The final wee of service was bittersweet. We introduce a few new items. Pumpkin bread pudding, beef short ribs, stuffed oysters, and stuffed manicotti. All of the new dishes were incredible. This is the last service before we all move on to another class or graduate. We have worked very hard, had a lot of ups and downs, disagreements and triumphs but we did not give up at any time. I am very proud to have been apart of this amazing class and hope everyone the best in their future endeavors. Now on to EXIT PRACTICALS!!!
This week we had the Honors luncheon. I was Sous and had to prepare the Amuse Bouche for the menu. I was excited about this dish as it was something that I presented Chef with at the beginning of the quarter. Poached chicken breast with green curry and apple. MMMMMM this was a good dish and I was very proud to serve it. Day 2 of service was a lot different. We were down a few people and had to run the entire service with Chef and four other people. We did a great job and got all of the dishes out on time.
Timeline:
Day 1 1. Prep for the all school thanksgiving meal 2. Carrot coins 3. Set up of kitchen for special service Day 2 1. Roast the carrots 2. Preparing for the guests 3. Serving the meal Day 3 No service school out This week we helped to prepare the Thanksgiving meal for the school. We had a chance to work with the Garde Manger class and Chef Seth. The spread was absolutely beautiful and everyone enjoyed themselves. It was interesting preparing for this meal as it was different than our usual service. This was more a catering environment and I learned a lot. This week we had two new items coming from the Garde Manger station our new seafood bisque and our new brownie desert. The pressure was on to make both of these dishes accurately. From the moment I heard the Sous Chef yell “order walking in, two seafood bisques” I knew that it was going to be an interesting week. We sold all of the bisque the first day. I had to remake the dish for day two. The second day we sold a lot of the bisque and the brownie. Needless to say this station was “poppin”
Timeline:
Day 1 1. Quiz 2. Discuss Mystery basket / Lunch 3. Trip to Anodyne Coffee Day 2 Veteran’s Day / No Classes Day 3 1. Check for ingredients 2. Prepare dishes 3. Tasting 4. Critique 5. Notebooks This week we had a break from service. Our Chef instructor took us to Anodyne Coffee Roasters for a field trip. We were able to able to see how the process works for Anodyne. It was interesting to see how clean the roasting / packing area was compared to what other roasters or manufactures have. Steve spoke about the importance of having only the freshest coffee beans that they could make available to the roasters so that the end product was consistent. Steve also spoke about the rise of chefs pairing these artisan coffees with specific dishes on their menu and as an opportunity to make a last impression. We went through a process called cupping in which we smelled for the aroma of the coffee dry, steeped the coffee and then smelled it wet. We then tasted the coffee by slurping it and throwing it against all parts of our mouth to get the full character of the coffee. The entire experience was very similar to wine tasting. The final day of class we were allowed to use whatever ingredients we could find to compose a dish. I chose to do seafood bisque. The overall critique was that the sherry was too strong and that I needed to find another way to bring flavors to the dish before calling it deconstructed. I disagreed to a degree as most seafood bisques have the seafood ground up into the dish and my seafood was whole and added at the end, but I took the critique to mean that I needed to deconstruct it more. A La Carte CU240
A La Carte (A1)Week: 5| Day: Mon, Tue, Wed | Objectives: Understanding how the front of the house functions, Quick Micros review, coffee service, tea service, serving guests Timeline: Day 1 1. Steps of service 2. How to write a ticket 3. Micros overview Day 2 1. Servicing guests 2. Resetting for the next day’s service 3. Polishing the silver, resetting the carafes for service, re paring drinks and water Day 3 1. Servicing guests 2. Resetting for the next day’s service 3. Polishing the silver and glassware 4. China 5. Notebooks 6. Wipe tables, sweep and mop the floors This week I had to serve guests. UUUUUgh. Doing this part of class was solely to expose us to what was to come when we are open and serving guests. Tracy went through the menu with us again as well as thought the steps of service and setting up the dining room. After going through Micros we had to set the tables and prepare the infused waters. Day one of service was scary and uncomfortable but I managed to get through it. Day two of service was a bit different not as uncomfortable but interesting to see the two different styles of support between Chef Tracy and Chef Peter. Overall it wasn’t as bad as I thought.
