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Henry Patterson

Feb 17 12:06 pm

Henry Patterson

Henry Patterson is an SLF Board Member and, as a Union Square landlord, only works with local independent businesses. He has founded and operated and consulted with successful restaurants for over 30 years. Currently he is focused on the financial management and growth of several restaurants, including, in Somerville, Ronnarong Thai Tapas Bar. He lives in Concord with his wife Claudine.

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Calling all Somerville Business Owners: What are we here for, anyway?

Feb 15 11:47 am

by Henry Patterson, SLF Board Member

As a member of the SLF Board of Directors, I have recently taken on the Business Owners Membership Chair. My instinct to grow membership is to create an exciting new SLF program that would entice non-members to join. I have been asking myself, and others around me: “What the hell are we here for, anyway?”

Neighborhood Networking Chapters in SLFs Future?

SLF is about staying local. Perhaps, when thinking about what a new program would look like we should get even MORE local? There are nineteen identified neighborhoods in Somerville. 19! I believe the businesses in those neighborhoods could reap some serious benefits from networking with their immediate business neighbors.

We could foster “chapters” of SLF which are neighborhood based. Since I am rooted in the restaurant business (for the last 35 years anyway) my idea is to recruit the restaurants to become the chapter clubhouses. I envision the restaurants in a neighborhood each hosting 1-2 monthly meetings per year.

The business owners would convene at 11:00am on, say, the first Wednesday of the month, with a simple agenda of each attendee taking one minute to inform the group about his or her business mission and goals – in other words, practice the proverbial “elevator speech” – and then have a simple soup and sandwich lunch.

These meetings would be open only to SLF members in that neighborhood, so interested qualifying non-members would have to join SLF to participate. (That’s my simple membership growth strategy.)

I expect it wouldn’t be long before the chapter members cook up plans for a neighborhood logo, neighborhood events, cross promotions or other ways to help each other realize their goals.

And since I am rooted in Union Square (the same 35 years) my obvious next step is to try to prove this concept in Union Square. Anyone who like to would like to help create the Union Square SLF Chapter, please email me.

Filed under: Local First
Tags: board of directors, Henry Patterson, neighborhood, networking & industry, opinion

Thai Tapas Tuesday: Sherry Edition

Jan 10 9:38 am

by Henry Patterson

The January Edition of our Thai Tapas Tuesday Series will feature a special guest speaker: passionate foodie and wine expert, Richard Auffrey.

His respected food blog often includes notes about a misunderstood and under-appreciated wine category, the wines popular in tapas bars across Spain which fall under the general heading of sherries. I had a drink with Richard awhile back and we joked about how Ronnarong, as a tapas bar, really should have a sherry list.

Sherry is front and center at this month's Thai Tapas Tuesday

Richard surprised me with the assertion that sherries would pair quite well with Thai spicing. I acknowledged that I had little experience of sherries, and thought of them, frankly, as uninspired, unmemorable cheap cooking wines. Richard is a Certified Spanish Wine Educator and he quickly assured me that 1) what I had tasted was not at all representative of a great wine category, and 2) sadly, mine was a typical American experience. The idea for this dinner was born. We met a week later at Ronnarong and tasted a number of dishes so Richard could select sherries to pair and we set the date for January.

The plan includes a variety of sherry types, which Richard will explain as the dinner progresses. His selections will include a Manzanilla, an Amontillado and an Oloroso, affording attendees a broad introduction.

At our tasting lunch we decided on Thai roll tapas and three classic Thai dishes: seafood lad nah (mixed seafood with asian broccoli, wide noodles, oyster sauce), beef with Ronnarong’s red curry, and a larb (a very spicy ground chicken dish).

Thai rolls on the tasting menu

Please come and enjoy Mr. Auffrey’s sherry selections paired with Ronn’s classic Thai dishes, all for $30 (plus tax and gratuity.) Seating is limited to thirty people. Email [email protected] to register.

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Want to get a head start learning about sherry?
Here’s a link to blog posts by Richard Auffrey about sherry:

http://passionatefoodie.blogspot.com/2010/10/all-about-sherry.html

You’ll find articles with these titles:
History of Sherry (Five Parts)
Manzanilla: The Neglected Sherry (Two Parts)
Does Alvear Produce Sherry?
Sherry News
Bound for Spain: Sherry!
I Have Returned!
Ten Things I Learned About Sherry
Five More Things I Learned About Sherry
Aged Sherry: Prepare To Be Wowed
The Mystery of Palomino
Bodegas Tradición: Only Aged Sherries
Bodegas Hidalgo La Gitana: Manzanilla Mecca
Bodegas Harvey: Peacocks, Gators & Aged Sherry
Bodegas Sánchez Romate: Flamenco, Momo & Moscatel
Bodegas Gonzalez Byass: Apostles & Thirsty Mice
Bodegas Grupo Estevez: Music For the Flor
Sherry and Spanish Cuisine
Sherry Food Pairings: More Bellota Please
A Taste of Menton, With Sherry
Sherry Bodegas: Beware The Aliens!
Rant: Dumbing Down Wine Lists
The Veil of Flowers
Sherry Day: December 6

Filed under: Local First
Tags: beer wines & spirits, food, Henry Patterson, Ronnarong Thai Tapas Bar

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