Carrots: Behind the Scenes at Pomegranate

If you have had the pleasure of eating at Pomegranate in Redmond, you have already had a peek into their kitchen through the big windows in the main dining room. So, you might be surprised to learn that the kitchen space is actually much larger than what you can see. There’s more than meets the eye at Pomegranate!

Katie Morrow, the Marketing Director of Lisa Dupar & Company, was gracious enough to set up a tour for my students and me. So, we were treated to a behind the scenes glimpse of Pomegranate. Katie handed us off to Executive Chef Dan Kiley who walked us through his world. We marveled at the racks and racks of sheet pans, party platters, muffin tins, cutting boards, and mixing bowls. We saw larger-than-life versions of standing mixers, 12 burner stoves, and many, many ovens and dishwashers. A highlight was seeing all five walk-ins. Four of the walk-ins were refrigerators: vegetables, meat, pastries, and a staging area for catering jobs. The fifth was a freezer. Each one was bigger than my walk-in closet and walk-in pantry combined. My type-A-ness was drawn to the labeling and organization that went into all areas of the Lisa Dupar & Company space, but particularly with regard to the staging walk-in. Every item was meticulously labeled to ensure that each catered event runs smoothly. Chef Dan noted “We’ve been catering for 30 years, and for 30 years of business, we’ve also been making mistakes.” He went on to talk about the importance of reflection. After each big catering event, they review what worked and what didn’t work so they can improve the next time.

The highlight of the tour was the Chocolate Room. I know, right? A room made of CHOCOLATE. Up to this point in my life, I have thought I might want my ashes to be scattered at Nordstrom, but perhaps the Chocolate Room might need to come into play. But, I digress. Pastry Chef Daniel demonstrated chocolate tempering for us. Tempering is the heating and cooling of chocolate for making candies and confections. Tempering gives chocolate that smooth, glossy finish and keeps it from melting on your fingers. It’s also what gives it that show-stopping look and allows for chocolate to be decorated. Chef Daniel demonstrated chocolate tempering for us on a large marble countertop, creating a candied hazelnut bark. He used scrapers to move the chocolate about and to keep it from cooling too fast. He heated the chocolate up to 110, cooled it to 77, and then tried to keep it around 86-86 when he put it into molds, all temperatures he recorded accurately with an infrared thermometer that reads the surface of the chocolate. Though he loves making truffles, Chef Daniel doesn’t love to each chocolate anymore. “Sadly, I only eat chocolate for quality control,” admitted the Pastry Chef. But, he loves working at Lisa Dupar and it’s clear the pride he takes in his work. He loves that he feels “trusted.” Executive Chef Dan Kiley also spoke about the faith and autonomy he is afforded from his boss, Lisa Dupar. “Lisa has gives me the trust to do my job,” acknowledging that he also genuinely likes all of his colleagues. He shared that when the staff of nearly 50 employees have celebrations, they cater their own food. “It’s a chance to show what you can do aside from what you cook for the company,” said the Executive Chef.

My takeaways were this: 1) Pomegranate is only one small part of the 8 million dollar business that is Lisa Dupar & Company. 2) The folks employed at Lisa Dupar love their jobs. And, that passion must be why the food is so good! 3) Catering is hard work and a big operation with lots of moving parts. Catering, just like the culinary arts, is a carefully organized symphony that requires dedication, planning, practice, and artful execution.

Milk chocolate hazelnut and dark chocolate almond bark.

Executive Chef Dan Kiley (left) and Pastry Chef Daniel (right)

Candied hazelnuts for the bark.

Tempering chocolate.

Owner Lisa Dupar makes an appearance!

Pastry Chef Daniel shows points out the difference between tempered and untempered chocolate. Untempered chocolate has a chalky, almost dusty surface.