On Saturday Executive Chef came over to the grill and as we were speaking I asked him if it might be possible for me in the last weeks of the grill to tweak the menu. He said that I should come up with a menu and we’ll see what happens. When Head Chef and I were speaking about it he tweaked what Executive Chef had said and asked me to research brasserie (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brasserie ) and come up with an appropriate menu. So today I am spending some time researching this and will get back to you when I have come up with a menu.
NEEDLESS TO SAY I AM BEYOND EXCITED. THRILLED. OVERJOYED. And definitely up to the challenge.
Dan Castellaneta once said; “All normal people love meat. If I went to a barbeque and there was no meat, I would say 'Yo Goober! Where's the meat?'. I'm trying to impress people here Lisa. You don't win friends with salad.”
Are you dreaming inspired and big?
A la prochaine
SDM
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Corn dog Update (file under Chat with Executive Chef)
So on Friday Executive Chef came over to the grill and we started to talk about the concepts I had for the corn dog (http://newbieintheweeds.blogspot.com/2008/07/how-to-funkify-corn-dog-file-under.html).
At first we spoke about how I analyzed the project. I explained that I felt that the only consistency I felt that was important was that it was tubular and could go on a stick. We bantered back and forth for a while and he explained what he had come up with. We then went through what I had come up with and much to my surprise he liked a few of them. The ones that especially jumped out at him were the rabbit and the wild boar. He also liked the idea of the caviar one but thought that it was cost prohibitive. We continued to talk for a few minutes more and he said that he was going to test them as he had to submit the recipe on Tuesday.
I explained to him, as I did in my post that conceptually I felt I had no problem coming up with a dish but that my problem lay in technique and execution. This are both issues that over time my experience will become my best teacher. All in all I felt good about what I suggested. And I look forward to letting you know what he went with.
I will let you know what he finally decided upon when I blog next week.
Saint Augustine once said; “The words printed here are concepts. You must go through the experiences.”
Are you dreaming inspired and big?
A la prochaine
SDM
At first we spoke about how I analyzed the project. I explained that I felt that the only consistency I felt that was important was that it was tubular and could go on a stick. We bantered back and forth for a while and he explained what he had come up with. We then went through what I had come up with and much to my surprise he liked a few of them. The ones that especially jumped out at him were the rabbit and the wild boar. He also liked the idea of the caviar one but thought that it was cost prohibitive. We continued to talk for a few minutes more and he said that he was going to test them as he had to submit the recipe on Tuesday.
I explained to him, as I did in my post that conceptually I felt I had no problem coming up with a dish but that my problem lay in technique and execution. This are both issues that over time my experience will become my best teacher. All in all I felt good about what I suggested. And I look forward to letting you know what he went with.
I will let you know what he finally decided upon when I blog next week.
Saint Augustine once said; “The words printed here are concepts. You must go through the experiences.”
Are you dreaming inspired and big?
A la prochaine
SDM
Running Events (file under pay attention to the sheet)
So on Thursday passed (July 31, 2008) we had an event for 65 guests to take place on our patio and the mezzanine for a law firm. With most of the work being done L was sent home early which left me to make sure that the event ran smoothly.
Sure enough, despite the client running late we promptly and efficiently sent out 24 dozen canapés. Bruschetta, Cold Salad Rolls, Peking Duck Crepe, Risotto Cakes, Fish and Chips and Butter Chicken Satays. No problem. I can now send canapés out in my sleep.
This event is what we call a manned station event. Essentially that means for the stations there is a cook there to present and serve the dishes. Think buffet style but at remote stations. This is what I affectionately refer to as the monkey dance. As that is essentially what it is.
Preparing the stations fell on another one of the cooks. But when I went to check the set up I found that it was not prepared properly. This meant that I would have to make adjustments for the way the food was going to be going up. Then after making those adjustments we reverted as quickly and best as possible to the way that it should have been done. Double the work. Double the fun.
As L was gone, not only would I have to be cooking the food to be run to the stations but I would also have to run it to the stations. Everything was going really smoothly minus the mishap with the way the stations were set up. We were serving Slow Roasted Tenderloin, Tea Smoked Salmon, Cold Salads and two types of Pasta. The tenderloin was no problem at all. Simply bring it up to temperature and serve it. Cooking the salmon is easy enough and presented no issue. Neither did the cold salads. The two types of Pasta being served were orrechetti noodles with spiced root vegetables in pesto garlic cream or tomato basil coulis.
