the girl in whites

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

2010-01-20T18:23:00.002-05:00

I've been neglecting this poor blog for awhile due to sudden new developments (!). I'd like to redesign and update for the new year.

Your patience is appreciated!

Thanks!
Cindy

More Crappy Office Kitchens

2009-09-02T18:18:00.016-04:00

Not all catering gigs are in beautiful vineyards or elegant townhouses. Here are two more summer cocktail parties where I worked out of crappy office kitchens.

Tuesday, July 28th: A cocktail party at The One Club, 21 E 26th St, a non-profit organization for the recognition and promotion of excellence in advertising.

On the menu

Artisanal Cheese Display with fresh and dried fruits, served with baguettes and assorted flatbreads
Mediterranean Sampler of Provencal Chicken, Moroccan Shrimp, Smoked White Bean Spread, Eggplant Caponata, and Focaccia
Skewers of Spanish Chorizo, Cheese, Roasted Zucchini, and Piquillo Peppers
Spicy Gazpacho
Chicken Shumai
Wild Mushroom Pizzettes

We were told 60 people but of course it turned out to be over 100. Food quickly ran out and we were desperately understaffed. The portable oven came in a box filled with rain water and the tiny office kitchen was a mess before I got there. Not an ideal situation, but we survived and the client left happy. Another disaster averted.

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Wednesday, July 29th: A cocktail party at Herman Miller, 1177 Ave of the Americas - another high-end office furniture designer. (Sorry no pics, it was around this time my camera broke...poo)

On the Indian-inspired menu:

Basmati Rice and Grilled Shrimp
Vegetable Samosas
Garam Masala-spiced Beef Skewers
Paneer Cheese and Roasted Tomato Pizzettes
Curry Chicken Salad on Potato Cakes

Working out of what looked more like a copy room was difficult enough for this 200 person cocktail party, what made it worse was that the room was still in heavy use by the employees. Random people coming and going to make copies, get coffee and steal food did not make us happy. We left annoyed and smelling of curry.

Winery Wedding Reception

2009-08-14T00:00:00.029-04:00

Saturday, July 25th: Wedding reception at Wolffer Estate Vineyards, Sagg Harbor, East Hampton.

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On the menu

Crabmeat Salad in Pate Brisee Boats
Mini Salmon Crepes
Prosciutto Foie & Fig Canapes
Cured Beef with Cheese and Pistachios
Frisee Salad with Cranberries & Walnuts with a Lemon Viniagrette
Spinach Risotto with Asparagus & Peas
Baby Lambchops with Purple Potato Puree
Cheese-Herb Souffle
Filet of Sole with Butter Sauce served with Haricot Verts
Individual Vanilla Meringues with Raspberry Coulis

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It was the most perfect summer day. The indoor tasting room was set up elegantly for dancing and a long table for dinner was set up on the veranda overlooking the blooming vineyard. A bride couldn't ask for a more gorgeous wedding reception...

...and then there's the mother of the bride. Not only did she complain about every tiny detail of the setup and venue, but every course was problematic - not enough dressing on the salad, not enough salt on the fish, lamb was too cold. At one point, she actually stormed into the kitchen and started incoherently giving orders and yelling at the chefs. This has never happened to me before. Complaints usually go to the catering director on the floor, not to the frantically working cooks holding sharp knives and hot pots. Thankfully, the catering director put a stop to it all and asked the client never to contact the company again.

There are nice clients and not so nice clients, just as there are nice people and not so nice people. In a service industry where the customer is always supposed to be right, it is difficult to know how to react when things go sour. Unfortunately, it's something that can probably only be learned through experience.

As for my first trip to the Hamptons, it really was not all that it's cracked up to be. All the beautiful houses are hidden from public view by tall hedges and gates. With only one main road, traffic is intolerable. The beaches are overcrowded and only reachable through private grounds. Finally, in my limited experience, the people aren't so nice and live far from what most of us call reality. I'm much more agreeable to the nitty gritty city.

Food for Fashion & Furniture

2009-08-03T12:49:00.024-04:00

On July 21st, I traveled down to 440 West 14th St. for another solo catering gig at the offices of Diane Von Furstenberg and for once I didn't mind prepping in the office kitchen. If there were a top ten list of office kitchens, Diane's would rate number one so far. It makes me think Diane appreciates food, or at least her office designer does.

I'm not typically one for high-end fashion, or more accurately I can't afford it, but the pretty print dresses and shiny silks made me wish Diane started a H&M line. But for those of you who are, I took a quick peek into their style room and it looks like Egyptian prints are in for the Fall.

I plated a couple cheese and charcuterie plates, filet mignon on a crostini, mushroom truffle pizzettes, and chive-chicken skewers in a mad rush and hauled ass out of there for another catering gig uptown.

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A 20 minute subway ride uptown on the A train and I was at 4 Columbus Circle in the offices of Steelcase, a high-end office furniture designer. Two other chefs were already frantically plating food out of a typical crappy tiny office kitchen/copy room. Mini lobster salads, shrimp skewers, roasted eggplant endive cups, duck canapes and chorizo on polenta cakes were among the menu items.

I thought working two gigs in one night would be exciting and challenging, but I really did not enjoy it. I like seeing an event run from beginning to end. To have to leave only 2 hours into one party and come into another party for only the last 3 hours left me feeling somewhat incomplete. It's nice to see a party come full circle, from setup to breakdown. Someday I'd also like to be involved in menu creation and client tasting and finally be able to see a menu go from vision to paper to plate.

In the meantime, back to paying my dues...

I am not a baker, part III

2009-07-21T11:52:00.010-04:00

Two of my close friends came to NYC to celebrate their birthdays. Both are (or are aspiring) Opthamologists. Their frustration ensues when I confuse them with Optometrists. I think I should be excused because I have perfect vision.

Let's clear this up, shall we?
Optician: Adjusts glasses.
Optometrist: Tests vision, prescribes glasses/contacts.
Opthamologist: Detects and treats eye-related diseases/disorders.

Gotta love the running comments/questions though. Hilarious.

"Eye doctor school must be hard. How do you guys figure out which letters to put on that eye chart thingy? Why is the 'E' always on top? Who invented the purple contact? You must be really good at using those teeny tiny screwdrivers. Hey! I think the Lens Crafters by my apartment is hiring, I'll get you an application!"

The cake took me about a day and a half since I made my own fondant out of marshmallows, powdered sugar and water. The cake is mocha with mocha buttercream, an old family recipe.

My first fancy cake turned out pretty good, although now all my friends are expecting fancy cakes for their birthdays. I'll be sure to continue to use these cakes as delicious methods to make fun of them.

Stowaway Lobster, Whispering Argentinians, and Yuppy Art

2009-07-20T18:06:00.022-04:00

Three catering events last week for three very different clients.

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July 14, 83rd & York: A lobster dinner for 12 guests celebrating their father's 80th birthday.

On the menu

Passed Hors d'œuvre
Mini Crab Cakes
Baked Clams
Shrimp Cocktail

Entree
Steamed Lobsters served with sweet corn, roasted beets, crispy potatoes, and tomato salad

Dessert
Individual peach cobblers and Bomboloni (Italian donuts)

Not only were we tipped nicely, the extra live lobster stowed away in my backpack and surprisingly survived the bus ride home. My husband and I had no choice but to cook it up and eat it with some beurre blanc and steamed rice at midnight.

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July 15, 53rd & 2nd: A cocktail party for 18 Argentinian government officials, all of whom were suspiciously whispering throughout the evening. I'm sure they were discussing how awesome the food was.

