The new Thunderhead Lodge, 2520 W. Penn Pike, West Penn Township, at the top of the Blue Mountain, is serving up fresh, rustic cuisine and a selection of signature cocktails for all - from Appalachian Trail hikers to area locals, commuters driving by to recreational visitors - to enjoy.

Assistant General Manager Joshua Coates discussed the lodge’s future plans and the new cocktail menu.

Coates brings with him managerial, bar and cocktail design experience from stints at Notch Modern Kitchen and Bar in Allentown, Top Cut Steakhouse in Center Valley, and several establishments in Denver, Colo.

“I had been looking to pursue other opportunities, given the chance to do some reflecting with everything going on, and I responded to an ad,” Coates said.

“I really hit it off with Meredith (Prange, owner) and I immediately knew I enjoyed working with them.”

The staff is working to mitigate any potential concerns about cleanliness and safety, and is generally serving around 500 guests per week, which he considers “a pretty good number considering the circumstances.”

“We’re between two counties, and between the local community and the people who come to this area to recreate, I think there’s a tremendous amount of potential.”

Coates said the lodge is working on revamping the lodge’s cocktail scene.

“We do a tremendous amount of sales from our bar,” Coates explained, noting even though patrons are not able to sit at the bar with the current health guidelines, sales have remained as good as they were before.

Coates is bringing something unique and signature to the Thunderhead Lodge.

He noted he specializes in running restaurants, and hyper-specializes in cocktail programs.

“This is as approachable as a beer-and-a-shot kind of place, but with an experience you could also enjoy in a place like Manhattan, or LA, or something like that in regards to the quality of the cocktails we’re putting out.”

Coates highlighted several of the lodge’s cocktails including the blueberry mojito and the Just Right - bourbon, elderflower liqueur, Ramazzotti amaro, rhubarb, lemon juice and prosecco.

“[The blueberry mojito] is one of our most popular drinks right now … a modern classic cocktail, it’s refreshing; its enjoyable,” Coates said.

He said as with the lodge’s menu items, all bar ingredients are made in-house, from the walnut and pecan orgeat - a French nut syrup - to a butter, corn and chipotle syrup featured in the Trail Magic cocktail with tequila, mezcal, angostura bitters and an ancho chili liqueur.

“We live in a really dynamic demographic from your farmer, to your blue-collar guy, to a community that’s actually been invaded by people from Brooklyn and people who have had a tremendous opportunity to travel and experience things differently,” Coates said.

“People want this kind of thing, it’s just sometimes hard to find it.”

Additionally, Coates said the lodge’s beer selection plans to have several staples on tap as well as six rotating taps highlighting craft beers and a focus on being “as local as possible, not just PA but as close to our address as possible as well,” and added that the wine selection will also be elevated to “hopefully turn some people onto something new.”

Heading Thunderhead Lodge’s dining operations is Executive Chef Michael Yount, who brings 25 years of culinary experience across a variety of different styles including Italian, French and Eurocentric bistro cuisine.

“I worked under Chefs Marino Zazzerra, Dominic Zazzerra for 10 years,” he said. “I worked under other chefs, and eventually came here.

“They were opening this lodge up on the mountaintop, so I applied for the job and came here to help them open up the new place.”

Yount started at Thunderhead Lodge in early March just before the coronavirus forced restaurants to drastically alter their service models.

“Literally, I was hired a week before the collapse,” he said, adding that the pandemic has had a significant impact on operations.

“It’s very difficult, extremely different from other openings and startups,” he explained. “First of all, nobody was going out to eat, so we had to completely stop any kind of operation involving indoor eating.”

Yount said he remotely worked on creating the lodge’s menu from home, “crossing the ‘t’s’ and dotting all the ‘i’s’ until we were able to actually get back in here and start working.”

He noted that the original menu plan was specifically geared toward traditional indoor dining, but once the lodge opened for takeout-only service, “We shifted a lot of the menu items to more sandwiches, hot wings, those types of things, more takeout-friendly stuff rather than entrees.”

Yount described Thunderhead Lodge’s cuisine as American-bistro style which draws from his culinary experiences.

“I’m more of a bistro-style, French country cooking style,” he said.

Thunderhead Lodge offers a variety of appetizers, salads, sandwiches, bistro plates and homemade entrees, including jambalaya, Chicken Francaise, pappardelle Bolognese and eggplant rollatini.

All are available for in-house dining or takeout.

“We got burgers. We have pulled pork sandwiches,” Yount said.

“For entrees we have braised short rib. We have nicer items like crabcakes and ‘surf-and-turf,’ that kind of thing.”

At the moment, the most popular selling items are comfort food.

“People love comfort; meatloaf, macaroni and cheese, hot wings - that kind of stuff.”

Work has been steady, although the lodge’s supply chain has been affected by the coronavirus.

“Months ago, it was harder to get pork; it was harder to get chicken; it was harder to get beef,” Yount said, “It’s starting to pan out a little better now. The supply chain is starting to fill out a little bit better … but it was hard to get things at first.”

All members of the kitchen staff are wearing masks, gloves and keeping appropriate social distance.

“Food safety is always an issue to begin with, let alone with COVID around, so it’s just an added thing on there. Food safety is very important,” Yount explained.

He said even with a smaller staff the kitchen has been running relatively smoothly, and business has been increasing since takeout ordering began in late April.

“Me as a chef, I’m trying always new items - specialty items, feature items - trying out the area to see what flavors people like in the area,” he said. “We’ll play it by ear, and it’s looking good.”