Tom Meyer: Chef, entertainer, inspiration

By Alexandra Greeley

Special to The Examiner 9/18/08

Chef Tom Meyer of Clyde's Restaurant Group is considered by many to be the pioneer of the 'farm to restaurant movement' in Washington.

WASHINGTON – To know Tom Meyer, executive vice president of Clyde’s Restaurant Group and its former corporate chef, is to know many things: He’s a talented chef; he’s an amusing extrovert who could probably chat amiably with a fencepost; he’s able to inspire chefs and to manage a sprawling network of kitchens simultaneously; he is a ceramist; and he has sold the Clyde’s brand with some bold events, such as the now-defunct sprawling Oktoberfest, the fall Oyster Riot and the summer farm dinners, all held at one or another of Clyde’s 11 locations.

“My boss lets me do what I want to try out,” he says. “I always try something new as ideas pop into my head. I make them happen.” More