Martha's Vineyard Dressing Company
Visitors to Cape Cod may leave with sand in their shoes, but for over 20 years, guests have been able to return from Martha’s Vineyard with dressing in their bags. The Martha’s Vineyard Dressing Company started back in 1991 by Chris Keohane’s sister Annie with the company’s signature Toasted Sesame dressing.
The Keohane family began vacationing on Martha’s Vineyard back in 1967. A one-week vacation slowly grew into extended stays and finally resulted in building their own vacation home in Chilmark in 1986. There Annie began making the dressing and selling it at farmers’ markets and island stores. Cronig’s Market in Vineyard Haven was their first customer. After nearly 25 years, Annie was looking toward her next chapter when she decided to step away from the company. In stepped Chris, who was eyeing his own transition. He had been in the construction business throughout his career and was on the road and away from his family for much of it. “My boys were growing up and I was missing it,” he explains. So when Annie called, he took up the mantle from his Sandwich home.
It’s one thing to create a product in a residential kitchen, but legally and practically it just doesn’t work for a thriving dressing business. Chris searched for a commercial kitchen on the mainland that could help him produce, package and ship cases of Martha’s Vineyard Dressing, and he found a food preparation company that would take on a contract client. Chris doesn’t simply hand over the recipe with an order for how many cases he’d like. Every three weeks he rolls up his sleeves and dives into the production process. Each batch of 75-100 cases takes about five hours to produce and package. It’s all about freshness and quality control, and nobody knows the quality of Martha’s Vineyard Dressing like Chris. “I still love it like the first time I had it!” He can even tell the difference between bottles that have been produced at different times. Early on in this new partnership, Chris arrived at the facility to discover a large container of sesame oil ready to be added to the blender. He quickly put a stop to that, and explained that only whole sesame seeds are used, not simply the oil. “There’s so much more flavor in the seeds,” he points out. The seeds get crushed in the blending cycle that is far more powerful than the gentle mixing that other dressings would need if only using sesame oil.
Another area where Martha’s Vineyard Dressing differs from the rest is a lack of water content. “The first ingredient in many other dressings is water,” Chris contends. A quick check shows that water is the fifth ingredient (out of six) in his Toasted Sesame dressing. The result is a wonderfully rich dressing packed with a foremost toasted sesame flavor. The Martha’s Vineyard Dressing Co. debuted a new flavor last year: Island Vinaigrette, which features garlic and oregano flavors, with agave nectar for a touch of sweetness.
Not that the toasted sesame and vinaigrette should be relegated to just salads. Using them as marinades for meat and fish is an obvious choice, but Keohane likes to keep it even simpler. “I tend to use the Toasted Sesame dressing as a sauce more than a marinade,” he describes. “It’s great on swordfish. I just pour some on right after I take the fish off the grill.” His customers report in as they continue to find new ways to use the dressings. To say that the Martha’s Vineyard Dressing Company has a loyal following would be a sizable understatement. Customers will reach out directly to him if the shelves of their local store haven’t been restocked quickly enough, and Keohane even ships a case at a time to a patron who lives on a small island off the coast of Maine. “Our customers are our best salespeople,” he acknowledges.
The Martha’s Vineyard Dressing Company’s dressings are in nearly 50 stores across New England. Locally, you can find them at Windfall Market in Falmouth, Roche Brothers in Mashpee, Fancy’s Market in Osterville and Whole Foods in Hyannis.
