Sunday, February 23rd, The Handlery Hotel, hosted a terrific event honoring a great man, Tommy Gomes from Catalina Offshore Products. Tommy is the favorite purveyor of local seafood of many chefs here in San Diego and an advocate for dock/farm to table. They all got together in a banquet hall to celebrate him with amazing dishes, craft beer and great times.
Many chef stations lined the exterior of hall, you were free to roam as you saw fit, sampling dishes and beer at your whim. This event was truly an exceptional experience. The food and deserts were phenomenal, the craft beer from Societe and Hess was great, the flow of the event was casual and fun; I could not have asked for a better occasion.
Some of my favorite dishes included a scallop fried in bacon grease from Karl Prohaska, pork wings from Hanis Cavin and the bread pudding from Chef Jenn. It was difficult to pick favorites plates from those offered; each was unique, tasty and exceptional. Karl’s scallop was buttery soft and the subtle bacon flavor perfectly fit. The pork wing from Hanis was hearty, flavorful and fall off the bone tender. I do not have the words to properly convey how wonderful the chocolate bacon bread pudding was; three super heroes, chocolate, bacon and bread pudding uniting in your mouth to form the Delicious League. I did have seconds!
After listening to friends and family speak about the man of the hour I have a new found respect for someone I was already a big fan of. This is not just a guy that sells fish, he truly cares about the quality of food he is providing to San Diego. The Handlery operated the event extraordinarily well and proved they can still impress me. Here’s to Tommy!
Sounds like an awesome event!! Great coverage too.
Thanks Aaron, it was a great time!