Excitement is growing at Peddler’s Village as we get ready to open the Buttonwood Grill, our new restaurant honoring our history and celebrating our 50th anniversary. As opening day draws closer, we’ll be sharing a behind the scenes look at everything from the redesign and reconstruction to the new food and drink menus from the people who are directly involved with the transformation of this restaurant.

TAG Galyean

We recently caught up with TAG Galyean, AIA, who is designing the new interiors. Galyean is an award-winning architect and designer with more than 30 years of architectural, landscape and interior design expertise in the hotel, restaurant and luxury resorts industry. The West Virginia native’s work was most recently honored in the 2012 Forbes Travel Guide selection of Five Star hotels, restaurants and spas. Galyean designed four of those chosen to win the coveted Five Star designation. He is responsible for the planning and architecture at The Greenbrier Spa (West Virginia) and is the master designer at The Broadmoor resort in Colorado Springs, Colorado, which is home to three of the Five Star winners — The Broadmoor Hotel, The Penrose Dining Room and The Broadmoor Spa. Galyean is the founder and master design conceptualist of The TAG Studio, a group of resort design specialists nationwide. www.tagstudio.com 

Q: How would you describe the design concept for the Buttonwood Grill?

A: The Buttonwood Grill is not a theme restaurant. The restaurant design is simply warm and welcoming, friendly and calming; just a comfortable place to be at ease with family and friends. The bar will be more traditional and more present, a kind of place where people will want to be.

Q: What design elements are you using to convey this?

 A: We’re aiming for authentic Bucks County with some energy. We’re using barn siding in the entrance way and on the exposed bar, also the reception area is tiled with a natural tumbled slate. The carpeting will look and feel like an old nubby sweater. The color palette comes from the stone walls that you see in the Bucks County countryside with earthy tones of tans, muted reds, browns. And, the Buttonwood tree at the front entrance is a color inspiration for the grays and silvers of its trunk–it’s the link into the natural environment as soon as you walk in. 

Q: What would you like guests to experience or how would you like them to feel when they are dining at the Buttonwood?

A: We would like people to feel like they belong here and that they want to linger and enjoy themselves. We are using design elements that won’t be chaotic or compete with your companions for your attention. We are mining a number of elements that Earl Jamison already had here in the Village, for instance, we are using the walnut bar from the Spotted Hog on the Buttonwood’s back bar. And we’re recycling items that were already on property such as slate for the reception desk and a bench that will be in the reception area. We have selected some old black and white photos of the local area from the archives of the New Hope Historical Society for the walls throughout the restaurant.

Q: What are some of the unique challenges of this space for you as a designer?

A: In designing anything, what you don’t do is just as important as what you do. As in music, it’s the spaces between the notes that are also an important part of the composition. Over my 40-year career, I learned where to make the effort and where not to, which is important as we transform this space from the former restaurant concept. For example, in the tavern room, the consensus was that the stone was too contemporary but we did not want to remove it so we just did something very simple–added some crown molding which changed the feel of the stone.

Thanks, TAG, see you on opening day! Next week, we’ll talk with Director of Restaurants Jim Perillo, who is leading the culinary team creating the new food and beverage offerings.

Look for the "Tipsy Tavern" Pound Cake featured on the Cock 'n Bull menu

Three dozen contestants competed on January 21 at the Cock ‘n Bull Restaurant for the chance to have their original cake featured on the menu in honor of the 50th Anniversary. The judges for the contest included Kerry Burns of Town Crier Bakery, Cock ‘n Bull Executive Chef Kevin Nagle and award-winning pastry chef and teacher Debi Lang. The second place went to Donna Zalewski of New Hope, PA for her Apple Almond Cake. Christine Mitchell-Kenney of Upper Black Eddy, PA placed third for her White Buttermilk Cake.

Diane said that her cake was inspired by a vintage whiskey and molasses pound cake served in pubs since the early 1900s. Her recipe substitutes amaretto and brown sugar for those original ingredients.

“This change has given the cake a wonderful light almond flavor & perfect density that’s been a hit with our family and friends at many birthday and holiday parties,” said Diane.  

The Town Crier Bakery will produce the personal-sized “Tipsy Tavern” Pound Cake for the Cock ‘n Bull’s dessert menu from February 14 through December 2012. If you were born in 1962, please join us in 2012 during your 50th birthday month to celebrate your special day with a complimentary dinner at the Cock ‘n Bull Restaurant including “Tipsy Tavern” Pound Cake!

The Cake Recipe Contest kicked off an exciting year of 50^th Anniversary festivities, new events, contests and promotions. For the full schedule and more details on this landmark year, please visit the Peddler’s Village website at http://www.peddlersvillage.com/promotions/50th-anniv/default.aspx or call 215-794-4000.

Peddler’s Village celebrates its 50^th year in 2012, featuring a year-long party, special birthday festivities, new festivals and family events, contests, promotions and signature 50^th anniversary merchandise.