![]() Cornelius Smith | CU240 A La Carte (A1)Week: 3| Day: Mon, Tue, Wed | Objectives: Prep for 15 protions of the Halibut dish, skin and portion fish, make the breading, make the sherry reduction and vinigerette, make the gastrique, make the salsa, get plates for service, set up cockpit, set up cockpit for Emmi Roth pizza, practice sunny side up egg. – Timeline: Day 1 Prep day: Portion fish Toast pistachios (oven) Toast saffron Finely dice Onions Finely dice sweet pepper finely dice garlic Dice Jicama Dice tomatoes Chop parsley Slice grapes (half) Grind toasted pistachios Set up dredging station(cornmeal and nuts, egg) Portion butter Salt and pepper on station Recipes/Menu: Pistachio crusted Halibut with Grape Saffron Salsa and Fennel Balsamic Gastrique Emmi Roth Breakfast Pizza with Sunny side up Egg Tools: Robo Coupe Small Cambro w/ lid (Salsa) Chef Knife 2 half sheet pans 1 large hotel pan with perforated insert (for prepped portions) Fillet knife 2 Meduim Saute pans 2 Ziploc bags for breading Paring knife 1 Small Sauté Pan & 2 Small sauce pans / nonstick pans for eggs, silicone spatula 2 small bowls (Mixing) Tongs 1 Small bowl, plates for fish and pizza dishes 1 large garbage bowl Fish spatula 1 Slotted spoon and strainer 2 shallow pans (dredging station), pizza screens Summary: Week three in A La Carte was more intense. We started with a heavy day of prep on Monday and learned more about the dining room service operations. On Tuesday, we began serving guest. We served every dish on the menu and it was a bit hectic. This was our first taste of running a line for a restaurant. Overall, everything went well. I knew that I really needed to watch the fish so that it would not overcook, but I did have a complaint about bones being in the fish. I needed to go back and make sure that there were no bones in my fish so that I would not receive that comment again. I took that guest getting bones in their fish very personally but was able to recover from that on day two of service. We had a total of 16 guests and they were allowed to order anything from the menu. We got the chance to see what it was like to need substitutions in the menu. One of our guests wanted to have the Halibut dish without pistachios and we were able to accommodate. I was proud of everyone for really pulling together and getting the job done. ![]() A La Carte (A1)Week: 2| Day: Mon, Tue, Wed | Objectives: Prep for Tasting and run mock drill for service Timeline: Day 1: 1. Make the crust for the fish 2. Make Fennel and Balsamic gastrique 3. Make Sherry vinaigrette 4. Make Grape Saffron Salsa 5. Portion fish Day 2: 1. Req plates for tasting and mock drills 2. Set up cockpit for service 3. Watch Jessica for flatbread service 4. Prepare for tasting Day 3: 1. Revise all items that needed adjustments 2. Salsa 3. Gastrique 4. Crust 5. Fish portion from 6 ounces to 4 ounces Prep List: Set up Cockpit Preheat oven (350F) Portion fish Toast pistachios (oven) Toast saffron Finely dice Onions Finely dice sweet pepper finely dice garlic Dice Jicama Dice tomatoes Chop parsley Slice grapes (half) Grind toasted pistachios Set up dredging station(cornmeal and nuts, egg) Portion butter Salt and pepper on station Tools: Robo Coupe Small Cambro w/ lid (Salsa) Chef Knife 2 half sheet pans 1 large hotel pan with perforated insert (for prepped portions) Fillet knife 2 Meduim Saute pans 2 Ziploc bags for breading Paring knife 1 Small Saute Pan & 2 Small sauce pans 2 small bowls (Mixing) Tongs 1 Small bowl 1 large garbage bowl Fish spatula 1 Slotted spoon and strainer 2 shallow pans (dredging station) Summary: This week we prepared the recipes for the first time and made note of the work that had to be done. We also had the chance to set up our “cockpits” for service in a logical order that we would have everything that we needed in arms reach. Chef Claire and Tracy did a tasting and critique that went pretty well. There were some suggestions about knife skills and about color mostly. For the Halibut dish they suggested that everything remain the same but stated that the salsa needed more acid . The final day of class we made adjustments to the recipes after consulting with Chef and then ran mock drills for service. We learned that it is vital to communicate with the line and with the Sous to make sure items were coming up at the same time. A La Carte CU240
A La Carte (A1)Week: 1| Day: Mon, Tue, Wed | Date: Oct 6, 7, 8 Objectives: Understanding how the class works and the expectations, Menu planning, research. Timeline: Day 1 1. Steps of service 2. How to write a ticket 3. Research assignment Day 2 1. Time requirement 2. We must work together as a team 3. Recipe research and tentative menu planning Day 3 1. Complete menu planning 2. Assign dishes 3. Planning your cockpit 4. China 5. Notebooks 6. Life lessons from a line cook The first week was very intense. Right away we started preparing a test menu for the restaurant. It was obvious that there would be lots of work to do. We all had very grand ideas of what we wanted to produce but Chef helped guide us to something that could potentially be more cohesive and doable. Our homework was to think about every step of each recipe, think of what pan we needed to use or how many bowls we would need. Doing this part of class was solely to expose us to what was to come when we are open and serving guests. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
December 2014
Categories |