THE LIST

VALLEY

— GEOFF GEHMAN

Last month I ate my first orange caviar, sipped my first orange borscht, and discussed the manifold pleasures of origami at a table with 17 strangers. We all shared a traditional five-course Ukrainian meal at the Black Forest Deli, a terrific home-cooked eatery in a Bethlehem house. The communal hub has been run for 17 years by Victoria “Vica” Shparber and her mother, Milana, who serve specialties of their native Kiev: blini; haluski; pickle soup; pierogies with a half-dozen stuffings, including blueberries. Their dinner was a friendly feast with miniature pierogies, stuffed mushrooms, beet salad, eggplant compote, pork stew and chicken cutlet on a mashed-potato bed. My company that night roamed all over the palette: a school-bus driver who taught dog behavior; a cancer diagnostician who teaches origami; an unrelated Gehman who helps the developmentally disabled through her county agency and her knitting. Our celebration was muted: we toasted Ukrainians bravely fighting Russians during the deli’s first Kiev dinner since the Covid invasion. (745 W. Union Blvd., corner of Seventh Avenue; 610-865-3036)

Easton is crammed with intriguing alleys, one of which cul-de-sacs in an Italian courtyard for a master guitar shop. The liveliest alley is Bank Street, which is named for a former Art Deco depository, has five different brick facades, and features a painted mosaic that doubles as cityscape and art-history hall of fame. The liveliest resident is the Bank Street Creamery, which is just as colorful as its blue/purple/yellow/pink door. Manager Candace Houser and owner Brooks Minnick, a Wilson Township native and Coast Guard alumnus, rotate 120 flavors, all made on the premises. Staples are ramped up with honey, avocado, garlic and bacon, the last two ingredients keyed to the city’s wildly popular bacon and garlic fests. Vegan mango gelato shares a display case with a fathoms-deep chocolate ice cream called “The Darkest?” On a recent visit I savored a creamy, airy strawberry studded with chocolate chips and a delightfully crunchy, cakey coffee caramel. You can lick and gulp in a brick-walled parlor or on the brick alley, which conjures the funky spirit of SoHo in Manhattan or London. (15 S. Bank St.; 610-2525544; bankstreetcreamery.com)

Chamber music, when all cylinders are clicking, tingles the chambers of body and soul. When players suddenly switch gears with a nod or a sway, you can almost see the score. The Chamber Music Society

Salted Coffee Caramel Brownie at Bank Street Creamery

CITY

— A.D. AMOROSI

If you like Jackie Cain and Roy Kral, spring can really hang you up the most, my April list is for you. Though run through with sunshine, greenery, dew, and rainbows, there’s always a darkly stormy sky approaching as March turns to April, then May. And don’t get me started on people thinking the Jersey shore beaches are OK.

April 1: The Bachelor live at The Met Philadelphia

This is funny. I have never watched the ABC network reality show The Bachelor, the competition program where women vie for a man's attention, and the so-called award of a rose and a relationship. That sounds terrible, right? And yet, I have witnessed its horrors several times on a live stage. And it is most probably twice as misogynistic and insulting to women and thinking people alike. So go.

April 1 to April 10: Philadelphia Theater Week

Theatre Philadelphia, the umbrella organization that guides and promotes all staged drama, comedy, and musicals in the area, moves beyond Covid’s forced virtual realm to welcome back audiences and actors to the stage for the PTW’s fifth iteration. Brava.

April 3: Dope Shows Presents: Birthday Bash starring Lil Baby & Lil Durk at Wells Fargo Center Since 2017, if you were looking for a couture, boutique-style concert promotional experience focusing on hip hop, the Dope Shows crew were creating it. This April, it’s their fifthanniversary bash with the king of drill, Lil Durk, and his chart-topping friend, Lil Baby. As Philly’s Meek Mill has worked with both rappers in the recent past, expect a visit from Millie.

Now through April 10: Backing Track at the Arden Theatre

Philadelphia-to-Baltimore or Baltimore-to-Philly author, screenwriter, and playwright R. Eric Thomas finishes off his season at FX and Better Things with a funny world premiere self-titled ‘karaoke musical” about the music of our lives that score our rise and fall.

April 8 to April 10: the opening weekend of the Philadelphia Phillies

Starting with an afternoon home game against the Oakland A’s at Citizens Bank Park: yeah, this doesn’t look good.