An acclaimed chef is bringing a new diner combining American classics and French dishes to downtown State College.
Chef Gillian Clark and partner Robin Smith are hoping to open Oeuf Boeuf et Bacon (that’s French for Egg, Beef and Bacon) in September at 131 S. Garner St., the former location of Baby’s Burgers and Shakes.
Clark, who is best known for Washington, D.C.-area and New York City restaurants specializing in comfort food, said she wanted to keep the diner aesthetic but that the 1950s theme of a place like Baby’s is more difficult for people to connect with as the years pass, particularly in a town with a younger population like State College.
“So we kind of spun it on its ear and decided, well what if people from France came here, they ate at a diner and they just thought ‘That could be a really neat place if they served French food too,’” Clark said. “It’s a classic American diner but it’s done through a French lens. So we have some classic diner things but we also have sort of like a French aesthetic.”
Much of the familiar decor from Baby’s will remain. The booths are staying, though the tables need to be replaced. They will add some colors to the white walls, which Clark said felt a bit sterile. Some of the Americana decorations like Coca-Cola items and car-themed elements will continue, with some French items added. The counter will still be there, as will the soda jerk station, with Oeuf Boeuf et Bacon incorporating milkshakes into the menu.
The restaurant will serve breakfast all day, offering choices such as eggs any style, limited omelets and crepes. Croissant and baguette will take the place of toast, and also will be used for sandwiches.
“There will be a steak and eggs,” Clark said. “We’re going to have really nice bacon, great ham.”
Clark plans for the menu to include “a really good burger,” which she called “the foundation of any diner.” Pies will be made from scratch each day too, as Clark recalls fresh baked goods as a staple of great diners.
Then there’s what Clark calls the “Sacre Bleu Plate Specials.”
“We’re going to have some classic French things like beef bourguignon. We’re going to do a French-style breakfast,” she said. “The Sacre Bleu Plate Special will be changing everyday. It’ll be bouillabaisse; it’ll be meatloaf; it’ll be whatever seems to stick.”
Oeuf Boeuf et Bacon will also include Clark’s most famous dish, the one that helped land her on several Food Network shows: her fried chicken.
A fried chicken sandwich will be on the menu, and from-scratch chicken tenders will be on the kids’ menu. Clark also hinted there will be a secret menu with “an adult version,” of the tenders.
“My hope is to continue to grow concepts here in State College and that might include somebody that’s going to rival Chik-fil-A and Raising Cane’s with really good fried chicken here in State College,” she said. “I hope the success of Oeuf Boeuf et Bacon leads to greater food options for the area, so we’re always looking like ‘What’s next? Let’s get this going and successful and where else might we grow?’ I think just about every chef thinks that way nowadays.”
After graduating from L’Academie de Cuisine in 1995, Clark worked as a chef at several top D.C. restaurants before opening her own Colorado Kitchen in 2001, garnering the attention of major media outlets like the New York Times and Food Network. In 2008, Clark and Smith opened The General Store and Post Office Tavern in Silver Spring, Maryland.
The restaurant became renowned for its fried chicken and special Sunday night dinners. It led to Clark’s winning appearance on Food Network’s “Throwdown with Bobby Flay,” and caught the attention of Guy Fieri, who featured The General Store on “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.”
Clark and Smith later moved on to Brooklyn, where their Bagock Fried Chicken and Donuts was named by New York magazine’s Grub Street among the best places for fried chicken in the city.
Clark, who has authored two memoirs, also began a consulting business, helping develop culinary strategies and restaurant concepts. A few years ago she was contacted by a group looking to establish restaurants in empty commercial space in State College. That project fell through but she was later offered another opportunity.
“I got invited to State College to lead another group and that opportunity never materialized, but I sort of already committed to coming here and at least staying for a minute,” she said.
Faced with a decision to return to New York or stay in the State College area, she decided to stay and continue her consulting business, working out of Philipsburg.
“I found myself doing a lot of consulting in Philipsburg, which was really fortuitous because there’s a lot of people there trying to bring that town back. It enabled me to stay and really regroup and think about what the next steps were,” Clark said.
Baby’s closed in the fall of 2020 after more than 30 years in business at the classic 1947 Silk City Diner. When Clark noticed it was available, she saw an opportunity to fill a gap and open a chef-operated restaurant.
Contractors have been doing the main work on the restaurant but Clark and Smith will put on the finishing touches like cleanup, painting and decorating, as they have at their previous endeavors.
“We’re reinvigorating, we’re not necessarily redesigning,” Clark said.
Initially, Oeuf Boeuf et Bacon will be open seven days a week, Clark said, until they determine what days work best. Hours are still to be determined, but she expects they will open around 8 a.m. most days — perhaps a little later on Sundays “so we really can focus on doing a great brunch” — and close sometime between 7 and 9 p.m.
“We like to see how it goes at first because sometimes we’ll just say ‘Hey we’re open at 8 and we were open til blank.’ If there were people that wanted to eat, we’d continue to stay open,” she said. “So we’ll see how it goes. Right now we’re going to start with seven days and see which day is the one that sucks. Then we’ll close that day. I know a lot of places are closed on Mondays and back in the day we used to close Mondays as well, but that might be a day where there’s a great opportunity so we’ll see.”
Whatever the hours, Clark said the restaurant will be all about good food and a good experience.
“I want to bring really good cooking to the folks of State College, and an experience,” she said. “You can get a classic Coke and an egg anywhere, but I think food should be in a context that is fun. People can enjoy the experience of being in a restaurant that is a little different, that is presenting something unique and imaginative.
“We hope to transport. That’s always my thing. I want when you come in those doors to go ‘Wow, this is kind of different. This is neat.’ … we spend a great deal of time creating a dining room that is warm and welcoming but also sparks the imagination and the food just makes sense of it all. So it all sort of ties in together.”
As for the name, the restaurant’s logo makes it clear, even if you don’t speak French.
“Eggs, beef and bacon. That’s pretty much what we are, what we’re doing,” Clark said. “Originally I had ‘A fancy French diner,’ but then I said no, French diner covers it. I think people will get it when they come in that it’s not just a regular greasy spoon. It’s a buttered spoon.”
