Born and raised in London, Tom Cloutman, chef and founder of Red Dog Kitchen has been working in kitchens for 30 years. He travelled and worked his way through Europe extensively before moving to California in 1999, where he met his wife - the artist Ursula X. Young - in San Francisco. His chef experience landed him a job at the head offices of Williams-Sonoma in San Francisco and work as a caterer during the late 90’s dot com boom in San Francisco. Shortly afterwards he opened and was head chef of a restaurant in Girdwood, Alaska before moving to Nevada County in 2006. Tom was hired to create recipes and run the hot food bar at the BriarPatch when they first moved into the new premises in 2007, before going on to become a manager in the Deli department. Recent projects have included setting up and managing two food vending businesses; catering at festivals, special events and farmers markets in Northern California - Magic Curry Kart & Musa Musa.

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Tom's gastronomic travels have taken him to Southeast Asia, South & Central America, and the length and breadth of the United States. His favorite culinary adventures have been in Alaska, Brazil, Albania, and Singapore.

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He has an extensive knowledge of ethnic ingredients and is always on the lookout for new ingredients and flavor combinations to excite the taste buds. Tom specializes in vegetarian cuisine from around the world.

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In his spare time he tends to his vegetable garden, makes electronic music & DJs under the moniker 2 Block Radius, all while trying to keep up with his 6 year old daughter: Bali.

 

You can also follow him and his culinary creations on Instagram @reddogkitchen

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