Gateway Classic Fish Fry, Lessons Learned

Thursday afternoon crisis at L'Ecole Culinaire... there is a date change for students who had already signed up to support the Gateway Classic Fish Fry. Need people to support the fish fry on friday now, not saturday. What do L'Ecole students do...they get onboard and support the event. Not all students do this but there were a number of students from Chef Calverts' class who came out and made the event a success.

In exchange for their support; they got to use their knife skills, serve safe knowledge, cooking skills, Garde Manger skills of presentation and volume production, and customer service. Did I mention that these were Phase 1 students? Now I am not sure that they considered all of that when they were performing the task of providing fish sandwiches to the paying customers out front. Or when the health inspector stopped by to check on the process. 

My point, when approached from the perspective that I posed, these events really can and do provide "value added" to our education here at L'Ecole Culinaire. I believe that if presented as such, it may reach at least a few more students here, so that these events can be positive for the students as well as the school. Many times when I hear students talk, they perceive "free labor" when asked about supporting an event, instead of "free experience" for them. Maybe its time to change that.

The Great Food Truck Race

Eight teams started this race. Their goal; to win their dream food truck and $50,000. Have you been following it? Did you know that there was a team from St. Louis (Tikka Tikka Taco - T3) competing all these weeks and thousands of miles? I have and I did. Every week I watched them, learning from their ups and downs. How many times have we heard: location, location, location.

Tikka Tikka Taco was in the top three going into the finals. They were competing against Aloha Plate out of Hawaii and Philly's Finest Sambonis out of Philadelphia. After a challenge catching and preparing crab, Philly's finest was eliminated, it was now down to Tikka Tikka Taco and Aloha Plate. 

Who won? 'Food Truck Race' finale: Will the St. Louisans keep trucking? : Entertainment

Masterchef Junior

I have spent years working on my skills. I cannot imagine if I could have started at this age. I have watched Masterchef for years, the adults are fantastic... but these kids are incredible. Their ages range from range from 8 - 13 years old. The skills and passion that they have are beyond what some have brought to the school environment.

I thought at one time that I wanted to work with kids to help them in this industry. What these kids bring to the table is intimidating. Why wait lets get them to L'Ecole now!

Please click on the link to see the season premier of Masterchef Junior

Presentation Room #3

Last week one of my classmates and I headed over to the Presentation Room for lunch. Now I know that I stated before that I may not have time to eat there again as the timing had been an issue. This time everything was excellent. After last weeks blog posting I was informed that there happened to be a number of no shows for class, and that only two students were trying to cover the front of house (FOH).

Mike and Ester were holding down the FOH by themselves during my last three visits. My comments previously about timing and Point of Sale (POS) systems, have been addressed. Nothing to do with my previous blog entries, but due to their diligence. Since I had made comments about these things in the past, I feel the need to also address the positive. I would without reservation recommend the Presentation Room.

My Favorite Culinary Books

I probably have over two hundred (maybe a low estimate) cookbooks in my collection. I have collected cookbooks and recipes for as long as I can remember. I have found them at bookstores, tag sales, airports while traveling, friends and family have gifted them to me, and one comes from as far away as Afghanistan. Every time I pick up a new cookbook I try at least one of the recipes as soon as I get home. I have been remiss on trying the one from Afghanistan as of yet.

Since my start at L'Ecole Culinaire I have tailored down my "go to" books to those shown in the picture. In the past while trying out my other books, I realized I didn't have the background that I needed to fully appreciate the recipes. These books are great power packed references that I find invaluable in my studies. At school we have been exposed to so many terms, techniques, tools and products. When school started it obviously brought with it, terminology that was akin to a foreign language to me. I realized early that I would have to do outside reading, these books have helped me immensely. 

I have tried to read from these at least a couple of hours daily, in addition to my regular studies. Yes I still have all of my textbooks that take up most of my time... but who doesn't have time to work at getting better.  

Presentation Room Take Two

So it has been a week since the opening, four of us decide to go over for lunch today. Keep in mind we still have a 1 hour lunch requirement. For those of you that know me, I love coffee. So don't let me order coffee and not get it for 45 minutes, that's not nice, especially after you told me you are going to make a fresh pot!