On the menu

Passed Hors d'œuvre
Grilled Saffron Shrimp with Guacamole
Endive Goat Cheese Petals
Lobster Empanadas
Filet Mignon on Toast Points
Wild Mushroom Pizzettes

Tipped even nicely-er and had a pleasant walk home - a whole seven blocks. I hope more gigs are held in my neighborhood.

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July 16, W 25th St & 10th Ave: An art gallery opening for about 200 yuppy art buyers and browsers.

Passed Hors d'œuvre
Mini Italian Pizzettes with Pesto and Tomato
Roasted Tomato and Olive Tapenade Canape Porcini Mushroom Soup served in Mini Puff Pastry Cups
Coconut Tuna Tartar on Fried Yuca Chips
Sesame Seared Tuna with Avocado Mousse on a Sweet Wonton Cracker

Passed Desserts
Chocolate Mousse filled Mini Ice Cream Cones

The pompous artsy music playing in the gallery was also piped into the kitchen. Attempts to dance and sing along to the tunes failed hilariously.

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An Argentinian government official, a yuppy Chelsea art dealer and a lobster walk into a bar...

Wedding at NYPL

2009-07-13T16:26:00.076-04:00

I must brag that my wedding reception was gorgeous, despite some last minute drama - e.g. a change of venue due to the original reception hall SINKING INTO THE HUDSON (!?!). Since the change occurred only four days prior to the wedding date, the managing company promised they would make it up to us with a generously decorated reception hall, a few food extras and a discounted price. The new venue, Pier Sixty at Chelsea Piers, turned out better than the first with amazing food, window walls overlooking the Hudson river, and fantastic interior decor. It remains the best day of my life thus far.

If I had to do it again, I think I'd stick with the river view reception hall, but wallet-permitting, a reception at the New York City Public Library isn't too shabby either. On Saturday, July 11th, I helped cater a wedding reception at the famous library and had a behind the scenes look at another version of the best day of someone else's life.

My day started at 4pm at 40th street and 5th avenue - the loading entrance of the library. I was given a special events pass and made my way into an area of the library off limits to most. For a building over 100 years old, the employee-only areas are surprisingly modern. I rode the service elevator to the third floor, met up with the others in the staff lounge and was given a short tour of the "kitchens". Now, when I say "kitchens", I mean the various random corners of the library in which we set up for service. There's the hors d'œuvre and dessert station in a narrow room off the first floor grand entrance hall, the cold kitchen in a corner hallway on the third floor landing, and the hot kitchen in the third floor spare coat room.

Working wonders in small spaces, indeed.

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On the menu

Passed Hors d'œuvre
Fried Sage Leaves and Lotus Root
Crunchy Cheese Spoons with Yellow Pepper Mousse
Thyme Tuile with Tomato, Goat cheese and Basil
Poppy Seed Boats with Crabmeat and Red Caviar
Mini Crepes with Smoked Salmon, Sour Cream and Chives
Lobster Salad in Corn Baskets
Sesame Tuna Tartar in Cucumber Daisy

Amuse Bouche
Cold Tomato-Watermelon Soup with Puff Pastry Square

Salad
Grilled Shrimp and Heirloom Tomato Salad, Balsamic Vinaigrette
Caprese Salad Tower, Balsamic Vinaigrette

Pasta Course
Spinach and Ricotta Gnocchi with Sage Butter

Main Course
Filet Mignon with Horseradish Sauce
Purple Potato puree, Sauteed Dragon Beans, Carpaccio of Heirloom Cauliflower
(cookies were just used for the demo plate)

Desserts
Cookie Tower
Macaroon Pyramid
Mini Lemon Bars
Fresh Fruit Skewers
Warm Bomboloni (Italian Donut) filled with Vanilla Cream, Chocolate Mousse or Apricot Jam
Gelato Station
Vanilla and Chocolate Mini Milk Shakes

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Upon entering the main lobby of the library, guests were greeted with cocktails, various food stations and a generously decorated seating area. They were then escorted to the third floor dining hall where two long tables seated 180 people. After dinner service, guests were asked to return to the cocktails area for desserts and aperitifs. Finally, those who felt the urge returned upstairs where the dining area was converted into a large dance hall.

Towards the end of the evening, I found out that the wedding was for the daughter of a certain executive producer of the Harry Potter movies who shares the same last name as the movies' leading actor. Although there's no blood relation, I was told Harry Potter himself was in attendance. I tried not to geek out in front of the other chefs, but as a HUGE fan of the books and movies, I could barely contain my glee. After various attempts, I did manage to steal a glimpse of the bride, her bridesmaids and the towering wedding cake, but unfortunately no Potter. I'll have to settle for the hopeful thought that he enjoyed the dinner I helped create. It's something I'll brag about to my fellow geeks at midnight on Wednesday.

Up Next: This week I have three dinners at private residences in Manhattan and next week I have two cocktail parties in the city and a full day of catering in the Hamptons. I'm looking forward to seeing some really swanky apartments and homes. Plus, the closest I've ever been to the Hamptons was getting hit by the Hampton Jitney bus while crossing the street near Grand Central. Let's hope that's not some sort of bad omen...

Italian Catering

2009-07-01T22:05:00.017-04:00

Last week I started at an ultra high-end Italian catering company recommended by a chef friend. On Monday, June 22nd, I went in for a quick interview and was greeted with a mix of surprise and confusion.

"Legaspi?" the owner asked with her Italian inflection.
"Yes," I replied.
"Where are you from?"
"I was born here but my parents are from the Philippines."
"Ahhh....." she responded, her voice trailing off with concern.

So I surmised that they believed me to be of Italian descent from my last name (Say it with me in your best Italian accent, hand gestures and all, "Le-GAS-pi!") Thankfully, they agreed to try me out at two of their events last week. Both went so well that they've asked me back for five more gigs in the month of July. I'll have to thank my chef friend as well as my husband for the foot in the door.

Italian gig #1: Tuesday, June 23rd. A private home on Gramercy Park South. 50 person hors d'oeuvre and buffet for the Italian elite to accompany their private Italian opera concert (Really...we could hear it from the kitchen).

Italian gig #2: Saturday, June 27th. A sprawling mansion located somewhere in the Hudson Valley. 80 person hors d'oeuvre and waiter-served Italian wedding reception in a ridiculous house with a crazy amazing kitchen (the pictures speak for themselves... and the dog's name is Gnocco).

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Some items from both menus

Napoleoni al Timo con Pomodoro, Basilico e Caprino (thyme tuile Napoleon with tomato and goat cheese)
Ovetti di Quaglia all'Occhio di Bue (canapes with fried quail egg and paprika)
Cucchiai Croccanti di Formaggio con Spuma di Peperoni Gialli e Pinoli (crunchy cheese spoons with yellow pepper foam and toasted pine nuts)
Creppine di Salmone Affumicato ed Aneto (smoked salmon crepes with sour cream and dill)
Rotolini di Vitello con Mousse Tonnata (poached veal small cigars with tuna and caper mousse)
Risotto con Crema di Basilico e Scorza di Limone (basil reduction and lemon zest risotto)
Gnocchi Verdi di Spinaci e Ricotta (gnocchi with spinach and ricotta)
Polpettine con Salsa de Carciofi e Scorze di Limone (mini veal meatballs with artichokes and lemon zest)

as well as,

Potato puree with caviar and lemon gelee
Prosciutto wrapped mascarpone cheese with ground pistachio nuts
Gorgonzola souffle canape with celery and toasted almond
Polenta with wild mushrooms
Mini-steak tartar with capers and lemon zest
Truffle and walnut pastry puff
Prosciutto, foie gras and fig jam canape with black sesame seeds
Fried lotus root and sage leaves
Mini-lobster salad
Cold zucchini soup
Baby lamb chops with mustard sauce and sauteed potatoes
Assorted bite-sized pastries, cookies and chocolates

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One thing that is a bit daunting about this new company, and maybe you have already gathered, is that everyone is Italian. The owners, the admin, the chefs, the waitstaff, the clients....everyone, but me. Italian and Spanish are the only two languages used in the kitchen and I quickly had to dust off my crappy kitchen Spanish to keep up. I am also now known as "CHIN-TIA," which took a lot of getting used to. But I do feel so blessed to have been accepted into this company. Not only is the clientele, for lack of a better phrase, super duper fancy pants, but the food is tremendous and the plating is a work of art.

