412 MARKET STREET LEWISBURG, PA 17837 | 570.523.8088
Staff
EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED.
Elizabeth Long-Furia
Proprietor
Elizabeth’s An American Bistro embodies a dream that chef and owner Elizabeth Long-Furia brought to life over 25 years ago. Elizabeth’s has become a dining destination in central Pennsylvania and has incorporated catering and baking services to help our patrons celebrate their many life events.
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From traveling through central Europe at a young age, Chef Liz grew passionate about seasonal, regional food. Her fascination with cooking became sharpened as she studied in Italy and did apprenticeships in France and the USA. You will usually find
Chef Liz in the Elizabeth's kitchen, creating desserts, baking breads or planning seasonal menus with Chef Melissa
She learned the advantage of creating dishes made beautiful, by following classical techniques and staying true to fresh ingredients. She fell in love with ethnic and regional food, enhancing the variety of food with local and seasonal ingredients.
Chef Liz, along with her staff, has pushed Lewisburg dining with infused impeccable standards, consistent attention to detail, welcoming ambiance and warm professional service. Opened in August of 1997, Elizabeth’s is an 85 seat upscale American Bistro set in historic Lewisburg, Pennsylvania with a casual dress code. Elizabeth’s strives to serve innovative American cuisine. Elizabeth’s has set forth the cooking philosophy to let the food speak for itself while enhancing natural flavors in each dish and staying true to ethnic roots. Our practice is to serve the freshest seasonal, local and organic produce. We keep health in mind, as well as artistic flare, as we create dishes with passion and care.
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Along with careful attention, we invest great pride in our craft. Pastas, hearty artisanal breads, and desserts are made daily in-house. Coffee is roasted and delivered weekly by a local expert.
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Because of our friendly relationship to customers, and our dependable professionalism, we are known not just as a local restaurant, but also as a part of the community. The business has grown by word of mouth and referrals since it opened. In 2008, 2010 and 2011 Elizabeth’s received first place on Central PA Magazine’s hotlist, a reader’s poll on the best restaurants in the area. Community involvement is one way we maintain our local reputation and is an integral part of our philosophy. We enjoy building relationships with our local businesses. We offer a dinner and a movie package with the town movie theatre (directly across the street). Our floor manager and owners stop regularly at every table to check on customer satisfaction, which often times gives light to special requests. Our use of comment cards opens a venue for direct feedback by which we appropriately adjust our business; we correct problems before any bill is presented.
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To best serve our diners, we have developed menus built around seasonal and local products. We have established an enduring relationship with our purveyors and farmers such as Landis Farms Poultry, a local environmentally friendly farm, which has provided us with free-range chicken for twenty years.
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But we lose no responsiveness because of our particularity towards produce. Balance and pricing is in the forefront of our menu design. We make sure our over-all menu is adaptable to every customer’s taste: one may wish to go course by course, or to make a dinner out of an appetizer and salad. The flexibility of our menu, as well as our kitchen staff, makes a decision about a meal fun, easy and exciting for the customer.
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In addition to our standard menu items, we offer daily specials that keep options fresh and true to seasonal ingredients. By printing our menus in-house we have the opportunity to control food cost and easily offer the best the market has in ingredients. Our chefs blend ethnic diversity, a variety of ingredients and several cooking techniques to produce a menu that is eclectic, yet true to our regional cooking philosophy.
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The nightly, three course tasting menu is paired with a wine flight that may be purchased by a two or four ounce pour. Elizabeth’s serves special menus of tapas and sushi seasonally. These menus have helped us to become an affordable neighborhood bistro, where casual diners can come regularly without submitting to mundane dining. Elizabeth is more than just a restaurant where people celebrate special occasions. Come and enjoy the experience with us.
Melissa Gelnett
Chef
From a very young age “Chef Melissa” had a passion for being in the kitchen. She recalls many stories where her grandmother would reference her helping “Grammy Marcie” gather apples and berries from their farm in central Pennsylvania to create lovely seasonal pastries.
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Born and raised in Bloomsburg, PA, Chef Melissa’s professional career began at the age of 16. After several stints as a prep cook at local restaurants, Melissa entered the International Culinary School at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. Soon after graduation, and based on stellar recommendations, she was hired by Elizabeth to work as a saute cook. From there, Melissa’s love for cooking was recognized and she quickly moved up in position. Within a year she was the restaurant’s sous chef and one year later was named executive chef, a position she has held for 6 years.
Melissa is passionate about using locally grown foods and is committed to buying local, sustainable products from the many farmers in our community. She works with the farmers to create a menu that reflects the freshness and diversity of foods grown in the area. Her commitment to local products and service is evident in the dining experience at Elizabeth’s.
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Her role at Elizabeth’s includes menu planning, food preparation, management of the kitchen staff and assisting Elizabeth with wedding planning and large catering events. Lewisburg is surrounded by several hospitals and mid-sized companies. As a member of several local cooking societies Melissa is regularly asked to prepare regional dinners for many hospital, business, and professional events.
On her nights off, Melissa teaches cooking classes for foodies, service organizations, corporate staff, and university personnel. She is particularly fond of her yearly cookie baking classes for the children of the community.
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Melissa lives her passion on a daily basis and every meal she serves exemplifies her desire to create experiences that exceed guest’s expectations and that are memorable.
Kate Moore
Floor Managerr
Kate is a local girl from Central PA. She began working at Elizabeth’s
in 2018 and quickly rose from server to floor manager. She is an innovative, people person which fuels her passion for the hospitality business.
Kate’s ability to think creatively and adapt is one of the reasons for Elizabeth’s post-covid shutdown success. In just 6 months, Kate has updated Elizabeth’s wine and bar menus, added online reservations, making it easier for customers to make reservations anytime. Kate has doubled the amount of front of the house staff to add better service and flexibility
Kate says she is thrilled about this opportunity and looking forward to adding value to a 25-year-old plus establishment! When Kate is not working; she is spending quality time with her beautiful 6-year-old daughter and dog Roxie. As Kate puts it, she enjoys her attempts at gardening, perfecting her flower bed, traveling and spending time with her family.
NEW!
The Bistro Team
Because of our friendly relationship to customers, and our dependable professionalism, we are known not just as a local restaurant, but also as a part of the community. The business has grown by word of mouth and referrals since it opened. In 2008, 2010 and 2011 Elizabeth’s received first place on Central PA Magazine’s hotlist, a reader’s poll on the best restaurants in the area. Community involvement is one way we maintain our local reputation and is an integral part of our philosophy. We enjoy building relationships with our local businesses.
