This Week at the Herdic House
Another lovely Wednesday and it feels like the heavens are positively smiling on us here at the Herdic—we’ve got glorious summer produce, we’ve got a sky full of sunshine and we don’t even have to water the plants! Tonight’s Blue Plate will take advantage of some of those summer veggies: a roasted sweet pepper stuffed with Misty Mountain sausage, Swiss chard, fennel, scallion and wild rice and served with a caper-chipotle aioli, roasted zucchini and crumbled local feta. 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 be serving up strawberry shortcake with fresh picked Fossil Springs berries for dessert…
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 spicy shrimp, fresh-cut fries, grated cheddar and parmesan ranch. Plus, Hannah will be shaking up strawberry mojitos at the bar…
Thanks to everyone who came out to get a book signed and welcome our brother and son Cutter back to Wilpo for the night this past Friday! It was a packed house downtown last Friday, the threatening weather notwithstanding, and Cut was delighted with the turnout, especially since he got to catch up with so many old friends. There’s nothing like that community vibe sometimes, which is why we love this small town so much…
But looking forward to this gorgeous and then rainy week, we’re excited to announce the arrival of so many summer delights: new potatoes, peas, ample zucchini, cherry tomatoes—by Friday there may even be the first of the juneberries to snack on! We’ll be featuring all these awesome items and more on this week’s menus, as well as the strawberries that will soon be leaving us for the season—so that we’ll be delighted indeed to see them back next year.
If you’ve gotten out into the fields and woods between the raindrops so far this summer, you’ve likely noticed what a spectacular wildflower season the ample rain has brought us—and you may have also noticed (how could you miss them?) the arrival of the 17-year cicadas, with their unnerving orange appendages and generally bug-eyed vibe, adding an unusual and exceptionally rhythmic element to any outdoor activity.
Liz, Glory, Jim and the kids took a hike up Gamble Run trail this past Monday (“Let’s play I-spy, Mom,” Anais said. “I spy something green!”), and the buzz of the cicadas was so deafening it sounded like Cicada-palooza in there. The earth was a mess of wee holes left by the insects as they emerged, and littered with the tiny exoskeletons of bugs shedding their too-tight skins for a set of wings to join the party. There were so many cicadas flitting around the fields and sitting motionless in the verges waiting for their new wings to dry, Liz contemplated gathering some up for a quick little feature this week of deep-fried cicadas…but we were afraid we might get a reputation. So instead, we’ve settled on an insect-free menu for this Friday, but Liz is happy to sauté your cicadas for you, if you want to bring them in…
- Sugar snap pea gimlets, with Hendricks gin, sugar snap syrup, mint and fresh lime
- Slightly spicy local tomato and zucchini soup, finished with grated parmigiano
- The final poached egg with asparagus of the early summer season (probably): poached Good Harvest Farm egg served over buttered asparagus in a scallion hollandaise
- Summertime spaghetti alle vongole: housemade basil spaghetti with roasted local tomato, Rhode Island littleneck clams, white wine, capers and fresh parsley
- Strawberry rhubarb pie—but with rhubarb compote, pastry cream, fresh berries and rose petal glaze!
PS Stay tuned for the debut of our paella menu on FB and Insta later this week—but reservations are already starting to come in for this open air event at 6:00 pm on 6/27. We’re only selling 40 seats (to fill the patio, weather permitting), so call down to book your seats if you’d like to join us on June 27!