Palace Ballroom
8pm- 12:30am
Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Ring in the New Year Tom Douglas style with an elegant dinner, swinging Yuletide music, and delicious bubbly for toasting!  Celebrate New Year's Eve at the Palace Ballroom with the award-winning Portage Bay Big Band, a 16-piece 1940's style ensemble band with one of the largest brass sections in the city.

Tom Douglas' chefs will be cooking up an elegant 4-course dinner, plus passed appetizers, a specialty cocktail, a cheese board, and much more.

Here's a sneak peak at just some of the delicious dishes from the feast:

Tickets are available by contacting Christina Logman at christinal@tomdouglas.com or at 206.448.2001. Reservations are $295.00 per couple plus tax and gratuity. This price includes appetizers, a 4-course dinner, wine flights, and a glass of bubbly for the countdown to 2009.  There will be a cash bar available all evening. Some tables may be seated festival style. A 50% deposit is required to confirm your reservation.

Keep the celebration going all night long! Sleep in style at neighboring Hotel Andra with rates to rejoice in!

• $248 in Andra suites and $289 in Lux Suites.  Rates include two little Piper Heidsieck Champagnes!
• *Room tax applies. Based on availability, and available December 31, 2008 only.
• Call 206.448.8600 and ask for the Andra NYE rate.

This is the time of year for family dinners, friendship lunches and office socials.  While I'd like to see you at all of our restaurants I know you must need a little variety in your life.

When I'm hosting a party, and I've already taken friends, family or co-workers through Pike Place Market, I usually end up in Chinatown, or considering the last 30 years of immigration, the International District.  All the holiday swag we buy is made in China anyway, so we might as well enjoy the cooking from the same region.

1st  Stop - Dim Sum.  It has been said that there is no 'great' Dim Sum in Seattle.  When I asked former PI food writer, Hsiao-Ching Chou where she goes, she immediately dismissed Seattle and voted enthusiastically for Sun Sui Wah in Vancouver, B.C. (fyi-the Pink Pearl is my favorite dim sum hang out in B.C.).  I'm not so harsh.  While I agree we don't have a great Dim Sum house on the order of Yank Sing (in San Francisco) or Luk Yu (in Hong Kong), we do, however, have some worthwhile bites in Chinatown. 

 Here are some of my favorites (and read Tom's entire letter...)

Whether you're looking for gifts to put under the Christmas tree, buying presents for the eight nights of Hanukkah, or looking for something special to celebrate Kwanzaa, we're here to help!

Buy a $100 Gift Certificate to any of the Tom Douglas Restaurants and get a free Tom Douglas cookbook of your choice (choose from Tom Douglas' Seattle Kitchen, Tom's Big Dinners, or I Love Crab Cakes)  Two gifts for the price of one!  Available in all restaurants and can be ordered on line.

Searching for a truly unique gift for someone very special? How about a gift certificate to Tom Douglas' Culinary Summer Camp 2009?  This is a 5-day adult culinary extravaganza of feasting, wine tasting, cooking demos by celebrity chefs and our own talented crew, field trips, hands-on chef-ing by the "campers," culinary challenges and much, much more.  Tom's Summer Camp was chosen for Food and Wine magazine's list of "Fabulous Trips for the Food-and-Wine-Obsessed!"  This is the stocking stuffer dreams are made of!  July 12-16 in Palace Ballroom, for more information contact Robyn Wolfe @ 206.448.2001 or robynw@tomdouglas.com

From I Love Crab Cakes! by Tom Douglas
Makes 6 appetizer servings

This recipe is Tom's tribute to all those flavorful feasts on steamed dumplings that he's enjoyed in Dim Sum restaurants over the years.

Shao-mai or gyoza wrappers, available in Asian groceries, are 3-inch diameter rounds that are very thin.  If you buy a thin square wrappers, it's easy to stack the wrappers in groups of 10 or so and shave the corners with a pair of kitchen shears to make rounds.

 Go here to view/print the recipe...