s time to “open sesame”, as in Sesame Place, the popular amusement park based on the Sesame Street TV show, which reopens following its annual winter hiatus on April 30.
A parade has always been a big deal here, and now it gets even bigger with the Neighborhood Street Party. Staged as a festive block party, the event features floats plus performances to help kids learn about letters, numbers and friendship. Important dates are the Grand Opening parade April 30 at 2 p.m., Night Time Parade Debut June 18 at 9 p.m. and the Halloween Parade Debut September 24 at 4 p.m.
The parades are chock full of beloved characters including Elmo, Bert & Ernie, Abby Cadabby, Cookie Monster, Rosita and Big Bird. Plus a new character joins in: Murray, Sesame Street’s furry orange reality TV personality.
A new mechanical family ride is also set to debut. Called Elmo’s Cloud Chaser, the ride invites families to join Elmo for a trip into the sky. And starting May 7, the park presents a concert series with acts including Dan Zanes and Friends, Ralph’s World and Hip Hop Harry. Concerts are free with admission, but reservations are required.
Lots to look forward to for the 2011 season!
Sesame Place
100 Sesame Place, Langhorne, PA
www.sesameplace.com
March 31, 2011
The Arden is home to some of the city's best children's theater programming. (Photo courtesy Arden)
The name Hans Christian Andersen is synonymous with fairy tales; after all, this dashing Dane wrote more than 150 of them. Those fanciful tales, written in the 1800s, are still wildly popular enough to be feted at the Arden Theatre Company’s International Children’s Book Day, April 2, which happens to coincide with the author’s birthday.
This fun family affair includes a storytelling station featuring oldies but goodies, like the Ugly Duckling, The Red Shoes and The Emperor’s New Clothes. Arden actors plus special guests all pitch in to recite the tales with great gusto.
More good times come by way of a film screening of The Little Mermaid, face painting, crafts and tasty treats. And if you’ve got a budding thespian, be sure to buy tickets to the raffle, where you can win an Arden Drama School One-Day Workshop.
The celebration is an ideal precursor to an upcoming Arden musical production of Andersen’s The Flea and The Professor, running May 4-June 12. Anyone who attends this Book Day-Birthday celebration gets a $5 discounts off Flea tickets as well as discounted subscriptions to next season’s Arden’s Children Theatre.
Reservations to the April 2 celebration are encouraged as space is limited; call the Arden box office at (215) 922-1122 to reserve your place.
International Children’s Book Day and Hans Christian Andersen’s Birthday Celebration
When: Saturday, April 2, 4:30-7 p.m.
Where: Arden Theatre Company, 40 N. Second Street
Cost: Free
More info: www.ardentheatre.org
March 28, 2011
Celebrate the beauty of spring at the Morris Arboretum. (Photo by Judy Miller for Morris Arboretum)
A sure sign spring has sprung is when you start seeing the pretty blooms of cherry blossoms. The Morris Arboretum has seen the signs: it’s holding its annual Japanese Cherry Blossom Celebration, happening on two Saturdays, April 2 and April 9.
Presented in partnership with the Subaru Cherry Blossom Festival of Greater Philadelphia, the arboretum offers the opportunity to see the blossoms as they appear on 35 varieties of cherry trees.
Some of these trees have a heritage that dates back to the early 20th century, when John and Lydia Morris (founders of the arboretum) first planted the seeds for what is now one of the region’s finest garden collections of Japanese plants.
The Celebration’s events on April 2 include an origami program by author and internationally recognized origami expert Barbara Pearl, a performance by the Hob Daiko Drummers and a special tour of the arboretum’s various Japanese elements, such as the contemplative rock garden and the sumptuous greenhouse fernery.
The Japanese Garden Elements Tour reprises on the 9th, when you can also catch demonstrations of the sophisticated art of Japanese swordplay known as Ken Jutsu, as well as a traditional Japanese tea ceremony. Looks like some intriguing yin and yang, for sure.
Japanese Cherry Blossom Celebration
Where: Morris Arboretum, 100 E. Northwestern Avenue
When: April 2 and April 9, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Cost: Included with general admission ( Youth (ages 3-17)/Students $7, Adults $16, Seniors $14)
More information: www.business-services.upenn.edu/arboretum
March 10, 2011
The museum brings the molecular sciences to life. (Photo courtesy Chemical Heritage Foundation)
When most of us look at the periodic table of elements, we see letters and numbers. But to the artists whose work is on display in Elemental Matters: Artists Imagine Chemistry, a new exhibition at the Chemical Heritage Foundation Museum, it’s a source of creative inspiration.
With fiberglass rods piercing sheets of mylar, Rebecca’s Kamen’s piece “Water” conceives what is normally a liquid as a solid, undulating sculpture. Think hard enough and you may figure out the logic behind Dove Bradshaw’s “Song of Which (Evelina kneeling, looking left)”. It’s a black and white photograph of a nude woman holding up a veil with the names of numerous elements on it. Spoiler alert: they’re all elements found in the human body.
You can spend a fair amount of time viewing Jennifer Schmitt’s “The Periodic Table Printmaking Project,” made of 118 images representing elements of everyday life as envisioned by 97 artists. Some of the prints are rather cheeky, like the one depicting a spigot (for copper) while others are more enigmatic, for instance, the print for tungsten, which features a fierce wolf.
Listen for the sound of phosphorus. Read hydrogen in braille. View 400 tiny red lights fueled by potassium residues in a mountain. With pieces that integrate sound and others we are meant to touch, this show takes the elements off the periodic table and turns them into an intriguing sensory experience.
