Mike Fitzhenry IN at Clover
The Mike of Mike & Patty's will be working on food development for the growing restaurant-and-truck empire.
by Rachel Leah Blumenthal@blumie Jun 8, 2015, 3:03pm EDT
Via Clover coverage on Eater [EBOS]
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Mike Fitzhenry
Mike Fitzhenry, the "Mike" of tiny, popular Bay Village sandwich shop Mike & Patty's, which he sold a few years back, is getting back in the sandwich game — he's now working for Clover, the ever-growing group of restaurants and trucks. While he may run some of the restaurants, trucks, or both, he's definitely going to be working on food development. Pieces of Clover's menu changes frequently, but a few staples can generally be found on it, like the chickpea fritter and egg & eggplant sandwiches.
"I've loved Mike's food ever since I first tasted it," Clover founder Ayr Muir said via a press release. "Whenever I was near Bay Village I would always stop in for his food, and it was always really wonderful. We're really excited to see what he'll bring to the menu at Clover." Before Mike & Patty's, Fitzhenry worked at Formaggio Kitchen, and afterwards, he worked at Hungry Mother, which will close early next month.
Clover has a tendency to be fairly transparent about all of its processes, including the creation of new menu items, from an active company blog to food development meetings that are open to the public. They take place each Tuesday at the Inman Square brick-and-mortar location, with room for eight customers to attend. (Sign up online.)
One of Clover's sandwiches, the chickpea fritter, just landed on Devra First's of "restaurant dishes that rule this town," published in The Boston Globe Magazine last week. "It's the sandwich that first made the reputation of the growing food truck and restaurant empire and, at one point, accounted for 60 percent of sales," she writes. "Why the cult-like following? The sandwich is simple and well made: house-made falafel-esque rounds with tomato-cucumber salad, pickles, pickled cabbage, carrots, red onions, hummus, and tahini on a whole-wheat pita. It's a fine thing to be able to get a healthy sandwich anywhere from Alewife to Watertown."