Here’s what to expect from the new restaurant coming to the Gamble Mill in Bellefonte
A restaurant set to open by late April in the historic Gamble Mill is expected to feature a rotating menu focused on using local ingredients.
Creekside at the Gamble Mill will feature 68 dining seats and nine bar seats, with a planned outdoor deck potentially adding another 40 seats.
Lunches should generally cost about $10-15 per person, while entrees may cost about $20-25, owner Michael Marx said Wednesday.
Ingredients are set to come from several Centre County business, including Bee Tree Berry Farm, Ardry Farms, Gemelli Bakers, Goot Essa, Bierly’s Meat Market and Maine Bay & Berry Co.
One constant during the extensive renovations of the restaurant at 160 Dunlap St., the longtime chef said, was customers who said they viewed the previous iteration as a place built for special occasions.
Marx is trying to change that.
“I am really cognizant of reigning in the prices as much as humanly possible. I want the family that’s got two kids to be able to have a night out and — if they’re lucky — visit a couple times a month. I don’t want it to be a special occasion place,” Marx said. “... If you want meat and potatoes, I’ve got ya covered. If you’re adventurous, I got ya covered.”
The eatery will give Marx an opportunity to return to a stationery kitchen for the first time in more than six years. He traversed Centre County in his World’s Fare Catering food truck, serving everything from soups and salads to pork and chicken platters.
He and his wife, Jennifer, previously owned three Baltimore-area restaurants. The couple moved back to her hometown of Centre Hall shortly before opening the food truck.
And while he cherished the relationships he built with customers, Marx missed the nuances of operating a formal restaurant.
“I miss putting food on plates. On a food truck, when they get their food, they leave. I don’t know if you enjoyed your lunch because I don’t see you,” Marx said. “That’s what my mother instilled in me; she used to roam the floor of her restaurant and that’s what I’ve done since day No. 1. When there is a break in the tickets, I walk out in the dining room because I want people to know that I’m the guy that’s on the line.”
The more than 230-year-old building was vacant for the last half-decade. Brothers Jon and Chris Virgilio bought the property in June 2019.
The building is also set to be home to The Inn at Gamble Mill — a 16-room suite — while visitors can buy cocktails from The Republic. The pair also plan to offer a private event space in the building.
Details on other businesses at the Gamble Mill, including a retail store, are expected to be released “in the coming months,” the brothers wrote in a statement.