Mama Dip's

In my previous post I discussed the food styling class I attended in North Carolina. Prior to leaving for North Carolina, I decided to go onto the Food TV Network web site, and check out if there were any restaurants any of their TV chefs had visited in the Durham area. I was in luck! Rachel Ray had visited four restaurants in the Durham/Chapel Hill area. My second evening in Durham, I decided to take a drive over to Chapel Hill and shop for a bit at the South Pointe Mall. A trip into Barnes and Noble would find me purchasing the cookbook of one of the restaurants Rachel had visited -- Mama Dip's. During checkout, I talked about Mama Dip's with the clerk, and she advised me to make sure I took a trip to the restaurant. So being the adventurer that I am, I decided to find Mama Dip's no matter what it took. About one hour later, and a tour through the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, I would finally find Mama Dip's Restaurant!

Although I like to adventure, I do not like eating alone, but I did so. Am I ever happy I overcame my dislike of eating alone. The restaurant looks like one of the original homes from the area restructured into a restaurant. There is a wrap around porch filled with old rocking chairs. As I walked in the doors of the restaurant, there sat an African-American woman -- IT WAS MAMA DIP! Surprisingly, I did not run over to her, introduce myself, and ask for an autograph in her cookbook I purchased, but I regret that I did not to this day. The waiter sat me in a small booth, which I later found out is Mama Dip's favorite seat when she is in the restaurant. I was thrilled to be sitting there at that moment. That evening I enjoyed fried green tomatoes, fried chicken, BBQ pulled pork, corn bread, squash casserole, and greens. I also enjoyed their Country/City tea which is lemonade combined with iced tea. Everything was fabulous! My favorite was the fried green tomatoes. The fried chicken had a perfect coating with almost a sweet breading. The corn bread was fresh and full of corn flavor. I have not had many greens, but her greens were perfect. I could not eat another bite; however, could not pass up dessert, so I took a slice of pecan pie back to the hotel with me. About two hours later, I broke into the pie, and it was still warm. THE BEST PECAN PIE I HAVE EVER HAD -- buttery, full of pecans, buttery crust and a ton of gooey filling.

The next day I went to my class and could not stop thinking about the pecan pie. I had every intention to not go back to Mama Dip's the next night, but found myself driving there again. This time I tried her chicken and dumplings with corn bread, fried okra, and macaroni and cheese. Simply delicious! A home cooked meal made from the heart! Again, I packed up a slice of pie for myself and four small pies for the airplane trip home to share with family. I also exchanged the book I purchased at Barnes and Noble for an autographed book the restaurant carries in stock.

If you ever travel to North Carolina, I suggest you check out Mama Dip's, for a true American meal. The atmosphere is simply southern and old-fashioned, no bistro or high-end restaurant style. The staff is down-to-earth and the food is something you will crave to go back for again and again.

Food Fanatics Master Styling Class

The last weekend in March, I participated in a master food styling class, in Durham, North Carolina. Food Fanatics is operated by Denise Vivaldo and Cindie Flannigan out of Los Angeles, California. The two women are an absolute delight to work with in the process of the training program. Although I work in a commercial photography studio as a marketing director, the other portion of my job requires me to work on set at times. The studio does a great amount of food photography, and there have been many times, I have been thrown on set to style food. Even though I do have a background in catering, I always state, "styling food to make it edible is much different than styling food for the bright lights of a photo set". This class taught me all the shortcuts to making food look great in a photo and what the food advertising industry is really about. It was hard to believe I worked alongside chefs, stylists, photographers, and editorial staff. I also learned that Denise Vivaldo had written the book, How to Start a Home-based Catering Business, which I had read when creating my own catering business. Anyone thinking about catering, a personal chef business, or the food industry should really consider taking one of the Food Fanatics classes or reading their books.

Dansko Shoes

I recently traveled to North Carolina for a training program. While in North Carolina, I made sure I found time to check out the local shops and restaurants. One of my favorite stores was located on Ninth Street in Durham, North Carolina and is named Cozy. The shop is filled with all sorts of trinkets as well as women's clothing and shoes. I had seen someone wearing a pair of clogs a while back and had no idea what they were until I found Cozy. The shop owner carries Dansko shoes and they are extremely comfortable. Against my better budget judgement, I purchased a pair of the clogs, and I love them. I found out many women know of these shoes and many chefs wear them regularly. The shoes last a long time and are very comfortable if you work on your feet all day. If you go into their website at www.dansko.com, you can find stores that carry the shoes in stock.

Word of Mouth Marketing

I attended a Business Marketing Association speaker luncheon at the Italian Community Center in January. The speaker was Andy Sernovitz, author of Word of Mouth Marketing. Let me just say that this guy is extremely funny and interesting to listen to. If you have paid attention to my interests -- I LOVE MARKETING! I am a true believer in viral marketing and Andy lays it out in a humorous and sensible manner. If you want to learn more about Andy or his marketing theories you can check out his web site at www.wordofmouthbook.com. Or, check out his blog at www.damniwish.com. Make sure you sign up for his e-mail list so you don't miss out on any of his tours or marketing ideas.