George don’t hate me. I’m making an alt-milk bar

August 15, 2019

George don’t hate me. I’m making an alt-milk bar

By ayr

Yesterday I was sitting in Acton with George Howell at his roasting facility. I told him about my new idea: ALT-MILK BAR. Clover will get a bunch of milk-drinks: chai, hot chocolate, pourover lattes, shaken iced lattes. All estate coffee (of course). And all non-dairy milk (we’ve been making our own in-house and it’s killer but we like Oatly too).

Many milky drinks. No cows milky.

George wrinkles his face. I knew he’d hate the idea. And that 60% of coffee at Clover Food Lab is sold black. Nobody sells more black coffee than Clover. We’re like a super hardcore insiders coffee shop that’s not a coffee shop.

George describes commodity coffee as a destructive force. He wants to see a world where farmers make more money, are paid to take care of the land, and are rewarded when they do all of the hard things to grow very special coffee. I’m sold. No argument. It’s why 100% of our coffee is estate sourced. It’s why we do pour over not espresso.

So how does the alt-milk fit? I’m hoping it’s a gateway for new customers. Could I be wrong? Oh man… I’ve been wrong so many times. We’ll just have to see how it plays out. In the meantime the black coffee isn’t going anywhere.

Yes, we are doing a Thanksgiving Box again!

By Lucia

A bunch of you have been asking, and yes, we are doing a Thanksgiving Box menu again this year, with all the favorites from years past – Hubbard Squash glazed with maple-Sriracha butter, mashed potatoes, gravy, walnut-mushroom patè, stuffing – there’s even a limited run of Petsi pies and a new box that is Sides Only : ) Free delivery to your door if you’re within 30 miles of us. Readers of our blog get $10 off – click here!

November 7, 2024

King Brussels returns

By Lucia

The moment you’ve waited for is here. Western Mass Brussels sprouts are back in the restaurants, which means the King himself has landed! What’s on this glorious sandwich and why is it the King of all seasonal sandwiches? A dijon-mayo spread, smoked Grafton cheddar, fried Brussels tossed with za’atar (a Middle Eastern spice blend), pickled red cabbage, and toasted hazelnuts.

October 30, 2024

The Japanese Sweet Potato Sandwich is back!

By Lucia

It’s kinda sweet, it’s kinda funky, it’s kinda savory, and it’s only here this time of year. The Japanese Sweet Potato Sandwich has returned for the fall! What’s inside? Shoyu mayo, roasted-then-fried sweet potatoes, cabbage-green-onion-slaw, and tempura-fried sesame seeds that resemble a many-eyed sea monster. In the Clover museum, there exists a piece of paper from 10 years ago, when the Japanese Sweet Potato (or JSP for the true fans) was first presented at Food Dev. Enzo was trying to do 2 things when he created this masterpiece:

October 30, 2024

My cookie is looking at me!

By Lucia

In honor of Halloween, Kevin (Director of Hospitality) and the kitchen team have been baking up a spooky surprise: Halloween cookies made with black cocoa powder and a sugary eye that will blink ominously at you. We’ll have Halloween cookies all week, and if you come in costume tomorrow (10/31) you’ll get a mini one for free! We’ll be taking extra care with one element of the cookies – the eyes. The kitchen team discovered that the eyes melt if you put them in the batter before cooking, so we’ll be carefully transplanting an eye onto each cookie right after they exit the oven.

October 15, 2024

The Brand New Sweet Potato Box

By Kiernan

When we were thinking about what special seasonal veggies to build new fall celebration boxes around, one tuber spoke to the Clover Chefs above all others: Beauty, thy name is Sweet Potato. We get our Sweet Potatoes from the best producer in the world—Ray Young at Next Barn Over Farm in Western Mass. Ray’s sandy soil is so perfect for growing sweet potatoes, they call it “sugar sand.” Next Barn’s sweet potatoes are complex, nutrient-packed, and beautiful.

October 12, 2024

First price decrease in a while!

By Lucia

In this age of inflation, here’s some good news. The price of the Impossible Meatball Sandwich just went down! This sandwich is one of our most expensive to make, mostly because of the Impossible meat (which we don’t make) that goes into our meatballs (which we do make, with pita, milk, pecorino, and lots of Italian-American love.) We drown the meatballs in warm marinara sauce, then tuck them into our house-made pita with a shake of pecorino and a slice of melty provolone. It’s been on our menu since 2017 when we helped Impossible launch in New England.

October 9, 2024

A is for Apple Box

By Kiernan

Right when I finished the final bite of my Apple Box last year, I started to think about when I could order it again. I love apples in the fall, but when I’m meal-planning, I usually opt to just pack the apples as they are—crisp, round, and raw. The Apple Box opened my eyes to using Apples as an ingredient.

October 9, 2024

Respecting our team members and our customers

By Julia Wrin Piper

Yesterday, a video shot this summer was posted by an online prankster who bought a Soy BLT sandwich at Clover, put a chicken cutlet on the sandwich himself, then approached one of our team members to complain, claiming the restaurant served him chicken. Our employees were very confused and one employee got very upset. The situation escalated when the internet prankster asked for $100 in return for not posting the video online.

August 26, 2024

How to celebrate tomato season

By Lucia

Fruity, juicy, spicy, sweet. Heirloom tomatoes are here, and we’re celebrating tomato season in a big way this year. 1 – Heirloom tomatoes all over the menu, especially in a new Summer Celebration Bowl that Sara dreamed up. 2 – A big Tomato Tasting event w/Verrill Farm this Thursday afternoon at Newtonville (click here to RSVP). 3 – Our Tomato Meal Box with recipes like tomato gratin, chilled roasted tomato soup, and a perfect tomato salad. The last chance to grab it this year is Wednesday at 5pm.

August 12, 2024

Pork from plants

By Kiernan

Honestly, Lucia and I are still getting used to writing words like “Chicken” and “Pork” in our emails, but Clover’s partnership with Tender—our favorite local neighborhood plant-protein magicians—means that the Kitchen team is cooking up all sorts of amazing new sandwiches for our menu. This week, we’d like to introduce you to the new BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich. It starts with Clover’s BBQ sauce, the stuff of legend: conceived on a research trip to Texas…

July 30, 2024

We had to travel to Sicily to believe it

By Lucia

We had no idea what the word Panelle meant when a customer first told us about it ten years ago. This customer grew up in Sicily, the triangular island south of mainland Italy. His mom would make a snack for him after school – a kind of savory cake called panelle! Crispy on the outside, creamy and custardy on the inside. Made from chickpea flour – what?!

July 15, 2024

What’s on the Meal Box menu next week?

By Lucia

I recently took a Soup Box on a family vacation and we were all blown away by the clean, clear flavors and the freshness of the produce. (It was a potato leek soup with arugula salad and cider chive vinaigrette, French bread, local cucumbers, local radishes, and 2 different types of compound butters.) If you haven’t had a meal box in a while, this time of year might be the perfect time to try one…