I could not have asked for a more appropriate next step for me as a chef. With my previous French and Japanese experience, Italian was a major cuisine missing from my cv. This year has been tough work-wise, as I'm sure it has been for many, but lately I've also found myself lacking in energy and motivation. My venture into this new cuisine has awoken the sleepy chef within me and I feel like I'm back at school, full of drive and focus and curiosity, wanting to absorb everything. It feels good...it feels great!

Up Next: 180 person wedding at the New York City Public Library (Sex and the City stylez!)

My First Solo Gig

2009-06-30T08:50:00.012-04:00

3:45pm, Thursday, June 25.

I arrive at 350 Park Ave, 8th flr, a bit early for my first solo gig. The admin in charge meets me at reception and shows me to the kitchen. It's an office kitchen not unlike the kitchen in The Office. Equipped with a toaster oven, microwave, coffee machine and fridge, this will be my kitchen for the evening and in it I am to make a 3 course plated dinner for 12 executives.

The Captain arrives 15 minutes later and chats cheerfully with the admin. When she leaves, he whispers (not so cheerfully), "We're in trouble." Turns out this particular catering company had four other gigs the same evening, all occurring simultaneously in Manhattan, and hired only one driver. So the equipment and food are still en route ... or not, no one seems to know. We wait an hour and a half for the driver. It isn't until 6pm that my kitchen is finally set up and I'm able to start cooking. With a 7pm service time, we're seriously cutting it close.

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On the menu

First Course
Mixed Field Greens, Pomegranate Seeds, Toasted Pine Nuts and Asiago Cheese with an Aged Balsamic Dressing served with Fire Grilled Shrimp with Three Sauces - Wasabi Aioli, Thai-Basil and Chipotle Garlic

Second Course, choice of
Polenta Crusted Sea Bass with Corn and Tomatillo Salsa
or
Pepper Crusted Filet of Beef with Mushroom Demi Glace
both served with
Grilled Asparagus and Scallion Mashed Red Bliss Potatoes

Third Course
Assortment of Fruit Tarts, Petit Fours and After Dinner Cookies
Rasberry Daquoise and Lemon Tart
Fresh Berries with Whipped Cream

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Food goes out hot and plates come back empty, which is a good sign. Once in a while an office worker, smelling the air, would wander into the kitchen. We make a nice plate of leftovers for the hard working non-executives still hanging around after 9pm.

As we clean and pack up, the Captain tells me he's worked with this client in the past and his team had previously been tipped $400! I'll have to wait for next week's paycheck to find out, but let's hope the current economic climate does not dampen their generosity.

Nobu ND Station Three - Wok: Hot Food Foxhole

2009-06-15T11:46:00.019-04:00

Wok was my first hot station in the line of four - Wok, Grill, Tempura (Fry) and Omakase (Chef's Tasting). It easily became my favorite because of the fast turn over of these quickly sauteed dishes. Food meets ticket almost instantaneously.

Wok Station
Miso Soup
Aka Miso Soup
Clear Soup
Spicy Seafood Soup
Sea Bass Black Bean
Sea Bass Enoki
Sea Bass Dry Miso
Artic Char Inaniwa
Squid Pasta
Mushroom Salad
Shrimp & Lobster Salad
Lobster Wasabi Pepper
Lobster Black Bean
Creamy Spicy Crab
Whole Fish Special

A typical day on Wok starts by boiling several large bains of water for all the dashi-based soups and sauces. While these bubble away, the station is prepped - proteins fabricated, vegetables cut, and oils, sake, mirin, and soy sauce bottles refilled. Service on Wok requires a lot of movement and juggling of multiple tickets. There's no time to idle when you have two saute pans on the fire, a whole fish in the steamer, crab in the sally, and six miso soups about to boil over. But it's all in good fun and helps make the night go by quickly.

Another reason why I favored this station was due to the close kitchen camaraderie that was formed. Most stations are performed alone with little help or input from anyone else. The Wok and the Omakase stations work closely together to get food out. When Wok is slammed with a dozen different dishes, Omakase will pick up half the load. In return, when Omakase is rushing to plate for ten, Wok will jump right in. A good duo requires few words and performs what looks like a choreographed dance around each other to attend to the various foods. It's a relationship born of sweat, blood, stress and fire and is as close to a war buddy as I'll ever have.

Midtown Catering

2009-06-12T15:08:00.020-04:00

It was a busy catering week for me. I had three gigs all in Midtown West, which is admittedly my least favorite section of Manhattan. This aversion most likely originates from previous employment in Times Square, where trying to get a quick lunch is a 45 minute ordeal - meandering through constant street congestion, standing in tourist and angry banker-filled lines, and paying twice as much as one would pay 20 blocks down. But I digress...

The first was a private cocktail party at a nightclub called Touch. Picture, if you will, a Times Square club with an hour-long wait in a line filled with loud B&Ts, doors guarded by list-wielding heavy-set bouncers, and an 18 year old hostess demanding $25 at the door and a mandatory $5 coat check. Inside you'll find stained velvet couches, 'reserved' signs on all empty tables, and $17 beers. As you might have surmised, I do not visit such clubs and could not help but laugh at the angry line as I entered quickly through the nearby employee entrance.

The party itself was pretty easy, although it still amazes me that we are expected to produce all the food out of what looks like an old office, with only one portable grill, two toaster ovens and one working sink. But we pulled it off once again and pushed out passed hors d'œuvres of lobster mac & cheese, mushroom risotto, chicken empanadas, and smoked duck breast, along with platters of cheese, sandwiches, and chicken satay. I left the club past midnight with the line still miles long...Did I mention this was a Tuesday night?

The next gig was a two-day CEA conference at an event space on W. 34th St, across the street from the Empire State Building. We were set up in the far back corner hidden from view by a black curtain. With a microwave and three toaster ovens, we made 2000 passed appetizers over two days, including mini-cheeseburgers, mini-mushroom pizzas, cheese puffs, shaomai, spring rolls, and lobster empanadas. Thankfully, two great chefs were with me at this event and we were able to turn over the food at lightning speed.

Next up is a very large sit-down dinner. These tend to be more interesting and exciting to work. Details to come!

Side Note: I must make business cards asap. I feel like such a novice when a client or fellow chef asks for my information and I have to scribble it down on a scrap of paper. Any suggestions on where I can order unique business cards (cheap!) are greatly appreciated!

Kosher Grilling

2009-06-12T14:22:00.016-04:00

This past Tuesday, chef friend Shaya and I battled an early call time, relentless rain and thick fog (in June?!?) to teach another kosher cooking class at the JCC Greater Five Towns, Long Island. It was a summer grilling class, which we did on an indoor grill due to said inclement weather.

