Philadelphia’s first pop-up rooftop beer garden debuted last month on an 8,000-square-foot terrace eight stories above the busy streets of Philadelphia.
Le Bok Fin, a temporary rooftop restaurant, is the first in what’s promised to be a series of creative activations at the long-vacant Edward W. Bok Vocational School in South Philadelphia, which was recently taken over by urban design group Scout to pioneer some visionary-sounding development.
With the goal to fully transform the 340,000 square-foot former vocational school into a mixed-use creative hub dubbed Building Bok, Scout’s plans for the building’s revival come after being selected for the project in September 2014 by the Philadelphia School District and School Reform Commission following a proposal process moderated by the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC).
There is much work to be done on the gritty space, but rather than remain empty, Le Bok Fin has popped up.
The name nods, of course, to the now-shuttered iconic Philadelphia restaurant Le Bec Fin, but also to the original cooking school and student-run cafe at the Bok, which operated as Le Bok Fin — the original sign still remains!
Though September 13, the rooftop pop-up will be open four days a week serving casual French-inspired eats, brews and wine.
Now, additional programming has been added to activate the space even more.
Running each weekend through September 13, the rooftop at Bok serves as an outdoor yoga studio, hosting rooftop yoga classes on Saturday and Sunday mornings.
Both the Saturday and Sunday classes kicks off at 11:30 a.m. and each last an hour. Note that the doors will be locked 15 minutes before each class, so yogis should arrive early. For each class, there is a suggested donation of $10, and a BYO mat and water policy.
The Le Bok Fin rooftop beer garden will be open only to the 21-and-over set and membership is required for entry. Membership cards are free, though, and will be available at the door.
Be advised, too, that the outdoor-only space will not open in inclement weather, so check Twitter for up-to-the-minute info.
Outdoor Yoga at Le Bok Fin
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Check out the view from the eighth-floor terrace at Le Bok Fin, the pop-up rooftop restaurant at South Philly’s Building Bok. (Photo courtesy Building Bok)