Tag Archives: Mangia Qui

Cry Fowl: It’s duck season in Harrisburg.

January 31, 2018 | by Rosemary Ruggieri Baer

In the early years of my marriage, which corresponded to the beginning of my life as a cook, I was drawn to French cooking. It seemed glamorous, I suppose, and very different from the humble Italian food on which I was raised.

Back in the early 1970s, French restaurants were very popular and considered the best places to find “gourmet food” or “haute cuisine.” With Julia Child, the famous French chef, as my guide, I tried my hand at many French favorites including:

Coquilles St. Jacques (tiny bay scallops bathed in a rich cream sauce)
Sole Meniere (crispy white fish filets cooked with lemon and butter)
Onion Soup (served in special crocks and smothered on top with melted Gruyere cheese)
Soufflés (puffy savory or sweet concoctions made with whole eggs and beaten egg whites—I tried lemon and cheese.)
Cassoulet (hearty casserole of sausages, beans and often duck)
Ratatouille (a tasty vegetable stew, not the movie!)
Coq a Vin (a slow cooked stew of chicken on the bone with white or red wine, mushrooms and bacon)
Quiche Lorraine (egg and bacon pie)
Boeuf Bourguignon (beef and red wine stew with carrots and potatoes)
Steak au Poivre (strip steak with crushed peppercorns, brandy and cream)

My husband loved snails (or escargot—and still does), but I refrained from trying those at home.

My favorite French food usually involved duck, especially “Duckling a l’Orange,” one of the best-loved dishes of French cuisine. It is duck roasted with butter, oranges and Grand Marnier, the wonderful cognac and orange liqueur.

I have been finding fresh duckling with increasing frequency at my local farmers’ market, both whole birds and breasts. And some of our favorite Harrisburg restaurants are currently offering several delectable duck entrees:

Mangia Qui: grilled Moulard duck breast with tawny port cherry sauce and saffron
Note Bistro and Wine Bar: pan-seared duck breast with spice butternut squash puree and pecan barley
Home 231: pan-seared duck breast with root vegetables and pickled apple

So, I decided it was time to re-visit “duck cooking” in my own kitchen. I searched through my stash of cookbooks and found one of my favorite old recipes: “Roast Duck with Sour Cherries,” a perfect choice to brighten a cold February night. It is from a 1968 version of The New York Times Cookbook and is worth a try (maybe to celebrate Valentine’s Day?). Cooking duck is no harder than roasting a chicken, but you just might find a new love.

Roast Duck with Sour Cherries

Ingredients

1 duck (5-6 pounds)
½ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
Pinch of thyme (dried)
2 small onions, sliced
I medium carrot, sliced
1 can pitted sour cherries (not drained)
½ cup port wine (ruby port is best)
1 teaspoon cornstarch

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Season the inside of the duck with salt, pepper and half the onion slices. Remove the giblets if still in the bird.
Prick skin with a small knife or fork (this will allow some of the fat to drain from the bird).
Place the duck, breast-side up, in a heavy roasting pan and place the remaining sliced onion and carrot around it.
Roast for 15 to 20 minutes at this higher heat to brown the duck. Then reduce the heat to 350 degrees.
Roast for 1 to 1½ hours or until a meat thermometer inserted into the breast registers 140 degrees (timing will depend on the size on the duck). Remove duck to a warm platter and cover with foil to keep warm.
Remove all but 1 tablespoon of fat from the pan. You can use a spoon or pour all the pan juices into a fat-separator measuring cup. The sauce can be made right in the roasting pan or in a little saucepan.
Drain the juice from the canned cherries. Add it, along with the port wine, to the pan juices and bring the mixture to a boil.
Add the cornstarch, dissolved into a little cold water, and heat until thickened. Finally, add the cherries to the sauce and heat through.

Slice the duck just as you would a roast chicken and serve with the sauce. Duck is so good paired with wild or brown rice and a bright green vegetable like broccoli or broccoli rabe. And while you might be used to drinking white wine with “fowl,” you will find that, because duck is fatty, red wine such as pinot noir, merlot or Barolo are a much better match.

I remain a devotee of Italian cooking. But, every once in a while, I love to wander into the wonderful world of French cooking. Besides, Italians cook duck too!

I’ve Got a Secret: Some of the best places in Harrisburg are worth searching out.

October 31, 2017 | by Lawrance Binda

Illustration by Rich Hauck

This column started with a sandwich.

Last month, I was in Strawberry Square, sitting at one of those high tops near the Little Amps coffee kiosk, when newly minted Harrisburg Councilman Dave Madsen walked by. We chatted for a few minutes, and then he asked me about the awesome sandwich I was about to bite into.

“It’s a ‘Chestnut Street’ from Ciao! Bakery,” I said.

Madsen knew of Ciao’s baked goods, but didn’t know they also were in the sandwich business.

“One of the best-kept secrets in Harrisburg,” I responded.

After encouraging Madsen to break his Subway sandwich habit, I thought about other places I regarded as well-kept Harrisburg secrets—some hidden in plain sight and some plain hidden. These may not surprise certain people (for instance, the outstanding sandwiches at Ciao! are probably not news to nearby office workers), but they don’t seem to have the broader recognition they deserve, especially among newcomers to our city.

Let’s start on Allison Hill, which, to the flatland dwellers along the river, can be one big mystery.

Allison Hill is rich with great places to visit—from authentic cuisine at Mexico Lindo and Tacos La Barca to the stunning beauty of Reservoir Park and Harrisburg Cemetery. However, I’d like to focus on two: Matangos Candies and the Asia Mall.

Matangos Candies emphatically breaks the old rule of success: location, location, location. To get there, you have to wind your way through a residential section of South Allison Hill that’s seen better days, at which point you think to yourself, “This can’t be right. I must be lost.”

But there it is, a simple brick-and-clapboard building on the corner of S. 15th and Catherine streets. Mantangos, run by the same family and located in the same place (their house) since 1947, is a genuine throwback. But the candy is homemade, delicious and, to my knowledge, unavailable anywhere outside of this odd location that you have to hunt down to find. Did your GPS break down? No, you’re just going to Matangos.

A few blocks down S. 13th Street, you run into a place that is easier to locate, but seems just as out of place.

The Asia Mall occupies a chunk of land at the corner of 13th and Sycamore streets, across from a housing project, and is home to a funky Asian market and a few restaurants. Kanlaya is my go-to Thai restaurant in the Harrisburg area, and I feel fortunate that it’s a quick, five-minute drive away. For even more character, check out Bangkok 56, located in a squat little building off of busy Paxton Street, which also dishes up traditional Thai fare.

Since I’m on everyone’s favorite subject—food—let’s explore a few more places back along the river.

The secret’s long out on Alvaro Bread and Pastry Shoppe, as a weekend dinner reservation there can be as tough to get as a glimpse of the Harrisburg beaver. The trick is to go at lunchtime. Skip the sandwiches and bready pizza and head straight for the daily specials, which are similar to the coveted, rustic-style Italian dinner entrees and a good deal, to boot. You won’t need to eat for the rest of the day.