On the menu (sorry, no pics this time)

Rosemary and Garlic Grilled Chicken Breast with a Grilled Corn and Radish Salad
Spice-Rubbed Grilled Skirt Steak with a Tehina and Tofu Noodle Salad
Bulgar Wheat Grilled Burger with a Grilled Watermelon and Arugula Salad

The feedback was so great that they've asked us to come back for two more classes this Fall. One will be on Egyptian/Middle Eastern cuisine (Shaya's background) and the other on Japanese, for which Shaya will help me kosher-fy some of the recipes I learned from working at Nobu.

Although it does pay less, I'm really liking these culinary instructor gigs, more so than the catering. Being a back-of-the-house type, I'm surprised that I'm actually enjoying the heavy client interaction. Also, having some input on the menu is creatively more satisfying than churning out, say, 100 goat cheese-stuffed endive cups. Now if I could find a place to teach that doesn't require me to wake up at 5am...

Side Note: On my days off, I bake...

Sour Cream Apple Pie and Buttermilk Biscuits

Fish Course

2009-06-01T12:06:00.008-04:00

Seven Course Tasting of Philippine Fruits and Vegetables prepared in Classic French Technique
FCI Final Project
April 10, 2007

Atlantic Cod in Coconut-Ginger Sauce with Upo and Star Fruit

Ingredients (4 servings)
200g Atlantic cod
1 upo (winter melon)
100ml fish stock
200ml coconut milk
1 tblsp grated ginger
1 jalapeno, remove seeds and emincee
patis (fish sauce), to taste
pepper
1 star fruit
peanut oil for deep frying
cilantro sprig

Procedure

Fish

Clean, skin and debone cod. Portion into 50g per serving.

Upo

Peel upo and spoon out the spongy center. Cut into 7in. x 2in. rectangles, and cut those across to form two right angle triangles (3 per serving). Poach in fish stock until tender and set aside. Keep warm.

Coconut-ginger sauce

Reduce fish stock by half.
Add coconut milk, ginger and jalapenos. Simmer until lightly nappant. Taste and adjust seasoning with fish sauce and pepper. Strain and keep warm.

Garnish

Thinly slice star fruit (1 per serving) and deep fry in oil 350F-375F until golden. Remove and drain on paper.
Pick fresh cilantro sprig and prepare very thin slices of jalapeno (4 per serving).

Finish

Season and steam cod in a little fish stock.
Arrange upo triangles on the bottom of a shallow bowl. Spoon on sauce.
Place cod on top and spoon additional sauce.
Garnish cod with fried start fruit and cilantro sprig. Garnish sauce with jalapeno slices.

E. 88th St. & 5th Ave.

2009-05-20T16:42:00.017-04:00

is another address of the rich and richer. It is located on the upper eastside, across the street from the Guggenheim Museum and overlooks Central Park.

Upon entering, I was immediately interrogated by the doorman. I guess my hoodie, sneakers, jeans and backpack just screamed "I don't belong here!" I was shown to the service elevator (maybe there's a dress code for the regular elevator?) and was taken to the sixth floor. The doors opened directly into the client's kitchen and I felt like I was transported to a scene from Gosford Park.

Although I only saw the kitchen and dining room, the apartment looked, felt, and smelled like an old 1930s English country house. Without looking out the window, I would have never guessed I was in the middle of New York City. The kitchen was pretty standard, but for the ten china cabinets dedicated to several different patterns of china and hundreds of pieces of silver and crystal.

The dining room had a long mahogany table, yellowing floral wallpaper, and museum-sized portraits in heavy, gold-trimmed frames. The owners were an elderly couple celebrating their nephew's 50th birthday.

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Sit-down dinner (20 guests)

On the menu
Passed Hors d'œuvres

Bite-sized Maryland crab cakes with red pepper aioli and capers
Braised short ribs with caramelized onions on potato latkes
Chinese shaomai dumplings served with a orange-soy dipping sauce
Endive with herbed goat cheese, tomato and olives

Entree

Mixed green salad with cranberries, pumpkin seeds and Asiago cheese, served with a balsamic vinaigrette
Filet mignon with a red wine demi-glaze, served with celery root fingerling potato puree, sauteed mushrooms and sugarsnap peas

Dessert

Individual chocolate molten lava cakes with caramel sauce and raspberries

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Catering, especially for these types of private parties, requires a lot of compromising and problem solving. There's always going to be something missing (an ingredient, a pot or pan, a utensil) and there's always going to be a change (in this instance, the last minute omission of raw onions and garlic). Thankfully, the crew was flexible, calm and experienced at 'handling' the client, which makes events like these a breeze.

On a side note, I'm fascinated that there are people who live like this. I mean, this was a family get together at a grandparents' house and everyone was dressed to the nines. There was butler service, seating arrangements and a strict agenda for the guests (drinks in the foyer, then to the dining room, and finally to the living room to enjoy aperitifs, cigars and a hired jazz quartet). This old-rich is so different from the new-rich I had just experienced at 25 Bond St. It's stuffy, rigid, and overly scheduled.

There is one old-rich tradition I favor that the new-rich do not often participate in - tipping. In restaurants, only front of the house and customer-facing chefs receive tips. So after years in the food service industry, this was my very first tip. It was an unexpected, greatly appreciated bonus!

Next up: A full day catering Cooper Union's commencement.

NOBU Extra - Comida: 1000 ways to cook chicken wings

2009-05-14T13:51:00.016-04:00

Comida, or family/staff meal, is an everyday responsibility that is rotated among the line cooks at both Nobu and Next Door. Comida assignments are in addition to regular service prep and line work, so it is no small task.

Comida menu:

One to two proteins - chicken wings, whole chicken, flank steak, and pork shoulder were the most common
One vegetable - sauteed, steamed or roasted veggie mix
One carb - fried rice, french fries, roasted/mashed potatoes or pasta
One salad with salad dressing

This needs to be enough to feed around 60 people - twice. Everything must be prepped, cooked and set up buffet-style for both the pre-service lunch break around 4pm and the after-service dinner at midnight.

Comida for the day is up to the cook assigned to it. In my days, the line was very multi-cultural, so comida was most regularly Filipino, Chinese, or Hispanic. I admit to being very spoiled at Nobu with comida. Most restaurants do not invest much time or money in feeding their staff. Not only did we have more than enough to eat everyday, we were free to make what we liked and since most of the line cooks were Filipino, I was able to eat the food I grew up on almost everyday.

Pastry would oftentimes provide us with dessert as well - cupcakes, chocolate cake, ice cream, banana cake or cookies. An excellent bonus the line cooks and waitstaff were deeply grateful for.

On extra special days, the Head Chef would make snacks for the line during service. Most of these were Filipino - ginataan, cassava cake, adobo, lugaw, siopao. I still remember Chef calling me from the line and asking me distribute the snacks among the cooks during a lull in service.

"Chef, this is fantastic. It reminds me of my Lola's."
"So you're saying I'm as old as your Lola?"
"No, Chef...Of course not, Chef...I would never, Chef...I was just saying, umm, thanks!...Po!"

::Stuff food in mouth, big smile, a wave and quickly back upstairs to the line::

Phew! Mmmm...

