Today we’d like to introduce you to Liz Miele.
Hi Liz , thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
The founders of the Herdic House, Gloria and Marcia Miele (sisters), opened their first restaurant, the Court and Willow Cafe, in downtown Williamsport, PA in 1977. They loved their cafe and its environment, but they were also fascinated by Williamsport’s Historic District, several blocks to the west, with its spectacular Victorian mansions dating to the mid- and late-1800s. In 1982, they purchased one of the mansions, with the intention of restoring and renovating it to be a historic restaurant. Not long after they made their purchase, they discovered that a fire-damaged and vacant property just down the street in the Historic District was about to be immaculately restored by a local construction company (in partnership with the local Junior League), with the intention of turning that historic property in a restaurant as well. Concerned that two similar businesses couldn’t succeed within a block of one another, they approached the company renovating the fire-damaged property, and expressed interest in operating a restaurant onsite when the restoration was finished. The property, constructed by one of Williamsport’s most influential early citizens, was a spectacular example of Italianate Victorian architecture, originally owned by Peter Herdic, who had served as one of Williamsport’s earliest mayors. It was no major leap to decide that the Miele sisters’ Victorian restaurant should be called the Peter Herdic House. After an exhaustive (but speedy) restoration during 1984, the Herdic House opened its doors in November of 1984, serving lunch and dinner, and featuring the pastry creations of Gloria’s and Marcia’s mother Daisy, who baked most of the restaurant’s desserts until 2014.. Over the course of the next 42 years, the appearance of the House would change relatively little (a bathroom redone here, a dining room there), but the cuisine would change dramatically, keeping pace with the times, as well as the whims of Gloria’s daughter Liz. Liz first joined the kitchen staff of the Herdic House in 2005, and quickly began transitioning the restaurant to a more farm-to-table platform, eventually purchasing from a stable of more than 30 Williamsport- and PA-local growers, and helping to support dozens of local businesses. In 2012, when Marcia passed away, Marcia’s son Dante became part-owner of the restaurant, and Gloria gifted her ownership of the Herdic House to Liz, passing the torch to the next generation. Now nearly 42 years old, the restaurant remains a symbol of fine dining in central PA, with a concise and creative menu laser-focused on local products and producers.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The restaurant business is full of struggles, and the Herdic House has faced most of them. In the late 90s, the restaurant fell out of step with culinary fashion, and struggled to find a customer base in the area—but with the arrival of co-owner (and second generation Miele) Liz in the kitchen, we gradually found a path back to popularity and profitability. Likewise, the pandemic and its associated staffing shortages posed a serious challenge for several years….but eventually we stabilized our staffing, tightened up our operation, and emerged in 2024 better than ever.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Here at the Herdic House, we genuinely love food, and we love the environments in which it is produced. We cultivate multiple edible plants on our own properties (from roses for rose petal jam, to jerusalem artichokes for a fencerow/culinary component, to lemongrass for tonic tincture at the bar, to fresh mint for ice cream and garnishes), and we cultivate them partly to learn more about the struggles and triumphs our growers face. We also cultivate our local relationships with growers and purveyors, searching, always, for the best possible ingredients—whether those be the sungold tomatoes from Beech Grove Farm, fat ducks from Country Homestead Acres, A2A2 feta from Belle Springs Dairy—and we try to take advantage of our excellent local products at their peak. We consider ourselves fortunate gourmands of the PA countryside. A few of our favorite dishes include: rhubarb upside down cake in early spring; fresh asparagus with scallion and farm egg hollandaise; street corn salad with chipotle aioli and slabs of heirloom tomato; crispy cauliflower with korean barbecue sauce and housemade kimchi (from local ingredients, of course). We’re most proud here of the many and wonderful connections we have within our local community, with our growers, with our employees, and with our customers. We are truly of and by Williamsport, and we have great pride of place.
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
Liz: I was a absorbed reader and a fervent nerd, always with my nose buried in a book, whether it was a novel or a cookbook. I got invited on a lot of vacations with friends because, while everyone else went to the beach, I loved to go to the grocery store and then spend the whole day cooking dinner for the beach crew. By the time I was in college, I had a reputation for making big, complicated dinners with friends, and spent my junior year abroad in Bologna, learning more about porcini mushrooms, gelato and wine than about the letteratura I’d actually come to study.
Gloria and Marcia: are devoted sisters, even though they were born six years apart. Both decided to come back to their hometown (from Penn State and Brown University, respectively) to try to build a better community.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://herdichouse.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theherdichouse
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/peterherdichouse
