Even the (sadly) condiment-averse know what we’re talking about when we say “the sandwich of the summer.” Only three simple ingredients are required: Duke’s, freshly plucked ‘maters and bread of choice.
Building such an easily recognizable and relatable brand identity in a world inundated with *content* is no small feat.
Fortunately for Duke’s Mayo brand marketing manager Rebecca Lupesco and her team, they have a wildly supportive home market backing the twangy spread. One need not look far to find Duke’s devotees rocking Yellow Bird tattoos and cheering on the Squirrels alongside Duke’s perplexing yet lovable mascot, Tubby.
According to Lupesco, there will be more than 100 Richmond restaurants participating in Hot Tomato Summer this year — that’s up from about 12 restaurants who participated in the 2021 inaugural event.
Lupesco says Duke’s initially launched Hot Tomato Summer (HTS) to support local restaurants who had been mauled by the pandemic. “It received so much love we decided to make it annual.”
Like the ingredients of a great tomato sandwich, the parameters around HTS are blessedly straightforward. Restaurants in Richmond, Greenville, Charleston, Charlotte — and, new this year, Knoxville and Raleigh — celebrate tomatoes and mayo with food (and sometimes drink) specials for a whopping ten days.
“I start looking out for clues in the world as to what will be delicious this year,” says Garnett’s Cafe co-owner and operator John Murden, explaining how he comes up with the restaurant’s HTS specials.
Garnett’s has dutifully participated in every HTS so far, “They really go all in,” says Lupesco.
That’s because for Murden, HTS is more than a gimmick to get people in the door. “One of the things I really love is that it’s open for so many different types of restaurants,” says Murden. “The broad depth of it all is awesome.”
Plus he loves “what it does for our retail culinary identity, it’s fun we all kind of get to do this thing and see other cities do it,” says Murden. “It’s regional and I adore that.”
Murden says this year folks can expect to potentially see a beloved chipotle aioli, perhaps on a club or BLT, or maybe some bacon jam-topped creation. “It can be frantic — a lot of our menu is cross-referenced so we will sign ourselves up for a bunch of new prep for the week,” says Murden. “But it’s fun.”
There’s always one sure thing, of course. Like 89% (self-reported) of restaurants that participate in HTS, Garnett’s already uses Duke’s in their kitchen.
For restaurants who participate in HTS but don’t typically carry Duke’s — like Can Can Brasserie, which makes their mayo in-house — Lupesco says they “make sure the restaurant has access to whatever product they need.”
“We also do a rebate for all mayo for distributors for this month,” says Lupesco. “We try to make it really easy.”
That ease also means flexibility. As Murden mentioned, the broad depth of HTS is part of what makes it so special. You can find a delightful HTS sandwich special in town, for sure, but you can also find Ruby Scoops’ infamous Duke’s Mayo ice cream and ‘Mater Sandwich, made with mayo ice cream topped with sweet tomato jam, sandwiched between butter pound cake. Owner Rabia Kamara says they’ll also be running a vegan version of the ice cream with Duke’s plant-based mayo.
The full list of participating restaurants and their specials will drop on the HTS landing page Wednesday July 10, but you can catch a few teasers if you follow your fave spots online.
For example, we’ve seen that food writer Stephanie Ganz’s pop-up Winnie Bebow will be at Celladora in honor of HTS on Wednesday, July 24 with dishes like mayo biscuits and salted tomatoes, cracker salad and “Ganzpacho.”
Superior Creamery and Confections will have their weekly bake box available at Apothec Tea and Libations Bar during the ten-day celebration with “special goodies” like Hanover tomato tartlettes.
There will even be some non-restaurant related happenings and pop-ups, like Nicoleta Paints at Odd Bird, where the artist will be hawking “one-of-a-kind, Duke’s inspired art” at the unique home goods store on Saturday July 27.
Maybe after trying myriad HTS specials, you’ll feel inspired to get inked, like Kamara —“I have a Duke’s tomato tattoo on my right thigh,” she says. “I love tomatoes more than anything and we are a Duke’s only household — and always will be.”
Maybe you’ll fall in love with Duke’s swag, like Murden’s staff: “They wear their HTS shirts all year long.”
Or maybe you’ll just sit back and admire the rabid devotion to a beloved regional brand.
“You don’t realize what’s about a place until you leave that place and go somewhere else,” says Murden. “This is just Richmond stuff.”
