LOCAL PUMPKIN EATS

PUMPKIN EATS START NOW

Sweet Aloha Bowls of Royersford Autumn Creations

The leaves are falling, the air is crisp, and pumpkin spice is de rigueur and we are starting our autumn eats right now.

Start with a slice or two of seasonal toast from Sweet Aloha Bowls in Royersford. Slathered with delicious pumpkin butter and topped with crushed pecans, apples, cinnamon and a vegan caramel sauce drizzle. Or how about the pumpkin bowl with maple syrup, granola and pumpkin seeds, or the apple pie smoothie with apples, almond butter and oat milk. Can you say ahhh-pple?

At A Taste of Britain, the Pumpkin Pie Black Tea sets the mood with a spicy autumn bite plus their Fall scone-Pumpkin Granola with a Maple Glaze. The scone has pumpkin, oats, golden raisins, sunflower seeds, cranberries, and pumpkin seeds.

Steel City Coffeehouse Spooky Latte

Looking for a fun place to curl up with a good book and get a unique coffee beverage or a craft beer, like the new American Brown Ale created with malt from Deer Creek Malthouse and honey from Breyer Apiary? Steel City Coffeehouse has the drinks to warm you, like local apple cider, Apple Pie Chai, S’more Latte, and Butterbeer Latte. Stay for the live music while you nosh on home-baked creations.

Looking for a hearty fall meal? Look no further than the Railroad Street Bar & Grill- their stick-to-your-ribs grilled cheeses are thick and substantial, and combine top-notch breads, cheeses and meats. Don’t miss the Thanksgiving Day Grilled Cheese (everyone loves gravy!) or the Octoberfest Grilled Cheese.

https://www.valleyforge.org/editorial/post/autumn-has-arrived-pumpkin-eats-start-now/

When it’s time for dessert pop into the Iron Abbey Gastro Pub for their adorable and delicious autumn tarts. Their Pumpkin Tart is baked spiced pumpkin pie filling topped with a whipped cream rosette and a chocolate pretzel; their baked Apple Mini Pie is made with homemade pie dough wrapped around smokehouse apples, cinnamon nutmeg tapioca and a scoop of vanilla ice cream; and their Pecan Tart is homemade traditional pecan pie filling glazed with apricot preserves and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Relax at home with the ultimate autumn dessert: Pumpkin cheesecake.
Kriebel’s Custom Bakery whips up a rich cheesecake loaded with pumpkin nestled in a crisp gingersnap crust, while their apple cake combines a delicious crumb cake with cinnamon and apples.

So while the leaves are falling and the sun is shining, grab a latte and a scone and enjoy autumn—it’s the best Montco has to offer!

The baked Apple Mini Pie from Iron Abbey Gastro Pub is made with homemade pie dough wrapped around smokehouse apples, cinnamon nutmeg tapioca and a scoop of vanilla ice cream;

Sweet Aloha Bowls
324 Main St
Royersford, PA

Iron Abbey Gastro Pub
680 Easton Rd
Horsham, PA

Black Powder Tavern
1164 Valley Forge Rd
Wayne, PA

Railroad Street Bar & Grill
36 Railroad St
Linfield, PA

A Taste of Britain
Eagle Village Shops
503 West Lancaster Avenue
Wayne, PA

Steel City Coffeehouse
203 Bridge Street​
Phoenixville, PA

Kriebel's Custom Bakery
3140 W Ridge Pike
Eagleville, PA

*Originally ran on Valley Forge Tourism Website: https://www.valleyforge.org/editorial/post/autumn-has-arrived-pumpkin-eats-start-now/

Author: Christine Tarlecki

Christine Tarlecki an entertainment and food writer seeking out the best bites and writing about them. She also pens an award-winning food & lifestyle blog. Most weekends you can find Christine in Montco trying out local cuisine or curled up with a good book. She also teaches small business social media marketing classes. Christine can be reached under @engchik on all social media. #LocalLove

Check out my Royersford Morning Noon and Night feature on Valley Forge Tourism!

Check out my Royersford Morning Noon and Night feature on Valley Forge Tourism (valley forge.org)! 

The best eats in town! 

It’s No Secret Where to Go For a Great Breakfast in RoFo

About 20 years ago, Annamarie Hewitt Chestnut came home from cooking school for summer break. It had always been her dream to cook professionally, and she was studying to become a pastry chef. But on this break, she spied the space that is now her small but bustling breakfast-and-lunch establishment on the main drag of Royersford.

