While Ruby's Kitchen in Pottsville has been providing a "grandma's kitchen with a twist" atmosphere with fresh, local and simple food for more than a year, it now has a new chef who is planning some new twists in its offerings.
Joseph Conrad, 26, of Hershey, joined the staff at the restaurant about two weeks ago as the new chef.
Ruby's Kitchen, 212 S. Second St., which opened in January 2012, is owned by Carol and Brian Tassone and is named after her grandmother, Ruby, who passed away at 93 years old and was a special person in her life.
Conrad, originally from the Jim Thorpe area, said he has been cooking for 10 years at many upscale restaurants between the Lehigh Valley and Central Pennsylvania.
Previous positions he has held include executive chef at the Cellar in Camp Hill and culinary guide at the Hotel Hershey's Circular Dining Room.
"I'm really enjoying another opportunity to kind of shine on my own," Conrad said Thursday. "There are a lot of cook's jobs out there but there are very few chef's jobs. Carol's really let me have full run of the kitchen and free range for dinner. It's pretty much my show, which is great."
Starting tonight, Ruby's Kitchen will start its new three-course Prix Fixe Dinners with its new chef, who will use fresh and local ingredients.
While Carol Tassone said it will be a prefixed menu, there will still be a few choices and this weekend's menu has five different appetizers and entrees to choose from and many more desserts.
Some of the items on the menu include sausage and kale soup garnished with rosemary oil; steamed mussels with garlic, shallots, fresh parsley, whole grain mustard and Yuengling Lord Chesterfield Ale; duck leg confit over a carrot puree with grilled asparagus with a blueberry gastrique; whole roasted fish with couscous, sweet pea puree and garnished with rosemary oil; and bouillabaisse, a classic French fish stew with tomato, fennel, garlic, mussels, scallops, crab and shrimp with crusty garlic bread.
"Anything that we can get that's less than 100 miles is great," Conrad said. "Even the trout for the whole fish comes from Lebanon County."
The menu will also accommodate vegetarians with a mushroom and pea risotto and there are numerous house-made deserts such as bread pudding, cider cake donuts and sorbets and ice cream.
The dinners, $40 per person, will be limited to 16 people with advance reservations required and there will be two seatings available at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. today and Saturday.
Each week the menu will change for the weekend dinners.
"With it being such a close-knit, smaller room, it's great customer interaction," Conrad said. "I can see someone's reaction when they eat something right away and know if they either love it or hate it. Hopefully, it's all love."
In addition to the Prix Fixe Dinners that will change menus and will be held weekly, the restaurant is also going to start "Ruby's Kitchen School" next month.
"Every month we're going to switch it up to teach how to make vinaigrette salad dressings, sauces, homemade pastas, safe serving in the kitchen - do you know how many people die from food bourne illnesses in a year? - deboning chicken, cutting your own filets and just touching base on tons of things," Tassone said. "It's a great date day.
The first of the cooking classes, that will be held once a month, will be at 2:30 p.m. April 21, which Tassone said will coincide with the seventh annual Block of Art slated for April 19 to 21.
Block of Art transforms downtown Pottsville's indoor spaces into a premier gallery walk with multiple indoor venues, art exhibits, performances and workshops, and also features outdoor music and events.
According to a flier from Ruby's, the first class will feature "a simple Spanish tapas dinner party menu with wine pairings."
Conrad will be walking participants through four dishes that are easy to prepare.
The classes will be hands-on demonstrations complete with recipe cards, grocery lists and wine pairings for each course.
"I think this open kitchen is perfect for this because Conrad can keep it small scale and everybody can work hands on," Tassone said.
Some of the things participants will learn that afternoon is how to make a tomato bruschetta, homemade mayonnaise for dipping roasted or fried potatoes, a saffron scented paella, which is a rice dish that goes with seafood or chicken, and a Spanish rice pudding with hints of lemon and cinnamon.
As with the dinners, class sizes will be limited so reservations are required and prices will change depending on what will be taught and made.
"Towards the middle of the summer, I'd like to do a canning, pickling and jellies class as well," Conrad said. "So few people do that themselves anymore. It's kind of a lost art."
For more information about the dinners or cooking classes, call 570-581-8772 or visit "Ruby's Kitchen & Catering" on Facebook.