February Newsletter

Things are moving along! 

It has been a while since our last buildout update and we know many of you are keen to know when Pip will be fully open. Well, the update is that, on behalf of everyone at ReMain Ventures and Pip & Anchor, we are happy to report that the building project at 14 Amelia Drive is REALLY starting to take shape and we are starting to see some incredible progress here! No, that’s not an exact date but it’s a hint that we are getting closer.

The Clarke Brothers construction crews have finished framing the space, including building the walls of the new ADA bathroom on the first floor, the new kitchen half wall for the hot-line, turning the old Annye’s back entrance into a takeout window and bringing the existing French door back to life as our main entrance into Pip. 

We don't know exactly when all of the various new, upcycled and found pieces and materials will be here, but we are so pleased to see some of our key equipment and furniture starting to arrive bit by bit. Who knew we could be so excited about the arrival a 3-bay sink! How lucky we could feel that all of the tiles arrived a few weeks ago or that 3 of our 'found' furniture pieces are here!!! 

Over the next couple of weeks, you’ll start to notice tile going down, finishes being put on the walls, and so much more. We are getting there and we cannot wait to see the end result. We are so grateful for the generosity of ReMain Ventures and the efforts of the talented builders, electricians, plumbers and designers who have been hard at work inside Pip & Anchor’s future retail store. We don’t mind the noise, noise is progress!

Winter Vegetable Series: Mushrooms

Last month we got close with cabbage, this month it's mushrooms. Pretty much every month is mushroom month for us, but they seem to find their way onto our plates more often in the wintertime.

The mushroom is possibly one of the most fascinating and complex ‘vegetables’ we have available to us locally. While they aren’t really a plant so they are not actually a vegetable, but rather their own class: fungi, we do tend to lump them into the vegetable section. While they also are such a wide, wide and diverse family that actually giving them a season is tricky, we feel like the warm, comforting and healthy nature of mushrooms coupled with the fact that we have great local growers and that they pair well with other winter vegetables, makes them the perfect produce to feature this month.

Things to know about mushrooms:

1. We have great local growers, growing throughout the year
2. Full of nutrients
3. Great sub for meat - we are sourcing and bringing on amazing regional and local meat but we know at the same time, there is a broader conversation about reducing the amount of meat we all eat in a week. Mushrooms, which are more closely related to meat than to plants….makes a great sub with all the texture and flavor and a little less of the carbon emissions.
4. Pairs well with root vegetables….and cream, and pasta, and miso, and hot sauce, and winter herbs like German thyme and Rosemary
5. Make a great fancy, yet easy, dinner that may just well leave a lasting impression for those partaking in Valentine’s festivities

How to Store

Paper bag lined with paper towel
You CAN freeze them!

How to Clean

Always a good debate amongst friends but we are going to go with Bittman’s and Cook’s Illustrated - just give them a quick rinse.

Easy Recipe: Mushroom & Chicken Pasta

While there are endless ways to make mushrooms and boatloads of recipes out there, we chose this one both for it’s classic Mark Bittman ‘as you like it’ adaptability as well as the fact that we learned a new technique! The recipe calls for treating your pasta almost more like risotto where you add it to the pan and sauté for a few minutes and then you start adding liquid bit by bit. No, it’s not quite as mindless as lumping the pasta into boiling hot water BUT it’s winter and it’s something I had never tried before so why not. I also subbed bacon for chicken! This recipe was a winner and plates and pot were licked clean by all ages, from 2-42. Here's what you need.

• Pip & Anchor shallots, garlic, parsley
• Eat Fire Farm German Thyme
• Weatherlow chicken stock
• RI Mushroom Co Chef's Mix mushrooms
• Seven Hills Casarecce Pasta 
• Walden Local Pastured Bacon
• Freire Lobo Portuguese white wine (1/2 cup for cooking, rest for drinking)
• Olive Oil, S & P of course!

Follow this link for the recipe, but feel free to play around with it.

Sleeper's Pick of the Month

SIP Wine Club by Pip & Anchor

With excitement I’d like to introduce the Pip & Anchor wine club! It’s a monthly club with a focus on connection, education, and the occasional surprise. We will offer curated selections that wouldn’t otherwise be available in our shop. You’ll get fun and funky bottles from different parts of the world, maybe an older vintage bottle, and generally bottles from producers I’d like to connect more people to. 

Much like our current wine offerings, SIP by Pip & Anchor will have a strong focus on organic, biodynamic, and “natural” wines. By natural I mean wines with little to no intervention in the fields and in the bottle, and wines that are created using native yeasts. I’ll be out there looking for fermented grape juice in its purest form, or as close to it as possible. With a subscription to our wine club you get…

• 2 or 4 bottles per month
• Tier 1: Premier Cru (2 bottles), Tier 2: Grand Cru (4 bottles)
• A SIP wine tote designed by local artist Danielle Medico (they’re in production).
• Write ups on each bottle that includes (but not limited to) temperature/storage suggestions, winemaking notes, winemaker notes, pairings, suggested recipes, and more!
• Personalized communication with Chris for feedback, other suggestions, general tasting notes, or simply a chance to nerd-out on some fine wines.  

This wine club is not meant to be serious, it's meant to be fun. Learning about wine can sometimes be an intimidating experience and this is NOT that. It’s for anyone from introductory to advanced. Good wine is good wine and we can appreciate it at all levels of knowledge. I want you to take what you learn and show it off to friends, I want you to enjoy cooking with a glass in hand and understand what a sip can do to your ingredients, and I want more people to talk to about wine. We have an incredible community of wine lovers so let's grow together, SIGN UP HERE!

What has us thinking

From their magical role in forest communication to healing properties to our plates, there is a LOT of inspiration to be found in the world of mushrooms.

We especially loved and are inspired by Fantastic Fungi which is a cookbook AND a movie on Netflix, and you can also listen to the author speaking about mushrooms and the community cookbook experience on the Splendid Table podcast.