Centre County eateries get creative with special menus for Happy Valley Restaurant Week
Happy Valley Culinary Week has been given new life, a new name and a new format this year, as Provisions Magazine and Food Events Co. relaunches the event, June 21-27. Now dubbed Happy Valley Restaurant Week, the event offers more ways to enjoy Happy Valley’s dining scene, on a range of budgets.
The original event, Provisions founder Maggie Anderson said, “was modeled after the original restaurant week in New York, so it followed that same format — three-course and prix fixe and everyone had the same price levels.” Previously, the event was organized by what is now the Happy Valley Adventure Bureau; when, several years ago, the bureau began looking for someone to give the event “new life,” Anderson and Provisions stepped in.
“We were really excited to do that,” Anderson said. “(The event) has so much potential and we have so many amazing restaurants in the area, but we also knew that this one format didn’t work for all of them. There’s such a wide range of (restaurants). We have the fine dining that works more with the New York Restaurant Week (format), but then we have places where that doesn’t make any sense. They don’t really have three courses.”
Instead of restaurants offering three-course, prix fixe menus at fixed price points, this year’s Happy Valley Restaurant Week asks participating restaurants to offer one specialty dish that’s not available on its normal menu. Each item is offered at a different price point — whatever works for the individual restaurant — and the menu item is only available over the course of the event.
“Anyone at any level can participate,” Anderson said. “So everyone that’s involved is like, ‘Yes, this is so great for us! We get to be so creative and have so much fun!’ We’re pleased it’s working well so far.”
Participating restaurants are located all around Centre County, from downtown State College to Howard to Lemont to Bellefonte. Diners can view restaurants’ menu items for the event on the Happy Valley Restaurant Week website, happyvalleyrestaurantweek.com. Many of the limited-time dishes celebrate the summer season, incorporating locally-sourced ingredients and inventive flavors.
At Pine Grove Hall, Chef de Cuisine Tory Glossner said the restaurant will offer a Spanish and Vietnamese collaboration, sourcing as much as possible from within the area.
“We will be doing a beef heart tartare tostada with fermented chilis, compressed Amish melon, sweet pea aioli, quail egg and herbs from our garden. We wanted something flavorful that customers could enjoy on the patio with a beer in hand, to really help kick off the summer,” Glossner said.
At Webster’s Bookstore Café, Elaine Meder-Wilgus said they’re excited to participate in Restaurant Week “so we can share our passion for elevated and healthy vegan cuisine.”
“We’re making a dish that combines comfort food with exceptional flavors, featuring local ingredients. We celebrate whole foods with clean and transparent preparation,” she said. The café will be offering a vegan, gluten-free macaroni and cheese with grilled tofu, shiitakes and arugula pesto.
Some restaurants are extending their offerings to include specialty drinks during the week as well. Hublersburg Inn will be serving a smoked mint julep, while Café Lemont will be offering a Dragon’s Breath Latte with chocolate and cayenne.
For many of the restaurants, Anderson said, Happy Valley Restaurant Week couldn’t come at a better time. While she originally planned to launch the event last year, the pandemic put the event on pause.
“We had a conversation with the Happy Valley Adventure Bureau and agreed to push (the event) to 2021, and now the timing couldn’t be better, as everything’s opening up,” she said. “People are excited to go out to restaurants. We’re excited to offer this extra boost in promotion.”
Glossner agreed, saying it’s more important than ever for people to support local restaurants.
“It’s not just supporting the restaurant owners themselves, but also their employees — bartenders, servers, cooks, dishwashers and the farmers that grow the food,” Glossner said. “I think Happy Valley Restaurant Week is a great way to get people excited to get back into restaurant seats and try new things.”
Learn more about Happy Valley Restaurant Week at happyvalleyrestaurantweek.com and, during the week, share your photos of your food and experiences on social media, using the event hashtags, #hvrw2021 and #happyvalleyhungry.