Tom Douglas' Culinary Summer Camp
July 8-12

It’s like summer camp……with wine.
Five days of culinary challenges, visiting chefs and foodie field trips awaits.

Each day brings a new gastronomic challenge. For the complete itinerary, see below.

Get daily personal instruction from our team of professional chefs and cooks on a smattering of foods and flavors.  From Tom Douglas teaching his Iron Chef recipes to a Summer Preserving demonstration on jamming your favorite fruits and pickling your favorite vegetables, Culinary Summer Camp is a hit!  Our diverse curriculum offers a unique way to discover all the hidden cooking skills you never knew you had.

When and Where: July 8th – 12th 2007.  Summer Camp home base will be in the Palace Ballroom at 2100 Fifth Avenue.

Cost: $1995 plus tax per person.
Class space is very limited and will be filled on a first come first serve basis.
Fees include meals and tastes throughout the day (dinner not included), transportation for field trips, recipe books and take-home-treats.  

Registration: To reserve your spot (25% deposit needed at time of reservation) please email sarahf@tomdouglas.com or call 206.448.2001. 

Itinerary:
(Details may change)

Sunday, July 8th
The Perfect Cocktail Party

We kick off day one with introductions and an overview of the Summer Camp schedule. You will meet our culinary team and get acquainted with your camp-mates in ‘home base’ for the week, the Palace Ballroom.

We’ll start with an opening toast and dive right in with Chef Demonstrations on the ultimate cocktail party, focusing on seafood. We end the day with one of the city’s best bartenders showcasing the art of The Perfect Martini and Bar Basics. After, we’ll head over to Dahlia Lounge for a relaxing and mouth-watering cocktail party before wrapping up our day at 6:30pm.

Monday, July 9th
Farms & Charcuterie

We meet in the morning at the Palace Ballroom and grab pastry and a cup of coffee for a bus ride out to the country. Grab your ‘country’ boots, ‘cause we’re going farming! We’ll visit a local organic farm to learn about their practices. We’ll sample veggies straight from the earth, and forage for wild edibles to take home.

Back at the Palace Kitchen, we’ll sit down to a seasonal Market Lunch, purchased from the Pike Place Market. Following is a day of butchery and charcuterie where Tom will demonstrate how to break down whole beasts – duck, chicken, fish and rabbit. Purchasing and using a whole animal at home is both a tasty and economical way to minimize waste and maximize flavor. We’ll teach you how.

Tuesday, July 10th
Bread & Chocolate

In the morning, over pain au chocolat and café au laits, we’ll sit for a chef demonstration from Pastry Chef Garrett Melkonian. Garrett will walk us through chocolate recipes and the art of chocolate work. Savory chocolate dishes are taught next, gearing us up for our afternoon field trip.

We’ll hop on buses and head over to Theo Chocolate for a private behind-the-scenes tour – stopping in their production room for a few tastes! Theo Chocolate is the first roaster of Fair Trade Certified cocoa beans and the only roaster of organic cocoa beans in the U.S. Lunch will be served to us on the factory floor, pairing wine and beer with chocolate.

Back in the Ballroom, the afternoon session will be hosted by Gwen Grande, Head Bread Bakery and Chef of Serious Pie. Gwen will walk us through a starter, mixing dough and making a quick pita at home. Following Gwen, Tom Douglas will give a ‘Cooking with Bread’ demonstration on everything from bread crumbs to tartines.

Wednesday, July 11th
Dim Sum and Iron Chef

Check in over coffee and Asian pastries this morning to kick off our hands-on lesson. This morning we’ll rotate through various stations, learning hands on the art of making dim sum. Learn the craft of shaping shu mai and take home a recipe for a delicious humbao dough. Lunch is served off campus, today, at a secret destination before we head back to the Ballroom for Tom’s personal Iron Chef lesson. Tom will walk through all of the winning recipes from Iron Chef, offering tastes along the way. We end the day with a retro cocktails in the Palace Ballroom.

Thursday, July 12th
Jams, Cheesemaking and Kitchen Design

We start the morning off learning the art of jamming from a true professional, June Taylor. June has been making small-batch heirloom jams and conserves using traditional stove-top recipes for years. Following, Steven Steinbock – long a chef at our restaurants – teaches the fine art of cheese making. It’s easy to make a simple chevre or fromage blanc at home, and here you will learn the skills needed. Guest speakers and local cheesemakers take part in this half lecture series – half cooking demonstration.

After a cheesy nibble for lunch, we’ll hop on the bus and drive up to Tom and Jackie’s house for an Elements of Kitchen Design discussion. Touring the home kitchen of Tom and Jackie, you’ll have an opportunity to map out your perfect kitchen or incorporate some easy-to-build design features into your existing kitchen. To end the day, we’ll head out to the backyard with Tom and Jackie for an All American BBQ. After dinner, we’ll give our final good byes to Tom and Jackie and board buses back downtown to conclude Tom Douglas’ Summer Camp 2007.