Speaking of deals—my hands-down favorite food deal in Harrisburg is half-priced tacos at Suba, the snug, hip restaurant atop Mangia Qui. How good are Suba tacos? Among the best this taco-lover has ever eaten. Other great secret-not-a-secret deals include ad hoc Monday happy hours at Note Bistro and Thursday pasta nights at Aleco’s.

The Broad Street Market is no one’s idea of hidden, but I want to highlight one vendor that I think gets overlooked amid the head-spinning array of deliciousness pouring out of the stone building. Ougi’s Cocina offers Latin staples like mofongo and empanadas and meat/bean/rice “meals” that weigh more than your average baby. Oh, that pulled pork! Oh, those plantains!

Speaking of the market—we’re all sad that it’s open just three days a week. But you can still get your fix on other days by dropping into an unexpected location, Midtown Cinema, which offers products from several market vendors (Elementary Coffee Co., Raising the Bar) seven days a week. Enjoy your treat in the comfortable lounge, and they won’t even make you buy a ticket.

Since you’re in the vicinity of the cinema, go around back to Zeroday Brewing Co. and ask to sample the chemistry experiment they call “the daily infusion.” Did you ever wonder what an IPA would taste like steeped with dried chipotle peppers, or what happens when you toss some Sour Patch Kids into a saison? You may not like the result—or you may love it—but it’s a fun mystery either way.

My final two secrets stray from gastronomy. I’m sometimes asked about the best free wi-fi in Harrisburg, and I immediately respond, “Capital Joe.” Often, the response is, “Where’s that?” It’s Harrisburg’s lesser-known independent coffee shop, just across Forster Street from the state Archives. Capital Joe has a large back room that may be the best publicly accessible workspace in the city: large desks, excellent wi-fi, proximity to caffeine and often no one else to bother you. So, you can be all alone with your thoughts, your MacBook and your world-changing screenplay.

Lastly, I want to bring you right along the city’s waterfront. There are so many interesting monuments, memorials, nooks and crannies in Riverfront Park that are worth exploring. But, for a greater adventure, journey just beyond the PennDOT building into Phoenix Park.

A little creepy, a little weird, Phoenix Park is the overgrown site of what was once the sprawling Phoenix Steel Corp. (and, before that, Central Iron & Steel Co.). There, you’ll find industrial ruins, lots of nature, people who may be homeless and a few bicyclists taking the long way around the Greenbelt. There’s also what remains of Harrisburg’s 9-11 memorial, a bench or two and fantastic views of the river. It’s a serene break from the busy city nearby, though some people may find it too quiet and remote for their comfort.

In all my years in Harrisburg, I’ve never heard anyone—officials, residents, park workers, no one—mention Phoenix Park, a public park hiding in plain sight along the Susquehanna, the final resting place of the city’s industrial past. That may make it the best-kept secret in Harrisburg.

Lawrance Binda is editor in chief of TheBurg.

Do you have a best-kept secret to share? Email it to our editor at [email protected].

Roma on the Susquehanna: Great stories, food behind 2 of central PA’s finest Italian restaurants.

September 29, 2017 | by Don Helin

Recently, I decided to visit two of the most highly regarded Italian restaurants in central Pennsylvania. They were a long way from one another geographically, but not in quality. Both, in fact, are perennial winners of local restaurant awards.

First, I stopped into Mangia Qui, located in a historic townhouse near the state Capitol in Harrisburg.

About 17 years ago, Rosemarie “Qui Qui” Musarra and her business partners, Staci Basore and Elide Hower, took over the Paper Moon Restaurant space on North Street. Over time, they changed it from a brunch and lunch focus to a lunch and full-course dinner restaurant. They also opened two co-located restaurants, Suba and Rubicon.

“Every day in the restaurant business, challenges present themselves,” Musarra said. “Supervising a restaurant with three active kitchens running simultaneously can be a bit tricky.”

As you go into Mangia Qui, you’ll enter a cozy and relaxing atmosphere. Modern, abstract paintings line the colorful walls and combine with soothing background music. There is a small outdoor patio out front, but, because of the warm summer day, my wife and I decided to eat indoors.

Colleen, a cheerful and knowledgeable server, greeted us and helped us to select our meals. My wife had the “Market Plate,” which included grilled and marinated eggplant and roasted red peppers with mozzarella on top, along with Swiss chard with raisins to add sweetness. I decided on the chicken cacciatore.

To restaurant operators, there are a million moving parts and personalities, and all must be dealt with simultaneously, Basore told me. We could tell they had it down to a science.

As we sat at the table enjoying our raspberry-pomegranate iced tea and listening to the music, I checked out the dinner menu. Choices included “Pasta Nero” (squid ink pasta with cold water lobster tail, shrimp, clams, scallops and mussels), “Spaghetti all’ Ubriaco” (“drunken” spaghetti), “Spezzatin di Vitello” (creamy Parmigiano risotto with julienned veal), and “Saltato alla Puttanesca” (marinated and grilled Mediterranean octopus). Many of their fresh vegetables are locally grown, some even in their own garden.

For dessert, I ordered the double-crusted peach pie with whipped cream, a fantastic choice.

“The restaurant business is one of total dedication,” Basore said. “Many people have a glamorous notion of what a restaurant owner is. I’ve got to say successful people in this business may give the impression of ease, but it takes a heck of a lot of work behind the scenes to make it go. You have to love it. And we all do.”

Country Setting
About an hour north of Harrisburg along Route 11/15 is the bustling college town of Selinsgrove. Founded in 1787 by Capt. Anthony Selin, who fought with George Washington during the American Revolution, you will find Isabella Ristorante, located between several quaint shops, all surrounded by the scenic countryside of central Pennsylvania.

“Our family has been in the restaurant business for years,” said owner Domenico Napoli. “My mother’s family came from Venice, so our heritage and family recipes are all brought from Italy. We hold to that tradition and expertise in preparing our authentic Italian dishes.”

They opened in 2011, selecting Selinsgrove because it’s a unique community nestled in the central part of the Susquehanna Valley, easily accessible to customers from surrounding communities.

Isabella Ristorante is located in an antique bank building that dates back to 1861, offering a bit of historical elegance. Three balconies overlook the space, and the 20-foot-high walls are filled with gold-framed portraits. Linen tablecloths and comfortable chairs complement the beige walls and provide a warm, spacious feeling for diners. The bar is located in the old bank teller’s cage in one corner of the restaurant under a sign that says, “Savings and Loan Department”—the bars are still on the windows.

I decided to try the lobster bisque, a great selection that complemented the homemade rolls and garlic butter. My linguine with clams in a garlic and oil sauce was tasty. For dessert, I bit into a creamy cannoli with whipped cream and chocolate chips.

Soft background music played as we ate, and, at 6 o’clock, a piano player arrived, a regular on Saturday nights. We found he could play almost any song and loved requests.

“For the most part, our challenges have been minimal,” Napoli said. “We are lucky to have excellent suppliers who can provide farm fresh products. We employ experienced staff and ensure the restaurant is pleasing with a comfortable atmosphere. I only wish we had more space for seating.”

