Anna’s Taqueria taking testers
The Mexican chain Anna’s Taqueria seeks customer help in developing menu items by taking part in tasting events. Interested participants can RSVP online (and past tasters are encouraged to sign up again). Testers get $25 gift cards.
Clover menu additions
The locally grown Clover vegetarian chain keeps cycling through menu items at a furious pace, starting with The Sharan, which some might know as the dish gobi Manchurian – as a sandwich. It’s inspired by a former intern (Sharan, who grew up in India and eating Indo-Chinese food, the Clover crew says) and features fried Maine cauliflower, Napa cabbage slaw and crisp rice noodles with housemade Manchurian spread on warm pita – available for only a few weeks while the cauliflower is in season.
The Clover location in Harvard Square has a different new sandwich: the Sonoma Chickpea, a chickpea-tofu spread with radicchio, Napa cabbage, raisins, pecans and a mustard-poppyseed vinaigrette dressing in pita. (Send your feedback on the sandwich to Chris at info@cloverfoodlab.com.) Also coming for an eight-week run is The Mushroom Popper, formerly known as The Bridgewater, which pays homage to jalapeño poppers with bread-crumb-battered and crisped Rhode Island crimini mushrooms glazed with honey-Sriracha sauce and filled with cream cheese whipped with jalapeño and complemented by kale and red onion. (It is also in the inevitable pita.)
The Middle East serves late
The Middle East Restaurant in Central Square is launching a late-night menu for 10 p.m. to midnight Thursdays through Saturdays. Options include classics such as corn dogs, french fries, onion rings and jalapeño poppers, hummus with pita, and grape leaves. All options are under $15.
Field trip with Urban Hearth
Erin Miller, a James Beard nominee for Best Chef Northeast, creates dishes centered around New England’s farms and fisheries at Urban Hearth, her restaurant at 2263 Massachusetts Ave., North Cambridge. But on Aug. 23, she focuses her talents more narrowly on produce and meat sourced directly from Weir River Farm in Hingham for an on-site, 3 p.m. meal overlooking its wild woodlands. $395.
The Friendly Toast gets dirty
The Friendly Toast launches a Test Kitchen menu Monday across its 14 locations in New England, including in Harvard Square: weekly rotating menu items and a specialty “dirty soda” – a beverage combining soda with flavored syrups and whipped cream that can be enjoyed as mocktail or cocktail. Upcoming themes include an Out-N-In Combo with Strawberry Milkshake Dirty Soda in celebration of National Burger Week; a Pepperoni Pizza Bagel Benny and Fruit Punch Dirty Soda for Back to School week; and Pop it Like it’s Hot Dog with a Lemonade Dirty soda for Fair Food Week. A schedule is here.
Puritan clambake beckons
Chef Will Gilson has been celebrating summer with clambakes on the Puritan & Co. patio. Diners at the Inman Square restaurant, which creates meals rooted in New England tradition, sit at communal tables to enjoy two drinks and three courses of classic regional offerings such as stuffies, clam chowder, lobster and peach cobbler. The next clambake is 6 p.m. Aug. 31. $85.
Somerville Fermentation Festival
The inaugural Somerville Fermentation Festival is Sept. 7 at the Center for Arts at the Armory. The free event celebrates the world of fermented foods with a speaker series, vendors, exhibitions and sauerkraut-making demonstrations, among other things. Restaurants La Saison and Pagu will serve food showcasing their fermentation flavors.
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