Be it in the form of a candle, chicken salad sandwich, or Duke’s and strawberry tomato cold foam-topped cold brew, the mayo and tomato flavor combo is peerless.

And here in the River City, we’re all in.

“We started getting feedback that a week wasn’t quite long enough, so we extended it to 10 days last year,” says Duke’s marketing manager Rebecca Lupesco about the length of Hot Tomato Summer (HTS), an event which launched in 2021 to help restaurants drum up business in the slow, sweltering summer during the pandemic.

In the past five years, HTS has become its own kind of institution with more than 115 Richmond businesses signed up this year plus six sister cities including: Charleston, S.C. (with more than 70 restaurants signed up); Knoxville, Tenn. with a smattering; Charlotte, N.C. and Raleigh N.C. plus Greenville, S.C. each with around 40; and new addition this year, Virginia Beach with more than two dozen participants.

While there are many familiar players on the 2025 list, there are some new faces, too.

More to celebrate

Jane Lukas technically participated in Hot Tomato Summer last year while working at Lost Letter, but this will be her first year whipping up sandwiches, galettes and more as “unidentified female baker” Jane Dough.

Lukas will be the food vendor at the HTS kickoff party at Na Nin’s Bon Air location Saturday, July 19 from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Her menu will include a balsamic chicken salad sandwich (think caprese-like flavors), tomato sandwich on rosemary and polenta sourdough, tomato and cheese focaccia, tomato and bacon galette and a sweet surprise (“or two!”) says Lukas.

In addition to Lukas’ treats, there will also be goods from Field Floral, Duke’s merch (including a newly designed T-shirt by Sunday Bagel’s Julie Roberts) and the launch of a new Hot Tomato fragrance.

Lukas says her HTS baked goods are very different from she typically offers. Carb connoisseurs are likely familiar with Lukas’ Saturday pop-ups at Celladora where she hawks freshly baked bread made in the wee hours from her converted garage; Style writer and The Dish columnist Robey Martin says Lukas’ sourdough is the “best in the city” right now.

Her sandwiches and focaccia will only be available at the Na Nin party, so make sure to boogie on over. If you miss it, fear not, she’ll have the bacon-and-tomato galettes available all month when she pops up at Celladora, the Dorey Park Farmers Market and through home delivery/porch pick-up options.

“I’m really excited because it’s a family friend’s recipe,” Lukas says about the galette. “It’s the closest thing I have to a secret recipe — it’s very challenging to recreate. When they asked me if I wanted to participate that was the first thing that came to mind because it’s already mayo based.”

More to eat

For Sweet P’s chef/owner Antonio Owen, joining in on Hot Tomato ’25 was nonnegotiable. After attending a HTS tasting event last year, “I was blown away,” says Owen.

“Here at Sweet P’s, we love pushing boundaries with familiar ingredients. Tomatoes and Duke’s are both Southern staples — but when treated right, they can absolutely carry a fine dining menu,” says Owen. “It’s a celebration of summer, creativity and good food done with intention.”

Sweet P’s will be running a few special dishes during the 10 days including a savory bread pudding made with roasted tomatoes and finished with a warm Duke’s sabayon (a sweet sauce); “bright and elegant” tomato carpaccio with whipped Duke’s, basil oil and crispy capers; and a New York strip served with a “bold” tomato chimichurri.

Owen will also be hosting a five-course HTS tasting dinner Thursday, July 24 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $100 plus fees (drink pairings are an additional cost). “Every dish will feature Duke’s and tomatoes in unexpected, elevated ways,” he says.

Mise en Place cooking school owner/chef Christine Wansleben, a second-time HTS participant, also approaches the celebration in an unexpected way.

“Since I’m not a restaurant and don’t ‘technically’ have a daily special, I put my own twist on the week,” she says.

In addition to offering a special welcome snack for her public and corporate classes that are going on during HTS, Wansleben will be holding a Hot Tomato Summer cooking class on Thursday July 24 where, “We’ll be making dishes using both Duke’s and a variety of tomatoes and tomato products.”

Lucky guests will receive some of the copious Duke’s swag Wansleben has received over the years. “I may put a sticker under a guest’s plate and they win a T-shirt,” she says. Corporate groups could score stickers and pens. And Wansleben herself will be decked out in mayo merch “from hat to socks!”

Over at recently opened French restaurant Chez Nous, owner and first-time participant Melissa Stallard says she will be creating three special menu items for the event: deviled eggs with tomato tapenade; focaccia sandwich with Parisian ham, basil mayo and heirloom tomatoes; and a Southern Board with tomato finger sandwiches, country ham and pimento cheese.

Stallard adds that regular menu items, including the shrimp roll and chocolate cake, will feature Duke’s as an ingredient during Hot Tomato Summer.

Another HTS first timer, Little House Green Grocery , will also be utilizing French flavors for the event with their “Tuna Dukes-coise” sandwich, made with local tomatoes, olives, salsa tonnato and green beans.

“We bought Little House to support Richmond at the hyper-local level,” says Hannah Russell, who took over the market with her husband, Andrew Manning (Nokoribi chef) in 2024.  “We both grew up in Richmond and were raised on Hanover tomatoes and Duke’s sandwiches, so it only felt fitting to participate in an event that celebrates the best Richmond has to offer,” says Russell.

Plus, they’ll be supporting local farms by “showcasing the many varieties of tomatoes that grow around here,” she adds.

More to drink

Dinner Party RVA owner Annie Barrow says that, as “longtime, loyal fans” of Duke’s Mayo, participating during the shop’s very first summer in business makes it even more special.

Like Mise en Place, Dinner Party is not technically a restaurant, so Barrow got creative with their Hot Tomato Summer offering. “We saw this as a great opportunity to collaborate with such an iconic brand in a way that fits naturally with what we do,” she says.

They’ll be hosting their free, weekly in-store tasting, Thursday July 24 from 5-7 p.m. featuring wines that pair with Duke’s-based pimento cheese.

Guests will be able to snack on different pimento cheese options paired with crackers, snacks and “a lineup of wines that highlight the pimento cheese pairing.” A Dinner Party bottle from the tasting plus a to-go sandwich from one of the many participating restaurants sounds like a sunset picnic made in mayo heaven.

The morning after an evening reveling in vino, tomato and mayo, or post cooking class or Sweet P’s tasting event, you may need a pick me up. Enter: Pi’s Coffee.

“I decided to participate this year just to see if I could,” says owner Piyush “Pi” Jessani.

He’ll be making an Indian coffee bean cold brew with a Duke’s and strawberry tomato cold foam cap. “It has a nice sharpness from the mayo,” says Jessani. “There’s a crisp sweetness from the tomato and a smooth and robust end from the coffee.”

Jessanie has been developing and selling “authentic Indian coffee” since 2023 and has been roving around town in his coffee truck since 2024. You can find him at various breweries, farmers markets and festivals — follow his Instagram for updates.

“After talking to a few peers about this event and getting swept up in the hype … I decided to try and approach this celebration my way, with a dream and a drink,” says Jessani. “The culmination of all those flavors [offers] an experience and taste like no other.”

For a full list of participating restaurants, head to the Hot Tomato Summer landing page. HTS specials are subject to change so check out your favorite spots’ social media pages for the latest.