Since Gracie's and Earnest Drinks are open every day now, we were open on Monday and Tuesday for the first time since March 2020 and I think if we're open this coming Monday and Tuesday, which we will be, it'll be twice as many Mondays and Tuesdays as last year. Seems like progress. Last week, I mentioned a Shakespeare quote about bathing in blood and this week I'm going to tell you the reason European starlings are in America is because of 100 starlings released in Central Park by a murmuration of literary types who wanted to have every bird mentioned in a Shakespeare also living in the United States. Thanks weird group from 1890. A group of starlings is a murmuration. Check out this Brid. As always, you can pre-order and pay for Gracie's in Union or Earnest Drinks in Kendall Square. You can orderdeliveryfrom both locations just by clicking the links. A desert island is called a desert island because it's deserted, not because it's a desert. Dinner at Earnest Drinks is coming. This is a tease.
Chris, the other owner of Earnest Drinks who isn't me, is a sommelier which means he knows a lot about wine, more than me, anyway. And he wants you to know some about wine, too, or at least to taste some good ones in a fun way. To that end, we're offering a taste of three European wines, a natural white from Greece, an undersung rosé from France, and a chilled red from Italy. Chris will be there 4:30-7on Friday 6/18 to talk you though the wines. He knows a lot about wine and you should come by to taste and learn. Three pours for $10.
We're doing a couple fundraisers this week. First up is the Pride Frappe with vodka, sweet cream, rainbow sprinkles, whipped cream and a fruity pebble ice cream sandwich bar garnish. $20 from every sale ($5 from Earnest, $5 from Gracie's and $10 from Earnest co-owner Chris) will go to BAGLY towards their mission of supporting and advocating for LGBTQ+ youth. Chris is found out about his donation match in an Instagram post this morning. Thanks, Chris, surprise.
Since Earnest Drinks opened, we've been selling White Lion Brewing beers, one of the only black owned breweries in MA. Saturday is Juneteenth, a celebration recognizing the end of the enslavement of black people in America. For the next week, $20 from the sale of each White Lion beer will go to Black Voters Matter, an organization dedicated to expanding black voter engagement. Same donation breakdown as above, thanks, Chris. If you make a personal donation of $25 to each organization and send me a receipt, I'll give you two yard flamingos.
We support both organizations because people and systems in this country continue to oppress and deny the humanity of individuals simply for who they are and how they were born.
Your favorite ice cream shop will write you a poem or haiku if you want. Last week someone ordered a poem about how much their friend likes eggs and I wrote the shit out of it.
Here's a list of the pints we have in Union Square right this second. (Black raspberry chip, chocolate, chocolate marshmallow, chocolate salty snax, pandan, ube, etc. Here's another cat in a place a cat shouldn't be. What if you want to order something, but don't want to leave your house? Get it delivered. Here's a video of a rarely seen megamouth shark the smallest of the big sharks that swim around with their mouth open eating krill and stuff.
An update on hours because they recently changed. Gracie's in Union will be 2-9pm Mon-Sun. Earnest Drinks in Kendall will be 11-9 Monday-Friday, 12-8 on Saturday, 12-7 on Sunday. These hours are both subject to change (likely expand), so stay tuned. If you read this, could you tell someone about our new hours and make a plan to visit us on a Monday or Tuesday? Thank you.
Hey look, the charcuterie board is back. Did I already show you this guy and his bird who rock out to classic rock riffs and ad libbed spoken word? You probably heard about this guy getting almost accidentally swallowed by a whale last week, guess it's happened before. I feel kind of like a whale swallowing truther about that guy, though.
Earnest Drinks and Gracie's gift cards and gift certificates are good gifts for everyone for example someone you know might have graduated or taught your kid for a year during which there was a pandemic. If you're wondering if it's appropriate to give your kids' teacher a gift certificate to a bar, it 100% is. We have plastic gift cards at both shops that have to be purchased in person ($15 minimum) and digital gift cards you can purchase online for Earnest Drinks in Kendall Square and Gracie's in Union Square. Or I don't know, maybe a made to order ice cream pie? Or, I don't know, maybe grab them one of our new T-Shirts and a new Tank Tops which ought to be available next week or the week after.
This is funny.
Like every other restaurant in the area, we're still hoping to hire a cook. We're going to try to pay you right, give you a good lifestyle outside of work, and give you schedule flexibility in case you have other stuff going on. Our next cookwill be guaranteed at least $18 an hour, room to grow, and we demand you maintain a life outside of the shop because there are more important things than work. We're not open late, so you won't be working late. Additionally, our shop has a brand new HVAC so you won't be sweating your ass off on a poorly ventilated hot line with someone screaming at you.
You're regularly scheduled freezer troubles are on pause for this week. In Union, Freezer Mike took our hardening cabinet apart last Friday and re-wired it, and it seems to be working right, which is a good thing. Hopefully this is the last we hear about Freezer Mike for a while until he can get on the roof to work on the condenser for our ice cream machine. You can see what ice cream we have in Union by clicking here.
Your previous support is very important to us. I don't think there's any exclamations in the newsletter this week. Would you like a book recommendation? How about The Prophets by Robert Jones Jr. It's probably blasphemy, but the writing reminds me of Toni Morrison. You should read it. Buy it at Porter Square Books or Amazon.
Gracie's + Earnest Drinks team
Visit ordergracies.com or orderearnest.com and select delivery before check out. Getting stuff delivered to your house is fun.