LANCASTER, Pa. (WHTM) — Lancaster’s Southern Market used to be a farmers market over a century ago. Now, it is a place for up-and-coming chefs to build their business.

Leraunt van Loon and Frank DiVanna both have early memories of cooking with their families.

“We would make our homemade bitterballen and croquette,” van Loon said.

DiVanna remembered, “grabbing a stepstool and peering over a steaming stockpot with my grandmothers.”

However, neither went into cooking at first. Van Loon was a professional ballroom dancer, and DiVanna spent more than 15 years in Los Angeles as a musician.

“LA is just so full of all the culture,” he said.

That culture influenced his food, while van Loon draws his inspiration from his home country the Netherlands.

Humane Pennsylvania to waive adoption fees for two locations

“It’s definitely the Netherlands, Germany and France that plays the most in my life,” he said.

As their careers shifted, both men turned to cooking as another way to express creativity.

“You just get giddy about a piece of produce and then you get inventive with that,” DiVanna described.

Close

Thanks for signing up!

Watch for us in your inbox.

Subscribe Now

Al Día con abc27

A year ago, the two launched A La Board in Lancaster’s Southern Market located at 100 Queen Street. They say it is the perfect spot for their ideas.

“I think if we had this concept of charcuterie and tapas completely in our own brick and mortar, I’m not 100% sure that people would travel for it and just come for that,” van Loon said.

Their menu is largely seasonal.

“We opened with a board from Spain and France, and because it was that fall time and it was October, we did an Oktoberfest board, so we pulled Germany in. In the winter, we switch to something a little bit more hearty and a little bit heavier dishes like shepherd’s pie, so we did a British board,” van Loon said.

There are some staple dishes like quiches and other appetizers, though van Loon likes to add some variety with those as well.

“We’ll do a nice little wheel of baked brie in a cast iron skillet,” he said. “We do any choice of the jam that you might prefer, then we’ll bake it a little bit longer and then decorate it with praline pecans, raspberries and blackberries.”

Taste is not the only factor, however.

“We eat with our eyes, both Leraunt and I, so we love to take an extra 30 seconds sometimes just to make things look really ‘Wow factor,'” DiVanna said.

It is all part of the experience for their customers.

“And then when you see the customer’s reaction or come back to us afterwards, how much fun it was for them to consume it, I think that’s where the inspiration lays and where it stays fun,” van Loon said.

Van Loon and DiVanna said they want to do more catering, bringing their charcuterie concept to people’s homes and offices.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC27.