Above all, Ed and Ellen Diller love food. You could, indeed, call them foodies in the truest sense of the word—they are all about the food. When they opened Gypsy Kitchen in March 2013, their goal was simple: to share their love for food with the community.
You will not find trendy, fancy ingredients on the menu or towering, fussy presentations on your plate. You will not find the newest microbrews or cosmopolitan cocktails. In fact, you’ll find no booze at all (the restaurant is BYOB). For the Dillers, it’s about creating an experience, the whole dining experience, from forks of roasted beet salad with goat cheese, to the main course of seared lamb chops rubbed with basil and garlic, to the final bites of a house made lemon pound cake with strawberry sauce accompanied by a freshly brewed cup of coffee.
Finding the restaurant is itself an adventure. Gypsy Kitchen is housed at the Lancaster Theological Seminary’s Dietz Hall Refectory. You meander through the seminary campus, following walkways and signs that point toward Dietz Hall. Upon entering the 100-year-old hall with wrought iron chandeliers, stained glass windows and Moravian tile floors, you know you’re in for a unique dining experience akin to worship. The heavy wood tables are preset and adorned with fresh flowers and candles. It’s clear the Dillers treat their role as restaurateurs with the utmost respect.
Gypsy Kitchen is the result of Ed and Ellen’s more than 30 years of experience cooking, baking, catering and eating. In 1978, Ed and a partner opened Jethro’s, which is now owned by Bob and Jennifer Esbenshade and was chosen by Bon Appetit in 2002 as one of America’s great neighborhood restaurants. It was at Jethro’s that Ed met Ellen when he hired her as his baker. But it wasn’t until a number of years after that initial meeting that the couple would reconnect and wed.
Ed, a Franklin & Marshall grad, moved to New York City and honed his culinary skills serving up fresh fish to the likes of Oscar de la Renta at Woods on 37th Street in the heart of the Fashion District. Ellen went to Philadelphia and continued baking. By 1986, the pair had found their way back to Lancaster. Ed opened the Downtown Soup Kitchen, but the endeavor lasted for only a little more than a year. Within two weeks of getting married they closed the restaurant. Ed went into real estate and Ellen focused her artistic talents on creating decadent wedding cakes, which worked pretty well for them for a long time. But, by 2013, Ed confesses, “real estate wasn’t fun anymore; I thought, ‘why am I doing this?’”
Throughout the years, after closing the soup kitchen, Ed and Ellen continued to cook and entertain. They would cater open houses for real estate colleagues and house concerts for their musician friends, along with the occasional benefit dinner—they even managed to raise $11,000 in one night for hurricane Katrina victims. Catering events started taking up more and more of their time, and, whether by divine intervention or mere coincidence, one special gathering by the Demuth Foundation brought them to the refectory. Shortly after, they were asked if they were interested in leasing the space.
Gypsy Kitchen pays homage to the illustrious chefs that they’ve worked with and the establishments they’ve dined at and enjoyed over the years. Ed proudly shows me a signed edition of Simple Cuisine —the first cookbook written by Jean-Georges Vongerichten, touted at the time as “groundbreaking” for its use of broths, vinaigrettes and juices to produce healthier, flavorful dishes. The Dillers continue to make annual pilgrimages to New York City to dine at places like Jean-Georges, Thomas Keller’s Per Se or Daniel Boulud’s Daniel.
The roast pork loin stuffed with figs is a Thomas Keller meets Vongerichten concoction. Paul’s Shrimp and Scallops, originated with French chef Paul Asso, whom Ed hired at Jethro’s. The French onion soup has Paul’s stamp on it, too. Both dishes start with sweating onions in butter and dry vermouth, “really slowly, the longer the better, the sweeter they get,” Ed explains.
The dozen or so items featured on the menu have been meticulously thought out and the majority of the ingredients are sourced locally. “Our beef is from Harvest Lane Farm in Lititz; all of our arugula and salad mix is from ‘Captain Arugula,’ John Stoner at Central Market; and the chevre is from Linden Dale,” Ed explains. “Our fish is from Kepler’s seafood. He decides for me which fish we’re going to serve.”
When asked to sum up Gypsy Kitchen, Ed says, “Our food is classic; I call it ‘fast casual.’ The meals don’t take a really long time to prepare. Taste is priority.”
Gypsy Kitchen 555 W. James St., Lancaster, PA eatgypsykitchen.com 717-824-2714
By Michelle Ciarrocca | Photography by Donovan Roberts Witmer