Last night, I went to a press dinner for Arm & Hammer at a lovely restaurant called Country. Executive chef Willis Loughhead came out several times to explain each course to us and offer his tips and thoughts on fresh produce and ingredients. After the first course of an intensely flavored summery roast tomato gazpacho, he mentioned the proper way to store tomatoes: Keep them on your kitchen counter stem-side down. NEVER store them in your fridge, because they'll start to lose their flavor.

The people at my table were really surprised by this, because they all stored their tomatoes in the refrigerator. I actually used to as well, until a few years ago when someone revealed the no-fridge rule. And since then, I've always kept them on my counter. It's second nature to me now, and I had forgotten that most people don't know to store your tomatoes outside the fridge. I'm a bit of a tomato freak anyway, and I love to keep a pint of grape tomatoes hanging around for snacking out of hand. In fact, here's a shot of some beautiful heirloom tomatoes I recently bought at the farmers' market. I think they're pretty, so I thought I'd share:

Chef Loughhead had more tips to share to keep your veggies tasting their best; here are just a few:

• Don't wash mushrooms in water. Simply wipe them clean with a damp cloth and a bit of baking soda. (This is a trick I'd never heard of before, but it makes sense -- the baking soda acts as a natural abrasive that'll help get rid of any grime.)
• Store asparagus upright (the way it grows in nature) and remove the rubber bands to prevent rotting (never thought about this either, but again, totally makes sense).
• Leafy greens should be stored stem-side down in an open container, and if you keep them in the plastic bag from the store, make sure you poke some holes in it to allow them to breathe.

I also didn't know you could use baking soda to safely clean all your fruits and veggies -- just sprinkle some on a clean damp sponge, scrub your produce, and rinse. Easy, and no need to buy special cleansers or worry about additional chemicals.

And by the way, one random thing I noticed but forgot to ask about -- there are chandeliers in the kitchen at Country that match the ones in the restaurant. Sparkly chandeliers, in the kitchen where the line cooks toil away over super-hot stoves and ovens for hours and hours every night. How strange/cool is that?

P.S. The Arm & Hammer folks recommend you change the box of baking soda in your fridge once a month. I'm willing to bet you keep yours around for months, even years, longer than you should (I know I do!). So toss out that old box (you can dump it down the drain to freshen up your sink) and grab a new one if you don't want your strawberries to smell like garlic.