The Asparagus Festival on Sunday June 1 in Hadley. If you think you've had enough asparagus already, think again. Casey Douglass is cooking and his take on Hadley Grass is Asian.
Who is Casey Douglass? It’s 10:45 a.m. on Thursday morning and Casey Douglass has a problem. He's down two men. In
five hours, two restaurants will fill up with people. One of them will have no
chef.
“Welcome to my world,” he says.
A wiry guy and subject to brainstorms, Casey is originally from the eastern part of the state and has been on the restaurant scene in the Valley every since he got off the bus. He now runs two places simultaneously in Easthampton. On the topic of 'his world,' he continues, “I live over
there,” he says tossing his bald head in the direction of his home, a block
away, “...and I am building this place, still, and I’m at Apollo down the street. There is also a wife, children, chickens, a rental property, the whole chef package.
We sit in his latest creation, Galaxy. Over the winter Casey and a team
transformed the former watch repair shop into a sleek box where patrons can
choose their food and their environment.
Inside Galaxy, even in broad daylight, it feels quite far from Easthampton
and even farther from Kansas. There are three rooms with three states of
mind. Feeling fraternal? Try the paneled bar with a Mondrian style bar
and clubby wood paneling. Feeling rather Mad Men-ish? There is also the Minimalist Mod room on white leather banquettes and galactic lighting fixtures. Feeling here’s also a back
room for private parties. That’s where the wine dinners will be. Out front Casey is building a deck for an outdoor cafe. But he won’t stop at the deck.
Next there will be a beer garden in the back and down the road, five years
tops, he says, a roof garden. “That’s where we can really take off.”
Casey can be seen on any given evening either at Galaxy or Apollo or
racing between the two with a carton of half and half, a saw or some other item
essential to keeping the operation going before the end of service.
As we speak, he begins to riff on a plan to celebrate the fourth. Every year Easthampton hosts fireworks in the park. This year Casey will put on a spread. For free. “We’ll do a pig roast," he says. "And chicken, other meat, all out in the parking lot..." He pauses to wonder if he an get his hands on a smoker big enough and then says, "This will work, I know where I can get one."
Casey’s pedigree restaurant background in the Valley includes Green St.
Café, Squires Smoke and Game Club and Del Raye. It was at Squires with the
screened porch perched over the Mill River where Casey learned about smoking
meat. Later at DelRaye, with its famous paintings on the wall and impossibly
expensive food on the plate, Casey learned to orchestrate the room. Del Raye
had an open kitchen. As head chef, Casey had a full view on the restaurant. “I
could look out and see that table seven, 2 cod, is a 60-year-old couple who
will be there for 2 hours. I can pace the delivery for that table and all the
others.”
As for tonight’s emergency, Casey will probably cook himself. And on
June 28 while you’re collecting the chairs and blankets and getting the kids in
the car to check out the fireworks, he’ll will be racing from
Apollo to Galaxy to get the smoker going. Will he pull it off? Prepare
for take off. Everyone's invited.