Great Taste Magazine 2007 Winter Issue

Great Taste Magazine 2007 Winter Issue features Chef Lupe Camarena and culinary news, tips, recommendations and recipes from Orange County restaurant chefs.

Seafood is a staple at most restaurants and a regular dish in most homes these days, however when American Fish and Seafood Company got started just after WWII that wasn’t the case. The early days were tough but owner George Doizaki persevered, offering quality fresh seafood to his customers and his company is now the leader in seafood providers. With their 65 thousand square foot headquarters located in Los Angeles, American Fish and Seafood Co. provides seafood to many of Orange County restaurants. Shrimp is the most eaten seafood in America, and probably the most versatile. In this issue of Great Taste we offer a list of some of the best Shrimp dishes around Orange County in our Sur Le Menu.

Our featured chef this month is something of restaurant royalty. Chef Lupe Camerena, of The Ritz Restaurant and Garden in Newport Beach, was mentored by legendary restaurateur Hans Prager and before him Chef Camarena was nurtured by his father who was a chef at a Mexican restaurant. Hans described Chef Camarena as a hard worker and a sponge who soaked up everything Hans taught him. Chef Camarena offers us his story of evolution and how he keeps things fresh at The Ritz.

In The Biz section of this issue we look at the returning trend of decorative tableware and offer some tips on what patterns best suit your restaurant without feeling out of date. We also celebrate Schooner’s Grille and Brewery who took on corporate restaurant chains to become a beloved staple of their community.

Finally we pay tribute to David C. Tallichet, Jr. who passed away in October 2007. Tallichet was the founder of Specialty Restaurants Corporation, opening over 100 restaurants across the United States. He was a pioneer of the theme restaurant and will be sorely missed as a staple of the restaurant community.

Great Taste Magazine 2007 January Issue covers the restaurants and the professionals with resources, recipes, beautiful photos and many tasty tidbits. Great Taste Magazine, the premiere connection to all the key decision makers in our local Southern California restaurant industry. Each month our 15 year-old full-color trade publication reaches thousands of the area’s top restaurant owners, general managers, executive chefs and buyers. Take a tour through the magazine. Each issue features a restaurant and local chef, and is packed with the timeliest information, critical operational tips and other industry news important to our readers.

Update! Even in these tough economic times, it’s clear our readers still have Great Taste! We’re happy to announce that our circulation has increased and we’d like to thank each and every one of our readers for helping make Great Taste Magazine the go-to source for Orange County restaurant information.

Great Taste Subscribers: 6,000 – E-subscribers: nearing 15,000 – Industry Newsletter: over 10,000

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Teri Williams has her finger on the pulse of the local hospitality industry like no one else. Fifteen years as editor and publisher of Orange County’s only hospitality trade magazine combined with her consultancy for the non-profit sector and her public relations expertise give Williams a far-reaching, varied and unique perspective of the industry. Besides her esteemed Great Taste publication, she has extensive experience in the travel industry (retail agent and wholesale), event planning and volunteerism. Williams has contacts around the globe in the restaurant, hotel, media and travel trades. She has also been applauded for her enthusiastic charity work and has chaired numerous chef, food and wine events on behalf of local non-profit organizations, for which she has helped garner more than $1 million in donations through the years. Known for her unflagging enthusiasm, entrepreneurial spirit, can do attitude and joie de vivre, Williams is a constant presence and authority on the OC culinary and hospitality scene.

Great Taste would not exist without our enthusiastic and generous contributors, which is why we want to turn the spotlight on them! We’ve got chefs and students, teachers and experts – so read on to meet the wonderful people that write for your pleasure. They all have Great Taste!