More than 25 million guests have visited Peddler’s Village with family and friends in the past five decades. Guests, old and new, can look forward to appreciating treasured memories with vintage photo and memory contests, memorabilia displays, community reunions and celebrations throughout 2012. The month of June is the Birthday Celebration Month, filled with events including a Customer Appreciation event, a Family Reunion and the most spectacular Celebration of Freedom ever!

Earl Jamison started Peddler’s Village in June 1962 with 14 shops and the Cock ‘n Bull Restaurant on a 4-acre parcel of land known as “Antique Town” that included only a chicken barn, coops, and one antique shop. The Village now hosts 1.5 million guests annually, covers 42 acres and features 70 specialty shops, 6 restaurants, Giggleberry Fair family entertainment center, the Golden Plough Inn and 12 major festivals and events.

A major highlight of the year’s celebration will be the Peddler’s Village Rube Goldberg Challenge in honor of our 50th anniversary and founder Earl Jamison who loved Rube Goldberg machines. Inspired by cartoonist Rube Goldberg, the Peddler’s Village Rube Goldberg Challenge invites anyone to design and build a machine that uses the most complex process to complete a simple task. The Rube Goldberg Challenge task for 2012 is to blow up and pop a non-inflated balloon in celebration of the Peddler’s Village 50th Anniversary. Rube Goldberg’s grandchildren and Philadelphia television personality Don Polec will make special guest appearances as celebrity judges of the competition!

Countless visitors over the decades have enjoyed the award-winning gardens of Peddler’s Village. In honor of our horticultural heritage, Peddler’s Village will launch the multi-year program 50 Trees for 50 Years.  Please join us in 2012 as we begin the selection of 50 beautiful trees to enhance our Bucks County landscape.

The shops of Peddler’s Village will launch a 50 Weeks of Shopping campaign on January 1, highlighting their unique merchandise, services and locally made products with fun events and promotions that recognize the anniversary and thank our community of loyal shoppers.

For 50 years, families have chosen to spend their special moments at Peddler’s Village. If you were born in 1962, please join us in 2012 on your 50th birthday to celebrate your special day with a complimentary dinner in the Cock ‘n Bull Restaurant.

The full year’s schedule and more details on this landmark year will be posted on our website at http://www.peddlersvillage.com/promotions/50th-anniv/default.aspx.

President Washington and First Lady Martha Washington Day will return to Peddler’s Village on February 20 for Presidents’ Day 2012.

Peddler’s Village presents the debut of the annual Evening in the Colonial Kitchen on Monday, January 2, 2012 at the Cock ‘n Bull Restaurant.

Evening in the Colonial Kitchen is entering its 33rd year as the region’s most entertaining and educational historical dinner series. Peddler’s Village presents this popular and interactive food event every Monday evening from January through March, 5-9 p.m.

The series features two different colonial-era characters each week from the American Historical Theater and a savory menu of authentic colonial cuisine. The actors share fascinating tales of America’s early days while dinner guests interact with food historians preparing their four-course, 18^th-century style dinner over a roaring fire. Learn the secrets of baking pies in a Dutch oven, roasting beef on a “clock-work jack” or in a “tin kitchen,” cooking fish laced into a plank, sautéing Maryland crab in a “spider,” as well as baking breads and Johnny cakes. Guests may select a generous sampling of two out of eight hearty main courses or one favorite entrée, and then take home the keepsake menu along with a pamphlet of Colonial recipes. The total immersion into colonial life would not be complete without period musical entertainment throughout the evening provided by the spirited 18th-century musical duo, Marianne and Tom Tucker.

For the 2012 Schedule of Colonial Characters, please click here

To view the menu of Colonial cuisine, please click here

Evening in the Colonial Kitchen is particularly suited for families and school groups. Group dinners for organizations or businesses may also be arranged. The cost is $21.95 for adults and $10.95 for children 10 and under (beverages not included.)  Reservations are recommended, please call 215-794-4000 for reservations and more information.

Peddler’s Village will be opening a new restaurant called The Buttonwood Grill, honoring a familiar and much loved name in the spirit of Peddler’s Village’s 50^th anniversary.

Our late founder Earl Jamison purchased the Buttonwood Inn in the mid 1980s and operated it for a few years before renovating the space to open The Golden Plough Inn and The Spotted Hog in 1989. After almost 20 years of operation, The Spotted Hog closed and was reopened as Sweet Lorraine’s Cafe and Bar in 2008. We thank you for your patronage and support of Sweet Lorraine’s which is closing at the end of dinner on New Year’s Day, January 1, 2012. The new restaurant will open in the space previously occupied by Sweet Lorraine’s. 

The Buttonwood Grill will offer burgers, pizzas, salads and entrees along with beer, wine and cocktails and be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day.  Stay tuned for more information about our opening in the spring of 2012!