And to her surprise, acquiring that space made more financial sense than returning to school.

Now, so many years later, she’s confident she made the right choice in Annamarie's Place. “I just love cooking for people,” she says enthusiastically, and it shows. There’s a level of care and panache in her dishes that you just don’t find in many eateries—no matter the price tag.

Go for one of her signature stuffed French toast dishes: Blueberry, cherry, or another rotating flavor, and you’ll be the one who’s stuffed (and grinning from ear to ear). Don’t miss her benedicts—the hollandaise is always fresh and homemade, and the eggs are always perfectly poached. 

And you must try the breakfast nachos—an imaginative and delicious dish with homemade tortilla chips piled high with moist scrambled eggs, meat, chives, and drizzled with balsamic vinegar. Traditionalists won’t be disappointed either; her omelets are fluffy and delightful, filled to capacity with your favorite ingredients.

Annamarie’s is no secret to the Rofo locals—there’s usually a line out the door at peak times. But hang in there and your patience will be rewarded with a breakfast you’ll be talking about for weeks.

347 Main St 
Royersford, Pennsylvania 19468

Written and photographed by Stephen Trimble

Integrity Tattoo Delivers Top-Notch Work

One of the things I have been wanting to do for a while is get a tattoo. I have a seahorse tattoo on my ankle from when I was 19, and in my eyes, it was something I had waited a while for, and now I was cool. Cool-er, anyway.

I have always loved it, and it’s a part of me. When I had milestone birthday last year, I decided I wanted something to remind me to stay in the moment, to be still instead of racing ahead to the next thing.

I contacted Kiel Ferrari at Integrity Tattoo in Royersford, who was incredibly awesome. When I went into the office on a cloudy day in February, I was nervous. I had found a pattern of what I wanted on a jewelry ring dish that I got at Charming Charlie’s. 

Just BEE!

Kiel made a special copy of the picture, then we placed it on my wrist to check the size and placement. After that, we headed back to Kiel’s tattoo office. 

All the tattoo artists had dedicated spaces in Integrity, and it’s bright and airy in there. A guy was getting ink added to his sleeve on his left arm as I walked by.

Once I sat down with Kiel in his cool steam-punk industrial-décor space, we got started. He shaved my wrist to make sure there wasn’t any stray hairs and he overlaid the copy of the design, which was an outline in purple. He began mixing his colors and inspecting the needles, and wiping my wrist with antiseptic. He was gloved and everything was in its place.

It was time! I asked him to touch my wrist so I remembered how the needle felt. He did, and he began. And ouch Holy heck I forgot how much it hurt. Quick Kiel distract me! We chatted about his marriage- he had just gotten married, and I got married 2 years before so we chatted about that, and the hours a tattooist keeps.

I am a warrior...I can handle this!

I asked him how he got into it- and with him being a creative person, this seemed a good fit. He started in 2007 with a focus on bold colors and emphasizing his black and greys. 

And I will say, I wasn’t sure how my piece was going to look , I wanted more bronze and white and gold, but the shading he did on the body of the bee was magnificent.

Kiel’s favorite tattoo that he did- he’s a Walking Dead fan, as am I, and he recently tattooed Lucille onto a Negan fan.

After a while, the need didn’t hurt, and I felt quite elated. It was pretty awesome seeing this shape come into existence on my body. All too soon he was done, just when I was enjoying the adrenaline rush from it, it was over.

To bee or not to bee

I had a bee on my wrist!  A reminder to ‘just be.’ To ‘bee’ in the moment. Bees have very precise calculations to their flight patterns when they fly even though it looks random. Plus, bees are crucial to the world's ecosystems.

I do a lot of PR and social media for small businesses and I always say it seems random but there is a method to the madness- calculations to the end result. 

I identify with bees as messengers, and as a writer, I feel connected. 

All done!

My dad jokingly asked me where the stinger was, and I said this was a queen bee. Or a honeybee working hard.

I now have a fabulous piece of art that will always ‘bee’ with me! Contact Integrity Tattoo for an amazing tattoo of your own.

To follow up, I couldn't swim for two weeks, and I had to keep ointment on it. I also kept smacking it into everything the next couple days, and after the high wore off, it definitely ached. But that soon went away and it healed, leaving a gorgeous original piece of art!

The shop is located at 65 S Lewis Rd, Royersford.