Togo's Great Sandwiches expanding into Idaho, seeking franchisees

Togo's, a San Jose-based sandwich chain, has signed a franchise agreement to develop five restaurants in the Boise market over the next several years, and is also targeting cities such as Portland, Phoenix, Seattle, Las Vegas, and Salt Lake City for future development.

This begs the question, given eastern Idaho's penchant for chain restaurants, are there any enterprising would-be franchisees who want to explore the possibilities for eastern Idaho? I do not know whether our area is on the company's radar screen, but in 2011, while it was celebrating 40 years in business, Togo's announced its goal to grow the brand to 400 restaurants by the close of 2015. To help fuel growth, Togo's offers new and existing franchisees access to $15 million in financing for qualified candidates to both build new restaurants and for transfers.

"As we head into 2013, we will see strong growth for Togo's in California, Idaho, Washington, Nevada, Utah, Oregon and Arizona,"said Tony Gioia , chairman and CEO of Togo's Holdings, LLC.

Here's a link to their Web page: http://www.togosfranchise.com/.

Rigby-made vodka to be served at Obama inaugural reception

Republicans may be fleeing Washington, D.C., as President Obama's second inauguration approaches, but eastern Idaho will be there in spirit.

American Harvest Organic Spirit, a new brand of vodka distilled near Rigby, will be served as the only vodka at the Presidential Inaugural Candlelight Reception. The event, Monday night at the National Building Museum, will be for National Finance Committee members and their guests. It will be the only inaugural event that President Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, will all attend.

American Harvest is made for Sidney Frank Importing Co. by Silver Creek Distillers, a company that took over a closed-down ethanol plant in Jefferson County near the Snake River in 1988. Unlike Blue Ice and Teton Glacier, also made there, American Harvest is distilled from organic winter wheat, not potatoes.

The brand will be available nationwide in March.

Teton Volkswagen hosts I.F. Chamber for ribbon cutting

Teton Volkswagen owner Mario Hernandez shows an artist's rendering of the dealership that will be built next to Teton Toyota on Sunnyside Road. The Greater Idaho Falls Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting at the dealership's temporary location on Outlet Boulevard. Hernandez said they will break ground at the permanent location as soon as the weather allows, adding that he is hopeful it will be finished by the end of the year.

Conference for social media, marketing, set for Jan. 30 in Boise

Sarah Kuntsal

The Women’s Business Center is hosting an all-day conference in Boise Jan. 30 on how to use social media in business.

The main presenter will be Sarah Kuntsal, manager of strategy and planning at www.iCrossing.com, a unit of the Hearst Corp.

Dating back more than 100 years, Hearst Corp. is one of the oldest and largest diversified media companies in the nation, owning magazines, newspapers, publishing, cable networks, television and radio broadcasting, and Internet businesses.

The conference will cover all aspects of social media, including blogging, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Plus, Pinterest and YouTube. The idea is to make social media work by building effective referral relationships, creating compelling messages and offering content that will drive customers to your business.

The event will be 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Boise Centre on the Grove. Cost is $75, and includes continental breakfast and lunch. To register in advance, visit this link: https://secure.acceptiva.com/?cst=3e8373.

The Women's Business Center is a program of Mountain States Group, Inc. a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization.

Chamber After Hours today at Stevens-Henager College (Snake River Landing)

Stevens-Henager College's branch location at Snake River Landing

The Greater Idaho Falls Chamber of Commerce will be holding its first Business After Hours of 2013 today from 5 to 7 p.m. at Stevens-Henager College in Snake River Landing.

If you come, you may win one of $150 in gift cards being offered, to Stockmans Restaurant, Love At First Bite and Bella Vita Coffeehouse, all of them Snake River Landing tenants.

The Idaho Falls campus opened last May, but Stevens-Henager dates all the way back to 1891, when it was founded in Ogden, Utah, as Intermountain Business College. Its founder was James Ayers Smith, an educator from Nebraska who wanted to teach commercial subjects and place graduates in business positions. It changed owners and names several times, becoming Smithsonian Business School in 1910; Moench University of Business in 1938; and Ogden Business College in 1940. It became Stevens-Henager in 1959 and established its first branch campus in Provo in 1978. In addition to Provo and Idaho Falls, it now has branch campuses in Murray and Logan, Utah, and Boise.

Mattress Firm to build at old T.G.I.Friday's location in Ammon

The picture from Mattress Firm's Web site, www.mattressfirm.com

Mattress Firm, a Houston-based chain with more than 1,100 stores in 28 states, has begun preparing a site in Ammon, at the old T.G.I.Friday's on Hitt Road.

Although a contractor has not been hired, Gay Leming of the Ammon Building Department confirmed the company has applied for a building permit. Obviously there is going to be a dramatic change at the location, which has been vacant for more than a year. A big tip-off that something was finally happening was the presence Tuesday of a dumpster in the parking lot.

I know this is a bit of a snooze (ha, ha!) to those of you who were hoping for something more exciting, like a Red Lobster.

The largest bedding retailer in the nation, Mattress Firm began with a single store in July 4, 1986. It carries such brands as Sealy, Stearns & Foster, Tempur-Pedic, Simmons and Serta. The store in Ammon will be its first in Idaho.

More information can be found at its Web site, www. mattressfirm.com.

Seinfeld, Kenny Rogers Roasters and a reader's request

Jerry and Kramer in "The Chicken Roaster" (Season 8, Episode 8)

I got a request Monday from Ben Rippel for the old Kenny Rogers Roasters corn muffin recipe that I once posted in Shoptalk. "I went digging after seeing the notorious 'Seinfeld' tonight," Ben tweeted.

It's been nearly 10 years (and at least one face lift for Kenny) since the Roasters on 17th Street closed and was remodeled into a KFC. Thanks to the miracle of the Internet, I was able to Google the recipe in a flash. If I wasn't trying to lose weight, I'd make a batch right now.

Before I share it, however, here's a bonus, a YouTube link to the actual "Seinfeld" episode. If you've got some time to waste (and you wouldn't be here if you didn't), you can watch it right now. It's even subtitled in Spanish.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUByLkX8AYI

KENNY ROGERS ROASTERS CORN MUFFINS

Ingredients
3/4 cup Yellow cornmeal
1/2 tsp Salt
3/4 cup yellow corn; frozen
1 1/2 cup All-purpose flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
2/3 cup Sugar
1/4 cup Honey
1/2 cup Butter
1/2 tsp Baking Powder

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Cream together butter, sugar, honey, eggs and salt in a large bowl.
3. Add flour, cornmeal and baking powder and blend thoroughly. Add milk while mixing.
4. Add corn to mixture and combine by hand until corn is worked in.
5. Grease a 12-cup muffin pan and fill each cup with batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until muffins begin to turn brown on top.

Makes 12 muffins