Nightlife in Wilkes-Barre

A curving wooden bar and Victorian chairs give Vie de Bohème the ambiance of a 19th-century Parisian bar, one where artists such as Matisse and Toulouse-Lautrec might have passed the time. Visitors lounge in the inviting space as they sip on beer, cocktails, or a selection of wines from around the world or accompany Bordeaux-born host Didier Sudre into the wine library to select bottles to take home or store in a secret wine cellar beneath the Olympic-size whiskey pool. Traditional snacks such as salami, cheeses, and olives complement drinks, small plates like their salmon cakes or pate plate give way to more substantial dishes such as cassoulet make sumptuous dinners. Local bands and pianists who play the in-house grand piano often inspire dancing.

Inside the homey neighborhood gathering place, physical competitions such as football light up TV screens as barkeeps pour on-tap domestic, international, and craft favorites. In the kitchen, multitasking chefs sauté shrimp, slow-smoke barbecue St. Louis ribs, and grill bratwursts and new york strips. The upscale grill fare mixes with comfort food classics, such as meatloaf in mushroom gravy, five-cheese paninis, and juicy burgers crowned with premium toppings. Some nights, guests perform their own renditions of classic tunes during karaoke.

Over the course of more than 200 years, happy shouts have ricocheted among the Palladian columns and bricks walls of what is now The Publick House. Working with expert architects, the brick building, which has served at different times as a hotel, a school, and an unnecessarily large paperweight, was carefully restored. The team rebuilt the original two-story porch and balcony, but also added modern touches such as a coffee bar with refrigerated glass display cases filled with fresh hazelnut, pistachio, and chocolate gelato. In the kitchen, chefs slide pizzas into the brick oven, melting pools of mozzarella and ricotta around toppings such as shrimp and arugula. Nearby, strip steaks crackle, and steam rises from pots of rose-colored vodka sauce. Glasses of martinis chirp together in toasts, punctuating the sounds of live music, and bartenders pour Orval ale, one of a small number of beers imported to United States from Trappist monasteries in Europe.