This Week at the Herdic House
Ooh, this warm and sunny weather, paired with the sudden arrival of baby arugula, fresh local herbs and lovely, wee baby greens has us feeling feisty and friendly—you remember how all of a sudden when it’s 70 degrees, you start wanting to say hi to everyone again, even the strangers? Yup, we’re having one of those weeks around here.
And it’s a good thing, since we’ve got some strangers at our House this week—lovely fellows, from what we can tell, who we don’t see much of, because they’ve been generally keeping to the roof—where they’re replacing our 40 year old Herdic roof with a brand new one. On account of all this activity (by Equity Roofing, in case you’re wondering), you’ll find the roof looks a bit festive at the moment, festooned with yellow flagging, and you may, despite our best efforts, spot some tar detritus laying around on the ground. In addition, parking at our place will be a bit more difficult this week—the roofers are leaving a strip of parking free for handicapped accessibility in the rear of the House, but, if you can, please park out front on the street, so that we can leave that parking for our customers with mobility issues!
But the real question on everyone’s mind, we’re sure, is the content of this evening’s Blue Plate: malfaldine pasta tossed with sautéed shrimp, arugula pesto, cream and roasted sweet peppers—a perfect accompaniment to early spring. 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. We’ll hope to see you out tonight! And we should mention that our soup tonight is Dante’s favorite: creamy local tomato soup with cheddar croutons… 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 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 delmonico tagliata, fresh-cut fries, grated cheddar and parmesan ranch. Plus, Hannah will be mixing up blue pea gimlet with Hendricks Grand Cabaret gin… We’re sticking a bit closer to our (not particularly blonde) roots this week with our featured menu, as we welcome, once again, the gracious, talented and oh-so-organized Alivia Tagliaferri, working in tandem with Liz (those Italian ties run deep) to concoct some delicious Roman recipes in time for the Ides of March this Saturday, March 15.
Since both the Tagliaferri and the Miele families emigrated to America from Italy in the early 20th century, the impact they’ve had on the local culinary scene is pretty notable—and even more delicious. Where would Williamsport have been for the past century without our red sauce Italian restaurants, like Tags, after all? Join us as Alivia and Liz celebrate our Italian heritage, and return to the old country for some recipes Wilpo might be less familiar with! Check out this year’s menu below, and please call down for a reservation—the mere mention of Alivia’s name seems to have the tables filling up fast. Et tu, meatballs?
And we don’t want to miss a chance to mention our other upcoming guest chefs and other guest appearances:
- Celebrity Waiter Night, featuring a bunch of local favorites waiting tables and the inimitable Tony Nardi on the bar, on March 21. Tables are just about filled up, but all are welcome (nay, encouraged!) to stop for drinks and make a donation to the North Central Pennsylvania Conservancy. Donations of $100 or more will receive a $10 Herdic gifr card to use at your next visit!
- Marleni Feinstein with recipes of Singapore on March 28
- and Kashfiah Fatema with recipes of Bangladesh and the Middle East on April 4
Keep an eye on our Facebook page for menus!