We ordered a number of items, the food continues to be great. The presentations continue to be outstanding. Its just the timing! I do realize that its only week 3, and only the second week of service. But there is a lot of improvement needed in timing and the Point of Sale (POS) system.

Grilled Cheese and Cheesy Noodle Gratin

PS that's my lonely empty coffee cup in the background :-(
I am not sure that I have time to try "Take Three"

Syberg's

Sunday morning arrived right at opening time to Syberg's - An Eating & Drinking Company, located in O'Fallon, IL. The restaurant is relatively new,  replacing the Lonestar restaurant that was previously located there. There had to be at least 30 TV's located throughout the place all with different sporting events and teams, a little distracting (its more like sensory overload) for me. Over in one part of the restaurant there were probably 15 servers standing waiting for the tables to fill in, even more disturbing. Kind of looked like a bullpen queued up, avoiding eye contact with customers as they are seated. Suddenly one appears at each of the tables, ours pleasant enough.

She asks if we have been there before, we respond no, she responds okay. Our drink order is taken and away she goes. We start to review the menu, we have a question... soup of the day? Answer, hmmm I don't know I will have to check. Hostess whispers in her ear (okay not really whispers as we can hear the response) vegetable beef. Our order is taken and away she goes again. Appetizer arrives in short order, followed by our food. Not bad service, very timely in fact. We open our silverware neatly wrapped in a napkin, sealed with a sticky seal. A lot of time and effort to seal dirty silverware in! One set still has food, mine still had the grease and food from what looked like a steak...not sure though. Our server is very apologetic and takes care of it immediately.

Would I recommend Syberg's to my friends, of course I would. With all of the above said; the food was good, our server was good, if you like to catch up on sports you can certainly do that here. It actually was a pleasant experience, of course when I am with my friends most things are! Syberg's could spend a little more time and effort on their presentation (see photo below), and possibly work with the server bullpen to keep them busy (like learning about their products, i.e. soup of the day would be a great starting point) while waiting for table assignments.

Patty Melt with Buffalo Chips

Maybe you can tell that I eat out a lot. You would think that while attending culinary school I would be at home cooking away. I try out these new restaurants so that I can share them with you. Actually I thought I might try a restaurant review week, but I think I will have to cut it short, before I get round(er).

Presentation Room Take One

After just finishing our last phase in the restaurant, we decided the other day to go to the Presentation Room at L'Ecole Culinaire to support our fellow students. We arrived on Day One of service with 1 hour for lunch. From a timing perspective it was not a good decision, we ended up being about 15 mins late back to class.  Our Chef Instructor was very understanding though as she ordered, ate, paid her bill, and ordered her dessert before we even had bread service. She smiled at us as she left the restaurant and then again when then classroom door was blocked by the podium.

Polenta with Sautéed Wild Mushrooms and Goat Cheese

Now with all of that said... the food was excellent! The flavors spot on, the presentation beautiful. I ordered the Polenta with Sautéed Wild Mushrooms and Goat Cheese Appetizer.  Also a grilled cheese sandwich served on sliced Brioche with Manchego, goat cheese, and fresh herbs served with a cup of roasted red pepper and tomato bisque soup.

P.S. Our Chef Instructor arrived 10 minutes after we arrived and still left ahead of us....

Dewey's Pizza

Last weekend a couple of friends and I decided to head out for pizza. Normally we go to Peel Wood Fired Pizza in Edwardsville, IL. This time though we decided to try someplace new, Dewey's Pizza located about 2 miles from Peel. Two of us arrived behind the others, there were only two parking spots as the main parking area was under construction. From the outside the building looked to be older and the sign was similar to the 50's style neon signs. But on the inside...

As we entered we were greeted by the host with a "Finally you have arrived...we were beginning to wonder". He didn't even know us but he had checked on our friends a couple of times to see if all was okay. It was a nice personable, welcoming greeting that set the tone of our visit. The inside of the place was pleasantly upscale and the atmosphere was great. I loved the openness of the kitchen, you could tell that they were also quite proud of it as it was wide open so that you could see everything.

