When I ask Molly Herrmann of Tastebud Catering (aka Tastebud Tart) how she wants to be known, she doesn't miss a beat. "I'm the gal who throws a great party," she says, and I believe her.
Maybe it's because Molly has a warm smile, a great sense of humor, and a friendly way about her. Or maybe it's because each time I see Molly she feeds me delicious things - like the time I was working nearby and she let me taste her heavenly combination of goat milk ice cream and cookies with smoked salt, or the time she introduced me to a family recipe for cheese spread on fresh bread. Whatever the reason, whenever I meet with Molly, I feel nourished.
When I meet Molly for our interview, she serves homemade crackers with smoked salt, pointing out that the salt is from The Golden Fig, the butter is from Hope Creamery, and the flour was locally milled. Molly serves the crackers with Donnay Dairy chevre and pomegranate seeds for a colorful holiday touch. The snack is delicious, and the combination of smoked salt and pomegranate seeds easily meets the chef's goal of providing simple, accessible food with an unexpected touch.
Photo Credit(s): Katie CannonArmed with a background in nutrition and the encouragement of many well-fed friends, Molly started her own personal chef business in 2006, gradually moving towards the larger catering gigs and healthy boxed lunches (no chips, no soda) that have become staples of Tastebud Catering. A lucky break came in the fall of 2008 in the form of a posting from Women Who Really Cook - Jenny Breen from Good Life Catering was setting up a shared kitchen at the Midtown Global Market, looking for partners with similar needs - and ideals.
Molly loves being one of the 10 businesses that share the Kitchen in the Market, and she's clearly a driving force behind its success. She describes the Global Market as a terrific incubator for small businesses, and tells me that "there's no place I'd rather be. Everything I need is here." Between the Produce Exchange, Grassroots Gourmet, the Salty Tart, and several other businesses, finding local ingredients is as easy as visiting her neighbors. Several of the businesses at the shared kitchen have teamed up to provide local food at Silverwood Park in St. Anthony as well, which means that park visitors can get their hands on the best food available, instead of typical hot-dogs and popcorn fare.
All in all, it's been a productive, busy year for Molly and Tastebud. Business is growing, and her committment to great, local food with a fun twist has earned her fans all over the place. I'm happy to be one of them. In fact, talking with Molly kind of makes me want to throw a party...
To contact Molly, visit http://www.tastebudtart.com/. The Midtown Global Market is located at 920 E Lake St, Minneapolis, MN 55407.