Salad

2009-05-14T13:17:00.006-04:00

Seven Course Tasting of Philippine Fruits and Vegetables prepared in Classic French Technique
FCI Final Project
April 10, 2007

Pickled Asian Pear with Persimmon-Jicama Salad, Kalamansi Citronette

Ingredients (4 servings)
2 Asian pears
100ml rice wine vinegar
salt
sugar
5g pine nuts

4 persimmons
1 jicama
5g microgreens
50ml kalamansi juice
100ml blended olive oil
salt

Procedure

Pickled Asian Pear

Combine rice wine vinegar and equal pinches of salt and sugar in a small bowl.
Core pear and thinly slice, allowing three slices per plate. Place pear slices in the vinegar pickling liquid and let sit for 15 minutes.
Toast pine nuts in a dry pan over medium heat until fragrant. Set aside.

Persimmon and Jicama Salad, Kalamansi Citronette

Combine kalamansi juice and a pinch of salt in a small bowl. Slowly whisk in oil. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Cut persimmon and jicama into julienne. Combine with microgreens and lightly dress with the citronette.
Serve three slices of pickled Asian pear garnished with toasted pine nuts alongside the persimmon-jicama salad.

25 Bond Street

2009-05-08T08:52:00.009-04:00

If you live in NYC, you probably know that a loft at this particular address comes with a steep price tag.

Last night I catered a cocktail party for 30 Richie Richs at a loft similar to this one, but nicer and on the 7th floor. I only saw the main floor of the 3-story loft, but that single floor had a dining room that looked more like a conference room, two sitting rooms and a kitchen bigger than my whole apartment.

These are the easiest types of jobs. A couple cheese plates, some pretty shrimp, fried artichoke leaves, and spicy gazpacho is usually more than enough...because no one eats. They nibble, nod and smile and half the food is thrown out. Very frustrating.

The owners are clean freaks, so most of my time was spent making sure everything was spotless. Also, I was not aware that I would be working in socks or else I would not have worn my bright spring yellows.

Note to self: Must play lotto today.

Houston & Lafayette

2009-04-27T12:49:00.026-04:00

is the answer.

Slightly more sophisticated than your friendly neighborhood food cart, Chef David Chang of Momofuku, cooked a free lunch for a few lucky New Yorkers. Or in our case, not so much lucky as web savvy and a little sneaky.

12noon April 23rd. A group of us took the subway to the secret location and provided our individual passwords to gain entrance.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On the menu:

Option One: Vegetarian - Rice Fries, Shiitake Bun, Ginger Rice Noodles

Option Two: Pork - Rice Fries, Pork Bun, Rice Cakes

Option Three: Chicken - Rice Fries, Chicken Bun, Smoked Chicken Wings

Option Four: Chef's Choice 1 - Lobster, Bacon Grits, Poached Egg

Option Five: Chef's Choice 2 - Lamb, Roasted Beets, Steamed Rice

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gladly, there was enough of us to taste it all. Dessert was "Old Fashion Donut" soft serve.

Oh yes, and don't forget this awesomeness...

duck pate

Yet another reason why I love being a local.

NOBU ND Station Two - Pastry: Writing in Chocolate

2009-04-14T12:07:00.017-04:00

At ND the Salad station also (wo)mans the Pastry station on Sundays and Mondays. That's TWO stations to prep and work for service (plus the evil raw bar). A lot of work, but also a chance to play with sweets, which is rare for a hot kitchen chef.

The real pastry chefs create the dessert menu and produce the items, so at service it's more an assembly of pre-made items in a pre-designated plating arrangement. There are usually about 10 dessert items that change seasonally. These are the ones I remember...

Pastry Station
Pineapple Trio
Bento Box
Coconut Jasmine Bomb
Japanese Beer Ice Cream Parfait
Fuji Apple Harumaki
Kabocha Mascarpone Torta
Chocolate, PB & Banana
Mochi Ice Cream
Fresh Fruit Plate
Ice Cream and Sorbet

The one skill I'm grateful to have learned in Pastry is writing in chocolate. It took me a few weeks to get the hang of it, but later I actually enjoyed it. It forced me to slow down and make a focused effort to artistically move melted chocolate across a cold plate. And you gotta love those tiny conets.

Standard chocolate greetings: Happy Birthday, Happy Anniversary, Bon Voyage, and in one instance...

...Testicles (seriously).

I am not a baker, part II

2009-04-13T11:56:00.016-04:00

My grandmother once told me I wouldn't be ready to marry until I could bake bread. So I'm already running behind and no one wants to disappoint Lola. Here's another good recipe for the non-baker, this time for dinner rolls. And this one doesn't take a day and a half to make.

These are called cornmeal rolls, but with only 1/2 cup of cornmeal vs 5 cups of bread flour, they don't taste much like corn. The resulting roll is slightly sweet a la pandesal but has more of a biscuit texture on the inside. I took the liberty of brushing the rolls with milk and sprinkling them with extra cornmeal before baking.

The bread rise still impresses me.

The bread was shared with family over the Easter weekend.

Paint eggs and enjoy chocolate bunnies. - Rex Navarrete

Appetizer

2009-04-13T11:08:00.010-04:00

Seven Course Tasting of Philippine Fruits and Vegetables prepared in Classic French Technique
FCI Final Project
April 10, 2007

Kamote & Plantain Fries with Mango Mayonnaise and Guava-Sesame Sauce

Ingredients (4 servings)
4 kamote (japanese sweet potato)
4 plantain
Peanut oil for deep frying
Salt

Mango Mayonnaise
1 mango
1 egg yolk
150ml vegetable oil
20ml white vinegar
salt and freshly ground pepper
mint

Guava-Sesame Sauce
200ml guava nectar
2 tsp guava jelly
30g shallts, ciselee
25ml rice wine vinegar
1 tsp dark sesame oil
1/8 tsp toasted sesames
salt and freshly ground pepper

Procedure

Kamote and Plantain Fries

Peel and cut kamote and plantain into pommes frites - 7cm x 8mm (2 3/4 in. x 5/16 in.)
For the kamote, follow the two-step method for deep frying: Poach in oil at 300F-320F until tender but without coloration. Finish to order by frying in oil 350F-375F until golden brown and crisp.
For the plantain, follow the one-step method for deep frying: To order fry in oil 350F-375F until golden brown and crisp.
Drain kamote and plantain on paper and season immediately with salt.

Mango Mayonnaise

Peel the mango, chop the flesh, and puree in food processor.
Combine yolks and salt in stainless-steel bowl and whisk until thick.
Start incorporating the oil, drop by drop, whisking continuously until you have an emulsion. Once an emulsion is formed, add the rest of the oil in a thin, steady stream.
Add the vinegar and mango puree. Taste and adjust seasoning. Refriderate until ready to serve.
Garnish with mint chiffonade.

Guava-Sesame Sauce

Combine the guava nectar, guava jelly and shallots in a small sautoir. Cook over medium heat for 5 mins until guava jelly dissolves.
Add rice wine vinegar and dark sesame oil and whish to combine. Continue to simmer until nappant. Taste and adjust seasoning. Keep warm until ready to serve.
Garnish with toasted sesames.

Indian Cooking

2009-04-09T18:35:00.036-04:00

is another foreign cuisine to me. The shear number of ingredients that go into a standard curry is staggering. I'm also relatively unfamiliar with a lot of Indian spices - tumeric, cassis, caraway, mace, amomum, fenugreek. Whaaa?!?!

On April Fools Day '09, my close friend, Swati, was kind enough to demystify all of this for me and introduced me to the big secret in cooking Indian food at home...

Pre-blended Spice Mixes!!

Yeah, we cheated a bit, but I wasn't about to invest in 15 different spices when I only know how to use them in a single dish. And give me some credit - I could have wimped out completely and bought the jarred, just-add-meat, sauce, but then I might as well have just ordered delivery.

