While mingling, we met interesting entrepreneurs. Dick O'Gorman, the owner of Ivy, was one of the most intriguing. His passion for food and entertaining is palpable. You can tell that he wants people to feel like they are coming to a friend's house when they eat there. We also met a cool cat, Frank Curiale. He owns We Know Tickets. He knows the ticket market in and out, so if you are looking for those hard to snag tickets, he is the man with a plan. He watches the ticket market as intensely as a stock broker watches the Dow. Frank said that he can help people figure out when to purchase in order to get the best price.
As our faithful customers know, we love highlighting local wineries and breweries in our cuisine, so we were happy to discover that Dry City Brewery is part of the Chamber. Chef Darrin went to school with one of the Ebel's, so we have an allegiance to Two Brothers, but we will definitely stop by Dry City Brewery and see what we can weave into our menus.
After the event, we headed over to Lynfred Winery. We treasure that place and we are looking forward to doing a wine and food pairing event with them on April 28th. I will fill you in our connection to them and give details about the pairing soon.
All in all, we learned that connecting with the community will be like nurturing a garden. Thriving vegetables don't pop up over night. It takes time, commitment and a desire to make our community a better place. Fortunately, Wheaton is a great place to sow roots. The businesses around here are long lasting and service oriented. We look forward to the relationships that we will develop with fellow entrepreneurs.
For the love of food,
Chef Jeanine
