VIP Service

This week we had our lunch and dinner service again for the school's restaurant. Things went much more smoothly this time around, but there were still some hiccups. Of course, the fact that some people in our class don't speak French and the Chef is calling out all the orders in French doesn't help the process. But, like I said, this week was better than the last.

My group prepared an egg dish. Unfortunately, I was too busy prepping, cooking, and plating that I did not have time to take a picture. However, it was a very French dish: oeufs mollets aux coquillages. It was essentially a soft-boiled egg over a bed of mushrooms and a tomato compote, surrounded by clams and mussels with a shellfish foam on top. It sounds not so good, but tasted oh so good.

The best part about the service today was that a VIP table was called out by the Chef when he was announcing the orders. I never knew that those three little letters could really make such a difference, but in the kitchen it apparently does. While everyone always wants the plates to be good/nice/tasty when they are sent to regular customers, it was overkill perfectionism today on the VIP plates. The good news is, it worked. The VIP turned out to be the new director of the school, and he was very pleased with the food that was presented to him. Score one for the Anglo program.

Here are a few pictures from service. As you can see, we pull out all the stops and are absolutely 100% French cuisine...where else in the world do you see a whole baby pig just lying on a table when you walk into the kitchen?


The winning dish of service, in my opinion. Rabbit, filled with a pork stuffing, wrapped in bacon sitting on top of parmesan encrusted pasta and delicious sauce. Yum!



The amuse-bouche being plated.



A twist on tartiflette, which is a essentially a potato, cream and bacon casserole that is a specialty in the Alps region of France. This version was a small potato "bowl" filled with bacon and topped with a roblochon cheese sauce and another sliver of bacon for good measure.

See what I mean? You just don't see this everyday in the good ol' U.S. of A. Note how there is a crowd forming to watch this unfold.

Sorry, Babe!