Some of Napoli’s favorite dishes are “Fettuccine al Rocco” (homemade fettuccine pasta with mussels, clams, calamari and shrimp in a red sauce), veal piccata (fresh veal cut to order in a lemon and wine sauce with artichoke hearts and capers) and Chilean seabass (blackened seabass over a bed of fresh homemade pasta in a red sauce).

“I believe what sets Isabella apart is our attention to detail, quality of food, creativity of our chefs, and an atmosphere of big city dining in a country setting,” Napoli said. “This brings our customers back.”

Manqia Qui is located at 272 North St., Harrisburg. For more information, call 717-233-7358 or visit www.mangiaqui.com.

Isabella Ristorante is located at 23 S. Market St., Selinsgrove. For more information, call 570-374-0255 or visit their Facebook page.

Cooking with Qui: Rosemary teams up with Harrisburg’s dean of Italian cuisine—and the result is a springtime delight.

April 28, 2017 | by Rosemary Ruggieri Baer

Burg in Focus: Cooking with Qui from GK Visual on Vimeo.

When TheBurg suggested I get together and cook with Qui Qui Musarra, chef/owner of three premier Harrisburg restaurants (Mangia Qui, Suba and Rubicon), I had a few moments of apprehension.

I knew she was extraordinarily busy. And while food is my passion and favorite “pastime,” I am a home cook. I read cookbooks like novels and try to learn as much as I can about Italian food, the cuisine of my heritage. But I am an amateur. I couldn’t imagine Qui would want to make time for something like this, or even had the time.

But, after speaking with her one evening at Rubicon, I sensed she was eager to do it. And, for me, I knew it would be a wonderful adventure and that the resulting column would be a unique addition to the annual food issue of TheBurg.

I was honored for the opportunity to cook with Qui. So, we discussed possible dishes and decided on one that would celebrate spring and all of its bright green vegetables that are with us so briefly. I told her I’d always wanted to cook with fresh fava beans, a broad bean popular in Italian cooking, but have never been able to find them. I also love artichokes and freshly shelled peas and suggested that we might use them, too.

Qui suggested a dish called Roman vignarola, which is a mix of spring vegetables cooked together into a savory stew that can be a meal in itself. In Rome, locally grown artichokes serve as stars of this dish, but I learned that many other combinations of vegetables can be used according to personal preference and availability. We included little Yukon Gold potatoes, which I love, and that added more substance to the dish.

Photo by Dani Fresh

I was a little nervous putting my cooking skills on display, but Qui very kindly gave me some pointers on slicing and chopping and grasping a sharp knife properly. She showed me how to use a mandolin, which is used for making thin and uniform vegetable slices (only one close-to-finger-slicing encounter!). I had many questions for Qui as we began to put the vignarola together:

How do you shell fresh fava beans? (The outer pods and inner skins must be removed.)
Can you substitute baby lima beans if fresh favas are unavailable? (Yes, as favas are hard for the home cook to find.)
What kind of onions should be used, and what is the easiest way to slice them? (Qui used yellow cooking onions, while I usually cook with Vidalia or another sweet onion.)
Do you use any special olive oil? (She used regular extra virgin.)
What type of sauté pan are you using? (Qui used an aluminum skillet but any good, heavy piece of cookware will do.)
Is a mandolin necessary to slice the little potatoes? (Regular slicing with a sharp knife is fine.)
Why do you add water to cook the potatoes instead of just olive oil? (The potatoes absorb the water and oil mixture to become creamy and soft.)

Since we didn’t have artichokes to accompany the potatoes that day, we used fava beans, fresh pod peas, yellow cooking onions, garlic, sliced Italian green beans (my mother called them Roma beans), and lots of chopped fresh herbs. We didn’t measure our ingredients but, in the directions below, I have tried to approximate the amounts we used.

Ingredients

2 medium, yellow cooking onions, cut in half and then sliced into half-moons
1 pound of small Yukon Gold potatoes, unpeeled, and cut into thin slices (either by hand or by using a mandolin)
Several fresh garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 cup of water and about ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil (or more if needed)
About 2 cups shelled, fresh fava beans or frozen baby lima beans
1 to 2 cups of shelled fresh pod peas
1 cup of fresh Italian green beans, sliced into 1-inch pieces
Fresh oregano and chives, chopped
Freshly grated Parmesan Reggiano cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Gently sauté the onions and garlic in the olive oil until softened and golden in color.
Add the sliced potatoes, additional olive oil, water, salt and pepper and cook over medium-low heat until the potatoes are tender.
Add the fava beans, Roma beans and peas, and cook gently until tender and most of the liquid has evaporated. (Do not cover the pan or the vegetables will lose their bright green color.)
Mound the vignarola on an oval platter and shower it with a handful of chopped oregano and chives and freshly grated Parmesan. (Dried herbs will not do!)

Our finished dish was wonderful. Topped with some edible flowers, it seemed like a real celebration of spring (I kept sneaking little spoonfuls hoping no one would notice). How lovely it would be to serve vignarola for a simple lunch with some crusty bread and a cold white wine. It could be part of dinner, too, along with grilled chicken or pan-fried flounder or sole. Qui told us vignarola may soon be making an appearance at one of her restaurants paired with some tender spring lamb.

As my special afternoon with Qui at Rubicon came to an end, I studied the beautiful still life she had set up for TheBurg photographers: the platter of vignarola, a big wedge of Parmesan, a sauce boat of green olive oil, a cheese grater that resembled a witch’s hat and several of the raw ingredients we had used.

The afternoon sun was streaming through the front windows of the lovely bistro that is Rubicon, and I thought how lucky our little city is to have this talented and unique chef in Qui Qui Musarra. Our editor at TheBurg, Larry Binda, once wrote that Harrisburg “needs to do small city well.” Qui certainly does, but I think she could do big city, too.

Author: Rosemary Ruggieri Baer

And The Winners Are… 25 years of the best in Harrisburg arts.

April 28, 2017 | by Lori M. Myers

Jeff Lynch and Bebe Mullaugh were munching on some lunch with Mike Greenwald at Mangia Qui when Greenwald announced to the pair that they would be recipients of an award recognizing their contributions to the area’s cultural life.

“We were surprised and deeply flattered to be in the company of past recipients, many of whom are also friends,” Lynch said later.

Flattered? Yes, and for good reason. The 2017 Awards for Distinguished Service to the Arts in the Capital Region (aka the “Arts Awards”) is now in its 25th year of celebrating extraordinary individuals (Stuart Malina, Lois Lehrman Grass, Steve Rudolph to name a past few) whose magic touch is felt throughout art arenas.

Surprised? The pair, Harrisburg residents, shouldn’t have been. Lynch, a commercial filmmaker, designer, photographer, musician and local impresario, has presented, produced, performed, mentored and supported some of the major music organizations in the region. Mullaugh, an attorney with McNees Wallace & Nurick and president of the Capital Area School for the Arts Charter School, shepherded the plan that led to the school’s creation. She also served as past board member and board chair of Concertante, the chamber music ensemble.

“The level of artistry available to this community is on a strikingly high level and, in many cases, equal to or exceeding many major metros,” Lynch said. “For us, it’s particularly satisfying to provide some degree of support and guidance to aspiring artists as they work to create inspiring work going forward.”

