This Week at the Herdic House
Hmmm—does anyone else feel like they’re lacking in vitamin D this week? We’re certainly missing our summer tans around these parts, and hoping that perhaps the weekend will bring a little sunny respite from the rain and cloud cover. In the meantime, this evening’s Blue Plate brings a small amount of vitamin D into your diet, with a variety of Ten Mile Farm mushrooms: Deb’s organic fettuccine tossed with local asparagus, peas, Ten Mile mushrooms, garlic scape pesto and cream, and finished with parmigiana. 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 continuing the green veggie theme, our soup will be cream of broccoli with cheddar and Misty Mountain bacon—that’s right, we’re bringing the healthy vitamins this evening, folks…
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 herb-marinated chicken breast, fresh-cut fries, grated cheddar and parmesan ranch. Plus, Hannah will be shaking up fresh raspberry gimlets at the bar…
Yikes—how does it get to be the end of June, and yet still feel like early May? If it weren’t for the plethora of veggies filling our kitchen, we might have missed that summer was slipping past. But, like everyone, we’ve been dodging the raindrops to pack in summer experiences—Eder’s Ice Cream, of course, hikes, swimming…and Knoebel’s! Check out Anaïs and Lula, above, as they spin delightfully on the Balloon Races just yesterday, about an hour before yet another deluge started.
But one thing that’s nearly escaped our notice, given how little we’ve gotten to see of the sun recently, is the arrival of the summer solstice this Friday, and how beautifully long the days have been, even if they’re a bit dreary. But it looks like the weather will be perking up this weekend, and we may yet get a clear, lovely Friday evening to enjoy the full length of the day—which we’re planning to celebrate by lighting a little fire on the patio, burning some sage, and singing…Happy Birthday? Because the solstice coincides most years with Jim Wood’s birthday, and so we celebrate the longest day and the sweetest guy simultaneously.
In light of the birthday festivities on Friday, we’ll be serving up a menu of delicious fare designed with our favorite omnivore in mind. Jim maintains he’s on a diet, but we’ll pretty sure he’ll sample the whole menu anyway…
- Lynchburg lemonade with garden mint
- Oyster stew, with Misty Mountain bacon, spinach and Pernod
- Cornmeal-crusted calamari tossed with grilled zucchini and purple mustard and served over roasted tomato aioli
- Pan-seared black cod served over a shell pea risotto with fresh arugula, dilled lemon foam and crispy cauliflower
- At the birthday boy’s request, lemon curd cake with macerated fresh berries and whipped cream
PS We’ll be hosting our annual reading of the Declaration of Independence on Thursday, July 3 this year, but finding a reader willing to follow the eloquent Forrest Lehman (who really rocked it last year) is going to be a challenge. Stay tuned for an announcement next week!