Hi Friends,
We’ve got so much going on this week a lot of it I’ll just mention and then put a link to the blog where I explain more.
* We’re introducing a neat new craft beer for the summer, Virgin Island Pale Ale. The brewers are from St. John, US Virgin Islands, and I met them a couple months ago when I visited St. John. This bottled beer is made under contract by Shipyard brewing in Maine. The beer is a medium-bodied pale ale with subtantial hop character and a mango infusion. It sounds crazy, but it’s super refreshing and delicious. And perfect for hot weather. Rey put together a carribean style dish this week to match it, local fish grilled and served with pan-seared plantains and mango-pineapple salsa. For more details go to: http://thelinkery.com/blog/?p=442
* We’re starting a series of chef’s dinners (and/or Brewmasters dinners) the last Tuesday of each month. This month starts with a brewmaster’s dinner from Ballast Point brewing, in which we match each beer with a fish of the same name as the beer. In other words, Wahoo Wheat with wahoo, Big Eye IPA with big eye tuna, etc. The full lineup is Wahoo Wheat, Sculpin IPA, Even Keel (on cask), Big Eye IPA, Dorado IIPA, and Victory at Sea Imperial Porter with vanilla and cold-brewed coffee, aged in syrah barrel. It’s a six course dinner, and Rey is having fun putting together dishes to match, in which the main ingredient is predetermined! (Kinda Iron Chef like.) All dinners will be $55/person plus 18% service charge and 7.5% tax. To sign up, send me an email at jay@thelinkery.com or call the restaurant (starting this Thursday) between 3pm and 6pm or between 10pm and 11pm. We’ll take your info and get back to everyone in the order they called, to confirm and to process payment. The subsequent two dinners are a Carolina farm dinner (May 29th) and a Central California dinner (June 26th). If you sign up for all three dinners at once, it’s $150/person. For more info: http://thelinkery.com/blog/?p=443.
* Local and regional produce is really coming into its own now. As a result we have market dishes this week like an heirloom tomato salad, local asparagus soup, and grilled steak with california asparagus, local oro blanco grapefruit and pixie tangerines.
* Grilled Duroc pork chop is available for a few days. This week it comes with sauteed ramps, oyster plant, and lemon thyme reduction.
* Last week’s stuffed acorn squash dish was so popular that it wandered over to our permanent menu. This week’s “market” vegetarian main dish is a tamale filled with Paso Robles white chard and shitake mushroom, served with black bean salad.
* The kitchen folks are working on a chicken and pineapple terrine this week.
* We are revamping our catering and banquet/special event program. If you’re interested in having us help you out at any event, please contact me at jay@thelinkery.com
* We’ve made a few changes to our wine list the last couple weeks, now we have a new Aussie Chardonnay called Milton Park, a new California Merlot called Franco, a Vinho Verde imported by Broadbent, and more.
* Our dessert wine list is greatly expanded, with multiple Ports, Madeiras, and a sweet Italian white. Come in and check it out.
* On cask right now is Stone IPA, which will switch to Lightning Fulminator soon. On draft is Moonlight Brewing Twist of Fate and Amigo Lager from Port. Bottles of Stone’s Imperial Russian Stout just arrived, too.
* Last month you donated $743 to Avert HIV/AIDS Prevention, as part of our no-tipping policy. That’s a per-week record for us, congratulations! This month’s charity is the Aja Project, which is an afterschool photography program for refugee kids in San Diego. We’ve got lots of information about it in the restuarant, so check it out — it’s a great program. For more details on the charitable donations front: http://thelinkery.com/blog/?p=441
* We’ve made so many changes at the restaurant the last couple months, a lot of people have been asking me about them. I tried to recap them all and explain a little of what to expect in the future in this blog post: http://thelinkery.com/blog/?p=439
* We still have sparkling mead by the glass, from Heidrun Meadery in Arcata, CA. This is an amazing artisan beverage which reveals the essence of honey by fermenting away its sweetness and creating a dry sparkling wine defined by the overtones of the particular honey varietal used. Right now we’re pouring mead from Alfalfa Blossom honey, then we’ll switch to Eucalyptus Blossom honey.
* House made corned beef will be ready within days, keep an eye on the blog to see when it hits the menu. http://thelinkery.com/blog .
* Next week we’ll be featuring grass-fed/pastured Central Coast meat and Central CA produce, so prepare yourself for that goodness.
We’re open every day from 5pm until at least 11pm. Thanks everyone for being part of the Linkery community!
Best,
Jay