This Week at the Herdic House
Such lovely high-summer weather for a dip in the creek or a cold glass of iced tea under a shade tree—pity there’s another deluge predicted this evening, preventing all our customers from enjoying a glass of wine under the wisteria as well! But the Blue Plate will go on no matter the weather: tonight’s is a Korean-barbecued chicken drumstick from Landis Farm, served over zucchini noodles tossed with peanut sauce and crisp local veggies. 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. And, in a chicken-two-ways motif for this evening, our soup will be the classic chicken corn chowder…
Come join us for our Thursday happy hours at the bar, from 5-7 pm, with $1 off all beers and $2 off wines by the glass. Plus we’ll be serving our Thursday night feature that pretends to be healthy, all while loaded with the tangy umami of ranch dressing: house favorite Herdic Pittsburgh salad, this week served with a grilled chicken quarter, fresh-cut fries, grated cheddar and parmesan ranch. Plus, Hannah will be shaking up blueberry mojitos at the bar…
Oh goodness, the weather looks just about perfect for our Tuscan Picnic this Friday evening—the last piece to fall into place for a lovely evening of wine tasting and delicious Italian fare. (Though we won’t have the olive groves and vineyards pictured above on-site, we promise a lovely vista of dangling wisteria vines and Murano glass lanterns, plus Liz, perspiring prettily over a cooking fire.) And good news—we still have a few spots available for the party! We’ll be starting at 6:30 with antipasti and wine tasting on the patio (though you’re welcome to come early and sip on a Negroni at the bar), and tasting a variety of Tuscan wines courtesy of F. Magnotta Wines, including a Viognier, a few simple Sangioveses, and a Brunello, plus whatever else strikes our fancy from Suzanne’s collection.
We were fortunate to taste several of these wines (from the vineyard Sasso di Sole) with the handsome vintner Marco a few months ago—which is when we realized that a Tuscan picnic should be on our agenda for the summer. While Marco himself won’t be here for Friday’s tasting, the vivacious Suzanne will more than fill his shoes—she’s an absolute blast, and we’re excited to have her back at the Herdic.
After the tasting and family-style antipasti, we’ll sit for a three-course dinner: primo, secondo and dolce, just like they do it in Italia, each one showcasing excellent produce and meats from our region. Liz has fond memories of the food in every region of Italy that she’s been fortunate enough to visit, but Toscana truly has some of the best of all the regions, with a true al fresco bent—we’ll be grilling the ubiquitous crostini over an outdoor fire, and crisping the porchetta on the same flame. Check out the menu below, and please call down if you’d like to book a seat!
P.S. Please note that we’ll be closed next Saturday, July 26 for several private events. But there’s still plenty of time to grab a table for a sweet corn menu (including the oft-requested sweet corn ice cream) on July 25!