Lynch and Mullaugh will be joined by other honorees whose accomplishments are just as impressive.

The Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet (CPYB) is a recipient this time around, 25 years after its founder, Marcia Dale Weary, received the award for her solo efforts in bringing this Carlisle-based organization worldwide recognition for offering the finest in classical ballet training. Many alumni have gone on to perform as principals, soloists and corps de ballet members in some of the most prestigious ballet companies in the world, including the American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet and National Ballet of Canada.

“Right now, 81 of our dancers are active and performing professionally,” said Nicholas Ade, CPYB’s chief executive officer. “But there are much more than 81 who are lawyers and doctors and working in other professions who have been trained by us, and we are equally proud of both. Dance teaches life skills. It teaches resilience, strength, self-confidence. It creates a more well-rounded person. It creates better lives.”

Despite all sorts of accolades CPYB has received over the decades, receiving this award is special. Ade admits he was thrilled when Greenwald phoned him to let him know that the group would be added to a historic list of arts honorees.

“I was elated,” Ade said. “I immediately called our board members to let them know about this high honor. At the ceremony, we are planning to have our youngest dancers perform and our older current dancers. We will also have a surprise alumni guest.”

Another recipient, Dr. George Orthey of Newport, will be given a special achievement award at the ceremony in June. Orthey is a premier autoharp maker who has had a folk arts award named after him. In fact, he annually hosts the Mountain Laurel Autoharp Gathering at Little Buffalo State Park, where hundreds of autoharpists from around the world arrive for five days of workshops and concerts.

Greenwald, the producer for the event, a noted arts advocate and the bearer of good news for this year’s winners, was himself an honoree last year, though a reluctant one.

“I initially declined it because I didn’t see myself as a candidate,” he said. “I felt my role was as a producer and not wanting or needing to be chosen. After further consideration—and encouragement and sentiments expressed to me by past recipients—I felt terribly honored to be embraced in such a way and ultimately decided to accept.”

Using the Kennedy Center Honors concept, the Arts Awards were initially staged as “Accolades & Applause” by Harrisburg Community Theatre, now Theatre Harrisburg. Barbara L. Schell, a former theater board member, chaired the special events committee when the concept turned into reality.

“So many wonderful people have been involved over the years,” she said. “To that end, the Arts Awards event has continued to evolve over the years from honoring just artists and philanthropists to including corporations and foundations. This award represents their achievements in our community and is a way of saying thank you for bringing their talents to life for all of us to enjoy.”

The 2017 Awards for Distinguished Service to the Arts in the Capital Region will be presented June 4, 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., at Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts, 222 Market St., Harrisburg. For more information about the awards and the event, visit theatreharrisburg.com.

Author: Lori M. Myers

A Place at the Table: The faces behind Harrisburg’s women-owned food businesses

April 28, 2017 | by Danielle Roth

Photo by Hartman Benzon Media

They’re newbies, seasoned veterans and family members continuing a culinary legacy. These women happily find themselves part of a boom of female-owned food businesses in Harrisburg.

For a long time, Harrisburg didn’t have much of a dining scene.

Then, in the early 2000s, a few pioneers took a risk, mostly downtown, and, over the past few years, another wave of restaurants opened. But one thing was different this time around—many, perhaps most, were owned and operated by women.

A few women said they entered the business to continue a family legacy. Others said they wanted to work for themselves. Then there are those who, like many business owners before them, simply had a dream to do it.

They pull long workweeks, doing everything from preparing meals to washing the dishes to managing the finances.

“I’m under the sink with a wrench,” said Kristin Messner-Baker of the Vegetable Hunter, a vegetarian restaurant downtown. “It’s not glamorous.”

Some said they’ve encountered sexism on the job, from customers or in a business setting.

“I go into a place, and I have to spend the first 15 minutes to half hour convincing people that I’m worth listening to,” said Andrea Grove of Elementary Coffee, adding that customers sometimes think her male employees run her popular stand in the Broad Street Market.

Though their jobs are stressful, challenging and risky, these owners and co-owners said they wouldn’t have it any other way. In the following pages, we briefly introduce several of the women shaking up Harrisburg’s food scene.

Staci Basore, Elide Hower and Qui Qui Musarra: Rubicon, Mangia Qui and Suba

Though in charge of five menus, four kitchens and three restaurants, the owners of Mangia Qui, Rubicon and Suba still find time for afternoon adventures.

“We like to go biking, kayaking, play golf,” Staci Basore said. “If we can squeeze an hour in between lunch and dinner service, we’ll do that and come back.”

These seasoned restaurateurs thrive in the freedom that comes with self-employment.

“We answer to each other,” Qui Qui Musarra said.

They chuckle at romanticized visions of running a restaurant. Each woman clocks in 60 to 70 hours per week. Plus, working weekends “comes with the territory,” Basore said.

The trio opened Mangia Qui nearly two decades ago. They credit consistency in a quality product for sustaining a supportive customer base, “vital members to our families,” Basore said.

Each woman came to Harrisburg with professional restaurant experience from across the country and world. Their three restaurants’ internationally inspired menus and drinks reflect this.

They stay abreast of food trends, adapting as needed. Unceasingly, they stay true to themselves.

“It has to come from within,” Musarra said. “What Staci does, what I do, what Elide does—it’s all based on who we are.”

And that’s another reward to running an independent restaurant.

Andrea Grove: Elementary Coffee

Running a lemonade stand with her brother at 8 years old taught Andrea Grove her first business lesson.

“You can’t drink the lemonade because that’s drinking profits,” she said.

Since starting Elementary Coffee at the Broad Street Market in 2014, the former English major has learned a few more.

“When it comes to how to run a successful business, it comes down to meeting people and connecting with them,” she said.

Her shop partners with local businesses such as Calicutts Spice Co. in Lemoyne and Frederic Loraschi Chocolate in Colonial Park. These relationships extend internationally, too. Grove is developing a partnership to bring in ethically sourced coffee from Ugandan farmers.

She wants her specialty coffee shop to connect with all members of the community.

“Coffee shouldn’t exclude anyone,” she said. “You can almost leave people behind, based on price point or … based on atmosphere,” she said.

A small cup of specialty coffee costs $2, with creative espresso drinks a buck or two more. The market location attracts folks from all walks of life.

Though she initially hesitated to open in the Broad Street Market, seen as risky before its remarkable renaissance, the community has embraced Elementary Coffee, she said.

“I feel like this is such a self-supporting community,” she said. “I feel like, in general, people are warm and really willing to help.”

Leena Shenoy: Passage to India

Leena Shenoy likes to share a story that shows just how much Passage to India has become an essential part of the Harrisburg community.

For decades, one special guest celebrated his birthday at the Shipoke restaurant. Ten years ago, after marking his 90th, he told Shenoy, “I don’t know if I’ll see you next year.”

This past April, the day of his 100th birthday, he said the same thing after Shenoy brought his favorite dishes to a birthday celebration at his senior living facility.

“He was so happy to see us,” she said. “To do something like that was the best thing I’ve ever felt in my life.”

