Formal Restaurant Cooking week three (final)

Amuse bouche for family night
Arugula, peach, prosciutto, cheese

Final week at the school!

We came to the point of the final week. It was a really short week, we had three days only cooking at the restaurant and graduation ceremony on Friday. Even though we should not worry too much about making extra product, the chef asked if we could to make some product for two days of service. She asked to prepare some items which we could freeze. For our station these items were caramelized onion broth, meatballs, and corn soup.

On Tuesday we had a meatball 'party'. We planned to make half a butch of the meatballs. Right at the beginning of our shift we started to ground meat, mixing with vegetables and spices. Then added salt and pepper. After that I cooked small taster and it was spot on. I know that it was a coincidence to have perfect amount of salt and pepper from the first attempt, but felt good about it anyway. Then we formed meatballs, cooked them and during the service we simmer them with the sauce. A couple other stations struggled the same day to get

Formal Restaurant Cooking week two

Our small pot with onions
to caramelize (4.5 gallons of onions)

How long does it take to caramelize this pot of onion?

Second to the last week of Formal Restaurant cooking. It was short week, we had only four days because of Labour day weekend. The filling was that the program at the school was almost over, just a few days left. It did not mean that we were regret about our time here, but more anxiety to finish this big project.

During the week the appetizer station  was constantly the best:-) We worked very well together with John, also we had a great team in the morning shift. These guys usually done a huge chunk of prep work, and that helped a lot, we were more focused on the small details. We did our portion of prep work as well, don't get me wrong. The biggest advantage was that we worked as the team with morning guys, we all did not think only about our own shift and that's why

Contemporary Restaurant Cooking week three

The best piece of salmon
I have cooked during the class

The best way to deteriorate morale.

Trying to close gaps in the blog. It is really strange - it seems the week just ended, but then quickly realizing that that week was over long time ago and nothing was written about it in the blog...

Last week of rotation for the contemporary cooking was short. It was the week before summer break and everyone was tired already. Strangely, somehow it builds up, the tiredness. People are looking forward to the break and every extra step becomes difficult.

For me that week was not easy. Everything began with my bad mood. I realized that I had no feedback from the chef. He always demanded to prepare great food, seasoned to deliciousness. How I suppose to know if my food met his requirements or

Formal Restaurant Cooking week one

Mussels with caramelized
onion broth and fennel
sausage (from our menu)

The countdown begins...

That is our last block at the school - Formal Restaurant cooking. During this block we suppose to focus more on quality of dishes and on time management so the food should leave the kitchen on time. We have different chef-instructor for this rotation. Our previous instructor is going to teach morning class and we got an instructor from the morning class. For the first day it was a bit hectic, as she tried to micromanage every single aspect in the kitchen. Honestly, some people really need it, however they do not appreciate it. For me it was all right - she tried a couple times to teach me basics, but then she saw what I can do and since then there were not micromanaging for me. Yes, she comes once in a while with some constructive criticism, but she always has a point and I see it as an opportunity to learn and improve.

For this rotation John and me decided to chose

Contemporary Restaurant cooking week two

Fish course - shallow poach
sole with vegetables

The last cooking exam at the school...

The second week of cooking in the restaurant was not easier. It was again full of mistakes and miscommunication. We were consistently late. In the middle of the week we switched with John, so I started cooking proteins and he making garnishes and plated food. Same day we switched we had a menu change. The proteins were the same, there were some changes with garnishes and sauces. Beurre blanc for the sole dish was changed to plum sauce, asparagus for salmon was substituted for Romano bean salad, and chickpea stew was changed for faro salad. In a way it was good, as the new garnishes were easier to assemble and prepare. What was not cool is that for the first couple days when we switched, I was not able to help John with plating or finishing dishes, as all my attention was for proteins and I had no chances to learn how to make new garnishes. Ater couple days it changed and I helped him when it was required.

In the middle of the week

Contemporary Restaurant cooking week one

Chicken dish
the presentation is clumsy

The last two blocks in the school...

The last two blocks of the school are in the kitchen. Honestly, there were so many things going around, so I had no chances to find time for the blog, my apologies. Now, when the first block is over and I am on summer break, I am going to catch up and write notes for the blog for the last three weeks.

So, let’s begin. It was switch and our half of the class moved to the kitchen. That was rough, indeed. It was not the point that the cooking is very difficult. The dishes we were cooking were really simple. The problem is some individuals. Some people are extremely slow and have no sense of urgency at all. On top of that, one of my classmates was always in demand for the student workers help. Yes, we have student workers in the kitchen and they were helping for the really big tasks or when you are really behind. In my mind you should not

Formal Restaurant Service week two and three

After the shift, ready to taste..

The conclusion for the front of the house classes.

These were last weeks on the Front of the House. It was a really great experience and it was the second course at the school when I was sad that it's over. The first one was for the Baking and Pastry skills development. For me these two weeks (as well as the previous four) were quite smooth. There were probably a couple of days when we had a crazy amount of guests. A couple of days we had a normal number of guests, but the majority of them arrived almost at the same time.

One day on the second week the Dean visited us to see the class. He was very impressed with everything. Starting with our wine tasting during line up, the way the wine was analyzed by us (students). Then he saw the full dining room and