The rooftop of the popular Pittston dining destination will be full of fine food, tobacco, and booze later this month…
Rikasa is bringing bourbon, cigars, and a smokehouse-inspired menu to Rooftop 53 this summer.
The downtown Pittston restaurant has announced Ember & Oak: A Bourbon & Cigar Dinner, scheduled for Thursday, July 30, on its rooftop dining level. The evening begins at 6 p.m. and includes five bourbon tastings, a five-course dinner, a premium cigar, and access to a rooftop cigar lounge after the meal.
What makes the event compelling isn’t simply the bourbon lineup. It’s the menu built around it.
The evening opens with candied ginger sweet potato fries paired with Buffalo Trace, a combination that leans into the bourbon’s familiar caramel and vanilla notes. From there, guests move to orange bourbon-glazed wings paired with Woodford Reserve Double Oaked, a course that layers citrus, sweetness and oak without becoming overly rich.
The third course may be the most balanced of the evening: crispy prosciutto burrata salad paired with Angel’s Envy. Creamy burrata and salty prosciutto provide contrast to the softer, smoother profile of the bourbon.
Then comes the centerpiece.
Coffee-rubbed smoked ribs paired with Old Forester 1920 push the menu firmly into smokehouse territory. It’s a pairing built on char, spice, oak and smoke—the kind of combination that feels obvious only because it works so well.
Dessert closes the meal with grilled peach cobbler topped with vanilla bean ice cream and whiskey caramel sauce, paired with Maker’s Mark 46. Peaches, bourbon, vanilla, and caramel have long shared the same vocabulary, and the final course embraces it.
The dinner also includes an Arturo Fuente Gran Reserva cigar, while guests can upgrade to a Romeo y Julieta Reserva Real or Padron 2000 Natural for an additional charge.
The setting is a significant part of the draw.
Since opening Rooftop 53 in 2022, owner Rob Friedman and the Friedman Hospitality Group have created one of Northeastern Pennsylvania’s most distinctive dining spaces. Located above Rikasa’s main dining room and The Joint 53 speakeasy, the rooftop offers views of downtown Pittston and the surrounding valley while maintaining year-round service through its enclosed design.
The addition helped transform Rikasa from a single restaurant into a multi-level hospitality destination. Guests can move between upscale dining, craft cocktails, live entertainment, and rooftop seating without ever leaving the building.
That growth mirrors the broader story of downtown Pittston itself.
Over the last decade, the city has steadily developed into one of the region’s most active dining destinations. New restaurants, bars, and specialty concepts have helped turn Main Street into a draw for diners from across Northeastern Pennsylvania. Rikasa has become one of the anchors of that scene.
Its regular menu blends Italian influences with seafood, steaks, and seasonal specials, but themed events have increasingly become part of its identity. The bourbon and cigar dinner feels like a natural extension of that approach—an evening built around a specific experience rather than simply another dinner service.
For guests, the appeal is straightforward: recognizable bourbons, a menu designed to complement them, and a rooftop setting that feels tailor-made for a summer evening in Pittston.
