Reality TV during restaurant service

Today was a typical night of restaurant service with the addition of a camera man. He was filming Natalia prepping and cooking, asking her questions etc etc. It's going to be aired on TV in Paris but not quite sure which channel.

Tortilla déstructurée


Tartare de daurade au wakamé. Me and Julie's dish. Today was continuous mise en place throughout the night. This was really good.


I spent something ridiculous like 1+ hours preparing the potatoes. If you didn't even notice them, they are the little circular things on the plate holding up the garniture. I think a lot of people don't realize how much time is put into the small details on a plate. I received a very big compliment from my chef today that made me happy. When I finished all the potatoes and lined them up in the marinade in a tray, I asked him to come take a look at it. He said "ah this is exactly how I expected it to turn out." I was like "Shit! Is there something wrong with them? What did I do?" Then he said, "non, c'est parfait." PHEW !!!

Many times in the kitchen, I have doubts about my technique. It's obviously a combination of being new to this, knowing that I have SO much to learn still, and so many years ahead of me. I want to learn how to do things perfectly - well almost perfectly, and find that I can be really hard on myself sometimes. Most of the time, I am not 100% satisfied with the outcome of my dishes because I always think something can be done better. But today, just that small comment about something so simple made me feel I was on the right track. =)

And now onto the MIGRAINE of the night of a dish:

Ris de veau braisé, parmesan, linguine


There were three people on this dish tonight and the mise en place was a big BORDEL. Andrew, Eldar, and Amanda were having a piss of a time trying to roll the sweetbread in pasta. I mean a serious fucking bad time with it. You had to line up the cooked pasta in perfect rows on saran wrap and made sure that they stuck together. Then roll the sweetbreads in it. Chef was helping them the whole time and getting really pissed off too. I think at one moment he told Andrew to shut up. The whole group was pissed off. Apparently, Andrew said it was IMPOSSIBLE and almost wanted to say 'fuck it' to the whole thing. Eldar was so frustrated that he was swearing in Hebrew. And Amanda was borderline talking back to the chef. Amanda is the most timid person in the kitchen ! That is how bad the pasta was driving everyone crazy. I wonder if the camera man got that on tape?!?!? But by the end of the night, all pasta was rolled and dishes sent out. Success !

And Anglo B


God this is the ultimate dream burger (made with duck). I wanted to eat it so bad but there was nothing left. But the camera guy got to eat one !


And here is one of the plongeurs (dishwasher), Samir. He insisted I take a photo of him. He doesn't speak English but he always says to us "You are my brutha! You are my sistah!" hahah. Or when he is really pissed off at us for finishing late, he tells me in French how he is so tired and that his wife doesn't like him to go home tired because then he "has no energy."


Anyway, hopefully, whatever was filmed tonight will be on YouTube.

Here piggie piggie...

Today was a special day for me during restaurant service.... because my chef got us a whole Cochon de lait (pig of milk) which is a baby pig. Normally, we would have gotten a smaller pig, but we got a toddler because we had 60 covers. Me and Eldar were both on this dish.



Flamber-ing porky's hair off


Wanna-be butcher now...?


Smile for the camera


It was a really good learning experience for me to be able to take apart a whole animal and cook every part. I always ask my chef if I can work with meat so I was super happy when he said:

"The beast is all yours, Joan."

I had to cut the balls off and use that, along with the foie as part of the stock. I made some mistakes on cutting the selle, or saddle, and also could have been cleaner on the carré or ribs, but otherwise, it was fine. I blanched all the meat, marinated it, caramelized it to try to get the skin super crispy, then finish in the oven.





Yes, I am sure some of you are thinking "oh poor little pig! How could you?!" But come on, you know you order this when you go to a restaurant.

End result: Cochon de lait apicius, cassolette de légumes primeurs au vinaigre balsamique, échalotes confites




It was really really delicious. At the end of service, people came by and stole all the leftovers within a minute. I turned around, and all the leftovers were gone. WTF!

Salade niçoise. Simple, right? The mise en place was super time consuming.


I helped Amanda line up the fish - Thomas Keller style haha


Filets de rougets poêlés, purée fine d'ail nouveaux au citron vert, champignons grillés


Tonight's menu was great - each dish had quite a bit of mise en place and needed a lot of TLC.

And a couple samples of Anglo B

POPCORN !

I had a fun and simple recipe today. I was put on Soupe de Maïs au popcorn Caramélisés. Yummy. It's funny because I have never popped popcorn on the stove before. I was so nervous about burning it. (I'm used to throwing a bag in the microwave for a couple minutes. hahaha!) It was fun though. Chef Didier, the Anglo pastry chef helped me with the caramel. And throughout the night, people kept eating all the popcorn. Even random French students.





I can't believe I forgot to take a photo of my dish ! It was a cream of corn soup with a side of caramel popcorn. Sweet and savory. Ummm.

Filet de Saint Pierre au sautoir, boulgour aux agrumes


Selle d'agneau rôtie à la roquette et croquette de patate douce

Millefeuille - legume style

Millefeuille de légumes, vinaigrette à l'orange. Me and Eldar's dish for tonight. Another simple dish that required a lot of tender-loving care. My chef told me my veg were still a bit too crunchy. I just can't let go of the American way of making vegetables al dente. =)




Grillotins de foie de veau, sauce bigarrade, grosses pomme de terre confites




Bar de ligne, tapioca d'huîtres, fleur feuille de bourrache

Salmon Teriyaki - French style

It's back to the grind now.

Saumon Teriyaki, pressée d'épinard au sesame. This is a recipe from my chef, Worked with Andrew today. We done did good. =D


Velouté de cresson, oeuf cassé et saumon rôti


Rognon de veau sauté, jus de veau au pralin de pignon de pin, linguinis Rognon or kidneys is also something I am not a fan of. But I can eat it when it's cut into smaller pieces and is another component of a dish like in a farce.


Macaroon de framboise


Anglo B








Anglo Pastry






Brownies! With crème anglaise and vanilla ice-cream

Restaurant Service #90384

Tonight's menu

Risotto de blé aux coquillages et crustacés - a shitload of mise en place but delicious. Bravo Andrew and Eldar






Truites au Riesling, Poireaux à L'etuvée, éclats de truffes (Me and Julie's dish). This was a bitch to make. We were in the shit tonight - that is for sure. We had to filet a bunch of trout, and then roll them really tight in saran wrap. Then steam them, cut them quickly and gently so they would still be hot by the time they reached the customers table. I ended up burning some of the poireaux. It was just one of those nights. But by the end, it did taste very very good and we managed to send everything out.


Ragoût de pieds et ris d'agneau au Maury




And of course, creations from Anglo B






Oh btw ~ If you want to make reservations, here is info. I believe dinner is 35 Euro. It is typically between 4-6 courses.

Madame Hatch
01.49.54.17.31
ESCF - Ferrandi
28 rue de l'abbé Grégoire
75006 Paris