Sarasota resident prepares to take homemade curry sauce national

Todd Pierson owes his love of cooking to his mother Sandra Pierson, 88, a former home economics teacher.

"She always told me, women love men that can cook, so I said, 'Okay, I'm going to cook," he said. 

When he married Debbie Pearson 11 years ago, he catered his own wedding of 200 people. He worked with Beasley’s at Crossings at Siesta Key, at the time that Gary Beasley operated the restaurant there.

Now, he’s rising in prominence thanks to Todd’s Curry Sauce. 

“I expect it to go nationwide,” he said.

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The Gator Creek resident and retiree, who enjoys throwing parties, initially tossed the sauce together for a group of friends to accompany some chicken wings, and it was an instant hit. 

He then offered it again at a Super Bowl party in February of 2023, providing 50 bottles to attendees, from which point the sauce found its way to Madfish Grill in Bee Ridge Square. 

Pierson allowed the restaurant to incorporate the sauce into a dish, under the condition that his name be included on the menu. He said the restaurant’s curry glazed salmon (It now offers Todd's Curry Glazed Shrimp) became one of its best-selling dishes. 

Then, after the restaurant sold about 100 bottles of the sauce in three months, Pierson began to wonder about its further potential.

"I said, 'Hey, maybe I have something here," he recalled. He began passing out samples to the public.

After sending logos to friends, he was led to team up with Elliott Ramsdell in St. Pete., who had experience bringing Bear & Burton's W Sauce to a national level.

Currently, the team is set to distribute the sauce to Piggly Wiggly and Kroger’s and are set to work with food distributor Cheney Brothers, and are in talks with Publix. 

"I was retired, and I just created a job for myself, a fun job, too," he said.

At the moment, the sauce can be found in locations in Florida and Maine. 

Pierson thinks even those who don’t like spicy foods will enjoy the sauce, which he said was intended to include “a little bit of heat on the back end of it.”

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"People are really surprised when they taste it, even people that don't like curry, and it's not real hot," he said

He will be an exhibitor at the Florida Restaurant Show, held in Orlando from From Nov. 6-7, and said a show the previous week held by the Cheney Brothers, was a success. 

“We made a pretty big hit. It was a lot of fun. Made a lot of connections. And it was great,” he said.

On Oct. 30, he said his first shipments of the sauce had just been received.

“It gives you a warm and fuzzies, because you've just had fun at cooking, and all of a sudden you have something that everybody loves, and you just go, Wow, that's so cool,” he said. “I've got two daughters, and I said, ‘Hey, your dad might be around 100 years if this thing takes off and stays,' so it feels good that I could really build a legacy with something like this.”

However, it’s not just Pierson’s legacy, but his mother's also; a dedication to Sandra Pierson is featured on the bottle.