This Week at the Herdic House
That’s right! The Herdic will be back open, and right on schedule, on Wednesday, January 22 at 5:00 pm. It may be hard to believe, but we (and a bunch of subcontractors) have actually been hard at work most of the time we’ve had our doors closed, fixing a 40-year-old floor in our basement. But now that the dust has settled (and we’ve thoroughly cleaned it all up, of course), we’ll reopen with gladness in our hearts—cooking beats the hell out of cleaning and organizing, and it’ll be lovely to get the House above 50 degrees for the first time since 2024.
But since it’s bitter cold, we haven’t been able to think of anything we’d rather make for a Blue Plate than Landis Farm chicken and biscuits. Liz is picking up the chickens tomorrow morning, and by 5:00 we’ll have them stewed into a delightful gravy, not to mention we’ll have a delicious hearty batch of sausage and lentil soup to bring a little luck to 2025. It’s $18 at our House, and $20 to go—but, per usual, our number of to-go orders will be very limited. We’ll hope to see you out tomorrow! Don’t miss our Thursday happy hours at the bar, from 5-7 pm, with $1 off all beers and $2 off wines by the glass. Plus 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 spicy shrimp, fresh-cut fries, grated cheddar and parmesan ranch. Hannah will be shaking up lilac margaritas at the bar too! If you were fortunate enough to also spend the first week of January somewhere warm that had ample pina coladas, then you can doubtless understand Daisy’s beaver-toothed smile above, on the Anna Maria beachfront. And if you weren’t, well, as lovely as our verdant central Pennsylvania is, it can indeed be delightful to escape the cold for a moment and head south, to feel the sand between your toes, bask in the striped shade of the palm trees and peruse the tide pools for starfish, conchs, clams, hermit crabs and the occasional spiny sea urchin. Which is to say, our Miele-Elion-Ramsauer clan had a nice visit to Florida!
And we returned to Wilpo just in time to celebrate Dante’s 30th birthday. (If you see him, don’t forget to wish him many happy returns.) Liz attempted to perfect her keto cupcake recipe for his party…but we sadly report that it still needs a bit of work. Consequently, we’ll be focusing this Friday evening on excellent dishes we tried or made ourselves while we were southerly on vacation. Come in and enjoy a small taste of the subtropics this Friday evening, including an awesome pistachio-crusted grouper Liz created in her culinary free time…
- Classic margaritas with grand marnier
- Lobster and shrimp bisque inspired by the delicious potage at the Waterfront on Anna Maria Island
- Coconut-crusted shrimp served with citrus and avocado salsa and crisp pea shoots
- Pistachio-crusted grouper, roasted and served in a dry vermouth beurre blanc, over potatoes anna and wilted arugula
- Tart and fresh Key lime pie with a black raspberry coulis