Chamber invites public for dinner, drinks on Crawford Avenue
CONNELLSVILLE — The Greater Connellsville Chamber of Commerce is rolling out the red carpet on Crawford Avenue.
The chamber, in collaboration with six local restaurants, will be providing an evening of dinner and drinks on the avenue on Saturday, Aug. 11.
“There will be one long table right up the middle of Crawford Avenue, with white linen tablecloths and wine glasses,” Bob Bubarth, Bud Murphy’s co-owner, said. “It will be a first-class event.”
The event, titled Savor the Avenue, will run from 5:30 to 9 p.m., and will feature a four-course meal for each guest from one of the following six participating restaurants: Bud Murphy’s, El Canelo, Italian Oven, Lynn’s Pub & Grill, Pechin’s Firehouse and Saint James Catering.
The menus range from traditional to the avante garde, said Michael Edwards, a chamber board member.
Fresh produce is also a theme that carries through all of the menus, Edwards said.
“It’s a good way to bring a lot of the local restaurants in the area together and let them show off a little bit of what they can do in a culinary aspect,” Bubarth said.
“It’s something they might not necessarily do all the time with some of the fancier menu items, but I do believe it will show the community what our local restaurants can do, and how they can put out some really nice food.”
Priced from $50 to $60 a person, the meal includes a complimentary drink at the local restaurant.
Guests will then travel to downtown for an opening champagne toast, followed by an appetizer, salad, entree and dessert.
After dinner, a coffee bar with mini desserts will be served at ArtWorks Connellsville, sponsored by the Downtown Connellsville group.
The event also will feature a wine tasting and musical entertainment, Bubarth said.
“The downtown area used to be such a thriving avenue, and eventually the goal would be to bring that back to the city in some aspect,” Bubarth said. “We’re trying to savor the things we have there in the town and keep them going, and encouraging people to open up businesses also.”
Lynn’s Pub & Grill owner Pamela Lynn said her business became involved because she thought it was an “interesting and different” event for Connellsville.
“Most of the restaurants are family owned, and anything we can do to better our business and other people’s business is something that I’m all for,” Lynn said. “Hopefully, this will be the first of many more of these dinners.”
Eric Durst, executive chef at Pechin’s Firehouse, agreed.
“It’s better for everyone to kind of join together to get people to eat at our businesses,” he said.
Those interested must sign up with the restaurant of their choice by Wednesday.
Only 20 seats are available per restaurant.
The money raised will benefit the chamber.
“I think the community can only benefit from it,” Bubarth said.
“I think it will definitely promote the area, and bring some action into the downtown area. Hopefully, people will see that we’re still trying, and the area is still doing pretty well.”
A rain date has been set for Saturday, Aug. 25.