Plus the Viking Cooking School's Hot Summer Line-up, Atlantic City's International Nights concert series and Drew Toonz
Walter Trout
Somers Point Beach Series Celebrates 20 Years
Somers Point’s Bay Avenue has long been known for its live music offerings, back from the Bayshores and Tony Mart days through to all-too-short-lived Bubba Mac Shack up through to the Somers Point Jazz Society’s many events which take place year round. And over the past two decades, each summer, the Somers Point beach has hosted some of the best rock, blues, zydeco and New Orleans music on the planet with the free Friday evening Somers Point Beach Concert Series. Starting June 15, the 20th annual series will commence with multi-award winning blues violinist Lionel Young and his band. The rest of the schedule is as follows: Bonerama (June 22), Commander Cody Band (June 29), special Wednesday holiday show: Bob Campanell Band with Danny Eyer (July 4), Jeremiah Hunter Band (July 6), Rick Estrin & The Nightcats (July 13), The Persuasions and The Shakes (July 20), Dr. Bobby Fingers and Hawkins Road (July 27), Scott Kirby with Lew London (Aug. 3), Billy Walton Band with Arthur Migliazza (Aug. 10), Midori Bros. Band featuring Franny Smith (Aug. 17), Walter Trout (Aug. 24), Jill West & Blues Attack (Aug. 31) and Rev. Raven & The Chain Smokin’ Altar Boys (Sept. 7). For more details, visit acweekly.com. All concerts are from 7-9pm; bring a lawn chair, the family and watch the sun go down as the tunes catch the bay breeze and kick off your weekend with some soul. — Jeff Schwachter
International Night Series Lights Up Kennedy Plaza Again
Since it started five summers ago, the Atlantic City Library International Night Series has brought a diverse midweek, multi-cultural flair to the Boardwalk with music and dance from around the globe, this year spanning Wednesdays from July 11 through Sept. 5. Co-sponsored by the A.C. Free Public Library and the city of Atlantic City, and partially funded by the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, the series features 90-minute live performances at Kennedy Plaza, on the Boardwalk between Mississippi and Georgia avenues. All shows are free and open to the public starting 7pm. This year’s lineup includes the Camden-based Universal African Dance and Drum Ensemble (July 11), performing ancestral dancing, intensified drumming and stilt walking; Dancing Crane (July 18), presenting the music and dance of the Eurasian nation of Georgia; Niyaz (July 25), which has been deemed “an evolutionary force in contemporary Middle Eastern music”; Magdaliz and her Latin Ensemble Crisol (Aug. 1), an group dedicated to the interpretation of a variety of folk and traditional music genres from Cuba, Mexico, Puerto Rico and other parts of Latin America; Everybody Loves Italian (Aug. 8), which celebrates the wonderful and generous personalities of the Italians and their descendents; The Barley Boys (Aug. 15), who play original, traditional and contemporary Irish music; Taiko Masala (Aug. 22), combining the training and discipline of Japanese martial arts with the precision and power of complex drumming; Korean Traditional Marching Band (Aug. 29), a meditative performance featuring the changgo, the traditional Korean hour-glass drum adapted for p’ungnyu, the classical music of Korean nobility; and the Hawaiian Luau Entertainment ensemble (Sept. 5), which morphs from hula girls dancing to slow Polynesian music to men performing a high-energy warrior dance and a sensational fire-dancing exhibition. For more information about the series, call 345-2269. — Ray Schweibert
Star Chefs at Viking Cooking School
The Viking Cooking School at Harrah’s Resort is presenting new summer classes as well as celebrity guest chefs in June. Sam “Sammy D” DeMarco of Sammy D’s Restaurant and Bar at Harrah’s Resort hits Viking Cooking School June 29 for Cocktails and Cravings: Keepin’ It Hot!. Chef Sam will demonstrate some of his most popular appetizers including Spicy Chicken Drummettes, Cheese Steak Dumplings and Pork Eggrolls. Viking Cooking School will host two Food Network Star contestants, season seven’s Chris Nirschel and current season contestant Malcolm Mitchell. Chef Malcolm will host a demonstration at Viking on June 17 featuring savory tastes including coconut curry shrimp with pineapple glaze and grilled New Zealand lamb