The Winning Pipe-Cleaner Hat
Here’s a photo (left) of Pastry Sous Chef Randi Johansen wearing her prize winning hat! The hat contest took place at the annual Managers’ Christmas Party at Tom and Jackie’s house. (This gala event had to be rescheduled to early March from its usual holiday season date, due to December snow.) Randi’s hat, which won the top prize of a deluxe weekend in Chicago, depicted Wrigley Field and the Chicago El as well as a crab and a cake ( “crab cake”), all cleverly fashioned from pipe cleaners, baubles, and beads.
What did we eat at this spectacular event? Tom Douglas and Steven Steinbock grilled hunks of prime rib to perfection, and we also feasted on melt-in-your-mouth potato gnocchi in tomato sauce (the recipe is in this book
.) Here’s a photo of the gnocchi production line set up in Tom and Jackie’s kitchen with Shelley Lance (Tom’s co-author and blog editor), Jackie Cross, and Gigi Steinbock (Etta’s server and longtime friend of Tom and Jackie) who have all been working together at Tom Douglas Restaurants for more than 20 years.
(Stay tuned for Dahlia’s upcoming 20th Anniversary Celebration next November with more hands-on cooking by the original staff.)
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