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What does Saison Dupont have to do with Clover’s next beer?

By on 14 June, 2013 in Harvard Square, Menu, Suppliers

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Wednesday we launch Mystic Brewery’s Summer Saison.

I sent Kayla to Liquor World to buy a bottle to taste at our manager meeting, but we realized it’s not even on shelves yet! So we tasted Saison Dupont for a reference. This is a beer brewed in Toures, Belgium. When we visited Bryan of Mystic, he told us this beer is basically his reason for making beer.

It’s got a crazy texture, sort of soft and bubbly on your tongue. Kind of like champagne. Perfect for summer. Bryan is going to be breaking open the first keg of his summer saison for Clover customers. Join us?

MYSTIC SUMMER SAISON LAUNCH
with Bryan Greenhagen, brewer
6/19, 8pm-10pm at CloverHSQ (7 Holyoke St)

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Memorial Day Weekend Hours

By on 23 May, 2013 in Aquarium, Boston Common (PRK), Boston University Bridge (BUB), Brookline Village, Burlington (BUR), City Hall (GOV), Cleveland Circle, Development (DEV), Greenway (DWY), Harvard Square, HUB, Location, Longwood Medical (LMA), MIT

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Here’s what we’re looking at for the next 4 days. Most locations are open regular hours tomorrow. Monday the PRK truck and both restaurants are open regular hours. You can get more details on exact hours of operations by clicking on the Locations tab of this website, or by following the Twitter feed for your location.

Have a great holiday weekend everyone!

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Calling all CSA latecomers

By on 22 May, 2013 in Brookline Village, Burlington (BUR), CSA, Harvard Square, HUB, Location

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If you’re just now hearing about the whole CSA thing, and want to join a farm for this summer/fall, act now. We still have shares remaining in Drumlin Farm and Enterprise Farm (Thursday and Wednesday pickups respectively).

EDIT: WE ARE TOTALLY SOLD OUT OF CSA SHARES! PLEASE CHECK BACK IN THE FALL FOR WINTER SHARES!

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Eat everything this summer from a farmshare

By on 30 April, 2013 in Brookline Village, Burlington (BUR), CSA, Harvard Square, HUB, Location

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I’m not exaggerating. In addition to produce, Red Fire Farm and Kitchen Garden Farm are offering egg, fruit, and flower shares. And we are partnering with Valley Malt in Hadley to offer a grain CSA (think fresh-milled flour, malt, dry beans, polenta…and kits with everything you need to make your own beer).

I was trying to figure out how to tangibly display the shares. For the first few weeks, I tried using real food, but it didn’t last. And nothing was in season that was representative of the shares. Ayr said, “How about fake fruit?”

One trip to Michael’s in Porter Square and I was all set up. Those are real, fake Concord grapes. The real ones you’ll get in your fruit share this summer will taste a lot better, I promise.

Signups end May 1. All the details are at www.cloverfoodlab.com/CSA.

 

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Farmshare deadline approaching

By on 29 April, 2013 in Brookline Village, Burlington (BUR), Harvard Square, HUB

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That’s me at the greenhouse at Drumlin Farm, back in March. See my coat? Back then the air was freezing but the greenhouse was warm. It was filled with these tiny leek seedlings. By now the ground has warmed up enough that all the leeks have been planted, and the Drumlin farmers are on to seeding beets, carrots, spinach, peas, and fava beans.

If you want to join Drumlin farm (or 5 others) this summer and pick up your produce at a nearby Clover, act now. Sign-ups for our CSA program close 5-1-13. We’ve just added a new pickup point: our soon-to-open spot in Brookline Village (6 Harvard Street, right next to Dunkin’ Donuts). Already 20 families have signed up to be a part of this pickup point, and we’re looking at close to 300 members across all 4 pickup locations.

Don’t delay. Read more and sign up: www.cloverfoodlab.com/csa.