Elemental Matters: Artists Imagine Chemistry
Where: Chemical Heritage Foundation: 315 Chestnut Street
When: Now through December 16
Cost: FREE
More info: www.chemheritage.org
March 4, 2011
The dinner includes four courses with specially paired French wines. (Photo courtesy Le Bec-Fin)
Expect your palette to swoon on March 17, when the renowned Lec Bec-Fin hosts a dinner featuring wine from France’s esteemed Monmousseau vineyard.
The fine beverages have been specially selected to complement each course, as cooked up by Executive Chef Nicholas Elmi.
In addition, Isabelle Moreau, a learned representative from the winery, will speak about each of the varieties served. So you’ll walk out both sated and smarter after this dining experience.
For $90, you’ll savor Poached Seafood Salad with Cucumber Melon Consommé; Thyme Brown Butter Bass with Celery Root; Roasted Lamb Sirloin; and Pear Brunoise. Featured wines include a Touraine, Cheverney, Chinon and Vouvray. Ooh la, la.
Call (215) 567-1000 for reservations.
Le Bec-Fin Wine Dinner
When: Thursday, March 17, 6 p.m.
Where: 1523 Walnut Street
Cost: $90
More info: www.lebecfin.com
March 1, 2011
Johnny Brenda's is one of 12 bars participating in Craft Beer Express. (Photo by G. Widman for GPTMC)
Honk, honk discerning beer lovers: the Craft Beer Express is wending its way around Philadelphia on March 12.
The rollicking ride takes you to 12 bars featuring specialty beers from around the world. Many of the brews are limited editions that are scarce in these parts, or anywhere else for that matter. Philadelphia is, after all, one of America’s seven best beer cities.
Participating venues are: Kraftwork, Johnny Brenda’s, Standard Tap, The Institute Bar, Bishop’s Collar, Kite & Key, Jose Pistolas, The Sidecar & Grille, P.O.P.E (Pub on Passyunk), Devils Den, Brauhaus Schmitz and Race St. Café.
Pick a starting point, and when you’ve had your fill there, hop onto the CBX and head to another establishment. As the day wears on, the CBX makes like your designated driver. Buses are available at each stop roughly every 25 minutes.
Buy a ticket in advance to avoid missing out on this frothy deal; they’re available online.
Craft Beer Express
When: Saturday, March 12, 11 a.m.-9 p.m.
Where: Bars throughout the city
Cost: $10
More info: www.craftbeerexpress.com
February 18, 2011
The Van de Graaff generator will make your hair stand on end. (Photo courtesy Franklin Institute)
Attention all you ingenious individuals who think you’re a regular Leonardo da Vinci: the Franklin Institute has a new program that’s right up your alley. Called “How Things Work,” and running every weekend from tomorrow, February 19, through March 27, the programming offers a chance to find your inner Renaissance man, or woman.
Special activities include the K,Nex® Build Challenge, where you can test your engineering skills with colorful contemporary tinker toys that connect in infinite ways. Then see how crafty and aerodynamic you can get with a single sheet of paper at the Paper Airplane Design and Test Zone. Or, hit up the Papermaking Cart and learn how to make paper by hand.
Special science experiments will highlight the work of da Vinci, like the Van de Graff Generator: an electrostatic machine that’ll make your hair stand on end (for real).
These events complement the Franklin Institute’s new exhibit Leonardo da Vinci’s Workshop, featuring life-size models and touch-screen computers that enable you to delve deep into the mind of this original polymath.
All programs and events above are included in museum admission. An additional ticket is required for admission to the Leonardo da Vinci’s Workshop exhibition.
How Things Work: Leonardo da Vinci’s Workshop
When: Saturdays and Sundays, February 19 through March 27
Where: The Franklin Institute, 222 N. 20th Street, Philadelphia
Cost: Event is free with museum admission ($15.50 adults, seniors and military personnel $14.50, and children $12) Tickets for Leonardo da Vinci’s Workshop are $24.50 adults, $23.50 seniors and $17.50 for children.
More info: www2.fi.edu
February 3, 2011
Ever been singed by Cupid’s arrow? Then head to Jolly’s Dueling Piano Bar, where they’re hosting a second-annual Love Stinks Valentine’s Bash, February 14 from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m.
You can vanquish venom for whoever’s done you wrong by sipping $5 drink specials with names like Ex-Boyfriend, Deal Breaker and Dirty Little Monkey. Each special cocktail mixes vodka with a splash of something sugary — so you get the bitter with the sweet. Just like your relationship that went bad.
Keep a watch on the waitstaff too, because they’ll be making the rounds with free drinks compliments of one of the night’s sponsors, Chambord black raspberry liqueur.
Those specials and freebies can help put you in the mood to enter the best break-up story contest. Even more incentive? The grand prize is a trip to Jamaica. Tip: Management says winning stories aren’t about break-ups that are easy to have seen coming. Give ‘em something that inspires shock and awe. Or at least makes you wonder, what’s up with that?
Meanwhile, as is usual here, two pianists play song requests all night long.
Whatever your attitude, from “Cry Me A River” to “I Will Survive,” you’ll be in for a Jolly good time.
Love Stinks Valentine’s Bash
When: Monday, February 14, 5 p.m.-2 a.m.
Where: Jolly’s Dueling Piano Bar, 2006 Chestnut Street
More info: www.jollyspianobar.com