Over the course of the restaurant’s 24 years, she’s met some guests as newborns, and, now, they’re married. The restaurant has also hosted countless Indian wedding ceremonies with “nothing less than 300 people,” she said. Meeting guests and learning their stories keep the restaurant business fun.

“That’s what puts me back into my shoes,” she said.

Her husband, Vishnu, ran the business until his sudden passing in 2011. She said he emphasized treating guests as if they were royalty. Now, as the owner, she carries forward this vision.

“Every guest is like god, and you have to treat them like a god,” she said. “That’s what we believe in our customs. That’s what I believe.”

That’s what keeps customers coming back.

Nora Proctor: P&R Bakery

Nora Proctor’s mother always prepared her southern sweet potato pie from memory, never considering this dessert to be special. But to Proctor, her husband Ed and customers at P&R Bakery, the pie was an instant favorite.

Eager to replicate the dessert, she watched her mother closely. Then, she spent a whole day in the kitchen figuring out the recipe. “I think I got it!” she told Ed when he came home that evening.

“He blew my bubble,” she said, smiling. “He said, ‘You don’t know if you got it until I taste it.’”

He confirmed it. She had discovered her mother’s recipe.

Since then, this recipe has been a mainstay in their decades of selling homemade pies, cookies and other baked goods.

P&R Bakery sustains her mother’s legacy in more ways than just the pie. After her mother passed away, the couple took a “leap of faith,” as Ed called it. In 2006, they opened in the Broad Street Market. Six years later, they moved to Midtown Scholar Bookstore.

The consistent quality keeps customers coming back, she said.

“We use the old-fashioned ingredients,” she said. “Real butter, eggs.”

Plus, the sweet potato pie hasn’t changed significantly since the moment Proctor put the recipe to paper.

Elodia and Ana Saenz: Mexico Lindo

To sisters Ana and Elodia Saenz, preparing tacos from authentic recipes keeps family traditions alive.

The co-owners of Mexico Lindo, the taco truck parked at 15th and Market streets, serve cuisine derived from the region their father Eloy calls home. After two decades of serving the people of Harrisburg, he retired to his native Michoacán four years ago.

That’s when the sisters stepped up to run the family business.

They use fresh ingredients to prepare tacos from scratch, “because that is the Latino way,” Elodia said.

Customers appreciate the authenticity. Many find the truck through word of mouth. Some have eaten Saenz family tacos since 1990, when Eloy opened shop.

“They’re like part of the family,” Elodia said.

Knowing they’re continuing a family business motivates the sisters to each work about 70 hours per week. Ana’s daughter and Elodia’s son work weekends to “make some money and eat,” Elodia said.

A third generation may take over the shop. Elodia’s son studies hospitality management at Penn State, after being inspired by his grandfather and the family business.

“Because my father began this, I don’t want this to die,” Elodia said. “I can pass it on to my family.”

Mihye Pak: Yami Korean Food

Mihye Pak runs her stand at the Broad Street Market “the hard way,” she said.

She starts each week driving to Baltimore to purchase ingredients at a Korean market. Then she and her four employees hand-cut all the vegetables (because there’s more crunch and flavor than machine-cut, she said) and prepare fresh sauces (“So I know what’s in there.”).

She does all this work so that, when the market is open, Thursday to Saturday, she is able to serve authentic, home-style Korean food.

“When you make things the easy way, you’re not going to last long,” she said. “Customers, they know.”

She’s owned Yami for four years, after the previous owner reached out to her. Though scared, she said she would try it.

When Pak took over the shop, she swapped the old recipes—prepared with shortcuts and unhealthy MSG—with a new menu of dishes cooked as the customer ordered it.

She’s picky, she said. Her employees know this, too.

“I tell employees, ‘If you don’t want to eat it, don’t give it to the customers,’” she said.

Though, she admitted, if she cut corners, she could work less.

“I’m the last one to leave [the market’s stone building],” she said. “I never shut down unless the market shuts down.”

Kristin Messner-Baker: The Vegetable Hunter

Adaptability serves Kristin Messner-Baker well.

She studied creative writing, practiced law and entered motherhood, all while nurturing a dream to open a café.

Then, in June 2014, she and her husband John seized an opportunity to open a vegetarian restaurant called Crave & Co. on N. 2nd Street.

As the co-owner, she does everything from manage employees to fix what needs fixing.

Most importantly, she stays flexible.

Over time, the café evolved into the Vegetable Hunter, the name better reflecting its focus on vegetarian and vegan dishes. It even recently started selling its own craft beer. Messner-Baker plans to roll out a new menu, too.

“If you are stubborn and stick to one vision, and it doesn’t work, you are out of business,” she said.

Crave & Co., she believes, sounded too generic. The new name positions the businesses well for its future, she said.

The Vegetable Hunter feeds a hungry niche of veggie lovers in the Harrisburg area. Throughout the changes, the friendly atmosphere and quality food have remained the same.

“I love creating this atmosphere of a happy home,” she said. “[I love] meeting different people. Everyone’s friendly.”

Author: Danielle Roth

Food Network: Harrisburg’s craft food producers have formed a culture of cooperation, a web of support.

May 31, 2016 | by M. Diane McCormick

Urban Churn Ice Cream

Maybe the chalkboard notice at Zeroday Brewing Co. says it all. “Add a scoop of Urban Churn vanilla to any beer/soda!”

Or perhaps it’s the Elementary Coffee mocha made with Frederic Loraschi chocolate. Oh, and you can enjoy Yellow Bird Café cookies at Midtown Cinema, and One Good Woman coffee at Yellow Bird Café. Can’t get to Little Amps for coffee? Enjoy a sip at Garlic Poet restaurant or at the new Dalicia Bakery. If you haven’t made it to Midstate Distillery yet, try their Iron and Ice vodka on Café 1500’s summer cocktail menu.

As the Harrisburg-area craft food scene reaches a nice al dente, more and more vendors are partnering up to serve products created by their neighbors. They aren’t just sourcing from local suppliers. They’re cooking up new food pairings, cross-marketing their names, and cultivating new audiences hungry for unique tastes.

Through it all, they say, they’re lifting the city’s entrepreneurial spirit to new heights of innovation.

Support Group
Andrea Grove dreamt of more than just roasting coffee. The founder of Elementary Coffee Co. sought “to functionally be part of a community, and, with that, is finding solid partners to meet up with.”

“There’s a lot beyond just local ingredients,” said Grove at her Broad Street Market stand. “You become more than business partners. You become friends.”

Grove flavors her hand-roasted beans and brews with spices from Calicutts Spice Co. in Lemoyne (“You can smell the difference,” she says). Elementary Coffee is served at such establishments as the Millworks, City House B&B, Midtown Cinema and Chris and Val’s Café in Lemoyne. And the hot chocolate and mocha on the Elementary Coffee menu are flavored with mixes from the local, nationally known Frederic Loraschi Chocolate.

Grove reached out to chocolatier Loraschi before launching her business in 2014. She found they could talk about business and life, establishing the kind of supportive friendship that justifies one-on-one dealings, instead of contracting with big suppliers for everything.

“It divides your focus a little bit and divides your time, but the payoff is there, because you’re establishing something that gives longevity to your relationships and loyalty to the product as you move forward,” she said. “When you grow, you can grow together.”

