From concept to completion: the shaping of a restaurant
A year and a half ago, Thomason was one of a dozen aspiring entrepreneurs in a class offered in Chesepeake by the Small Business Development Center of Hampton Roads.
Phillip Craig Thomason made his first buck as a restaurateur four days ago.
With the guests gone and his restaurant, Vintage Kitchen, closed for the night, he savored his achievement at the copper bar with a mint julep, made with Virginia Gentleman.
He was tired, but it felt good.
It has been a whirlwind five months since he signed the lease for space on the first floor of Dominion Tower on Waterside Drive in Norfolk. Most nights he slept a scant few hours on the leather banquettes. But he made his deadline, opening Wednesday night with a party for 100 from the accounting firm KPMG LLP, which has offices upstairs.
Thomason, 35, spent most of the night in the kitchen with his staff, doing what he does best: roast beef tenderloin with tomato preserves and horseradish sour cream; homemade pimento cheese with Marshall Farms cheddar and smoked chilies; wild mushroom strudel with blue cheese, caramelized onion and applewood-smoked bacon; and for dessert, lavender butter cookies with raspberry, bittersweet chocolate brownies and lemon squares.
He stocked the bar with Virginia wines and beers, in keeping with the restaurant's regional theme.
A graduate of the prestigious Parisian culinary school Le Cordon Bleu, Thomason can cook. But he knows it takes a lot more to run a restaurant, especially in the most competitive area of Hampton Roads.
'The reason I came back here is I saw a need in this market,' he said.
External Source - For the complete article click here
Source - The Virginian-Pilot
With the guests gone and his restaurant, Vintage Kitchen, closed for the night, he savored his achievement at the copper bar with a mint julep, made with Virginia Gentleman.
He was tired, but it felt good.
It has been a whirlwind five months since he signed the lease for space on the first floor of Dominion Tower on Waterside Drive in Norfolk. Most nights he slept a scant few hours on the leather banquettes. But he made his deadline, opening Wednesday night with a party for 100 from the accounting firm KPMG LLP, which has offices upstairs.
Thomason, 35, spent most of the night in the kitchen with his staff, doing what he does best: roast beef tenderloin with tomato preserves and horseradish sour cream; homemade pimento cheese with Marshall Farms cheddar and smoked chilies; wild mushroom strudel with blue cheese, caramelized onion and applewood-smoked bacon; and for dessert, lavender butter cookies with raspberry, bittersweet chocolate brownies and lemon squares.
He stocked the bar with Virginia wines and beers, in keeping with the restaurant's regional theme.
A graduate of the prestigious Parisian culinary school Le Cordon Bleu, Thomason can cook. But he knows it takes a lot more to run a restaurant, especially in the most competitive area of Hampton Roads.
'The reason I came back here is I saw a need in this market,' he said.
External Source - For the complete article click here
Source - The Virginian-Pilot
