This Week at the Herdic House
Woot—such a glorious streak of sunny days after all this spring’s cold and wet! We were beginning to be afraid we’d planted flowers on the patio for nothing—but today’s predicted temps will make everything right with summer. And we’ve got a Blue Plate to match: cumin and cilantro broiled haddock tacos, with salsa casera, lime crema, Mexican red beans and cucumber slaw. 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 we’ll have a simple and delicious gazpacho to pair with it, if you want to go full summer…
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 grilled tenderloin tips, fresh-cut fries, grated cheddar and parmesan ranch. Plus, Hannah will be shaking up garden mint mojitos at the bar…
And this week at the Herdic we’re excited to announce the arrival of two things on Friday: a glut of local strawberries, perfect for concocting all manner of delightful scarlet dishes, and our favorite relative and author Cutter Wood. We’re so excited about both of them that we just can’t choose, so we’ll be featuring a strawberry menu this Friday evening, while hosting our prodigal son later on Friday evening for drinks and dinner, after he exhausts his right hand signing books downtown at Otto Bookstore.
First: Cutter…. Cut has just debuted his second book, a lively tome called Earthly Materials that chronicles our relationship to our bodily excretions and exudations. He’ll be signing copies of this book at Otto Bookstore this First Friday (June 6) from 5:30-7 pm—and we heartily encourage everyone to go grab a copy, and get his autograph, (hell, maybe it’ll be worth money someday!) and browse the excellent selection at Otto. Then, when the crowd at Otto thins out, he’ll make his way to our House for drinks and dinner, and all are welcome to come meet the author, ask weird questions about urine, flatulence, etc, and jaw with Liz about what an alarming little brother he was.
Which brings us to our second feature: strawberries… A fruit which we hope needs no introduction, and which has struggled to come into season in our chill, wet and unwelcoming central PA spring. For weeks, Liz has been watching the little green nubs in her backyard for any sign of a blush (or any sign of mold, thanks to all this rain), but this morning she picked a lovely five quarts of ruby fruit, proving that summer truly has arrived! We’ll be making the most of this exceptionally short-season fruit on Friday evening too…
- Fresh local strawberry margarita (not frozen, or Hannah will have our heads) with Espolon tequila and grand marnier
- Chilled strawberry soup with housemade yogurt and fresh mint
- Pretty little strawberry salad with baby greens, prosciutto di Parma, toasted almonds, chèvre and a honey vinaigrette
- Pan-seared Atlantic halibut with honey-roasted strawberries, lemon and tarragon risotto and local asparagus
- Fresh strawberry pie with pillowy whipped cream (and strawberry sorbet too, for total purists)
And we’d be remiss if we didn’t point out that the lovely Tara Silva will be taking down her artwork this week. If you haven’t had a chance to check it out, please do—and don’t miss her super-cool (and very affordable) paint skin necklaces and earrings out by our host stand.