Loraschi was well established, with customers in dozens of far-flung hotels and restaurants, when Grove called. Though Elementary Coffee Co. constitutes a tiny portion of Loraschi’s accounts, “sometimes it’s not about business,” Loraschi said from his pristine shop in Colonial Park. “It’s about connections with people, connections with the community.”

Through collaborations, food specialists bond with like-minded entrepreneurs, the kind who work long hours and have a passion for their product, said Loraschi. Starting a business “takes a lot of courage.”

“You don’t know how it’s going to work,” he said. “You give it your best try. When there is a young entrepreneur like Andrea, you want to help that person. You want to give advice. It was the excitement of helping someone start something new.”

Idea Exchange
Balsamic vinegar and kumquat ice cream, anyone? Sure, said Urban Churn founder Adam Brackbill. It’s a favorite of his, and Garlic Poet chef Kurt Wewer inspired it. Exchanging ideas and customers is a welcome byproduct of collaborations.

“I get a lot of ideas for creative flavors from him,” said Brackbill, who founded his business to bring old-fashioned churned ice cream to city living.

At Zeroday, Urban Churn is ready for floating in a brew or soda. In turn, Zeroday brews can be found on tap, depending on the rotation, in such restaurants as Garlic Poet, Café 1500, Rubicon and Home 231. By working together and “figuring out ways we can intertwine products, it is allowing us to access a broader customer base,” said Brandalynn Armstrong, Zeroday co-founder with her husband, Theo.

“Rubicon has a customer base that we may not get, and we have a customer base that Rubicon might not get,” said Armstrong as she prepared to open the Midtown tasting room for the evening. “By working together, it expands our footprint, our marketing, our branding. We’re all small businesses. Huge advertising budgets aren’t really there. By supporting each other, it helps us all.”

Changing Habits
When Grove serves a Frederic Loraschi-flavored mocha, “There’s a story behind his product that I can tell to customers, if they’re interested.” It goes something like this: Loraschi is French, world renowned, and “everything he creates is very pure. We know what goes into his chocolate.”

“It creates a larger picture, which is where the trend is going,” she said. “People want to know the story behind their products. We can honestly tell you what’s in it, but it’s also neat for the customer who’s buying it. They say, ‘I’m part of something larger,’ and they’re invited to enter into that story.”

Sprinkling unique, lovingly crafted products around town encourages shoppers to escape the grocery-store grind, say vendors.

“We’re going back to having the butcher,” said Loraschi. “We’re going back to having the baker. There is a resurgence. People want to know more about where their things are coming from, how they’re made, who makes them.”

Even Midtown Cinema taps into the craft food scene. The lobby is Urban Churn’s scoop shop. Java comes from Elementary Coffee Co. (“The ‘Elixir’ is delightful,” said Director of Operations Adam Porter, referring to the cinema’s espresso/ice cream/spice concoction). Zeroday acquired a can sealer that allows moviegoers to exit Zeroday’s tasting room and enter Midtown Cinema with an unopened can of craft beer (thank you, Pennsylvania liquor laws).

When customers can indulge in local tastes and BYOZ—yes, that’s “Bring Your Own Zeroday”—they get “an experience they can’t have at home or the megaplex,” said Porter. Naturally, a movie theater must serve popcorn (Midtown Cinema’s comes from Ephrata, by the way), but supplementing with local fare amps up the excitement and benefits all businesses “from a rising-tide standpoint,” he said.

Right Direction
Collaborations bring together people driven by “new energies,” said Armstrong. “You get to meet really awesome people who have the common core ideal of, ‘How can we make Harrisburg better?’ Sustainability can come from people living in the city, but growth comes from attracting outsiders to the city.”

The expanding “web of relationships” benefits businesspeople and customers, said Grove. Shoppers enjoy new tastes. Businesses find more opportunities in an ever-growing pool of potential partners.

“More than anything, you always hope with Harrisburg that momentum’s going to continue, but the fact that more and more people are moving in here and focused here and willing to start up businesses here is proving that Harrisburg is moving in the right direction,” said Grove.

Today’s entrepreneur-driven renaissance “is probably going to stick better” than the mega-project mindset of past city redevelopment “because there are so many people doing projects independently of one another, but all with the same goal of making this neighborhood and this city a cool, fun place to be,” said Porter.

As a roaster, Grove occupies the heart of this foodie ecosystem because coffee is “a focal point for everything that’s happening around it, whether it’s just conversations or revolutions rising up over a cup of coffee or the fact that there are a lot of ingredients involved.” And whether shoppers buy local coffee, chocolate, beer or ice cream, they are community-oriented and “meeting over food.”

“You’re part of a larger picture, a larger meal that’s happening, a part of a larger drink that’s going on,” Grove said. “That’s exciting.”

Where Can I Find?

Elementary Coffee

Chris & Val’s Café
City House Bed & Breakfast
Midtown Cinema
The Millworks

Frederic Loraschi Chocolate

Elementary Coffee Co.

Hummer’s Meats

The Harrisburger

Little Amps Coffee

Al’s of Hampden
Café Uovo
Dalicia Bakery
Garlic Poet
Radish & Rye
Rubicon

Midstate Distillery Spirits

Café 1500
Home 231
Lancaster Brewing Co.
Mangia Qui
Bistro and Winebar

One Good Woman Coffee

Yellow Bird Café

Pizza Boy Brewing Co. Beer

The Millworks

Popped Culture Popcorn

Abbey Bar/ABC
Little Amps Coffee Roasters
Midstate Distillery
Zeroday Brewing Co.

Short & Sweet Bakery

Little Amps Coffee Roasters
One Good Woman

Urban Churn Ice Cream

Evanilla Gourmet Donuts
Garlic Poet
Grain and Verse
Lancaster Brewing Co.
Midtown Cinema
Zeroday Brewing Co.

Yellow Bird Café Cookies

Midtown Scholar Bookstore

Measuring Up: Can Harrisburg Put Itself Back Together?

March 31, 2016 | by J. Alex Hartzler

James Fallows wrote a fascinating and insightful article for the March edition of The Atlantic titled “How America is Putting Itself Back Together.” Fallows’ essay provides a powerful and persuasive counter-argument to the prevailing political and media-driven narrative of America as a country in decline.

Over the past three years, Fallows and his family visited numerous small- and medium-sized cities throughout the country (i.e., not NYC, SF, LA and DC). The real story, he writes, is not that of a country in decline, but one of rebirth and resurgence. (He cites Pittsburgh and Allentown as two examples from Pennsylvania.) While some point to problems the country as a whole is said to have, most people he talked to refuse to acknowledge that those “other people’s problems” affect where they actually live and work.

Taken as a whole, America is still the land of invention, renewal, talent, assimilation, creativity and opportunity. While many are led to believe we are on the wrong track nationally, that story runs contrary to what is actually happening, according to Fallows. This may not be convenient for politicians running for office or media outlets that believe that only bad news sells, but it is a truth that is out there for those who spend the time to look, as he did.

I found Fallows’ observations to be exactly right, both from my travels around the country and here in our small city of Harrisburg. As I’ve often said in this column, don’t believe the bad news you read. Ninety-five or even 99 percent of what happens here every day tends to be positive, even it you have to wait monthly for TheBurg to read about it.

