Harrisburg-area restaurants have gone from predictable to energetic: 20 years with Mimi Brodeur

Restaurant Row

Over the years, the downtown Harrisburg dining scene went from dead to energized, with the opening of trend-setting Stock's on Second. Soon, those who worked in downtown Harrisburg and elsewhere began gravitating toward myriad new eateries on Second Street -- Zia's Trattoria/Red Door, Politesse, Cragin's Brick Haus, Fisaga, Firehouse Restaurant & Bar, Noma and Neato Burrito -- and Restaurant Row was born. Here, in 2012, is Cafe Fresco and Level 2.

(Mark Pynes | Pennlive.com/2012)

Two decades ago, the restaurant scene in the midstate was very different.

I found that American and Pennsylvania Dutch menus were predictable with their nostalgic comfort foods. Macaroni and cheese, chicken corn soup, hamburgers, pastas, chops and steaks were staples.

Smoking was allowed inside restaurants. Reservations were  left on answering machines or with the hostess. Twitter, Facebook, email and booking tables on opentable.com would take another decade to materialize.

Then, the most exotic item on a menu was calamari. Al Mediterraneo (now the Gas Station in Hummelstown) and Log Cabin Restaurant in Lancaster had the best-tasting tender squid veiled in deep-fried tempura batter and dusted with Parmesan cheese and garlic.

Those with meat and potato appetites happily trekked to long-running steakhouses such as The Maverick, a favorite with the state lawmakers, and the smoky and dimly lit Glass Lounge, where steaks, juicy pork chops and buttery bites of surf and turf were served on white dinner plates.

But over the years, the downtown dining scene went from dead to energized, with the opening of trend-setting Stock's on Second, which jump-started the after-work crowd with its extensive martini bar, homestyle potato chips and exotic cocktail listing. Soon, those who worked in downtown Harrisburg and elsewhere began gravitating toward myriad new eateries on Second Street -- Zia's Trattoria/Red Door, Politesse, Cragin's Brick Haus, Fisaga, Firehouse Restaurant & Bar, Noma and Neato Burrito -- and Restaurant Row was born.

PennLive restaurant critic Mimi Brodeur

Previously Asian fare was limited to Chinese food venues highlighted by General Tso's Chicken and egg rolls. Now, there are dozens of Thai, Japanese, Vietnamese and Chinese eateries that specialize in everything from sushi and sashimi to noodle dishes and dim sum.

Passage to India was the first Indian restaurant to establish a following on the cuff of Harrisburg. The restaurant is still pleasing palates with its varied lunch buffet, traditional tandoori chicken and authentically spiced cuisine.

Smoky backyard barbecue fare has come to the forefront in taste and demand in the area. Shakedown BBQ, Smoke BBQ, Road Hawg BBQ, and Momo's BBQ and Grill are just some of the barbecue places that have sprung up in church lots, roadside trucks and restaurant locales. The Texas-based chain Dickey's Barbecue Pit just opened last week in Silver Spring Twp.

Appalachian Brewing Co. went above and beyond the call of brewery when it opened the first micro-brewery in Harrisburg in 1997. Since then numerous breweries and brewpubs featuring expansive craft beer menus have exploded in popularity from Troeg's Brewing Co. in Hershey and Snitz Creek Brewery in Lebanon to Mudhook Brewing Co. in York and Pizza Boy Brewing Co. found at Al's of Hampden in Hampden Twp.

When I first started reviewing restaurants, they used to bring in meats, produce and seafood from far away places like California, Chile and Australia. These days, the trend has reversed, and it's all about farm to table. So locally grown fruits, vegetables and garden herbs, grass-fed beef, free-range chickens and pond-raised ducks found at local farms are making to the table and listed on the menus.

Artisan cheeses, house-cured meats and seasonal produce like ramps, fiddlehead ferns and beet greens have infiltrated restaurants particularly in Lancaster county where restaurants partner with local farmers.

Gluten-free and vegetarian offerings are more commonly available. Non-wheat pastas such as quinoa, buckwheat, farro and couscous are as creatively prepared as rice and potato dishes. Non-traditional and sustainable seafood such as branzino, Arctic char and barramundi are becoming as familiar as flounder, cod and tuna.

So as many new and diverse restaurants pour into central Pennsylvania, I look forward to the ever-evolving dining scene, now with open eyes and a face.

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