Centre County restaurant launches pop-up shop to make popular soups more accessible

The Overlook Grill by Harrison’s is offering a new to-go option for diners looking for a quick, easy, seasonal meal. The restaurant’s Pop Up Soup Shop launched this month, allowing diners to order from a varied menu of soups ahead of time, with pick-up available at Good Day Café in State College or at The Overlook Grill by Harrison’s in Centre Hall.

“Harrison’s has always had great chef-prepared soups, which have always been available at our location for take-out or catering,” said Kit Henshaw, partner and general manager for the Harrison’s family of businesses.

Harrison’s early 2020 move to the former Above the Valley Event Center made those soups less accessible for State College customers to pick up, Henshaw added.

“We’ve worked with Good Day Café for the last couple of years, providing them with soup to sell in the cafe, so when we wanted to offer a location for a pre-ordered pick up, this seemed a logical first step,” he said.

Prior to the restaurant’s move and name change, the Harrison’s location on College Avenue in State College offered a popular soup bar at lunchtime, with six homemade soups available on the bar every day, or available by the cup or bowl in the evenings. The restaurant plans to bring back some of the crowd favorites from the prior restaurant, including its roasted butternut squash bisque, smoked tomato bisque, Ethiopian lentil soup, chicken barley soup and turkey pot pie soup. Plans are also in the works for brand-new soup options, such as a potential Jazzy Gumbo Soup that could be offered as part of The Overlook Grill by Harrison’s’ Mardi Gras-inspired selections available in February.

Henshaw said the roasted butternut squash bisque remains one of the restaurant’s most popular soup offerings.

“Lots of time and care are put into this soup,” he said. “It has many steps — roasting, making (a) roux, cooking in stages, seasoning correctly. It’s not ‘quick and easy.’ It is so nice to let someone else — The Overlook Grill by Harrison’s — do all of this and (there are) no preservatives or artificial flavors that shelf-stable soups might have.”

To order via the Pop Up Soup Shop, diners can either visit the restaurant’s website, at www.theoverlookgrill.com/soup-shop, or call 814-364-9363 or 814-237-4422. Orders are required by noon the day before the scheduled pick up, and a pre-payment option is available. Henshaw cautions that the current online ordering system isn’t as efficient as the team would like, and those who have any trouble placing their order are encouraged to call or email, at eatwell@harrisonsmenu.com.

All soups come pre-packaged in ready-to-heat pint containers and are $6.50 per pint. Diners can purchase six pints and get their seventh pint of soup free. Current pick-up days and times are Thursdays, 4:30-6 p.m., and Saturdays, 12:30-2 p.m.

If the Pop Up Soup Shop proves popular, Henshaw said The Overlook Grill by Harrison’s team may consider adding additional pick-up locations around the county, such as in Bellefonte or Gray’s Woods. For now, the team plans to continue the new offering through mid-March.

Roasted butternut squash bisque

Recipe submitted by Harrison Schailey, chef at The Overlook Grill by Harrison’s

Using some local cream helps to make it rich and velvety — but minimizing cream and using vegetable stock and roasted garlic helps to keep the fats and calories down. This recipe has a lot of steps in it — and that’s what creates the complex and award-winning flavors.

1 large butternut squash (locally grown if possible)

4 cloves garlic — medium size cloves

1 stick butter

1 cup flour

3 stalk celery — chopped

1 large onion — chopped

2 small carrots — chopped

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup sugar

6 cups vegetable stock

1 cup cream (Meyer Dairy is best)

1 cup milk

salt and white pepper to taste

• Heat oven to 350 degrees

• Prepare the squash:

• first cut in half, peel, and remove seeds. Slice long-ways into 2 inch flat pieces

• pre-oil grill then roast squash over a medium flame about 2-3 minutes each side

• roast squash in the oven at 350 for 15 minutes or until soft

• process the prepared squash until smooth (food processor or blender)

• Roast garlic cloves in oven at 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes or until soft. Garlic can be roasted in skin or peeled — but skin should be removed before putting in soup.

• Prepare roux: melt butter and slowly whisk in flour until thick and a little browned. Hold for final step.

• Combine garlic, onion, celery, carrots in food processor and process until smooth.

• Heat vegetable stock over medium high heat and add squash, stir to incorporate. Add garlic/veggie mixture, stir to incorporate.

• Add honey and sugar then season with approximately 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper.

• Bring to a simmer, reduce heat and slowly stir in cream and milk. Bring to a simmer and stir in 3/4 of prepared roux, stirring and simmering for 5-10 minutes, until soup has thickened. Add additional roux only if needed.

• Further blending makes this soup more velvety — a stick blender works best.

• Add any additional salt and pepper as needed.

Makes about 3/4 of a gallon, or 12-16 cups of soup