Fallows also suggests a way to evaluate the health of small cities and towns in the United States. His “Eleven Signs A City Will Succeed” is an instructive way of looking at the issue. So, I thought it would be a good exercise to take those 11 criteria and grade Harrisburg on the “Fallows scale.” Below is my attempt. No doubt your grades will be different based on your perspective. I find just thinking about these criteria and how we are doing in them can help determine how to move our city forward.

Divisive national politics seem a distant concern. Grade: B+. If this were “state” instead of “national” politics, the grade would go down, but, in general, I find that the many folks who hold strong views on national issues are quite willing to work together to make the local area, particularly the city, a better place. Many people who will never vote for the same presidential or gubernatorial candidate routinely work together on civic matters like the Downtown Improvement District, Harrisburg Chamber, Harrisburg Young Professionals and the like. The recent dust-ups between city and county leaders, however, prevent this category from being a solid A.

You can pick out the local patriots. Grade A. This one is easy. Harrisburg has both a broad-based group of civic leaders and a deep pool of talent that work daily to make the city better. It also has young talent rising through its ranks. Just look at the list of emerging leaders in HYP or the three newest members of City Council.

“Public-private partnerships” are real. Grade C. This item is hard to grade. On the one hand, a number of successful initiatives fall into this category: Whitaker Center, Harrisburg University, Harristown Development Corp. and Senators Baseball being a few. On the other hand, some of our biggest disasters do too: the former Harrisburg incinerator (now properly run by LCSWMA), the initially failed project at Cameron and Herr streets and the Wild West Museum, among others. The Civil War Museum may fall into either category, depending whom you talk to. Clearly, we have room for improvement here.

People know the civic story. Grade C. This category also highlights the strength of our city and a great weakness. For all the efforts of the Central Penn Business Journal, Harrisburg Magazine, Historic Harrisburg Association and, yes, TheBurg, to tell the real—and very encouraging—civic story about our city, the paper of record across the river runs a fairly constant drumbeat of doom and despair. Venture into the comment section of PennLive on nearly any article about the city (not that I recommend it), and you will see what giving public forum to a tiny minority of the disaffected will do to your civic psyche. Until PennLive vastly changes its ways, which are driven primarily by the motive to garner clicks for advertiser ratings rather than promote responsible discussion, it will continue to impede a healthy civic story about Harrisburg.

They have a downtown. Grade B+. From great restaurants, coffee shops and bars, a lively arts scene, 3^rd in the Burg and new apartments and condos, downtown is alive and well. However, many people correctly associate retail with a healthy downtown and, in this area, Harrisburg lags. Retail is tough, however, and it mostly follows residents, not leads them. As more people move downtown, more amenities and retail will follow.

They are near a research university. Grade D. I have often wondered what Harrisburg would look like if Penn State Harrisburg (the largest Penn State campus outside of State College) were actually in Harrisburg, instead of Middletown. There is no substitute for having a major research university physically located in your city as anyone from Madison, Columbus or Austin can tell you. But the good news is that, after 10 years, Harrisburg University has found its footing and is on its way to becoming a major institutional anchor and economic generator for the city.

They have, and care about, a community college. Grade B+. For what we lack in #6, we make up a lot of ground with this one. Both HACC and now Harrisburg University are important community educators in Harrisburg. Both are committed to the city and improving its overall health and reputation. Other area colleges like Messiah and Temple have also taken a welcome interest in the city by sending their students downtown during and after college, providing a bit of the college-town vibe.

They have unusual schools (K-12 level). Grade C. Harrisburg’s public schools are undeniably troubled, but this criterion involves “distinctive” schools. Harrisburg has several, led by the Capital Area School for the Arts Charter School, SciTech High and Math Science Academy, as well as several excellent parochial schools. My grade may have been higher, but Fallows adds that the average resident should be able to list these schools quickly as a source of pride. Unfortunately, the district’s general poor performance casts a shadow over other schools in the city.

They make themselves open. Grade B. Harrisburg is a diverse city on many levels, a source of both strength and strain from time to time. We welcome a variety of immigrants and visitors, whether to our colleges or for housing. We have been supporters of various religions and lifestyles long before those things were acceptable elsewhere. Some may argue that we have a long way to go, and I would not disagree, but we are no doubt ahead of many other parts of the country.

They have big plans. Grade A. Fallows means this as a government-led category, but, in Harrisburg, we tried that once, and it came crashing down around us. Today, city leadership is focused on basic competence, as it should be. The big plans come from the city’s entrepreneurial class. Witness St@rtup, WebpageFX, The Laus Group restaurants, Urban Churn, Stash, Char’s, AndCulture, Mangia Qui, Midtown Scholar, The Millworks, HMAC, The MakeSpace and many others with big plans that are happening today. One civic item Fallows also referenced is urban infrastructure. When 2^nd Street is returned to two-way traffic, Harrisburg will take a major step toward putting that part of the city back together again.

They have craft breweries (and small distilleries). Grade A. Harrisburg boasts Zeroday Brewing, Appalachian Brewing Company, Midstate Distillery and Troegs (a legacy Harrisburg company, so we still claim them). A few other breweries are slated to open this year. Let me add Little Amps coffee shop, which gives the same vibe. All fantastic.

Overall grade: solid B. On the items city residents can actually control, things are improving and have a very bright future. On those we cannot (schools, research universities and suburban media), we suffer. As an artist acquaintance of mine, who recently moved to Harrisburg from Chicago, told me, “There are few places around the country where you can have so much, for so little.” We need more people (and attitudes) like him to come help us grow.

J. Alex Hartzler is publisher of TheBurg.

Fish Food: Steel-High’s aquaponics program yields school-to-table fare.

January 29, 2016 | by Phyllis Zimmerman

Order a dish in a local restaurant—let’s say Mangia Qui, Home 231 or Garlic Poet—and the food on your plate may well be locally grown.

No big deal, right? After all, farm-to-fork is all the rage.

But when I say locally grown, I mean locally grown—like a mile away. And available any time of the year. And raised by school-kid farmers.

Your lettuce, arugula or basil may have originated from the Steelton-Highspire School District, which, last year, launched an aquaponic greenhouse program and quickly found local markets for its goods.

So, what’s an aquaponic greenhouse? It’s a combination of aquaculture, or fish farming, with hydroponics—the science of growing plants in water without soil—into an interdependent system that produces fish, feedstock, fruit and vegetables year-round in a climate-controlled environment.

The aquaponic system filters water from its fishery operations, which, in turn, fertilizes its crops through fish waste. Clean water then is returned from the plants back to fish.

The Steelton-Highspire School District is the perfect site for such a venture, said Bob Welsh, founder and director of the Wheelhouse, a program of Jump Street, a Harrisburg-based organization focused on youth empowerment.

“This school district had an available plot of land and a real eagerness to learn about science, as well as a visionary administration and faculty,” said Welsh. “It’s a good fit.”

Cutting Edge

The Steel-High greenhouse is a collaboration of Aggreco International and the Wheelhouse School to Table Education Program, funded largely through donations and by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development. After two years, the district will have the option of taking over the costs to continue the program.

