It all began on Monday, when my culinary management class when on a field trip to Daniel, Daniel Boulud's infamous restaurant. Chef Boulud is a world-renown chef owning restaurants all across world, but Daniel, is his crowned jewel of them all. Before the tour, we were told that Chef Boulud would be in China, therefore we would not be meeting him on our tour. When we arrive, a handsome French man shows us the amazing decor and of the dining area. As we are admiring the incredible 10,000 square foot restaurant with an unbelievable basement prep-kitchen, a man comes down to the main kitchen to greet us. I naturally assume he is one of the general managers and drown him out with my own daydreams of opening a restaurant myself one day. As we head back to school after the completion of the tour, my classmates are gushing over getting to see Chef Boulud. As it turns out, the "general manager" that greeted us in the kitchen was, indeed, Chef Daniel Boulud!!! I was so upset by my lost picture opportunity, but I am still so excited that I can say I have met such a powerhouse chef in our culinary industry.
In culinary class, the week was spent finishing our lessons on sauces as we made chutneys, salsas, and infused-oil sauces. One day we had a sub, Chef Alan, who found out I am from Texas and accused us, Texans, of sitting around eating mayonnaise sandwiches and shopping at Neiman Marcus. What?! I stood up for my state's culinary taste because who over five really eats mayonnaise sandwiches? Ironically, we made mayonnaise from scratch the next day as we transitioned into emulsion sauces. This also included Hollandaise and Bearnaise sauces which I cannot wait to whip up the next time my dad grills up a steak at the ranch.
After our sauce days were complete, we started our soup lessons that included Cream of Broccoli, Puree of Carrot, French Onion, and Lobster Bisque. It was so much fun to see what it takes to give soups bursting flavor and perfect consistency. One of the things I am thankful for about my school is that they always tell us how to fix our mistakes and still make a dish taste great by adding this or that (since we all know there are many mistakes to be made). There are many times a soup will need to be thinner or thicker, which can be done by adding flour, more stock, or whatever else is needed to achieve the main goal of the dish. One of my personal highlights of the week was being able to kill another lobster for lobster bisque- is it weird that I find that to be so much fun? Here are some pictures of the week:
On Thursday, we took another class field trip to Rosa Mexicana, a chain restaurant that specializes in authentic Mexican cuisine. They intentionally try to stay away from Tex-Mex, much to my queso-longing dismay. It was a really wonderful tour as we learned about how to operate a restaurant that is both casual but achieves a fine-dining feel to it. The best part was the massive bowl of guacamole they served us at the end of the tour:
All in all, it has been a wonderful week, but it is the weekend that I have been looking forward to the most because my parents are here! So many good restaurants, so little time!
Happy eating!
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