Welcome the holidays and the arrival of Santa and Mrs. Claus at the annual Peddler’s Village Christmas Festival on Saturday, December 3, 2011, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (shops open until 9 p.m.), and Sunday, December 4, 2011, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.  Free admission and parking.

Santa and Mrs. Claus will arrive at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday as part of an old-fashioned parade through the Village.  The Central Bucks East Marching Band will lead the parade accompanied by local Girl Scout Troops. Other parade participants and live festival entertainment will include the Season’s Greetings Eagles Pep Band, Spiced Punch Singers (Victorian carolers), and Stiltwalker. Following the parade, Santa will entertain children and their holiday wish lists at his indoor workshop, located in Giggleberry Fair.

A “must see” for visitors is the 31st Annual Gingerbread House Competition and Display, featuring more than 100 incredible creations of gingerbread and confection in the Village Gazebo.  The spectacular display will be open through January 7, 2012. Admission is free and the display is open during shopping hours.

Hot mulled cider, heated in an old fashioned kettle, will be sold on the Main Green, along with complimentary marshmallows for toasting.  The Village will be festively decorated for the holidays with Victorian fruit wreaths and greenery. Strolling musicians entertain visitors with holiday favorites throughout the weekend. By evening, one million twinkling lights will transform the Village into a winter wonderland.

For more information on Peddler’s Village holiday activities, please visit the website at http://www.peddlersvillage.com/ or call the Peddler’s Village Hospitality Center at 215-794-4000.

Light up your holiday season at the Peddler’s Village Grand Illumination Celebration, Friday, November 18, 2011, 6 p.m.-10 p.m. The 31st Annual Gingerbread House Competition and Display in the Village Gazebo also debuts on November 18. 

Don’t miss the magical moment when the Village is transformed into a dazzling wonderland. At 6:15 pm, Santa Claus “switches on” the display of one million jewel-colored lights to kick off the holidays and his weekend visits with children at Giggleberry Fair.

Enjoy festive music and complimentary refreshments throughout the evening. Hot cider, heated in an old fashioned kettle, will be served with marshmallows toasted over an open fire. Strolling musicians will perform holiday favorites throughout the evening.

After the ceremony, children can share their secret wish lists with Santa at Giggleberry Fair. Santa will entertain children at his indoor workshop, located in Giggleberry Fair from November 18 through December 23, Friday through Sunday.

 The 31^st Annual Gingerbread House Competition and Display in the Village Gazebo will feature more than 100 incredible creations of gingerbread and confection. Admission is free and the display will be open through January 7, 2012.

Visitors are also invited to preview the merchants’ distinctive choices for holiday gift giving to kick off the Merchants Open House weekend, November 18-20.  Village shopkeepers will welcome visitors with refreshments and something for everyone on your gift list on Friday, Nov. 18, until 10 p.m. The Village’s extended holiday shopping hours are November 18 through December 30, Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday.

For more information on Peddler’s Village holiday activities, please visit the website at http://www.peddlersvillage.com/ or call the Peddler’s Village Hospitality Center at 215-794-4000.

Busy life leaving you no time to slave away in the kitchen for days before Thanksgiving?

Relax, you can still serve a delicious Thanksgiving meal! Impress your guests and let Earl’s do all the work. Your ready to serve feast features a juicy and tender bird, all natural and additive-free from Bolton Farm in Bucks County.

Receive a complimentary pie if you reserve and pay for your Thanksgiving Feast to Go by November 15. Just call Earl’s Bucks County at 215-794-4020 and mention My Village Insider to receive your free choice of an apple, pumpkin or pecan pie.

Earl’s Thanksgiving Feast to Go includes:

• Bolton Farm Tom Turkey, giblet gravy
• butter whipped mashed potatoes
• apple sage dressing
• green beans, toasted almonds
• candied ginger yams
• cranberry chutney
• choice of apple, pumpkin or pecan pie
• assorted rolls

Thanksgiving Feast Prices (tax not included):

4-7 people  $170 (includes choice of one pie)

8-12 people $240 (includes choice of two pies)

Ala Carte Options

Add an additional 14/16# Turkey for $75; Cranberry Chutney $4.00 per pint; Giblet Gravy $8 per quart; Seasonal Pies $18 each

Butter Whipped Mashed Potatoes  Medium (4-7)  $9.00; Large (8-12)  $17.00

Apple Sage Dressing  Medium (4-7) $12.00; Large (8-12) $22.00

Green Beans, toasted Almonds  Medium (4-7) $12.00; Large (8-12) $22.00

Candied Ginger Yams Medium (4-7) $12.00; Large (8-12) $22.00

Easy and convenient curbside pick-up on Thanksgiving Day from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.at the rear of Earl’s. All orders must be received by Sunday, November 20 and are subject to the 72 hour cancellation notice. To order, please call 215-794-4020.