Bethlehem: Corked Wine Bar (January 2016)

My spouse and I dined at Corked Wine Bar for dinner on a Saturday night in mid-January 2016. Corked is openfor dinner daily (beginning at 4:30 pm). The restaurant accepts reservations by telephone or via the Open Table reservation system. Corked shares the same owners as Roma Ristorante and Taste of Italy, both located off Airport Road in Hanover Township/Bethlehem, but Corked provides a more fine dining experience than either of those two restaurants.

Corked is located in Downtown Bethlehem on Main Street, in a building occupied by the Morning Call newspaper until 2008 and then vacant for the next five years. The location has been completely transformed into a chic restaurant and nightclub. Since Corked opened in summer of 2013, it has undergone a few interior changes, most for the better in our opinion. Upon entering the restaurant through a double set of doors, you encounter an attractive small wall of water prior to the hostess stand. Dining is available in several areas: at tables towards the front of the restaurant (which features a really unique “wavy wall” on one side that continues through the bar back to the rear of the restaurant space), at the long bar, in a lounge-type area towards the rear of the restaurant, or in the main dining area that offers a choice of regular booths, rounded booths, and tables. Sidewalk dining is available in warmer weather. The kitchen area used to be open to the dining room, but it has since been closed (walled) off; another welcome touch was the addition of sheer curtains between the main (booth) dining area and the bar that provide additional privacy. After 10:00 pm on weekend nights, Corked takes on a club/lounge vibe, with DJs (reportedly from Las Vegas, NYC, Philadelphia, and the Lehigh Valley), dancing, a VIP guest list, and velvet ropes. The restaurant’s VIBE dining area offers a late night menu until 1:00 am. Corked offers valet parking on weekends after 5:00 pm, or you can find metered street parking or space in a nearby surface lot or garage.

Corked serves upscale American food. Originally designed as a steakhouse, the menu has undergone several iterations before reaching its present offerings. A nice selection of appetizers, salads, pizzas, entrees, and steaks are available at various price points. Our current favorite appetizers are the “crispy mix” (a fried sampling of calamari, shrimp, artichokes, and caper berries), and the antipasti board (assorted meats, cheeses, pickled vegetables, and olives). We also enjoy the flatbread pizzas at Corked (the short rib and Gouda as well as the chicken and fig), the beef tip risotto, and the braised short rib entrees. Desserts, other than the Moravian sugar cake bread pudding, are fairly standard (carrot cake, tiramisu, chocolate-peanut butter cake). Corked also offers a huge selection of wines, over 20 draft beers (and more by the bottle), and cocktails. In fact, wine is available in four sizes (a 2.5 oz-sample, 5-oz glass, 10-oz glass, and by the bottle), which we have not seen at other Valley restaurants.

We wish that Corked were open for lunch (it used to be!) because it better fits our plans, but if we are looking to dine in Downtown Bethlehem during their regular business hours, we always consider Corked.