This Week at the Herdic House
We can’t speak to the thoughts running through everyone else’s minds when they woke up this morning, but Liz’s head was a jumble of “oh lord, it’s only a week until Christmas!” and “oh man, what are we gonna say in today’s email?” Unfortunately for all concerned, she’s not figured out a resolution to either of those issues as yet…but hopefully the latter will be settled here shortly!
The meat of today’s email, since we’ve got yet another busy holiday week ahead at the Herd, is our Blue Plate Special. First off, a reminder that this week our Blue Plate will be served on Thursday—and that this Blue Plate will be the last one served at the Herdic until January 21, 2026. Furthermore, it’s already jam-packed for Thursday evening at the Herdic, so please call down to reserve a table if you’d like to join us for dinner! And what is the Blue Plate, you might ask? Why it’s a lasagna bolognese, inspired by Liz’s time in Bologna this past September, full of noodles layered with a Misty Mountain beef and pork ragu (and also by some silly Americanisms like putting ricotta into lasagna—yeah, it’ll have ricotta too). It’s $18 at our House, and $20 to go, like always—but, per usual, our number of to-go orders will be very limited.
We’re putting another hectic pre-Christmas week on the books this week, folks, and space is tight around our house. While we’re not excited to lose our dusting of snow around town before we get to the big day (yes, that’s Christmas, to those of us with small children), we are excited to give our tired furnaces a break after two weeks of unseasonably cold weather. And we’re very excited indeed to see all the friends who will poke their heads carefully in at our door (you’ve gotta watch out for the gorgeous but spiky wreath hung in our entry), and join us for a meal and maybe a few holiday beverages. But for those of you without reservations this week, please call ahead—and, once again, Saturday is looking like the day we’re most likely to have space to squeeze in a few extra tables…
And we can’t speak for the rest of you, but, here at the Herdic, we’ve been making the most of the snow and the season: Daisy and Jim spent the weekend in West Virginia this past week, skiing 12″ of fresh powder (that somehow missed Wilpo, dang it), but got back in time for Daisy to ride the Santa Express this weekend, and take in a performance of a Christmas Carol. The rest of the Herdic staff celebrated our Christmas party this past Monday, and, while your correspondent didn’t attend the afterparty (bedtime interfered), a good time seemed to be had by all…and we expect that all will have recovered in time to prepare and serve this evening’s diners!
We’ve also been spending a bunch of time shopping at our excellent local retailers this holiday season, and we can’t say enough good about all the fantastic stores we’re fortunate to have here in town, run by your friends and neighbors and stocked with ample holiday cheer. We can’t name them all, we’re sure, but the Mulberry Moose is a great spot for toys and games, Otto is, of course, a terrific spot for books, and our new vintage shop downtown, Retro Rack, offers you the opportunity to buy used and also buy cool, helping the environment and getting a better product in the process. Then there’s Gustonian Gifts, Patinaz, Gallina’s, Honey Root and Honey Ella, our delectable chocolate shops (Lang’s and Le Chocolat), two great local distilleries (Nomad and FairPlay), the ubiquitous Clothier, and the list goes on.
So no need to worry when Amazon can’t get your package here by December 25…you’ve got options, and those options have an awesome selection of pretty much everything you could need to buy for everyone on your list! (And don’t forget Barr’s Hardware, new and improved at the corner of Little League Boulevard and Market Sts.—there’s surely someone you know who’d prefer a gift of tools and equipment to a new suit any day…)
And lastly, we’re not sure when, or if, you’ll hear from us next week, so we’ll mention the relatively obvious: the Herdic House will be closed on Wednesday, December 24 and Thursday, December 25 so that we and our employees may celebrate with our families. We’ll reopen next Friday and Saturday, and be delighted to see a bunch of familiar Williamsport expat faces, as people once near and dear (who’ve since made other lovely places their homes) return to Wilpo for the holidays and make their way to the Herd for dinner. Then we’ll be closed again Sunday-Tuesday, and open just long enough to celebrate one of our favorite nights of the year: New Year’s Eve! It’s already looking fairly busy for the weekend after Christmas and for NYE, so please call if you’d like to come join us for dinner!