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.

Fraîcheur Pistache = love

Today I was introduced to le gateau s'appelle Fraîcheur Pistache; quite possibly one of the best things that I have put in mouth. It is so f'in delicious !

The bottom layer is a tarte sablée, then a layer of cake, a genoise pistache, then a red fruit gelée, THEN topped with a pistachio mousse. Could it get any better? Oh yah, it's sprayed with chocolate and decorated with chocolate and fresh fruit.

AMAZING
AMAZING
AMAZING





I deco'ed mine to be a bit comedic. I didn't mean for it to look like the gates of heaven. HAH! You like my chocolate covered strawberries?


Of course, I gave plenty of it to my neighbors... because I knew if I kept the whole thing, I could polish it off in a couple sittings. Not good.

So funny story.

After class, Andrew and Amanda came over to watch the new episode of The Office that just came out after the writer's strike was finally over. The cake was pretty fragile because of the pistachio mousse. We were super careful not to hit any of the sides. Made it on the metro all the way to the bottom of the elevator in my building.

The elevator in my building is tiny (of course, it's Paris). Me and Amanda try to squeeze in - keep in mind, Amanda always carries this backpack stuffed to the brim. Like it goes out 1 foot because she packs her whole life in there. So I get in and put the cake over my head so Amanda can fit. Well, because of her ginormous backpack and the cakes, there was no way all three of us could fit.

Andrew was telling her to hurry and get in. Amanda jumped in while the elevator door hit her backpack. She tried to get her backpack off without damaging the cake but then the elevator door closed on her cake box crushing it. She goes out of the elevator and tried to adjust her backpack. Andrew started laughing as Amanda went back into the elevator with her backpack half off and the cake box open and crushed so bad that it didn't close.

The elevator door then closed on her backpack again and gets stuck. Andrew tried to help her by pushing her backpack in while laughing hysterically. Well he was successful since Amanda finally got in, but THEN... THEN...

ANDREW DROPS HIS CAKE !!!

As Amanda and I rode of the elevator, we saw ANDREW IN SLOW MOTION screaming

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Andrew's beautiful caked was dropped upside down.

God, it was so terrible but so disastrously HILARIOUS that I could NOT stop laughing the rest of the night. I laughed so hard that my stomach hurt. I just kept replaying Andrew laughing, then screaming in slow motion NOOOOOOOO as we rode up the elevator. Oh man, you just had to be there.

HAHAHAHAHHA

AHHAHAHAHH

HAHAHAHAHHAHAH

I'm sorry, Andrew !



But at least the episode of The Office was awesome. So awesome we watched it twice. Definitely an evening full of laughs.

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

Sorbet de fruits et tuiles

Grégory Renard + L'Ardoise = the BF comes to visit

Okay, before I get to food, just wanted to wish my big bro, Huang, a

HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!!!

I sent him a box of miscellaneous but delicious cookies from the Monoprix (a supermarket). Hehehe

Ok, so lucky me ! Rafael and his bro came to Paris for the weekend to visit. They are on a two week trip around France, Italy, and Spain. And apparently they hate Ibiza (off-peak means ghost town and eating one meal at McD's a day since everything is closed). Anyway, I ended up taking more photos of food than of them. Actually, I don't think I have a photo of Manny. OOPS.

Stepping outside my building. Ah, another French demonstration. What's new ?


I brought them to places like Fauchon, Le Bon Marché, and Eric Kayser. It was a really nice weekend for me (and I hope for them too!)

And I bought them a box of macarons from none other than Grégory Renard.



We had citron, Cassis, pistache, chocolat sel, vanille, chocolat orange, framboise, and caramel. I am not even a big fan of chocolate or vanilla but I absolutely love it here. The rasberry and pistachio are also my absolute favorites and taste REAL. I have been to other places like Ladurée which is good, but I find too sweet. This box is about 15 Euro. Check it out:

GREGORY RENARD
120, Rue St Dominique
75007 Paris
01.47.05.19.17

A big thanks to Andrew for the recommendation. He is my eating partner in crime and we often find ourselves talking about food for hours on end without even realizing it. And we also find ourselves tempting each other to go out to eat when we are trying to budget. Cheers to Andrew !

So after getting macarons, we went to eat at L'Ardoise. L'Ardoise is an amazing little bistro. The quality and taste of the food is totally worth it. And their portions are ginormous! Too big for me, but maybe perfect for the average American. ahhahah!

Here's Rafael ! Ain't he cute ?


He ordered what was pretty much shrimp and vegetable tempura. It was good except for the fact that they didn't leave enough space between each vegetable when they were frying it - it was like one big tempura fried lump.


My dish. Langoustines wrapped in brick, lentilles


Manny's dish. Escargots. Can you say butter and garlic ?! This was soooo GOOD. And nice to soak up the butter with the delicious bread they served.


