Ice Bar, Take Two: Pegsicle Reborn

It was a good plan: Give an amateur ice carver (Peter Woolsey) some chainsaws, a set of Japanese ice chisels and a whole lot of ice in the middle of a Philadelphia winter and let him go nuts carving an ice bar outside of La Peg. There would be cocktails, mulled wine, a shot luge. The cold days and freezing nights would keep the whole thing together for a couple weeks at least, just so long as…the temperatures…uh…

Yeah. It’s like 97 degrees outside or whatever right now. And it hasn’t exactly been frigid lately either. So guess what happened? The bar melted. Fast. It was supposed to last two weeks. Needless to say, it didn’t quite make it.

So now, Woolsey is trying again. Which makes this Pegsicle 2: The Re-Carvening.

So here’s the deal: It’s supposed to be cold tonight. There’s supposed to be snow and low temperatures and all that other stuff that’s supposed to be a part of winter. And tomorrow, February 9, at 5pm, Woolsey is having more ice delivered and he’s going to do the whole thing again–carve a new bar, make the shot luge, et cetera. As before, it will feature mulled wine, spiked hot cocoa, canned beer, shots. There’s cornhole and a giant Jenga set outside. And this time, he’s just hoping that Pegsicle (which is the name of the bar, of course) will last until Valentine’s Day.

So here’s to second chances and lowered expectations. Perfect Valentine’s Day sentiments.

Oh, and here’s something else, too. Assuming that everything goes wrong with the second ice bar (because this just seems to be the year for everything going wrong, doesn’t it?), there’s still this to look forward to: On February 22, La Peg will be showing Goodfellas and Woolsey will be cooking a menu inspired by the movie.

Awesome, right? Things get going at 7pm. Tickets will run you $85 per person, all in. And here’s what you’ll be eating:

Bread and Olive Oil
Antipasti, including cooked olives, flame-roasted peppers, soppressata, marinated artichokes, fresh marinated mozzarella and pickled giardiniera
Henry Hill’s Meat Gravy, ziti with beef cheek, pork butt, veal shank, tomato gravy and parmesan cheese
Lightly Fried Veal Cutlets with fried capers, string beans in olive oil and garlic, rosemary potatoes and lemon
Tiramisu

As for booze, you’ll get to serve yourself from bottles of Cutty Sark, Chianti and anisette on the tables throughout the screening.

La Peg [f8b8z]

Goodfellas Dinner [Get tickets here]