1. Prelude
Chef Chopper (aka the nefarious mastermind behind Dr. Saucenstein, aka Dave) plays with sauces. It is perhaps his favorite thing to do in the kitchen and more often than not, his culinary concoctions are graced with a delicious sauce of one sort or another. At some unrecorded date during the spring of 2009, we come to the conclusion that something must be done about all these sauces. Or rather, the sauce must flow.
2. July, 2009. Opportunities arise.
We have friends. Our friends throw parties. We bring sauces. The sauces are popular. So popular that people ask for more, take samples home with them and talk up the sauces online. At this point, we don’t yet have a name or a label; we just have quart containers of sauces to share.
3. Mid-August 2009. Plotting begins.
During a morning stroll with our overzealous puppy, we name ourselves Dr. Saucenstein’s. We then meet with our close friend and confidant in sauciness, M.K. Hobson (who is not only a fine writer – buy her book when it comes out next year, dammit! – but a brilliant marketer as well.) She presents us with the scrumptious tagline “Reanimate Your Mouth” and a collection of temporary label designs which we will use until yours truly finds a spare moment to design unique labels for each sauce.
4. August 30th. Debut, part one.
With newly-labeled quart containers in hand, we travel out west (okay, to North Plains) and to the Blog-b-que at the one and only Lorelle’s house. Sauces are slathered onto kabobs of meaty goodness. Despite the an attack on the chef’s finger by a hostile yellow jacket, we declare this sauce presentational moment a success, and send more samples home with friends. Later, we see tweets about the deliciousness of our sauce in various applications. More buzz!
5. September. The hunt for bottles begins.
Our first discovery involves the cost of shipping. Since we rarely ever order large or heavy items (unless free shipping is included) we don’t know what to expect. It can’t be too horrible, right? Wrong. Bottles: 50 bucks. Shipping One hundred. Clearly it’s time to search for a local source. We find one, only to discover we’re not allowed to open a business account because we’re not a brick and mortar business with posted hours. (Insert a moment of eye rolling frustration, here.) As a last resort and at the last minute, we buy three cases of bottles retail. Yes, this first batch will cost a little more to make, but we are raring to go and we want in the kitchen…NOW.