My dish: Filet of cod in meunière with almonds and asparagus


Manny ordered tuna. Look at the size of that steak.


And Raf ordered pigeon. Ummmm.


For dessert, I ordered a simple rasberry tarte with crème chantilly. Simple as it is, it is one of my favorite desserts.


Manny ordered Pots au chocolat


Raf's cheese plate. We couldn't figure out what one of the cheese's was, but it sure was stinky. =D


Overall, everything was tasty tasty TASTY. But like I said, the portions were too big for me. Regardless, 32 Euro for 3-course prix-fixe is totally worth it. I can't wait to go back !

L'ARDOISE
Executive Chef: Pierre Jay
28, Rue Mont Thabor
75001 Paris, France
01.42.96.28.18

Le Menu Regional: Poitou Charentes + CAP Test 1

Today was my language test for the C.A.P. The C.A.P. is a state-wide diploma. If I pass, I would be a "certified" cook in France. It is the most basic degree/diploma. (France has other degrees like the BEP or BAC Pro). One of the requirements is a second language test. Naturally, I chose English. My test was at 11am so I did my mise en place for today's regional menu, and then went to take the test outside of Paris. I had to bring in an article in English, so I brought in an article on Chicago banning Foie Gras. It was really easy to say the least. When I walked in, I only spoke a few words of French to the interviewer. The test itself only took 20 minutes, and when I started speaking English, the French lady interviewing me asked, "have you been to the United States? You have a bit of an American accent." HAHAHA It was great. Anyway, I was in and out of there quickly, and returned to the Regional menu just in time to eat lunch. Also, we were to have a last minute guest dine with us - Ulla.

Huîtres en gelée


Couteaux aux asperges avec Mouclade


Moules Marinés


Chevreau, Farci poitevin (We got a whole baby goat!)


Cheesecake. Sorbet au pineau et melon


Btw, we were instructed to burn the cheesecake like that. This type of cake is very popular in this region. It was funny because people were like "something is burning!" And then I said "oh GREAT, it's perfect!"

Ze Kitchen Gallerie, Part II

Ever since Andrew and I had dinner at Ze Kitchen Gallerie, we were quite eager to try the tasting menu. Ulla, a student from last year's Anglophone class also loved eating at Ze Kitchen Gallerie and hadn't been back for awhile. (She used to work at HP in IT for a long time in Grenoble, France. She used to travel to Cupertino all the time. Small world!) Anyway, we all decided to go one night. Andrew had to take some convincing since he didn't plan on doing a tasting menu here this soon. Here is what we were served:

Farcis de torteau, Gaspacho Betterave, Condiment de mangue, gingembre, curcuma. This Gaspacho was excellent. It was such a great balance with the beets, crab, mango and ginger.


The second dish was a large tube of pasta cooked perfectly al dente with lobster. It had hints of citrus and ginger.


Macaroni, Pistou de roquette, asperges et crevettes, Bouillon Thai Citronelle. This dish was also really really good but it was so close to the previous dish we had. We felt it was unnecessary to serve us both of these, especially consecutively.


Next we were served daurade which was really excellent and cooked perfectly. Again, some hints of ginger and citrus but different from the previous two dishes.


Now this was chicken. Really good chicken. See the gray/metallic sauce? It was sesame sauce which went really well with the chicken.




Glace chocolat blanc, pistache + wasabi, Torrone, jus the vert. This dessert was heavenly. I never knew I could like white chocolate. And pistachio and wasabi together is the perfect pairing! LOVED it. Also, they had a biscuit made out of egg whites which was so delicious. Ulla loved this dessert so much that she ordered another one!


And the mango dessert. Deliciously sweet and tangy.


Overall, I have to say that this meal was very very tasty and satisfying. And it was also really light. I didn't feel like I was going to explode afterwards - which is a nice feeling. It was so nice to eat foods with more acid and different ingredients such as citrus and ginger. I LOVE coriandre and citrus flavors. Nice break from all the butter and cream. The only thing I had a problem with were dishes #2 and #3. They were EXCELLENT however, seemed repetitive in flavors and ingredients. Also, I think they should have served another meat like the Agneau de lait (young lamb). It was all seafood except for the chicken dish. I would definitely go back but not sure if I would go back for the tasting menu again unless they mixed it up a bit more. Andrew really loved tonight's dinner. One of the best meals he has had thus far in Paris. It was refreshing to have French food with South East Asian influences. The Asian fusion food I have had in California has been pretty bland. Chef Ledeuil really pulled it off.

Ze Kitchen Gallerie
Executive Chef: William Ledeuil
4, Rue Grands Augustins
75006 Paris, France
+33 1 44 32 00 32