Forget about the snowflakes of late April. Summer is just around the corner and that means one thing -- Yes, it’s time to sign up for Culinary Summer Camp 2008!

We were incredibly honored that the January '08 issue of Food & Wine magazine mentioned Tom’s Culinary Summer Camp in an elite listing of "Fabulous Trips for the Food-and-Wine Obsessed."  Last year’s “camp” (think of this as an adult culinary extravaganza- like summer camp…with wine!) was a great success for “campers” and “counselors” alike. This year we’re working on a brand new over-the-top 5 day itinerary which features more hands-on cooking (a chance to play in a real restaurant kitchen!), cooking demos by celebrity chefs as well as by our own talented crew, fun field trips, restaurant dining, and more. This is your chance to get up close and personal with the inner workings of Tom Douglas’s culinary wizardry.

Dahlia, Lola, and Etta’s will take part in the 15th annual Dining Out for Life, one of Seattle’s favorite ways to fight AIDS.

What do you have to do? Just dine out deliciously at one of our participating joints on Thursday, April 24th, and we will donate 30% of our daily sales (including food, beverage, and alcohol) to Lifelong AIDS Alliance.

Proceeds from Dining Out for Life help to feed those living with chronic illness in the Puget Sound region. Services include pickup and delivery of nutritious meals and groceries, housing assistance, medical insurance coverage, and counseling services.

So, come see us April 24th. Dine out and make it count!

The Third Annual Washington Wine Highway is a jam-packed wine, food, and travel-loving extravaganza located on the grounds of Chateau Ste. Michelle, May 24-25. Explore the regional terroir, sip by sip, from 80 Washington wineries, do a little travel planning, indulge in some smoky bbq, and, best of all, check out the Tom Douglas Rub with Love booth. We’ll be there all weekend, handing out spice-and-sauce-a-licious savory bites featuring our Rub with Love Spice Rubs and Sauces. See you there!

For event information, please call 425-481-8300 or go to their website

Piedmontese Wine Tasting
June 9^th - 6pm to 8pm Palace Ballroom

With the dollar low and the euro high, it might not be the best time to take that dream trip to the beautiful Italian hills of Barbaresco and Barolo. But not to worry! You can soon taste 16 different wines and meet 8 vintners from this great wine making region, just by hopping downtown to the Palace Ballroom. Hosted by Tom Douglas, Michael Teer of Pike & Western Wine Shop and wine maker Peter Dow, this will be a hot summer event not to be missed. Stay tuned for more information!

Planning for the 2nd annual Tom Douglas' Culinary Summer Camp is well underway!! Last year’s camp showed me how much the word “foodie” describes so many of you. We thought five days of food challenges, guest chefs, cookbook authors and field trips might overwhelm your senses, but you came out swinging and ready for more.  

This year's camp will focus on the cooking of our restaurants with hands on chef-ing at both the Palace Kitchen and Serious Pie. Campers will find out what it's like to work in one of our kitchens - grilling on a full flame apple wood broiler or a 32,000 btu burner while waiters are waiting for their pickup. Planning and designing menus for your very own restaurant might seem easy until there are hungry diners staring and wondering when their vittles might be showing up! And working the 650 degree stone encased pizza oven at Serious Pie is sure to thrill you backyard grillers.  

All of this in addition to a compliment of new guest chefs, new cuisines, and new culinary challenges. Last year I thoroughly relished getting to know all of our campers, which is a rare treat for me as I’m a back of the house guy. This year I look forward to doing the same.  

On another note...I'm admittedly computer phobic; however, I must say there are some great food blogs that I find fun to read. One of which is Ed Levine’s blog, seriouseats.com. You may have seen Ed as a judge on Iron Chef or know him from the several books he has under his belt. Basically, Ed searches the world for the best "tastes," be they soup dumplings, or pastrami sandwiches. The best part about Ed and his blog is that he’s not a food snob, he just believes in his palate. A classic New Yorker, Ed will defend his favorite pizza or bagel joint with vehement verbal jousts until you can make your case to prove him wrong. Let’s just say I’ve only won a single battle with Ed and he wouldn’t cry uncle until he got on a plane and tried the place for himself.  

On the local dining scene, I’m looking forward to trying the “new” Virginia Inn restaurant, delicious meals at Rover’s, a ten course extravaganza and a first rate steak at Daniel’s Broiler on Lake Union.  

One last note to toot our own horn: If you don’t try the rabbit pasta with English peas, baby carrots and sweet salad onions at the Dahlia Lounge for lunch, you may never know that spring has truly sprung in the chilly and soggy Northwest.  

Cheers,  

Tom

Makes 6 to 8 servings

Celebrate Spring with this recipe from the “Spring Chickens” chapter of Big Dinners. The chickens marinate overnight in a thick, green, aromatic herb pesto before being pan-browned and then roasted. Don’t forget to serve the deliciously herb-y pan juices with the chicken.

Tom also likes to use this marinade on a butterflied leg of lamb or lamb chops. Marinate the lamb overnight, then fire up the charcoal grill the next day. (Shake off excess marinade before you grill.)

Get/print the full recipe...