The three of us working the party got everything up for the client on time and I thought that everything was great. The food tasted and looked good. Needless to say I felt pretty good that I had done all the cooking and running and everything was good. I continued to feel good about myself until the next day when Chef B pulled me outside and asked how the party went. I told him I thought it went fairly well and that I was happy with myself. He looks at me and asks what the pasta was which I told him from memory. He pulled out the function sheet and asked if there was anything missing. It took all of about two seconds for me to realize that I had not put the spiced root vegetables into the pesto garlic cream orrechetti. I immediately felt stupid and explained that I was being pulled in multiple directions at the time of the cooking. I apologized and assured him that I would look at the function sheet three times before I sent anything again.
This is the lesson to be learned here. I could be in a hurry. I could be distracted. I could be any number of things but I have to pay attention to the details. Especially considering that in our business the details ARE the business.
For the rest of the day I tried to think of the exact thing that caused me to forget about the spiced root vegetables. Ultimately it was my fault. Ultimately I should have paid better attention. Ultimately, I walk away from the experience knowing that I can correct the detail in the future but not in the past AND THAT TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY.
All in all it is a valuable thing to learn at this stage in my career. You can do one hundred things right and one ting wrong which upsets the other hundred. Truly a good lesson to learn and I know I won’t make that mistake again.
Lewis Carroll once said; “That's the reason they're called lessons, because they lesson from day to day.”
Are you dreaming inspired and big?
A la prochaine
SDM
Sure enough, despite the client running late we promptly and efficiently sent out 24 dozen canapés. Bruschetta, Cold Salad Rolls, Peking Duck Crepe, Risotto Cakes, Fish and Chips and Butter Chicken Satays. No problem. I can now send canapés out in my sleep.
This event is what we call a manned station event. Essentially that means for the stations there is a cook there to present and serve the dishes. Think buffet style but at remote stations. This is what I affectionately refer to as the monkey dance. As that is essentially what it is.
Preparing the stations fell on another one of the cooks. But when I went to check the set up I found that it was not prepared properly. This meant that I would have to make adjustments for the way the food was going to be going up. Then after making those adjustments we reverted as quickly and best as possible to the way that it should have been done. Double the work. Double the fun.
As L was gone, not only would I have to be cooking the food to be run to the stations but I would also have to run it to the stations. Everything was going really smoothly minus the mishap with the way the stations were set up. We were serving Slow Roasted Tenderloin, Tea Smoked Salmon, Cold Salads and two types of Pasta. The tenderloin was no problem at all. Simply bring it up to temperature and serve it. Cooking the salmon is easy enough and presented no issue. Neither did the cold salads. The two types of Pasta being served were orrechetti noodles with spiced root vegetables in pesto garlic cream or tomato basil coulis.
The three of us working the party got everything up for the client on time and I thought that everything was great. The food tasted and looked good. Needless to say I felt pretty good that I had done all the cooking and running and everything was good. I continued to feel good about myself until the next day when Chef B pulled me outside and asked how the party went. I told him I thought it went fairly well and that I was happy with myself. He looks at me and asks what the pasta was which I told him from memory. He pulled out the function sheet and asked if there was anything missing. It took all of about two seconds for me to realize that I had not put the spiced root vegetables into the pesto garlic cream orrechetti. I immediately felt stupid and explained that I was being pulled in multiple directions at the time of the cooking. I apologized and assured him that I would look at the function sheet three times before I sent anything again.
This is the lesson to be learned here. I could be in a hurry. I could be distracted. I could be any number of things but I have to pay attention to the details. Especially considering that in our business the details ARE the business.
For the rest of the day I tried to think of the exact thing that caused me to forget about the spiced root vegetables. Ultimately it was my fault. Ultimately I should have paid better attention. Ultimately, I walk away from the experience knowing that I can correct the detail in the future but not in the past AND THAT TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY.
All in all it is a valuable thing to learn at this stage in my career. You can do one hundred things right and one ting wrong which upsets the other hundred. Truly a good lesson to learn and I know I won’t make that mistake again.
Lewis Carroll once said; “That's the reason they're called lessons, because they lesson from day to day.”
Are you dreaming inspired and big?
A la prochaine
SDM
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