BETHLEHEM TWP., Pa. – One of the best dining experiences in the Lehigh Valley materializes for a single night only, on a college campus far removed from the trendy restaurants constantly buzzed about on social media.
Hampton Winds is a culinary training ground at Northampton Community College, and it’s there where diners keep piling through the doors with an unceasing appetite for novelty. And when they show up for Supper Club, the chefs definitely deliver.
- Hampton Winds restaurant at Northampton Community College held its June Supper Club on Wednesday
- The Supper Club dinners are designed to partner with different local vendors and highlight their ingredients
- June's dinner partnered with McCall Collective, whose head brewer is also an NCC alum
It’s all because Tyler Baxter, instructor of the school’s culinary arts program, aims to give students “a kind of broad perspective on what exists outside of just working behind a stove, working on a line as a line cook, things like that.”
So once every few months, Baxter and the other instructors arrange communal style tables in Hampton Winds and the student chefs get creative for dozens of diners. They post the menu in advance on social media and people pre-pay for tickets via EventBright.
“We are very focused on utilizing local products and showcasing local businesses,” Baxter said Wednesday while helping his students take diners on a gastronomic journey – a five-course, fully vegan seasonal tasting menu paired with beer from Allentown’s McCall Collective Brewing Company.
“Everything is scratch-made by our students,” Baxter said, before noting McCall’s head brewer, Matt McCall, was also a graduate of Northampton’s program.
It set the table for the overarching theme of the night and what makes this Supper Club one of the more enticing places to eat – collaboration with different local vendors also highlighting their stories and their ingredients.
'It's second nature'
Ask McCall how he transferred his skills from the kitchen (he once cooked at Hotel Bethlehem and Apollo Grill) to the milling, malting, mashing and fermenting required in brewing and he’s quick to explain how it all worked out.
“One of the things I've always said is that beer is just like making a big soup. And soup was always my favorite thing to make. It still is at home,” he joked. “But yeah, I kind of look at beer as a giant soup.”
That philosophy has pushed him to experiment with the beverage in a different way.
“We’ve done thyme in a beer, we've done lavender in a beer, we’ve done hot honey. We put stroopwafels in a beer. So if you look at beer as a whole, most of the malts and things that we use in making beer are named after fruit. So honey malt, chocolate malt, biscuit malt … these are all things that are derived from food, or at least the flavor profile. So it's very second nature to me and always has been.”
McCall said learning the chemistry side of things was a little more challenging, but once he mastered that, building the flavors was the easy part. For that reason, he was plenty excited to reconnect with NCC as an instructor for a fermentation science class, and even more excited to get an offer from Baxter asking him to partner up for the Supper Club.
“He sent me an email one day and said, ‘Hey, we're looking for somebody to partner with. Here's what you’d do. Are you interested?’ And I was like, ‘Hell yeah. Let’s go.’”
'It's a testament to what we do'
The Supper Club at NCC is one of the more imaginative places to eat in the region, allowing students and their instructors the chance to design and prepare food from a one-off menu where you’re sure there might be something you’ve never tasted before.
Cue the celery root croquettes served up during the second course of Wednesday’s meal, with whipped tofu, compressed apple, parsley pistou and pickled mustard seeds paired with McCall’s Farmhouse Ale, a saison with added locally sourced honey and a touch of honey malt.
“Saison is kind of funky. So it's got that unique farmhouse type of thing going on,” McCall said. “And with the pickled mustard seeds and the apple — like saison and apple to me, we actually made an apple saison last fall and it just works. So that's kind of where my head was.”
That pairing, in particular, was a highlight for Baxter (and for the diners) due to flavors “that just build and build and build.” He described the pistou as a “French version of Italian pesto. No nuts, no cheese, lots of fresh garden herbs, a little bit of garlic, a little bit of sautéed onions, lots of lemon juice and some olive oil.”
The mustard seeds were blanched in hot, salted water and then pickled to give them a bit of tackiness and a resemblance to caviar. The appearance and the melding of flavors was a hit to guests as they chatted happily, and the atmosphere tilted from restaurant to dinner party.
As the plates were cleared following the entrée — trumpet mushroom, white asparagus, fondant potatoes in a black mushroom truffle puree with a mushroom demi-glace — Baxter discussed the various cooking techniques and flavor profiles throughout.
“I had to try and really mimic that sauce that you would get at a traditional steakhouse,” he said, noting the stock had been cooking for three days as they worked to “mirror kind of that meatiness, that richness that we all crave” for an entrée.
It's a testament to the power of care and taking care of each other, and that’s why we’re in this industry — to be able to come out and see everybody’s smiling faces, hopefully having a great meal.Tyler Baxter, NCC Culinary Arts instructor
It was paired with McCall’s Baltic porter, which had heavy notes of chocolate, plum, raisins and coffee.
Baxter also called the room to attention one final time before dessert to introduce the students and front of the house staff, and to highlight their hard work in the program and in putting the evening together.
“It’s a testament to what we do. It’s a testament to the power of care and taking care of each other, and that’s why we’re in this industry — to be able to come out and see everybody’s smiling faces, hopefully having a great meal and enjoying yourself.”
What: The first supper club of the year on Feb. 1 showcased Blackbird Farms in Emmaus and wine pairings came from Franklin Hill Vineyards. April’s dinner highlighted local distillery Eight Oaks, which produced various cocktails to accompany the food courses.
When: The next Supper Club will take place in mid-September, Baxter said.
Where: Hampton Winds – Hartzell Hall, 3835 Green Pond Road, Bethlehem.
Why: To bring the community together, elevate local businesses and support the culinary program.
