Flour & Stone — Restaurant in Ferguson Township

My partner and I visited this eatery in their second week of being open and quickly became impressed by what they have on offer. We're food minded folks with a passion for meals that step up from the usual fair offered in State College. I'm happy to report that Flour & Stone has skyrocketed to the highest heights of our local eatery recommendations and I'm excited to recommend it to others.

We had made a reservation for 5:30 and were seated promptly at a comfortable table for 2 with clothe place settings. Our server, Lynn informed us that it was her first night, but nothing about her performance would give that away. She was attentive, kind, and had a mind for the menu along with recommendations that truly spoke to an understanding of the dishes in the house. Something that I was pleased to hear is that they had tastings for their servers. It's flabbergasting to me when servers at an eatery have no mind for the flavors on the menu, so it was lovely to hear that the Flour & Stone have stepped above that all too common problem.

My partner ordered the short rib gnocchi and I ordered the sirloin along with a pomegranate Italian soda and a Troegs Double Perpetual IPA for myself. Troegs is a semilocal brewer that I was happy to see represented here and the Italian soda was tart, refreshing, but not too sweet. We decided to skip the starters instead opting for dessert which I'll get to later.

My partner's gnocchi was savory, deep, and flavorful. It was robust and filling in the way you would want a short rib based pasta dish to be. My sirloin was PERFECTLY (hats off to the chef) medium rare and cut against the grain to allow the quality and tenderness of the meat to shine. It was seasoned well with a mix of salt, pepper, and perhaps a bit of garlic. The outer crust of the steak perfectly played against the buttery interior making for a wonderful dish especially when paired with the peperonata and polenta. This was the kind of preparation I've been looking in the area. My former favorite steak used to be at Gigi's but their quality has fallen off whereas Flour & Stone have come in with a strong entry stealing my top spot.

Our dessert that I mentioned earlier was a delectable chocolate torte paired with Valewood Farms ice cream. Valewood is a favorite of mine and a local provider so I'm happy to see their farm to table roots extend even into their desserts. The torte was deep in flavor, bitter without being overwhelming, and just the slightest hint of sweetness in the finish. The pairing with the ice cream was perfect and we even got a little drizzle of olive oil on top to round out the salty portion of the flavor profile.

My partner and I weren't even finished with our meals before we were discussing what we would be having on our next visit. Lynn was amazing as a server and even though it was her first night here, it was obvious she was either a seasoned server from elsewhere or has a service mindset that others in the area should strive for. While I'm eager to see how the rest of the staff will do, it will be hard for me to not ask for Lynn the next time we're seated here, and believe me there will be a next time. Much like Arnold Schwarzenegger in the Terminator...

We had the short rib pasta, falafel (they called it chickpea croquettes?) toast, and meatballs. I thought the toast would have something to dip in, but nope. Also it was bone dry.

Unfortunately, literally everything we ordered was so salty that we could only eat half of our food and then had to pay and find dinner elsewhere. This is the only time we've ever had to do such a thing. Kind of a let down for an anniversary. Also quite surprising that Pine Grove was downgraded to sandwiches while this place went more upscale and botched the landing.

Cocktails were okay, but having no proper bartender to make regular cocktails was strange. Probably won't be coming back -- I wish they had just invested more into pine Grove Hall. That place was great before it became mainly a sandwich menu.

Edits: for the owner For reference, we went 11/3. I just realized we ordered the focaccia, not "toast", so in hindsight the dish was pretty embarrassing. It was clearly store bought "focaccia" bread that was toasted bone dry without any adornment. I can see from the photos now advertising the dish that it was a total bait and switch. Not sure what happened there. If they were out of ingredients, I wish they would have told us rather than charging us for salty toast.

At the end, we told the wait staff to take our uneaten dishes away without boxes to go because they were too salty. So yes, we did communicate. And we were still charged for everything .

Lastly, I took a look at the Pine Grove menu from 1 year ago vs today, and the notion that they simply added sandwiches without subtracting from the original character is a wild spin. Today's menu is predominantly personal sandwiches and pizza, whereas before it was a wide variety of unique dishes, small and large, to share at the table. Super different character. So I respectfully disagree with the owner...

We were part of a lucky few who got invited to Flour & Stone’s soft opening.

The restaurant itself is really beautiful — a bright, modern, open space with a cute little patio & several different dining rooms with regular tables and bar tables. I liked the simplicity and small touches that created an inviting atmosphere.

The dinner menu is pretty expansive, with a section for sharing plates, a few pasta dishes (offering half portions!!!), a handful of entrees, and desserts. The wine program looks small but excellent, and there’s a good selection of cocktail standards & a few beers.

The whitebait was fried perfectly and a generous portion: a light and crispy batter, crave-worthy dip, and a wedge of lemon to squeeze over the fish before digging in. Really hope this stays on the menu!

The absolute highlight was the porchetta. Oh, my. Not only was the plating absolutely stunning, but the whole dish just worked together so well.

The meat was ridiculously delicious: a big slab of roast pork with crispy bits and rich, melty fat, and both the grilled scallion salsa verde and the pickled fennel complemented it perfectly, providing a nice, tart & crisp counterpoint to the succulence of the meat — another plate I hope stays on the menu!

Service was just as attentive, friendly & professional as we are accustomed to from our experiences at PGH. Liz Grove and her team really knocked it out of the park, especially considering this was 'just' the soft opening.

I cannot recommend Flour & Stone enough, and I can’t...