Clyde Common’s Rich Remodel

Clyde Common has remodeled its menus, most notably expanding the previously minimal happy hour selection into its own stand alone offering. Chef Carlo Lamagna hasn’t been timid—no reliance on simple French fries here—constructing a menu with substantial, rich dishes such as garlic sausage with couscous and harissa, and grilled green garlic croquettes. As demonstrated at a recent launch event, at its best—as with the smoked bone marrow butter with corn bread—the flavors are intense and long, but poised; meanwhile the saganaki (fried cheese, olive bread, greens) is pure carb deliciousness. Get into the duck hearts on lemon butter brioche, though, and the balance is out of joint, with the small piece of meat not up to cutting through the oiliness of the bread. In fact, the whole menu is on the heavy side and a blast of freshness such as a salad (without bread or anything fried) would be welcome. Still, these are fun dishes to explore and work well if you’re not planning to make a whole meal from them.

The lunch menu has also been tinkered with—fried trout sandwich, citrus-chèvre ravioli, and seared cauliflower with salbitxada (a Catalan sauce) are new additions—while dinner now has three feast plates for sharing, based around beef ribs, porchetta and Hawaiian rolls, and shrimp dumplings with spring pea salad. Clyde Common, 1014 SW Stark, happy hour daily, 3-6 pm, $3-8

• Some good looking happy hour items