Sunstone Studios / Lighthouse Lounge

By Junior Warshington

If you haven’t noticed already, there’s a bunch of new businesses coming to Phoenixville. While I’m pretty excited for the new Smoothie joint Strawberry Fields, I couldn’t help but note a rehearsal space just opened its doors. Enter Sunstone Studios / Lighthouse Lounge, a service to all things band related.

Housed in the old Phoenix Karate location, Sunstone Studios was originally conceived as a rehearsal space for rent. The studio is fully equipped with a drum kit, bass amp, guitar amps, and a PA system. Bands can rehearse by the hour ($25/hour, $45/2 hrs) or they can become members. This is a much-needed service in Chester County, as bands have had to travel to Manayunk or Collegeville for a decent rehearsal spot. While much closer, the Studio only has one rehearsal space.

“As we contemplated how best to do that, we realized that we would need a sitting/hanging out area outside the room for bands to wait their turn in the studio,” said co-owner Don Chittick.  “My partner Dave (Yocum) had a ping pong table, which was followed by a couch and a fridge.  And just like that, the seed for the Lighthouse Lounge had been sewn.”

The Lighthouse Lounge is an artistic triple threat as it a performance venue, art gallery and a library. The stage began to take shape soon after the rehearsal studio was up and running, and has since evolved into a two-tiered performance space with seating for up to 75 people (standing room up to 100).  The Lounge hosts performances every Friday and Saturday night, with a comprehensive booking of acts ranging from jazz, funk and blues to reggae, punk, bluegrass, metal, rap and R&B.

“We are excited to be able to bring such diversity to the Phoenixville music scene,” said Chittick. The Lounge also hosts an Open Mic/Open Jam every Wednesday starting at 8:30pm (admission is $2).

So how did the visual art space take shape?

“The art gallery/store grew out of a desire on our part to give creative people an opportunity to share and show (and sell) their work. We had the building, we had the foot traffic, and we were surrounded by creative people,” said Chittick of the local collection the business has amassed.

Chittick is planning on custom installations of new artwork as well. With one mural (a faux-finish work with a music staff and aquatic coloring and patterns) already completed by local artist Sharon Fisher, more are in the works.

The studio also has resident artist of sorts. IKRU is an artist/poet from Jamaica, whose 23 years in the U.S. have led him to The Lighthouse.  IKRU sits at a table by the front door of Sunstone Studios and paints/draws/sculpts as he greets visitors and shares his thoughts and ideas and stories with them.

Here’s some recent musings of his…

If you are looking for a place to perform or polish up your act (or even borrow a book!), this business has you covered.

Sunstone Studios are available 5-11 pm Monday-Saturday. The Lighthouse Lounge is open Noon-10 pm Monday-Saturday. Call 610-310-1916, email SunstoneMusicStudios@Gmail.com or check out http://www.sunstonemusicstudios.com for more information.

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admin, August 20th 2010 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Review: Grid Iron Sports Bar

Stay for the wings; save the pizza for the end of the night

by Emmett Otter

The site of the current Grid Iron Sports Bar (940 Township Line Rd.) can be considered by some to be hallowed ground.  Years ago, it was the gentlemen’s club Cloud 9, which this writer had never visited, but has heard stories about.  Talk about evolution.

After hearing on aroundphoenixville.com that the newest pizza joint in town was opening on Thurs. (7/29), this intrepid reporter just had to stop in.  I wasn’t expecting much because judging a restaurant’s service on the first day just isn’t fair.

The inside decor of the place is good for a sport bar. LOTS of TVs and the booths along the one wall have their own small flat panel TVs.  The bar is nice with 16 beers on tap and 28 in bottles.  The wait staff was also very attentive and courteous, which sometimes does not happen on opening night.

My order of pizza and wings was to go, so I could down a beer and take in the ambience.   Shortly after my last sips, the order was ready and off I rushed to scarf down some of my favourite bar fare.  Unlike our other adventurous writer, who loves to test the thresholds of his taste buds and sweat glands by ingesting wings drenched in sauces as fiery as the forges of the former Phoenix Steel, I opted for some teriyaki wings, which were quite good.  The Gridiron offers a variety of wings including but not limited to your standard hot wing to barbeque to Jamaican jerk.  The wings were standard-size and cooked just how I like them, a little crispy.  A good start to the meal, I thought, until I got to the pizza.

As regular readers of this blog know, there may not be a slice of pizza that I can’t find a good thing to say about, but this just wasn’t that enjoyable.  There was an overabundance of cheese and not a lot of sauce, making each slice like a ton of bricks in the breadbasket.  Also, the sauce lacked any real flavor.  The saving grace of the pie was the crust, which wasn’t too thick and crisp on the bottom. Definitely not my favourite slice.

Overall, Grid Iron Sports Bar (www.gridironpizzabar.com) could be a great place to watch the Phils, Birds, Union and Fly-guys that is not on Bridge (so you can’t complain about parking, even though the lot is a bit small).  It’s got TVs out the ying-yang, a great beer selection and good food.  Definitely order the wings with you frosty bev, but maybe save the za for when you need something to soak up the suds.

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admin, July 30th 2010 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Reviews

Antigua Guatemala – Restaurante Authentico Guatemalteco

by Washington Washington

We all know and love Mexican food… right? I mean, I make tacos for dinner every other day – lamb, fish, veal, you name it. But how similar is Mexican cuisine to the cuisine of its curious neighbor to the south, Guatemala? Well, luckily Phoenixvillians have the chance to find out now that Antigua Guatemala (119 South Main St. – 610.935.2700) has opened and is currently serving authentic Guatemalan food.

Upon entering the restaurant, we were greeted by a friendly woman who quickly seated us and gave us the low down on the place. She pointed out the authentic Guatemalan table display situated at the front of the room… A nice touch to the already bright and comfortable interior. Shortly afterwards, we were given some fresh chips with black bean sauce and an additional cup of salsa verde. We cracked open the beers we brought, began snacking, and all was good.

The menu contains a selection of authentic entrees, fajitas, and soups. There are also a variety of drinks, desserts, and a children’s menu.

I went with the Churrasco, a chargrilled steak rubbed with Central American seasonings and served with Guatemalan salsa, sautéed scallions, black bean sauce, and Spanish rice. The dish came with three warm homemade tortillas which was confusing to me at first. After speaking to the very pleasant and helpful manager (who was walking around to make sure all diners were satisfied) he instructed me to dip the tortilla in the black bean sauce, then add rice and some steak. It turned out to be great advice, as the final construction proved to be a delicious combination of flavors.

The steak itself was thin, yet tender. There were a few pieces of gristle, but not many. The sauce on the steak was fairly basic to my taste buds, however, the manager also brought us a container of the red salsa, which I was warned would be very spicy. It had an excellent flavor… Fiery, but not unbearable, and it made me sweat. I like it hot though.

My fellow diner ordered the Pollo a la Parilla, a fire-roasted chicken marinated in Antiguan spices, served with a garden salad and Spanish rice. She was pleased and had more than enough to make a second meal of it. I however devoured my entire plate, which was no easy task.

After trying Antigua Guatemala, I can honestly say that I’m very pleased to have a restaurant like this in the neighborhood. Although the selections are somewhat similar to what you might find at a Mexican restaurant, there are some distinct differences. Also, while menu is somewhat limited for now, I would expect their selections to grow in time and look forward to trying something new next time (perhaps the “Latin style” sausage – intriguing!).

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admin, July 23rd 2010 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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