So our first stop was the local Indian market. We visited three that are conveniently located in an area known as Curry Hill.

Little India Stores 128 E. 28th St. (at Lex)
Kalustyan's 123 E. 28th St. (at Lex)
Curry in a Hurry 119 Lexington (at 28th St.) - For Indian sweets

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On the menu:

Butter Chicken Curry - Based on Swati's mother's recipe, this tomato and yogurt based curry is fragrant and mildly spicy.

Vegetable Curry - A tasty mix of cauliflower, potatoes and carrots that perfectly complimented our main dish.

Masala Chai - This literally translates to "Spice Tea" and is a sweetly perfumed, up-all-night tea. Seriously, neither of us could sleep a wink that evening. It's better than redbull, though probably not as tasty with vodka.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Butter Chicken

Ingredients
10 Chicken thighs, skin removed, deboned, and cut into large cubes

Marinade
1 clove garlic, chopped and smashed
1 tsp fresh ginger, chopped and smashed
3/4 cup tomato puree
1/2 cup yogurt
2 tblsp Butter Chicken spice mix
1 tblsp Garam Masala spice mix
1 tsp salt

To finish
1 tblsp vegetable oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped and smashed
1 tblsp cumin powder
1 tblsp tumeric powder
1 tsp chili powder
1 small green chili with seeds, chopped fine
1 tomato, chopped
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 tblsp lime juice
Salt

Procedure

Mix marinade ingredients in a bowl and add chicken. Mix until chicken is well coated and cover. Allow to marinate overnight.
In a heavy-bottomed cast enameled pot, heat vegetable oil over medium heat. Add onions and allow to brown. 2-3 mins.
Add garlic, ginger, cumin, tumeric and chili powder. Mix and cook 1-2 mins.
Add green chili, tomato, chicken stock, lime and some of the marinade liquid. Bring to a boil, turn down to a simmer and cover. Let simmer 5-10 mins to allow flavors to blend and form a paste.
Mix in chicken, bring to boil and turn down to a simmer and cover. Cook 10-15 mins until chicken is cooked.
Uncover and season to taste. If liquid is too thick, add more chicken stock. If too thin, allow to simmer uncovered to reduce.
Serve hot over jasmine or basmati rice cooked with salt, oil and chopped onions.
Accompaniments include yogurt, mint chutney, mango chutney and nan bread.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Masala Chai

Ingredients
3 cups water
4 whole cloves
4 whole cardamom pods, split open
1 cinnamon stick, broken into pieces
1/4 inch piece fresh ginger
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 cups milk
2 tblsp white sugar
2 tblsp loose Darjeeling tea leaves

Procedure

Mix water and spices in a saucepan, bring to a boil and turn down to a simmer. Allow to cook 5 mins.
Add milk, return to a boil and turn down to a simmer.
Add sugar and tea leaves. Mix well. Simmer for another 5-10 mins until nicely brown. Note: The longer the tea is steeped, the stronger it will taste.
Strain and serve hot with Indian sweets (Laddoo, Jalebi, Peda, Gaajar ka Halwa).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another great culinary learning experience with a ridiculous amount of giggling.

Thanks Swati! - But one last question, no butter in Butter Chicken?!

the mystery continues...

NOBU ND Station One – Salad: Why I hate Raw Bar

2009-04-08T18:38:00.005-04:00

In most professional kitchens, interns and new hires are initially assigned to Garde Manger or Salad/Cold Appetizers. My first three months at Nobu were spent on the Salad Station.

the salad station sits between the dishwashers and pastry at nd
a lobster salad waits next to dessert bentos

Salad Station Dishes
Field Green Salad
Lobster Salad
Shiitake Salad
Salmon Skin Salad
Lobster Endive Salad
Kelp Salad
Moroheiya Salad
Nobu style Ceviche
Lobster Ceviche
Oshitashi
Tuna Chips
Scallop Chips
Black Cod Butter Lettuce

Before station setup, Salad must prepare the 4-6 liters of Japanese white rice required for nightly service. Next is lobster prep and fabrication, which includes the steaming, cooling, cleaning and wrapping of 20-25 lobsters per day. When I first started, this task took me over an hour. Later, I was able to cut it down to 20 minutes. Now, I'm a frickin' expert at lobster murder and mutilation.

Salad station also has the lovely task of raw bar. Raw bar is the display of fish and lobsters located at the far end of the sushi bar. This task used to be performed by the sushi chefs, but the job was so tedious that it was pushed down the totem pole and onto Salad's lap. Raw bar requires 3-4 very large buckets of both crushed and cubed ice, which needs to be carried up a very narrow, steep staircase. Then one must scavenge for display items - 2 whole cooked lobsters, 1 whole fresh fish, king crab legs, some fresh soft shell crabs - and arrange them in a pleasing fashion with seaweed, kelp, and abalone and clam shells. But that's not all! Salad must also be sure to maintain the ice level on raw bar as it melts throughout service as well as collect the display items at the end of the night. This might sound like a fun, artistic task, but day after day of hauling ice buckets that weigh more than I do made raw bar easily my least favorite job in my entire Nobu career. I pity the poor soul assigned to it today.

Amuse Bouche

2009-04-08T17:52:00.006-04:00

Seven Course Tasting of Philippine Fruits and Vegetables prepared in Classic French Technique
FCI Final Project
April 10, 2007

Papaya Goat Cheese Tartlet

Ingredients

50g Puff pastry

Butter and flour for molds

Egg wash

40g Papaya, cut into small cubes

10g Goat cheese

Chives, finely minced

Procedure

Prepare puff pastry in the standard way or purchase frozen and allow to thaw.
Preheat oven 375°F.
Butter and flour four small decorative tart molds (Ideally, 4.5 cm x 1.5 cm).
Roll puff pastry out to 1/16 inch thickness. Cut with 5cm ring mold, dock, and gently form into tart molds. Rest in refrigerator for 10 minutes.
Line tart molds with parchment paper and weigh down with dry beans. Blind bake at 375°F for 10 minutes. Remove beans and parchment and unmold.
Brush the inside and outside of tart shell lightly with egg wash.
Bake for an additional 5 minutes until golden brown. Remove and cool on rack.
Peel papaya and remove seeds. Cut into small cubes and set aside.
Soften goat cheese with a fork.
Use a small spoon or pastry bag to put a small dollop of goat cheese on the bottom of the tart shell.
Mound papaya brunoise on top and garnish with minced chives.

I am not a baker.

2009-04-08T02:41:00.023-04:00

Baking is tedious. It requires a lot of time, patience, and exact measurements. There's no tasting while preparing, no adjusting during cooking, and no fixing once it's done. In most cases, if you screw up the only option is to throw it out and start over. In short, baking sucks. Also, bakers have to wake up really really early.

But in an attempt to be a well-rounded chef, I wanted to try to make bread. I found a great recipe online that requires very little kneading. Plus, it has a funny name.

A Big Lazy Loaf Recipe

Bonus: The smell of freshly baked bread filled my apartment for hours.

My resulting loaf was oh so pretty - golden brown with a lovely crackling crust. It traveled nicely and my husband and I ate it in Central Park with salami, Manchego, fresh tomatoes and a great view.

Central Park, New York City, March 28, 2009

Lardo Party

2009-04-07T22:06:00.006-04:00

LARDO: cured pig fat

On March 7, 2009, I catered a lardo party for a friend. Guests were encouraged to add a piece of lardo to every bite.

