Fresh Sheet: Sweetbread, yes, sweetbread Twinkies at Clover; Jose Andres, Eric Ripert honor Anthony Bourdain
SecretBurger.com is hosting Sweetbread Twinkies night at Clover Restaurant & Bar at 913 E. Sharp Ave. on July 2. Yes, sweetbread. Here’s the 411 from chef Bryan Doyle via Facebook: Let’s get this first fact out of the way: Sweetbreads are not sweet breads. The play on this dish is all about pairing sweetbreads with America’s most popular iconic treat: the Twinkie.
Sweetbreads (most commonly calf or lamb thymus) consist of pieces of the throat/gullet/neck and got their name because, traditionally, they are much richer in flavor than meat. SecretBurger.com gives us the perfect platform to take an underutilized and often shied-away-from dish and turn it into a delicious comfort food.
We will be making Twinkie tempura-fried sweetbreads with a Brussels and radicchio slaw tossed in a portly poached pear vinaigrette and Ding Dong dust. One day only for $20, so reserve now at SecretBurger.com!
Honoring Anthony Bourdain
Tuesday was Anthony Bourdain’s birthday, and two of the late CNN host and intrepid traveler’s longtime friends, world-renowned chefs José Andrés and Eric Ripert, asked people to share memories of the “Parts Unknown” host with the hashtag #BourdainDay.
Andrés and Ripert declared via Twitter that June 25 is “Bourdain Day” so that friends and fans will have a dedicated day to remember and celebrate the legend. They chose Bourdain’s birthday instead of June 8, the day of his death from suicide. In 2018, CNN says that its No. 1 most-read digital story was its Bourdain obituary and tribute.
New Das Stein Haus specials
As of Monday, Das Stein Haus at 1812 W. Francis Ave. has begun offering new specials. In the restaurant, it’s Military Monday (all military personnel, active or inactive, receive 25% off entire meals); Terrible 2’s Day (it’s family night, so one free kids meal with the purchase of an adult meal); Wine Down Wednesday ($15 for select bottles of wine); Teacher Thursday (teachers receive 25% off entire meals); First Responder Friday (police, firefighters and EMT receive 25% off entire meals); Steak Night Saturday (two a la carte steaks for the price of one, not including prime rib); and Senior Sunday (seniors ages 60 and older receive 25% off entire meals).
In the lounge, it’s 25% off any beer on Mondays; any burger and beer for $12 on Tuesdays; select bottles of wine for $15 on Wednesdays; 25% off any whiskey on Thursdays; Frikadellon sliders ($8), prime rib ($14.95) and Fireball shots ($3.50) on Fridays; college students receive 25% off entire meals on Saturdays; and mimosas ($3), absolute spicy mary ($4) and 25% off any vodka drinks on Sundays.
Wine tasting dinner
Laguna Café at 2013 E. 29th Ave. is hosting a wine tasting dinner Thursday, with reservations available from 6-7:30 p.m. Guest winemaker Brian Carter has paired five wines with a five-course dinner, and the price is $59 per person.
Carter, nicknamed “the dean of Washington winemaking” per Laguna Café’s Facebook post, has been named winemaker of the year twice and will present wines at each table, with guests dining at their own pace. There also will be special discounts on wine to take home. Reservations: (509) 448-0887.
Email restaurant news to Food Editor Don Chareunsy: donc@spokesman.com.