The food was great. We had the Caprice Pizza (olive oil, minced garlic, Mozzarella-Fontina blend, fresh basil and Roma tomatoes) and the Harvest Salad (field greens with figs, Applewood Bacon, roasted pumpkin seeds and Boursin Cheese, tossed with Apple Cider Vinaigrette).

We enjoyed our food and the atmosphere, we have a new place.

My first thoughts

This morning while getting ready to head out for school a neighbor stopped by to tell me some bad news. She wanted to let me know that my next door neighbor had been killed Saturday morning and that her husband is still in critical condition. Why am I sharing this as my blog entry? And why the title?

My thoughts immediately turned to my first day of meeting Pat and her husband. She came over with a fresh baked loaf of banana bread with an index card attached with their names, phone numbers and a welcome to the neighborhood card. Over the years we had conversations about her work, her passion for helping others, her family, etc.

It seems like just a couple of days ago, she came over with fresh tomatoes from their garden and invited me over to help harvest more from their garden. I just waved at her Friday morning and now she is gone. I do still have my memory of that first meeting and all of the days since.

Police identify O'Fallon, Ill., woman killed by car in crosswalk : News

Family Meals

In my last post I spoke about my dream to have a small place for family and friends to gather and share the day's events...

As I considered that I recalled my experience and it got me thinking....

How did the experiences of "mealtime" as a child affect your experiences today?  Some families sat around the table and discussed the day's events, as I mentioned above.  Some people's experiences were just part of their day.  Get in, get out and get on with your day.  An inconvenience or a necessity rather than a social experience. 

That being said, think about how your meals were approached then and relate it to now.  Are they the same or different?

Something to ponder

P.S. Love this show!

The Little Paris Kitchen

If you get a chance check out The Little Paris Kitchen on the Cooking Channel.  I love the concept, actually it's exactly what I would love to do. 

You may or may not know that I decided to attend L'Ecole Culinaire upon retirement.  I decided that after working a "9 to 5" that I needed to take some time for myself and do something that I enjoyed.  Not that I didn't enjoy being in the military but my time had come to an end and I wanted to do something for me. 

My goal was to open a small "farm to table" restaurant; a place where family and friends could gather and share their day's events.  I envision the  restaurant to be small, comfortable and relaxing.  Rachel Khoo, the host of the Little Paris Kitchen does just that.  I was thrilled to see that my dream can become a reality. 

Take a look for yourself

Addendum to NYC 9-11 Blog

One of the things that also stood out in the days that followed was the out pouring of support from major food chains. Along South Street and many other areas around Ground Zero, there were major restaurants who were preparing food for all of the responders and personnel on the ground sorting through the debris and looking for survivors, and then remains.

They had set up temporary restaurants... around Ground Zero.  If personnel couldn't get to them, they delivered the food. Hot quality food that helped to center workers, areas for the gathering of workers to share a meal, and support each other.

New York City 9-11

I apologize up front for my delay in posting on 9-11. Its still hard, 12 years later to not have vivid memories of that day. I sat down originally to share my thoughts and as has happened in the past I become somewhat overwhelmed. I remember that day starting off with a frantic phone call from my sister checking on me to see if I was alright. I didn't understand the panic in her voice. I was traveling back to my office after a meeting and I did not catch my phone fast enough. I then got tied up in meetings in reference to what was happening in New York City and at the Pentagon. The days and hours that followed ran into each other as we "New Yorkers" tried to sort out the who, what, why and the how.

New Yorkers (and the United States) came together that day in ways that are still being talked about. To those first responders, soldiers and civilians who first on the ground, I am still in awe of you.

Welcome to English Composition

It's week 41 of the 70 week program here at L'Ecole Culinaire. This phase includes meeting Chef N. Shuman, who will be our instructor for English Composition. Our first tasking: create a blog that all of you can read, make it food industry related and update our blog five times a week. Are you ready? If you have any ideas along the way please feel free to send them to me. I would love to hear all about them and of course would love to share and comment on your ideas.