Meat and Cheese Plates

Manchego, Parma, Stilton, Cambozola, Tomme de Crayeuse, stinky cheese from Union Sq market (name long forgotten).
Lardo, Prosciutto, Soppressata, Pate served with Riesling Poached Lady Apples (combine riesling, water, sugar, vanilla bean, boil, simmer 2-3mins, add peeled lady apples, simmer 20mins until cooked through but still firm)
Pear, Apple, Grapes, Cantaloupes
Fig cake, Candied Walnuts (toast walnuts, add sugar, allow to melt, toss, add cayenne, toss, spread on silpat, cool, break apart) and Candied Pumpkin Seeds (toast seeds, add sugar, toss, spread on silpat, cool, break apart)
Olives, Olive Oil, Salt, Pepper

Cold Appetizers

Mozzarella, Roasted Tomato (plum tomatoes, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, sugar, pepper, 275d, 2hrs) and Basil
Parma Tacos (shredded parma on silpat, 300d, 6mins, mold, cool) served with Arugula, Pear, and Prosciutto
Amy's Semolina bread with fennel seeds and golden raisins served with Goat Cheese, Honey and Black Pepper

Hot Appetizers

Puff pastry balls
Mushroom tart (puff pastry circles, parma, sautéed mushrooms w rosemary and white wine, 425d, 15mins, truffle oil)
Tomato and goat cheese tarts (puff pastry circles, parma, caramelized onions w thyme and white wine, goat cheese, roasted tomato, basil, 425d, 15mins)

Dessert

Apple tart (peeled sliced apples, caramelized sugar, eggs, sour cream, lemon zest, vanilla extract, flour, baking powder, salt, powdered sugar, 350d, 30-40mins, cool 10-15mins, unmold)

Where to find Lardo in NYC:

Salumeria Biellese 376 8th Ave (at 29^th St)
Di Palo's Fine Foods 200 Grand Street (at Mott St.)
Murray's Real Salami Grand Central Grand Central Market 43rd St. & Lexington

**Thanks to Jess for the beautiful pics!

Kosher Cooking

2009-04-07T18:57:00.029-04:00

is foreign territory to me. When a kosher request came in at Nobu, we'd look at each other, shrug, and produce steamed salmon with steamed vegetables.

On Feb 11, 2009, Shaya Klechevsky, asked me to join him in teaching a kosher cooking class at a Jewish Community Center (JCC) in Five Towns, Long Island. I jumped at the chance to learn about kosher food and work with my favorite kosher chef.

Shaya and I were partners in crime at the FCI. Whenever we worked together we were perfectly in sync and always laughing. Today, Shaya owns a small kosher catering company called At Your Palate. He does an excellent job of kosher-fying various types of ethic cuisines with a special focus on Middle Eastern.

Our day started with a long drive to Cedarhurst, NY. Coming from the busy city, we were surprised to see the JCC - a quaint blue house in a quiet suburban neighborhood. We prepped and taught two cooking classes - an afternoon and an evening class, each with 8-10 people in attendance.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On the menu:

Roasted Carrot and Beet Salad with Oranges and Arugula - Peppery arugula, roasted beets and citrus flavors make this warm salad. A walnut crunch and balsamic vinaigrette finishes.

Chestnut and Celery Root Soup with Andouille Sausage - Hearty chestnuts and the underused celery root is softened in water and non-diary creamer and blended. Served with toast points and sauteed kosher sausage.

Mustard Crusted Chicken with Sauce Diable - A classic French chicken preparation and sauce from our FCI days, this dish has a tangy mustard crust and spicy black peppercorn sauce. Served with roasted tomatoes and mushroom caps.

Basbousah Middle Eastern Coconut "Blondie" - A Farina-based dessert with hints of rose water, cardamom and finished with almonds. Farina is usually a breakfast offering and is similar to Cream of Wheat or grits.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Before the classes, Shaya gave me a crash course in kosher cooking and I must admit, there's A LOT to it. What surprised me the most is that although it is well known that meat may not be eaten with dairy, it is less known that utensils that have come in contact with meat may not be be used with diary and visa-versa. This translates to two sets of knives, pots, pans, spoons, plates, etc. And in the case of this particular JCC, it translated to a meat-only kitchen, where the cooking and holding of dairy products were not allowed. Other rules include the restriction of certain animals, rules on the slaughtering and preparation of meats, and use of kosher certified products.

We had a break between classes and decided to kill time by exploring the town. We took a walk down their Main Street, had a small kosher lunch (my first!) and toured a kosher grocery. Shaya shared with me his wealth of knowledge on kosher products and the ways he substitutes ingredients to kosher-fy recipes. For instance, non-dairy creamer is used in the "Blondie" dessert instead of milk and a non-diary butter substitute (his favorite is called Earth Balance) is used to thicken the Sauce Diable.

The town's kosher grocery is called Gourmet Glatt Emporium. "Glatt" literally translates to "smooth" and means the products are processed under stricter standards. Shaya guided me through the store, showing me many of the products he uses in his cooking and shared with me some of this favorite desserts imported from Israel - chocolate pudding, a chocolate candy similar to Cadbury's Flake, and a chocolate covered cream ball, which turned out to be marshmallow fluff (not what was expected).

Wanna see? (NSFW due to some very funny but profane language)

New York City has a large Jewish community and knowledge in kosher food and cooking is a great asset to any chef. Shaya has given me a great first experience and I look forward to working with him again in the near future. Thanks Shaya!

My First Day at Nobu New York

2009-03-26T20:52:00.017-04:00

This is an old journal entry about my first day at Nobu New York. You may have already read it, but I wanted to keep all my entries in one place. Plus I added a few more pictures and a video! I started interning at Nobu during my last few weeks at FCI. After two weeks of interning, I was offered a job as line cook at Nobu Next Door where I worked for over a year. This takes me back…

Sunday, February 11, 2007

It's funny how this Nobu opportunity came along. It wasn't through FCI or through the few chef friends I know. It wasn't the job board or monster.com. Thankfully, it was the one thing that always comes through for me...family. My cousin's cousin's roommate is a line cook at Nobu New York. The connection couldn't be more random, but there I was at 10:30am standing in the Nobu kitchen with the roommate, aka Tom.

Tom is a FCI '05 graduate, but has been working at Nobu for over two years. He started as a prep cook working for free and eventually moved up to one of the most senior line cooks. He attended FCI while at Nobu, alternating working 12 hour days, and working 6 hour days plus 6 more hours of class. In short, he's a machine and one of the nicest guys I've had the pleasure of meeting.

Tom guides me through the kitchen to the locker rooms in the back. We walk through the upstairs line kitchen, the dishwasher's station, then down a narrow staircase to the prep kitchen, the walkins, dry storage and dessert station. He points out the Nobu jackets and pants and the girl's locker room. I change and head back upstairs to the line kitchen. I squeeze by the other line cooks and stand next to Tom. For lunch service, the line consists of fry, grill, saucier “middle”, garde manger “salad”, and pastry. There is one person per station and they share a small kitchen standing about a foot from each other. Some specialize in one station, while the more senior line cooks can work all of them (with the exception of pastry). There are three "Chefs" in the kitchen - Head Chef Ricky and Sous Chefs Frank and Marlowe. These, along with the sushi chefs, are the only ones actually referred to as "Chef".

Tom is on the grill station for today's lunch service and when I arrive he is prepping the most popular item on the menu - Black Miso Cod. The sliced cod has been marinating in a miso sauce for four days. (I find out later that it is actually Sable, not Cod.) It is then transferred to sheet trays, browned under the salamander and deboned. For service it is cooked in the oven, browned again under the sally, and served with more of that wonderful miso. I help out by prepping the dish's garniture - pickled ginger root and pickled shallots. By the time I finish, it's 11:45am and lunch service has started.

