Friends:
You've worked hard, and we're impressed. But, after four excruciating days of adhering to your New Year's resolutions in the solitary confinement of your home, it's time to return to your favorite neighborhood joint for food and drinks. Don't worry -- we're not here to bust your diet -- we just want to hang out. Here's how we can make that work without running afoul of your resolutions.
Have you tried either of our salads?
I hadn't either -- my 2016 resolution of gaining 10 pounds* required a more steady diet of Kafta Burgers and Fried Chicken Sandwiches. But, with a new year come new resolutions, and this year I'm resolving to LOSE weight. So I sat down and tried our salads on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively. It turns out they're really good.
Our grilled romaine salad is a surprising burst of texture and flavor, driven by olive tapenade, pickled onion, aged parmesan, and pita crisps. You can dress it with any of three house-made dressings: balsamic, creamy garlic, and honey lemon. On its own, it's perfect, but if you're craving some protein, you can add a confit chicken thigh, lamb kafta, falafel, or white anchovy for a little extra.
Our French Lentil Salad is spicy and peppery with radicchio, arugula, peruvian peppers, tomato, and bulgur wheat, all brought together with tahini lemon dressing. It's vegan as is, but you can add feta or grilled eggplant to add a bit of Mediterranean influence.
Passing on craft beer for a few weeks? How about some wine?
We work really hard to be a good craft beer bar, but, until recently, we were really phoning it in on wine. That has changed. If you like wine, why should you have to leave your neighborhood to have a good wine experience? To that end, in addition to our five wines-by the-glass, we've added an additional seven wines-by-the bottle on a separate menu. All seven of these wines are wines that are only available by special order in Pennsylvania; all seven of them are reasonably priced between 35 and 45 per bottle, and all seven of them represent the result of thoughtful consideration by Hidden Harbor's Head Bartender, Max Stein, who just so happens to be prepping for the introductory sommelier exam in March. This is a bottle list for wine drinkers by a wine drinker -- not a list prepared by a beer and whiskey drinker** with no idea about what wine drinkers find interesting. Our staff is embracing our new wine program as well, meeting regularly with Max on their own time to taste through wines (both on our menu and off of it) and learn about them.
Sunday Funday Release of Our Annual Collaboration Beer with Hitchhiker
This Sunday, we're releasing our annual collaboration beer, "Broadside in a Cloud of Smoke," a bold and brazen smoked porter we brew with Hitchhiker in honor of Hunter S. Thompson. We'll tap it on Sunday when we open at 5 p.m. It will be available in pints for $6 and available to go for $10 in special, limited-edition crowler cans (with a label of which the good doctor of journalism would approve).
Thanks for reading folks. See you at the Independent.
Pete
* I'm an overachiever, so I gained 15 for good measure.
** oh, hey, that's me.
