This week has been a flurry of preparations as we kick off the 2024 food truck season. We did an event at Tufts over the weekend, in a few days we’ll be selling breakfast and lunch at a conference at the Media Lab at MIT, and this weekend we’ll be pulling up to a private party with sandwiches and appetizers.
Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving. We will be closed Thursday 11/23 at all locations. For our kitchen team, it will be a good chance to rest after prepping a ton of Brussels casseroles for our Thanksgiving Box : ) As for the days surrounding Thanksgiving, we’ll be open normal hours, except for CloverFIN (Financial District) and CloverHSC (Harvard Science Center) which will be closed tomorrow and Friday. CloverHSQ (Harvard Square) will be closing early (at 8pm) tomorrow.
Sara (kitchen) here. Ok, we haven’t started offering ice cream at the restaurants but there IS a way to get ice cream from Clover in your own kitchen. If you head to the Meal Box area of our app before Thursday at 5pm, you can order a No-Churn Corn Ice Cream Kit.
I’ve never had too much of a sweet tooth, but I’ve always had a soft spot for ice cream. I’ve been making a lot of it at home this summer, and I always bring some in for the Clover team. When we were thinking about a corn box, I couldn’t stop thinking about corn ice cream.
We’ve been fielding so many sweet emails and DMs asking if the Zucchini is back. And finally we can say it is! This sandwich is one of my favorites we do all year. There’s a thick slice of glazed tofu from Heiwa in Maine. Basil mayo (Red Fire Farm basil). Fresh raw zucchini we cut into half-moons. Snappingly fresh corn (right now it’s coming from Verrill Farm). And shiso which is a Japanese herb that tastes like a cross between mint and basil, with slight licorice-y notes. It’s sweet/salty/fresh and (I think) super addictive.
We’ve intentionally steered clear of bowls for a long time. If you see Ayr tomorrow, ask him why : ) Tomorrow (5/24) we’re starting a 2-week test of bowls at CloverNTV, our restaurant in Newtonville. If it goes well, this could represent the beginning of one of the bigger changes our menu has EVER seen. We’re hoping we’ve cracked the code to bowls that are seasonal, carefully-composed, easy to carry, and craveable – all the things we love about bowls, and none of the things we don’t.
Have you had the Medlar Sandwich yet? The star of the sandwich is a jam we make from medlars. A medlar is a fruit that grows on a tree and comes into season in the winter. You can’t eat medlars right from the tree – they have to be fermented (or “bletted” – definitely in the running for worst word ever!) in order to become delicious. We undertake that deliciousness-process at the HUB in East Cambridge. But this year there was a little mishap…
I love the holidays. I love the lights, I love the traditions, I love ornaments and pine needles all over the floor. I love the movies (“Muppet Christmas Carol”) and the books (“A Child’s Christmas in Wales.”) I love the good songs, I love the schlocky songs (if you’ve never heard “Suzy Snowflake” or “Dominic the Donkey”, stop reading right now and click through.)
Brussels Sprouts are extra sweet this time of year, and King Brussels, in his infinite wisdom, has cooked up a Brussels Week in our meal boxes. Every single subscription box will contain a recipe inspired by brussels! This is the first time we’ve explored a seasonal theme across our entire lineup and we’re excited to dive in.
Have you ordered your Thanksgiving Box yet? It’s already 50% sold out, so get your orders in this weekend if you can.
This box comes with everything from stuffing to porcini-thyme gravy to mashed PEI potatoes to local cranberry sauce to bread to make leftover sandwiches. Most of the items can go from box to oven to table with very minimal prep, and we’ve made multiple sizes whether you’re dining solo or with a crowd.
If you’re observant, and live near CloverHUB, you may have seen pallets of brussels being delivered from where they’re grown in Hadley, MA. Creamy dijonaise, smoked cheddar, fried brussels tossed with za’atar, pickled red cabbage, toasted hazelnuts. IT’S BACK!