chops, followed by a VIP viewing party to watch Food Network Star and see how Chef Malcom fared with the judges. On June 22, Chef Chris will host Cocktails and Cravings: Italian 101, a cocktail-party style demonstration that gives fans a chance to see Chef Chris prepare his favorite Italian cravings, including stuffed eggplant and a summer salad with strawberries and balsamic, perfect for a girls night out. Viking Cooking School will also offer seven new classes this year. Ladies looking for a new twist on a night out can sign up for “Girls Night Out: Bahama Mamas” and learn how to prepare the grill, make Jamaican Beef Patties and enjoy Bahama Mama cocktails. “Titanic Dinner Party,” is a class filled with dishes worthy of a luxury liner including Lobster Thermidor, Lamb Chops with Mint Glaze and Chocolate Éclairs. The newest class in the Date Night Series “Date Night: Playing with Fire” adds a whole new element to couples cooking with a lesson on flambé, grilling and testing steak for doneness. — Lori Hoffman
Drew Toonz
“Bistro” just might be the overused, misunderstood word currently popularized in the gastronomic world. By original definition, the term refers to a French neighborhood place, casually offering hearty portions at modest prices in a comforting, home-like atmosphere.
“The location was the key. A beautiful backdrop of the bay, with all types of boats cruising past, and the Ocean City skyline [across the bay].”
Although July 4 falls on a Wednesday this year, it doesn’t mean that the holiday fun will be in short supply in the southern New Jersey and Atlantic City region.
Atlantic City casinos have been thinking outside the box in order to draw more non-gaming patrons to their casinos. For foodies, one of the best ideas for expanding the range of non-gaming amenities has been cooking classes.
I was flipping out recently as an eager student at the Viking Cooking School at Harrah’s Resort, which has been open since Memorial Day weekend in Atlantic City.
Everyone from experienced home cooks to novices can learn helpful tips and techniques from the skilled and patient pro chefs at Harrah's Resort's Viking Cooking School in Atlantic City.
Harrah’s Resort has opened a branch of the Viking Cooking School and is welcoming everyone from amateur cooks to passionate foodies into its gleaming, stainless steel classroom to hone their cooking skills from the professionals. There hasn’t been anything like it in the market since legendary Las Vegas chef Nat Hart had a branch of his gourmet cooking school at the former Caesars Boardwalk Regency in 1980.
Music fans will have more options than ever to catch a concert in Atlantic City this Memorial Day weekend, but that's not when the music stops. The entire southern Jersey shore region will popping with music of all kinds this summer — including rockabilly, jazz, classcial, rock, blues, R&B and reggae.
When it comes to southern New Jersey in the summer, the most plentiful freebie out there is music. Hey, even the sand and the surf aren’t free in most beach towns. But thanks to the Atlantic City Boardwalk, the Somers Point bay beaches and other spots around the region, there’s never a shortage of free concerts to enjoy.
In recent years, Marotta has been very busy carrying the torch from his father into the 21st century. Putting on several area benefit concerts as well as Tony Mart’s Reunion events, and booking the Somers Point beach ...
Friday, Aug. 6, may be one of the best free concerts you'll see this summer at the Jersey shore.
That cajun/creole/zydeco sound that originated in southern Louisiana has a cheerful quality to it that lift spirits and makes people want to get up and dance. Such will still be the case when Johnny Sansone — a New Orleans fixture and one of the Voice of the Wetlands All-stars — appears on back-to-back Friday nights (July 2 and 9) as part of the Somers Point Beach Concert Series.
(Originally published Sept. 2008) LAST MONTH DURING ITS SET at the Somers Point beach concert series, Jersey Shore rock trio the Billy Walton Band broke into "On the Dark Side," the 1984 John Cafferty hit fr...
Earlier this year, Texas bluesman Guitar Shorty was in downtown Memphis. He was kneeling down backstage at the May 2007 Blues Music Awards, tuning up his electric guitar, ready to go on and play a so...
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