There’s still time to check out the Black Lagoon pop-up bar at Night Train on The Landing, 135 W. Columbia St. It could be called “Fright Train” for the next few weeks.
The speakeasy-styled basement bar becomes a diabolical dungeon decked out in Halloween decor and serves up creepy cocktails and scary spirits through the end of the month.
It’s a finely tuned nightly adult Halloween party concept adopted by a few dozen bars and nightclubs in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.
Black Lagoon was voted as the best Pop-Up in North America in 2023.
Getting into Christmas spirit
The themes continue downtown following Halloween, as Night Train becomes Sippin’ Santa, while Miracle on Jefferson returns to Cooper Spoon, 301 W. Jefferson Blvd.
So what is Sippin’ Santa, which will be from Nov. 27-Dec. 28? Imagine a supercharged holiday party that’s dunked in the colors, sights, sounds, and other sensations of the season. Now, take that one step further with Christmas cocktails and other drinks that, well, get you in the spirit. The pop-up bar started in 2014 in New York City’s East Village, when a bar owner was inspired to create a temporary over-the-top Christmas bar. The concept grew to about 250 locations around the world. At Sippin’ Santa, you’ll find specially themed drinks like Holiday on Ice (a vodka, dark-roast brew, condensed milk, and ancho chile liqueur mash-up) and Merry Spritzmas (a combination of Prosecco, apéritif, cognac, lemon, and figs).
Miracle on Jefferson has aptly named creations like the Christmapolitan (vodka, elderflower, vermouth, and cranberries), Snowball Old-Fashioned (rye whiskey, gingerbread, and aromatic and wormwood bitters), and Rudolph’s Replacement (a vodka and coffee liqueur with white creme).
Miracle and Sippin’ Santa serve their drinks in limited-edition glassware and holiday mugs, which are available for purchase only at the pop-ups.
Creators of both pop-ups, which are presented by Miracle Cocktails, who tease, “This holiday season is ready to sleigh!”
Bakery opening on West Main Street
Caking at Midnight, 1202 W. Main St., will host their grand opening Saturday, Oct. 19, from 10 a.m.-8 p.m.
They’ve been baking for more than a decade, and now they are expanding into the space formerly occupied by Chimney Cakes.
Like, their bakery’s name suggests, Allison and Josh Lewis grew their business while their children slept. About five years ago they took a step into making it a business.
TinCaps donate to Harvest Food Bank
If you grabbed pork tenderloin at Parkview Field this season, you contributed to a local food bank.
The Fort Wayne TinCaps, who sometimes take on the alternate identity of the Hoosier State Tenderloins, contributed 575 pounds of pork to Community Harvest Food Bank. That amounts to 2,294 sandwiches purchased during their annual series from June 20-22.
Community Harvest Food Bank says the donation will help more than 2,000 people locally.
Pumpkin custard returns to Culver’s
The Pumpkin Fresh Frozen Custard has returned to the menu at Culver’s.
Diners can grab a pumpkin spice shake and the salted caramel pumpkin concrete mixer through December.
Off the Eaten Path is the Whatzup weekly column that covers Northeast Indiana’s restaurant and food news. Send your news items to info@whatzup.com.
