http://tomdouglas.com/blog Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:04:04 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Last Saturday, some of Tommy D's Etta's folks loaded up our rented Mussel Bus and made a trek over gorgeous Deception Pass and descended on the little community of Coupville for the annual Mussel Fest. Hey, it's a tough job, but somebody in the company had to do it! The day ... http://tomdouglas.com/blog/2010/03/ettas-crew-at-mussel-fest-2010-by-robyn-wolfe-marketing/ Yesterday, Tom was the guest speaker at the Marketing Mixology Conference at Bell Harbor.  While sharing his experience and knowledge on branding and marketing as a successful restaurant entrepeneur, Tom kept everyone in stitches as he entertained us with his escapades as a young and struggling chef during his early ... http://tomdouglas.com/blog/2010/03/tom-at-bell-harbor-by-robyn-wolfe-marketing/ Herschell Taghap, catering cook and demo-er extraordinaire, made a family meal (ie. staff meal) that was absolutely divine! Authentic Chicago style hot dogs!! All beef dog on a poppyseed bun and here's exactly what's on it: yellow mustard diced onion 2 slices tomato kosher pickle sport peppers and a fine sprinkling of celery salt Visit Herschell's blog here. http://tomdouglas.com/blog/2010/03/herschells-chicago-dogs-by-robyn-wolfe-marketing/ Amy Richardson, our catering gal, braved the desert to attend the Catersource catering convention.  She saw many wondrous things and made it back intact.  So look for some fancy parties at the Palace Ballroom. http://tomdouglas.com/blog/2010/03/vegas-land-of-wonder-by-eric-tanaka-executive-chef/ Food writer Leslie Kelly raves about Tom's cast iron deep fryer pan with skillet lid on Amazon's Al Dente blog. (Note: photo from Al Dente blog) http://tomdouglas.com/blog/2010/03/a-rave-review-of-toms-cast-iron-pan/ Little Tastes of Shepherd's Grain last week was a bushel of fun! We were joined by Karl, Fred, and their entourage of farmers to learn all about the truly amazing and inspiring journey of building their company with the goal of bringing sustainable, local wheats to market. In cahoots with the scientists ... http://tomdouglas.com/blog/2010/03/little-tastes-shepherds-grain-by-jessica-prince-dahlia-lounge-private-dining-and-hotel-andra-catering/ Can you guess which month these photos of a farmers market were taken?  Even saying it was the Palm Springs farmers market probably won't help. What does seasonality mean when midwinter gives you berries, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, asparagus, and citrus?  An embarassment of riches to be sure, but I'll take Washington's ... http://tomdouglas.com/blog/2010/03/palm-springs-farmers-market-by-sean-hartley-operations-manager/ Sean (Operations Manager), Audrey (Corporate Sous Chef), and Kat (Palace Line Cook) rocked the kid/adult healthy family meal class.  The tamale pie was a big hit and so was Sean's homemade granola. (Editor's note: our spring series of kid's cooking classes is sold out. Keep an eye out for future classes ... http://tomdouglas.com/blog/2010/03/made-from-scratch-by-pamela-hinckley-tdr-ceo/ Following Vulcan's press release that we will be joining them in their South Lake Union project, we did a catering/demo for the Vulcan real estate folks who are developing and leasing space. We served buckwheat blini with smoked salmon, tingmos, Serious Pie's potato pizza,  beer, wine and a delicious ... http://tomdouglas.com/blog/2010/03/new-terry-avenue-space-by-robyn-wolfe-marketing/ Top photo: Chang's wings Bottom photo: Momofuku chicken! http://tomdouglas.com/blog/2010/03/momofuku-nyc-by-robyn-wolfe-marketing-2/