Holiday Inn puts guest chef in kitchen

Holiday Inn South General Manager Derek LaTouche has spent many a night watching local cars ride right on by the hotel at the busy intersection of Ross Clark Circle and U.S. 231 South.

The Holiday Inn has always been a popular eating and meeting place for civic clubs and associations, and has a good breakfast and lunch crowd, but LaTouche said he wanted The Lamplighter Room, the restaurant at the hotel, to be more.

He knew it would be a challenge — few even knew the name of the restaurant at the hotel.

“I started out wanting an idea to just do something different,” LaTouche said. “We are a typical Holiday Inn with a buffet at breakfast and a buffet at lunch. Driving down the strip, you see all these choices in restaurants.”

Coming from Maine, where he managed an exclusive New England inn, LaTouche knew that the hotel could lure in those night-time eaters. But how?

One night he discussed the issue with his wife, Tammi.

“Derek asked, ‘What can I do to bring attention to the restaurant?’” she recalls.

She suggested having a monthly guest chef. That chef became her.

In April, The Lamplighter presented “An Evening of Fine Dining,” which included six regular entrees, three pasta entrees, appetizers, soups and salad, a wine menu and a dessert menu.

“We sent out invitations and served about 65 people that night,” said Derek, who is a native of Australia. “For this restaurant, that was very good.”

In late May, The Lamplighter hosted A Taste of Italy night.

The menu included filetto gorgonzola; stuffed center-cut pork chops; veal, chicken and eggplant parmigiano; and other favorites like linguine, lasagna and manicotti.

This time, the restaurant received 70 reservations and fed over 80.

Diners can expect a true formal dining experience with attentive wait staff dressed in crisp, white shirts; white tablecloths; a chef that visits the tables; and a meal that pleases both the palate and the eye.

But it doesn’t just happen. Tammi begins preparing for the next dinner a week after the previous one. She plans the menu, orders the ingredients and makes sure the kitchen is ready.

The days leading up to the dinner are hectic. Tammi often stays until midnight and is back the morning of the dinner at 8 a.m. The dining event, she said, is its own reward.

Near the end of Italian night, she takes a breather and pulls up a chair. Fatigue shows on her face, but mostly, there is satisfaction at the close of a successful evening.

“I have loved to cook my whole life,” she said. “My dad was military, so we traveled all over.”

Tammi searches her wrist for a very physical sign of her experience, producing the remnants of a long-ago burn.

“I was 6 years old when I burned my wrist cooking grilled cheese for my brother and sisters. I had three older sisters, one younger sister and one younger brother. I grew up cooking.”

Tammi is a self-taught chef who started her career as a part-time baker at the Lucerne Inn, located between Bangor and Bar Harbor, Maine. While the chef was skeptical of hiring a baker without formal training, Tammi proved herself and earned the position of line cook.

A new chef at the inn came aboard and took a special interest in Tammi. She became the sous chef. She eventually left after falling in love with a fellow employee - Derek - and joined the Bar Harbor Inn resort as pastry chef.

Surgery on Tammi’s feet ended her chef career about 10 years ago. She took a desk job, and the couple moved to Dothan.

One of the challenges of a guest chef is helping the kitchen staff think a new way. Tammi’s menus are all fresh and home-made, and nothing comes out of the kitchen fried.

“I’ve had to teach some things,” she said, “but I love it. Cooking really is my passion. At night when I can’t sleep, I get up and start cooking.“

The Evening of Fine Dining included Madagascar steak, baked stuffed haddock, chicken dijonaisse and seafood mornay in puff pastry. July will feature an All-American menu that will include crab legs and rib eyes.

There is no dress code.
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The Lamplighter
Location: Holiday Inn South, Ross Clark Circle at U.S. 231 South in Dothan
Phone: 794-8711