Historic downtown Lancaster is welcoming a new era. New small businesses are creating modern, urban spaces that embrace the city’s timelessness and agriculture. Opening its doors in August 2013, Aussie and the Fox caught the wave and joined the community that’s reinventing Lancaster’s food and drink scene.
In 2011, Lancaster native Julia Garber was happy to return home and find the city evolving. After traveling to Sydney, Australia, to study interior design, she came home with a dream and her partner, Colin Morrell. It was love at first Skype for these two, who met on the video chat app months before they came face-to-face in Australia. Morrell, who is from Camden, New South Wales, has a set of degrees in small business and event management. Before the move, Morrell worked on music festival sites and had started his own small music festival called the Secret Garden.
As Garber’s student visa was running out, they decided to settle in the states with hopes of opening a restaurant. Dreams turned to reality through a partnership with Garber’s grandfather, Frank Fox. Aussie and the Fox fuses together two complementary cultures to create a unique dining experience. Garber elaborated on the Aussie: “That doesn’t represent just Colin or just Australia, but the spirit of Australia; it’s a contemporary country and very friendly and laid back.” The Fox characterizes her family name and represents Lancaster as “really timeless, historic, sophisticated and classy.”
Garber designed every inch with her vision of the two identities. Tufted benches, Victorian prints and ornate, golden frames that are playfully elegant and traditional are balanced with modern orange accents, dark wood, an exposed brick wall and wire chandeliers. Paintings of the characters have brought the Aussie and the Fox to life. “The orange fox represents my grandfather and the kangaroo, Colin. There are some paintings around with a white fox and that’s supposed to represent me,” Garber admitted. “It’s fun to kind of take it to an extreme with the characters … and go into sort of that playful world.”
“Our menu is changing constantly,” Garber explained. “A few weeks ago it was all brussels sprouts and now it’s all broccoli.” New items are added every few weeks, depending on what is available at Lancaster Central Market. Aussie and the Fox sources almost every ingredient from the farmer’s market, which is just a few blocks away. Chef Brent Golding, a Pennsylvania native, joined the team in October. Golding is passionate about using local and in-season ingredients to create dishes for the local community.
Sous Chef Brad Miller is the newest member of the team. After living and cooking in different parts of the nation, Miller made his way back to Central PA. Miller appreciates the agriculture of the area, describing the close relationship chefs are able to have with their food suppliers. Miller seemed to have a bit of spring fever already, saying, “Nothing beats late July tomatoes and corn.”
Miller took me through a tour of the menu offering Australian fare executed with local Lancaster products. The grilled parsnip starter combines the Australian “on the grill” style with sweet, Kaufman’s apples prepared two ways, pureed and powdered. The salt and pepper calamari is the perfect combo of sweet and salty and Australia and Lancaster. The calamari is coated in crunchy cornmeal, smoked salt and pepper and served with Amish pepper jam (a local substitute for the Thai chili sauce that is customary in Australia). The dinner menu also features Arctic char with Lancaster county dashi and mushroom gnocchi.
Frank Fontaine, an award-winning bartender, is one of the masterminds behind the sophisticated and fun cocktail list. Morrell praised Fontaine, “He’s fantastic at what he does, and he’s extremely passionate.” Morrell crafted me the Bubbly Gander cocktail, which mixes Grey Goose Lapoire, St. Germain, Freixenet, lemon juice and honey syrup for a refreshing and perfectly sweet martini.
Starting Tuesday, March 1, patrons can sample another side of Australian cuisine and culture. Their new Aussie Pub Fare Menu will be introduced during Lancaster City Restaurant Week (March 1–March 6) at a special price of $10 per plate. The menu will include chicken schnitzel, grilled sirloin steak or beer-battered cod served with fries or mash and a side salad. Golding explained that they want to offer local dishes that don’t break the bank. After restaurant week, this menu will be $13 per person and will be available Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights.
There’s a lot more to Aussie and the Fox than just its dinner menu, including movie nights, weekend brunch and the Tucker Box. Thinking dinner and a movie? Movie nights every fourth Wednesday show classics like Gone with the Wind and The Sound of Music. Brunch blends the traditional favorites like bennies and Bloody Marys with some Australian tastings from the Aussie Brekkie and Brunch Tier for 4. Start brunch or end dinner with a taste of Australian coffee (bolder than some might be used to in the states). The Tucker Box street-side window gives the community a place to grab coffee and a pastry and go. The creation of the Tucker Box was really just a “logistical thing,” as Morrell put it. They had a small space with sidewalk presence and turned it into a fun way to show off Australian flavors.
Garber said they would love to expand to Australia one day and believes their brand has potential to be expanded in the United States, though there are no plans in the works yet.
Aussie and the Fox is open for dinner Tuesday through Friday from 5–9 p.m and Friday through Sunday from 5–10 p.m. Brunch is served Friday through Sunday from 9 a.m.–2 p.m.
Find Aussie and the Fox at 38 W. King St. in Lancaster; phone: (717) 826-4040.
- Photos: Aussie and the Fox
