The workshop went rather well. Some serious studying/brain wracking earlier in the week gave me a few cool ideas, and I was actually able to pull most of them off. My best work was definitely my escargots appetizer, and I don't even like escargots. I made a potato and pastis soup with a little parsley oil and a fine brunoise of zucchini. Chef 2 was very pleased - even said "congratulations!" I don't hear that too often!
My second plate was a variety of vegetable appetizers. No pictures, sadly, because my phone battery was dying. Beet ravioli in a lemon butter sauce, carrot and apple soup, shaved asparagus salad, and a mushroom risotto. Chef said the ravoli were very good and very creative. I think they could have been a little prettier, but I know how to fix them next time.
Friday was a complete change of pace. A miserable cold day with several centimeters of merde blanche falling (gotta love Ottawa in April, eh?), but an interesting morning learning about the service standards for fine dining. I learned how to set a table (the right way!), carry plates (without dropping them!), make a good latte (I think I kinda know this already....), and a little more about wine service. Fun!
No practice running plates or anything exciting like that - a slow Friday in the bistro and the weather outside didn't help any. Oh well... next time.
One thing I did learn last week is that a bit of thinking ahead of time makes a huge difference in workshops. If I can go into a workshop with some ideas about what flavours might work well together, a solid grip of some kitchen basics (pasta, pastry, etc), and a few techniques in mind that I want to use, it saves a lot of fumbling and screwing around. And you can tell which students have done this kind of homework - they are faster and have much prettier and coherent plates.
We have a few demo/practical lessons this week, and then another workshop on Wednesday. And guess who'll be back? Tweety Bird.
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