On Thursday, the Bethlehem Café, which offers “fast, healthy food from local sources”, opens second place in the Lehigh Valley

The Bethlehem eatery, which offers “fast, healthy local food,” is expanding its business in the Lich Valley.

Zekraft, which opened its first brick café in September at 306 S. New St. on the south side of Bethlehem, plans to open its second place on Thursday at Simon’s Silk Factory in Easton, the business said in a statement. ‘Facebook page. The new location will be at Simon Boulevard, 1247. N107.

The venture is a kind of return home for owners Zika Zelker, a local director, and his wife Elaine Zelker, a photographer and brand strategist. The couple were one of the first business owners to open a store at Simon’s Silk Factory in 2016, and the duo still keep the studios in place.

“We are undermined by the support we have received from the Bethlehem community,” Elaine said this winter, announcing the enlargement. “We have managed to build a good business thanks to our amazing employees and customers.”

At Zekraft’s original location, on the ground floor of the Gateway in Greenway Park – a six-story multi-purpose building measuring 125,000 square feet on Third and New Streets, customers can enjoy specialty beverages such as organic coffee, espresso, tea. and frappe, as well as inventive cuisine that includes soups, salads, tartins (open-face sandwiches) and baked goods.

The business also sells local produce from local farmers and artisans.

“We always want our cafes to have an element of discovery,” Zeke said. “Sure, we’ll always have our core products, but we see a lot of the same customers every day and we always want to offer something new. Our goal was to provide wholesome food, occasionally offering small concessions of local origin. We want to influence the community we serve by offering better options and helping people with food security to eat healthier. ”

The Zelkers launched Zekraft in the summer of 2020, using local commercial cuisine to offer weekly delivery of “deliberately prepared quality restaurant food” to a growing customer base across the Lichai Valley.

The business has the motto “healthy food fast” and produces and oversees “well-cooked foods and kitchenware from the Lichai Valley and beyond”.

“Thanks to the community, we are inspired by rich farms and artisans that make our area unique,” ​​the business mission statement continues. “We choose items consciously, realizing that we offer a healthier option, realizing that we all need to pamper ourselves from time to time.”

The business purchases local bread, produce and other ingredients as much as possible from a dozen partner farms and craftsmen, including Apple Ridge Farm, Scholl Orchards, Hens on the Hill, Nello’s Specialty Meats, Primorida Mushroom Farm, Salvaterra’s Gardens, The Flour Shop and more.

“Because we’re at a farmers market in Istana and because I’ve been shooting a lot with local farmers, I use as many local ingredients as possible,” Zeke said. “If we can’t find something locally, we try to be as organic as possible with what we get.”

The café has a wide selection of soups, including chicken corn soup and mushroom cream, as well as a wide selection of salads, including swan chickpeas, roasted beets, strawberry pecans, tropical shrimp and fried chicken with peach. Environmentally friendly packaging allows you to recycle or reuse containers.

Tartins, which are toasts made from organic Apple Ridge Farms bread baked on firewood, include dishes such as peach, ricotta and honey; ribs, gruyere and caramelized onions; smoked salmon, cream cheese with onions, cucumber and capers; and soft poached egg, lonza (dried pork loin), parmesan and tomato jam.

“We help the community by offering portable and healthy items,” Zeke said. “Virtually everything is made from scratch.”

Zekraft continues to offer home delivery with a menu that changes weekly. Popular items include beef short ribs; minced beef, turkey and smoked gouda; Thai chicken with peanuts; and pan-fried salmon with orange fennel sauce and couscous.

Other highlights of the menu include croissants such as spicy fried carrots, blueberry ricotta and bacon pears vidalia; soups like French onions, truffle asparagus and lobster minestrone; salads such as Asian sliced, coconut chicken and pesto tortellini; and dishes such as beef bourguignon, falafel, tacos mahi mahi, fried eggplant, Mediterranean loin, fried scallops, shrimp and cereals.

Zekraft joins several other Simon Silk Mill food and beverage vendors, including Böser Geist Brewing Co., County Seat Spirits, Easton Wine Project, Owowcow, Separatist Beer Project and Thrive Easton.

For more information, visit zekraft.com.