READING, Pa.- The GoggleWorks Center for the Arts has always had plenty to see. Now there’s plenty for your taste buds to experience as well.
“Ultimately, we felt that if we wanted to have the right qualities and the right personality and food, we had to do it ourselves,” said Sandy Solman, CEO & Founder of Sweet Street and the chair of the board for GoggleWorks.
Every detail, every menu item at GoggleWorks’ new Thorn Alley Kitchen was crafted intentionally to create an entire experience.
“I had a concept for the menu that was based on a very hot restaurant in New York,” Solman said.
“If you really wanted to go above and beyond. There’s a caviar chicken nugget,” said GoggleWorks executive director, Levi Landis. “It’s our royal nugget, so if you really want to treat yourself. [There’s also] Prosecco on tap but there’s smash burgers and pizzas and all kinds of things that almost anybody can enjoy.”
Ingredients are fresh and sourced locally whenever possible; some are even grown on campus.
“There’s so many things that we’re trying to do to create a haven for people who think about what they put into their bodies but want to have fun, want delicious food,” explained Solman.
“We really wanted to try to incorporate local farmers and that ethos of organic farm to table fresh food but still comfortable and accessible,” added Landis.
The decor of the restaurant incorporates handcrafted works from various artists including the hand hammered copper tabletops and pillows sewn in their textile studio.
“We have 16 different learning environments here,” said Landis. “Studios like hot glass, photography, woodworking [and] we wanted to treat the kitchen the same way.”
It will be open daily with varying hours and have a cafe menu as well as lunch and dinner with a special drink menu.
“This is about discovery,” said Solman.