Aquaponic programs also are maintained on a smaller, classroom-level scale at Marshall Math Science Academy and SciTech High in the Harrisburg School District, the Milton Hershey School and several locations in the Philadelphia area.

“It’s cutting edge. It’s a great educational program,” said Steel-High Acting Superintendent Travis Waters. “It’s a great experience and educational opportunity for our kids.”

Junior/Senior High School Principal Mick Iskric, Jr. shares that passion.

“My thought process is that, when any kid is given an opportunity, they rise to the occasion,” Iskric said. “Our juniors and seniors are getting college credits, internship and mentorship through this. They’re making resources that will last them for the rest of their careers. The kids took it and ran with it. They picked it up in a week.”

Much Healthier

So far, mostly 11^th– and 12^th-graders have worked in the greenhouse, but all students in grades K-12 get a chance to come into the greenhouse and see how things work.

Waters said that district administrators are developing a multi-grade curriculum for the program. Older students even work in the facility for pay during the summer months.

Zuleyka Folk, a junior, and seniors Jessica Cunningham and Katie Jorich work in the greenhouse during the school year as part of their chemistry class. They were selected for the job as top students with dual enrollment at Harrisburg University.

“This is how the world will be eating in 50 years,” noted Cunningham of Steelton.

“It’s a much healthier way to grow food,” said Folk of Highspire. “There’s not as much contamination as there is with growing food in soil. There’s no spraying of chemicals, either. I like seeing the changes in the ecosystem and how the plants change over time.”

“I love teasing the fish,” joked Jorich of Steelton.

The greenhouse is host to a wide variety of more than 4,000 growing plants, as well as an abundant fish community comprised of tilapia and Malaysian prawn. The plants provide a multitude of collard greens, chard, mint, bok-choy, onions, beets, kale, basil, lettuce, watercress and more. A tropical plant section provides bananas, mangos and cocoa beans.

The fish aren’t forgotten either. Duckweed is grown as fish food.

Fish and produce are delivered to a number of restaurants and markets within a 15-mile radius of the greenhouse.

“Our idea is to build these close to everything to lower the transportation costs,” Welsh said. “Then we can have super-low prices.”

From Steelton to You

In the Harrisburg area, Steel-High aquaponic greenhouse products can be found at:

Café 1500, 6^th and Reily streets, Harrisburg
Garlic Poet Restaurant and Bar, 148 Sheraton Dr., New Cumberland
Home 231, 231 North St., Harrisburg
Lancaster Brewing Company, 469 Eisenhower Blvd., Swatara Township
Mangia Qui, 272 North St., Harrisburg
Radish and Rye, Broad Street Market, Harrisburg
Rubicon, 270 North St., Harrisburg
Stock’s on 2^nd, 211 N. 2^nd, Harrisburg
Suba, 272 North St., 2^nd floor, Harrisburg

A Harrisburg Valentine’s: On this special day, Rosemary dines out–and finds much to recommend.

January 29, 2016 | by Rosemary Ruggieri Baer

Duck breast with blood orange gastrique, note.

For such a long time in Harrisburg, there was little to celebrate.

In the early ‘70s, the floodwaters from Tropical Storm Agnes all but decimated the city. Continuing into the ‘80s, as many residents left for the suburbs, the city was a ghost town after 5 p.m. There were a few bright spots, such as Strawberry Square, but it, too, became deserted when the state workers left for home. Two tiny restaurants, Caruso’s and Au Jour La Jour, lured patrons back to the city for a time. They were wonderful places, but were just not around long enough.

So here we are in 2016, and it’s almost Valentine’s Day. I am happy when I think of how far our little city has come. Often, we take a few steps back, but, in the restaurant department, we seem to keep adding more terrific places as each year goes by. This month, I would like to share with readers some of my favorite places to go for Valentine’s Day and some of my favorite dishes offered by each place. If you don’t normally come to the city to dine, you might be surprised.

Qui Qui Musarra, Mangia Qui.

Mangia Qui. Located on North Street, Mangia Qui is one of three restaurants co-owned by expert chef Qui Qui Musarra. It is the most formal of the three. The others are Suba (a Spanish tapas bar upstairs at the same location) and the French-inspired Rubicon right next door. Mangia Qui’s theme is Italian and Mediterranean, and the quality of the food is superb. Qui will often serve dishes that are rarely found elsewhere in the region, such as true Dover sole, whole branzino and dry-aged, hand-cut, Tuscan rib-eye steak.

Here are my recommendations for a Mangia Qui Valentine dinner started with a glass of cold Prosecco.

Musticanza: a salad of baby greens with gorgonzola crostini and marinated tomatoes dressed with a fig balsamic vinaigrette.
Gnocchi all’Amatriciana: homemade gnocchi that are light as a feather tossed with a sauce of San Marzano tomatoes, onions, guanciale and pepperoncini (nice to split or request a half-order).
Anatra: a grilled duck breast and stone fruits served with polenta and a balsamic drizzle.

Desserts change with the day, but I would hope for a lemon tart back there in the kitchen. The espresso is excellent, with many different types to choose from.

Note. Bistro and Wine Bar. This little gem of a restaurant is located at the corner of N. 2^nd and Harris streets and is relatively new. It is a warm and friendly place anchored by a small but lively bar offering some of the best cocktails in town. Wine choices, usually from Italy or France, can be found on a large chalkboard that occupies an entire wall at the back of the restaurant. At note., I would order:

Caesar Salad: hearts of Romaine lettuce, Caesar dressing (on the side), focaccia croutons and shaved Grano Padano cheese.
Berkshire Pork Chop: Pork chop served with butternut squash, risotto, pancetta, pearl onions, thyme and caramelized brussel sprouts, all topped with a maple Bourbon glaze.
For dessert, some homemade gelato and note’s excellent French press coffee.

Carley’s Ristorante and Piano Bar. We have gone to Carley’s for many years so, for us, it always seems like we’re going to the legendary Cheers, “where everybody knows your name.” Carley’s makes very good veal, and that’s what we usually get there. So, to end my Valentine’s Day culinary tour, I would order:

Baby Arugula Salad: a salad served with Gorgonzola cheese, candied walnuts and pears tossed with mustard vinaigrette.
Veal Marsala: tender veal cutlets sautéed in butter with mushrooms, garlic and shallots in a hearty Marsala wine. (This dish can also be prepared with chicken, if you prefer.)
Peanut Butter Pie: Carley’s (and its sister restaurant Stock’s on 2nd’s) signature dessert. It is very rich and can easily be shared with your Valentine’s Day partner.

The pianist at Carley’s will keep things lively, but you can always request a slow romantic tune.

If you are out and about in Harrisburg on Valentine’s Day, there are other choices. I also recommend Pastorante on N. 3^rd Street, a casual and inexpensive choice for homemade pasta, Café Fresco for wonderful Asian-inspired dishes like salmon with black rice, and Home 231, which serves farm-to-table food that is unique and delicious.

Brighten your Valentine’s Day and the waning days of winter with a visit to one of these special Harrisburg eateries. They are truly something to celebrate.

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