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Customer sandwich design contest

By on 18 April, 2013 in Harvard Square, Location, Menu, Recipes

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We did a seasonal sandwich design contest with MIT customers. MIT Medical put it all together and took submissions. We narrowed down the list from 30 to 6 finalists and invited those folks to join our weekly Food Development Meeting. Here are the 6 finalists:

A. Beets and horseradish mayo sandwich
B. Smoked gouda and apple sandwich
C. Seared carrot/ middle eastern style sandwich
D. Rutabaga/black pepper onions sandwich
E. Pumpkin/black bean sandwich
F. Leeks/breadcrumbs sandwich

We loved all of these, they’re all going into development, and chances are you’ll see a bunch of them on the menu in late autumn/early winter. We’re pretty excited about the beet + horseradish mayo sandwich. The customer who designed it grew up eating pickled beets out of a can in Hungary. Michael Docter of Winter Moon Roots says he’s going to supply us with some amazing beets next Winter. I thought string cheese could be a good match for the beets. What do you think? Which sandwich sounds most exciting to you?

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Gustavo Alfaro visits Clover

By on 17 April, 2013 in Harvard Square, Location, Menu, Suppliers

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Seconds into his visit this past Sunday, Gustavo was inviting me and “our best customers” to visit his farm in Guatemala. How awesome is that!?!

We’ve always made it a point to develop relationships with coffee roasters we love. We never thought it would be so soon that we’d be able to meet the growers of our coffee too. Gustavo runs Cafe Alfaro. He grows beans for Barismo in Huehuetenango, Guatemala. He was a scientist who took over his family’s coffee farm when his father died.

The best part of his visit was when he shared the 2013 lot of Buena Esperanza, which won second place in Guatemala’s Cup of Excellence. I’ve never tasted black coffee that was so sweet and smooth. If you want to try some of Gustavo’s coffee, we’re pouring the Pena Blanca in our $2 slot everywhere, and selling the bags at CloverHSQ. Maybe one day you’ll be able to sign up for a coffee trip at Clover.

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Thai maple dinner with Kitchen Garden Farm

By on 9 April, 2013 in Burlington (BUR), CSA, Harvard Square, HUB, Location

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Tim and Caroline farmed in Italy and France, fell in love with food, and dreamed about starting a CSA designed for couples like them who love to cook. If you’re a member of their CSA, you get invitations to these awesome dinner parties.

Sunday was the last day of sugaring in Western Mass. Caroline said she wanted to do a maple syrup dinner, but instead of the traditional waffles and pancakes, she decided to make Thai food. Apparently palm syrup and maple syrup are interchangeable in recipes. The food was just awesome. Crispy noodle soup. Maple sno-cones made with a hand-cranked machine. Tiki drinks made with maple. We sat across from the young couple who owned the sugar house, and next to a couple who are 14 months into running their own restaurant. It was cool to glimpse what life is like in an area where farming and food is a part of daily life.

Kitchen Garden is participating in Clover’s CSA program this year for the first time. We couldn’t be more excited. A share is $400, pickups are Saturdays at all 3 Clover locations. There are still a few shares left, but they’re going fast. I was talking to Tim and Caroline and the next dinner they’re dreaming about is an Italian dinner with homemade pasta.

Sign up for your Kitchen Garden share here.

 

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White Birch Beer Launch: Thurs 4/11, 8pm, Clover HSQ (7 Holyoke)

By on 8 April, 2013 in Harvard Square, Location, Menu, Suppliers

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Rachel organized a trip to White Birch Brewing Co. in New Hampshire. I asked her what she thought of everything. She said, that guy Bill is “the man.” The only other person I’ve heard her describe as “the man” is Michael Docter, the Godfather of farming in Western Mass.

I asked her what she meant. She said that where other breweries she’d visited reminded her of Disneyland, there was a seriously anti-gimmick atmosphere at work here. She said Bill refused to brag even though he is making some of the best beer in the country.

We launch White Birch beer for the first time ever this Thursday, 4/11, 8pm. We couldn’t be more excited to bring this beer to the masses. Right now it’s only in a few fine-dining restaurants (L’Espalier, Eastern Standard). We’ll be pouring their Belgian-style Pale Ale. Come by Thursday at 8pm to meet Bill and taste.

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Clover March survey

By on 18 March, 2013 in Boston Common (PRK), Boston University Bridge (BUB), Customers, Development (DEV), Greenway (DWY), Harvard Square, HUB, Location, Longwood Medical (LMA), MIT

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If we handed you a survey card at Clover today, click here to fill out the survey.

The survey will take you about 2-3 minutes. Your answers are going to help us serve you faster, better food. And as promised, there is a reward in it for you too.

A huge thanks for helping us with this!

 

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