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Parsnip explanation

By on 20 May, 2013 in Menu, Operations, Suppliers

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We’re learning that storage is as important as growing when it comes to root vegetables. Did you know that parsnips stop growing while they’re under the ground? During this time, all the starches get converted to sugar. If they aren’t harvested fast enough in the spring, they start to grow again and can become bitter and woody.

Hugh of Sugar Mountain has been growing the sweet parsnips you’ve been enjoying in the Parsnip sandwich. They’ve been just beautiful. Then last week we noticed some were tasting like soap. Hugh called. Apparently one of his root cellars was installed improperly, meaning some of our parsnips were bitter and woody. He’s removed all those parsnips, given us a refund on 120lbs, and sending us the remaining ones, which are as sweet as sugar.

We pulled the parsnip sandwich last week when we noticed this problem. Which is why it’s been missing on the menu. We’ll have it back on the menu Wednesday.

 

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Sugar Mountain Parsnips

By on 10 May, 2013 in Menu, Suppliers

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Here is some parsnip trivia for you.

1. Parsnips are the first thing to come out of the ground after a New England winter. Before asparagus. Before rhubarb. They are sweeter than fall parsnips because they’ve spent months underground and some of the starches have converted to sugars.

2. We are buying 500 pounds of parsnips every week to supply the Parsnip cheddar sandwich in our seasonal slot.

3. Our parsnip farmer, Hugh Manheim, also has a plastic bag manufacturing company. I talked to him a while back about supplying Clover with clear takeout bags. He was telling me that he inherited the plastic bag-manufacturing machine as part of the farm.

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Gus made rosemary fry ice cream

By on 10 May, 2013 in Menu, Suppliers

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Gus of Toscanini’s is the godfather of good eating in Boston. He’s the one who told me about Biryani Park in Malden, which became a Clover staff favorite. And everytime I go to Toscanini’s I just leave a happier person.

I stopped in and was chatting with Gus for a long time. Then he casually mentioned he made a rosemary fry ice cream. Apparently he was eating fries at Clover and the inspiration struck him. So he made an ice cream out of our fries!

He wasn’t totally pleased with the result (he thinks the potatoes made the ice cream a little too thick). But I thought it tasted AWESOME. Here’s hoping the development continues and it goes on the menu. If we served the ice cream side by side with the fries, it could be a freaky molecular gastronomy experience.

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We are buying pallets of PEI potatoes

By on 18 April, 2013 in Menu, Suppliers

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Have you gotten burned by greasy fries at Clover?

We cut our potatoes from scratch to make your fries. We’ve been delving into the problem of why certain potatoes fry up well, while others turn to greasy, limp fries. Turns out not only do Clover’s fries need to come from PEI, but they need to come from a specific farm in PEI. We’ve nailed down the perfect farm and decided to buy up Russo’s whole supply of them (sort of an exaggeration, but not by much). The name of this perfect farm is Muttart. We’ll be hoarding and serving their potatoes for the foreseeable future.

We’re still encountering one strange problem: 2 varieties of potatoes within the same bag; some that fry up dark and some that fry up light…

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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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Nano pita

By on 14 April, 2013 in Menu, Suppliers

Nano pita

Vincenzo shot this picture. And no, that’s not a quail egg. Seems like our pita supplier was having some problems with the pita we use for our breakfast sandwiches. Problem should be fixed now.

Sorry if any of you got a mico-pita or a nano-pita at breakfast this week! If you got slighted reach out and we’ll make you whole.

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Could this be the next big thing for Clover’s coffee?

By on 12 April, 2013 in Menu, Operations, Suppliers

Baratza Reconnect

If you’re not part of the coffee world, you may not know that all the coffee growers, roasters, and coffeeshop owners in the world are converging on Boston right now for the Specialty Coffee Association Exposition.

Ayr and I were shocked by how many booths Clover had connections with. We said hi to Melitta, Vegware, Counter Culture, Kuma, George Howell, Bunn.

But the most exciting discovery may have been this grinder. We used Baratza grinders for the first 2 years of Clover. They grind coffee beautifully. But the dials would constantly break. The gears would go out of alignment. So we switched to Ditting.

But check this out. This is the latest Baratza. Hasn’t even been released yet (July 2013). Might be the answer to all our problems. Right now we measure beans by volume. We’ve been worried about consistency from cup to cup (some employees over-measure, some under-measure). This grinder has an internal scale, which you can set to a specific weight. So we would spec our weight when we set up a grinder, and then never touch it again. They’ve promised that they’ve ironed out some of the issues of previous models. If that’s the case we might consider a return to Baratza…

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Meet Gustavo Alfaro this Sunday 4/14, 3pm at CloverHSQ

By on 12 April, 2013 in Menu, Suppliers

Coffee at Clover

Sunday we’re welcoming Gustavo Alfaro, fourth-generation grower and owner at Cafe Alfaro in Huehuetenango, Guatemala, one of the best coffee farms in the world. Gustavo is the one responsible for the Barismo Pena Blanca you’ve been drinking in our $2 slot. He’s part of a new wave in coffee, where growers and roasters work side by side to create coffee. His stuff consistently places in Cup of Excellence awards, etc.

This event is part of SCAA week which is happening this year in Boston. It sold out really quickly, so we’re making room for an additional 10 tickets. Register here. We’ll be stopping signups at the end of the week.

This is really exciting for us. We’ve never been lucky enough to meet the actual person that grew our coffee. If you get a ticket, bring your questions and get ready to taste. Gustavo is bringing some of the new harvest. We’ll have cider donuts for everybody who joins. And rumor has it Gustavo’s going to be bringing a present for the first 5 people in the door.

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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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Tofu is made in Cambridge

By on 30 March, 2013 in Menu, Operations, Suppliers

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We treat tofu as something of a dirty word at Clover. We’re afraid many Americans are scared of tofu, we don’t want to scare our customers, so we just avoid tofu.

There is one sandwich we make that flirts with that self-imposed restriction. The Sweet Potato sandwich we’re serving right now has a soy spread that is tofu blended with cilantro and some seasoning.

Chris and Rolando have been working on sourcing. They found this Tofu manufacturer right down the street from us. See that address? That’s Cambridge. Tofu manufactured in Cambridge.

One of the really exciting things about our focus on locally sourced ingredients is surprises like this. It’s awesome to make this sort of discovery. Why was I ever buying tofu from 2000 miles away?

 

 

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