FOODSERVICE MONTHLY'S Sauce on the Side

James Beard's 20th in DC

From time to time, I can share my view of the local food scene ... in my FOTO GALLERY you can take a look at last night's James Beard's Taste America dinner at Jeff and Sallie Buben's Vidalia. Beard dinners were held in 20 cities across the U.S. raising money for the Beard Foundation. The Beard chefs on hand were Jeff Buben, Ann Cashion, Ann Amernick, Roberto Donna, Ris Lacoste, R.J. Cooper (known last night as JR), and Bob Kinkead. Importer Terry Thiese and Vidalia sommelier Doug Mohr coordinated the wines. Linda Roth Associates produced the dinner and auction. Michel Richard was in LA at another Beard dinner -- he donated his creation of Beard in his famous bowtie. Roberto Donna led the live auction that brought $4000 for the original Richard art. Vidalia's R.J. Cooper did his best Beard pose before the bidding started.

No Eulogies, Please!

To start a blog and then have to report rather somber news for us all and especially for newbies finding their way here for the first time ... well, that's unfortunate. To know Marcia was to love Marcia ... we'll leave it at that. For a story on her accomplishments and her life work, that requires my print publication. That's for the next issue. But her message is don't be too sad for too long ... just take a look at her wishes for her celebration of life ... first, we had to move it to a party room ... we need serious space for a mighty celebration.

Marcia made several requests to remind us that when her time had come that anything that had her name attached had to be representative of her and the hospitality people she worked for and loved.

No eulogies are allowed, but laughing, smiling and funny stories to be shared are encouraged.
No funeral flowers.

In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made in Marcia Harris’ honor to:

Maryland Hospitality Education Foundation
6301 Hillside Court
Columbia, MD 21046

Cards to the family with a favorite Marcia Harris story or adventure can be sent to:

The Restaurant Association of Maryland
6301 Hillside Court
Columbia, MD 21046

Marcia's Celebration of Life will be held on: Monday, October 8th at 6 p.m. at Martin's Valley Mansion, 594 Cranbrook Road in Hunt Valley, Md. For more information contact the Association at 800-874-1313.

Marcia Harris (1940 - 2007)

Paula Kreuzburg, senior vice president at the Restaurant Association of Maryland, called me early this morning ... it was a call that I feared might come ... our good friend and colleague Marcia Harris had passed away during the night. Here is the official notice from the Restaurant Association of Maryland.

It is with deep sorrow that the Harris Family and the Restaurant Association of Maryland announces the passing of our dear friend, Marcia Harris, President and CEO. Marcia passed away after a short illness on the morning of September 28, 2007 after celebrating her 67th birthday on Monday, September 24th.

A celebration of her life will be held in the near future.

Condolence cards for the family may be sent to:
The Restaurant Association of Maryland
6301 Hillside Court
Columbia, Maryland 21046

The picture I have here was taken at the association headquarters on July 16 and that was the last time I saw her. She went in the hospital with double pneumonia on July 29th. I spoke to her briefly on the phone last Tuesday night before the beginning of the Mid-Atlantic Expo and she raised my spirits a thousand percent. She was only allowed limited family visitation in intensive care due to the nature of her illness. The phone call was my way of seeing her.

On Monday, her 67th birthday, I know she had made a list of things she wanted … including having her hair and nails done. It was her birthday … even if it was Johns Hopkins.

I’m not going to wax on today much more than this … this is a time for reflection, and then we can get on with a celebration of Marcia’s life. In March she sent around one of those inspirational e-mails that someone had forwarded her. I was happy to be on her list of friends.

It ended with, “To those I have sent this to ... I cherish our friendship and appreciate all you do. Life may not be the party we hoped for ... but while we are here we might as well dance!"

Marcia sure could dance.

FOOD WINE DRINK 01

Now we're cooking. I'm back again for my second post ... Kelly DiNardo pens a complementary blog for her upcoming book on burlesque legend Lili St. Cyr that comes out October 16 (you can preorder with my Amazon link). One of her posts featured an iMix she made from songs performers said were favorite stage tunes. That got me thinking about food, wine and drink songs ... and I've been listening to some old favorites and I've found some new friends. Let me know about some of your favorites ... I'm ready to expand my list as far as you'll help me take it.

Washing for Dollars

The folks at Clyde's are cool, dedicated and know how to motivate their employees. Take handwashing ... Quality assurance guru Vicki Griffith turns September into a month long team competition among the 10 Clyde's units. Each restaurant has its tryouts and on Wednesday morning at the Clyde's Mark Center in Alexandria the finals were held. Judges included health department officials from Alexandria, Fairfax and DC. The four person teams had questions to answer regarding food safety, hands to wash (covered in a faux bacteria) and a detailed ultraviolet light test to check for the quality of the wash job.

At the end it was the team from the Old Ebbitt Grill that came clean with the best score. Dan Harding, Mike Normand, Edward Davis and Stacy Wilmoth collected their reward ... $300 cash each. General manager Kyle Gaffney and executive chef Robert McGowan provided support. Tom Meyer, executive vice president for Clyde's told the participants, "The big winners are our customers."

For a report seen on WUSA9 in Washington, check out this Peggy Fox report. For the rest of the fotos check out my gallery.