Typically when a student is trailing at a restaurant, they are either told to just watch or they are given only prep work tasks - cleaning, peeling, cutting the mise. So you can imagine my surprise when lunch service comes around and I'm not kicked off the line. Not only that, I actually worked the grill and plated! Tom let me heat the shiitake mushrooms, grill the Washu (California raised Kobe beef), and plate the black miso cod. As we go along, I'm thinking this is totally doable, I can handle this - heat, grill, plate - no problem! Little did I know the number of covers for lunch is only around 100 - a big number to me since that's about as much as we get at L'Ecole for dinner service. I find out later that the evening's dinner service is at 208 and Saturday night's covers are closer to 300! Apparently, I hadn't seen even half of it. A Wednesday lunch on one of the coldest days of the year is a walk in the park for this kitchen.

When a lull comes over the station, I watch the other line cooks plate - the new style sashimi, the squid pasta, the rock shrimp tempura with spicy creamy sauce. The cooks are nice enough to let me try a bit of each dish. The fry cook in particular was very generous and my shame at accepting food evaporated the second I crunched down on a rock shrimp tempura with spicy creamy sauce. The fry cook's name is Caesar. He's 18 and the youngest in the kitchen. His father, whom everyone affectionately refers to as "Pop-Pop", has been working as fry cook since the restaurant's opening 12 years ago right along-side Chef Nobu himself. Caesar shared stories of him and his brother running around the kitchen when they were younger. When they were old enough, they started to learn the fry station from their father. Caesar's older brother developed an allergy to shrimp, so he moved on to another job. Today's lunch service was Caesar's first service solo and although he did burn himself in the fry oil once, he did an impressive job. What's more impressive is that Caesar doesn't even want to be a chef. His career goal - what he wants to be when he grows up - is to work at Con Edison as a technician. Strange since he's achieved my career goal at age 18.

Lunch service ends at 2:15pm and I help clean up. Family meal, referred to as "comida", is served buffet style at Nobu Next Door. I line up for shumai, fried rice, stirred fried vegetables and chicken curry. Pretty good, but I'm still full from snacking on the line, so I don't eat much. All the chefs and cooks sit around Nobu Next Door. The sushi chefs sit amongst themselves, pastry is at another table, waiters at another. I'm sitting with the line cooks and they are, hands down, the loudest, most rambunctious bunch. They're joking around, throwing things, hiding each other's keys and wallets. We chat about movies, basketball, and spend about 30 minutes on knives. At that point, I look around and realize it's a boys club, as I'm sure are most kitchens. The only girls are those that make up pastry, one line cook, a few waiters and the hostess. The kitchen is also very diverse - White, Hispanic, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Korean. Tom as well as the Head Chef and the two Sous Chefs are Filipino, which I guess helps in my case, but would help more if I spoke the language. They ask me several times if I speak Tagalog and were obviously disappointed with the response. My biggest regret makes its way into my biggest passion. ::sigh::

Break ends at 4pm and everyone makes they're way back to the Nobu kitchen. I steal a few moments to check out the dining room and try not to wake the waiters napping around the restaurant as I take pictures and snoop around. Back down in the prep kitchen one of the line cooks, Kevin, is butchering the Washu. Kevin is a graduate from CIA, where the Head Chef and both Sous Chefs also attended, and tells me there’s a world of difference between working in a Nobu kitchen and a corporate kitchen. His previous job was at Legal Seafoods where he says all the food was pre-prepped at a warehouse somewhere and shipped to the restaurants already portioned. He said it’s similar to boil in a bag and expressed his concern of something similar happening if Nobu ever chose to go corporate. He then goes on to explain to me the difference between regular beef and Washu as well as the difference between Washu and real Kobe. Most of his work goes into trimming off the insane amounts of fat that encapsulates the beef. The fat is used to confit beef cheeks. The washu is then portioned into 4 ounce cuts. Priced at $16/ounce, Washu is a big money maker, but not the biggest. Wagyu, the top of the line, goes for $25/ounce.

I give many thanks to Tom as he leaves for the day and I'm assigned to trail the Garde Manger “Salad” line cook, Jason. Jason is a recent ICE graduate who, upon completing his externship at Nobu, was promptly hired. Another ICE student was currently trailing at Nobu under Jason, but he left at 6pm, so a space was open for me to trail for dinner service. Jason takes me on a tour of his station as well as the walkins and dry storage areas. He explains to me that some of the mise is performed by prep cooks - the garnishes, sauces and oils - but that for the most part the line cook is in charge of making sure everything is prepped and ready at his/her station at service time. As a result, there is a real sense of ownership over the station - from prep to plate on every single dish that goes out. Jason also tells me the one thing that surprised him most about working at Nobu was how informal it was. He imagined a militant Japanese chef throwing orders around the kitchen and using corporal punishment for bad knife skills. He was pleased to see the kitchen run by a gang of kids playing hip-hop music and calling each other by silly nicknames. But this gang of kids really do know their stuff and they love what they're doing.
The dinner service line up is a little different as there is a new station on the line - the Omakase, or Chef's tasting menu. The responsibility for creating the Omakase rotates among the more senior line cooks and they say it's the most fun position since you get to play around with Washu/Wagyu beef and foie gras.

Dinner service starts at 5:30pm and Jason puts me to work. He demos the first plates to go out (and lets me taste!) and then for most of the night we're working as a team. He'd push over to me the plates he was confident I could do on my own and work on the more complicated ones. He's quick and impressed that I'm able to keep up. By 8pm I'm plating a number of different dishes - new style sashimi, new style oyster/shrimp/beef, lobster salad, salmon skin salad, miso cod butter lettuce, miso tofu, miso asari, kelp salad, edamame, spicy tuna chips, ceviche, spicy seafood soup, lobster endive salad, mushroom soup, moroheiya udon salad. On two occasions, Jason actually steps out of the kitchen and leaves me in charge. Head Chef Ricky is expediting and I'm hoping he notices that I'm plating on my own. I must say, I do a damn good job!

Here's a little taste of a Friday night in the Nobu kitchen:

By 10:30pm, the last orders are coming in and we start to clean up. Head Chef Ricky passes around Sapporo beers to everyone and we toast to a successful dinner service. I help clean up and pack up some food for home. One of the pastry girls even gives me one of the imperfect chocolate molten cakes used in the dessert bento box. YUM! I follow everyone else back to the locker rooms to change and say my thank yous and goodbyes. Unfortunately, Head Chef Ricky left, but I catch up with Sous Chef Frank and thank him again, stressing my interest in interning or even better working at Nobu. He says he'll discuss it with Head Chef Ricky and they'll give me a call.

My first day at NOBU was a happy confirmation of what I always knew I wanted to do when I grew up. Let's hope it's the first day of many to come!

Chef Tyler Florence

2009-03-26T20:05:00.008-04:00

While at the FCI, I was given the opportunity to work with Chef Tyler Florence. When I got this email, my head almost exploded...

"Hi Cynthia,

Thanks for your response to the event. We'd be really happy for you to come out to Armonk and help with the Citigroup dinner on Wednesday 20th September. We'll arrange transportation for pick-up from FCI in the morning and drop-off at the end of the night. You'll need your knives and chef whites and we'll be doing prep and service with the kitchen staff at the retreat. Service is for 90 people, and it should be a good experience and fun event. I will confirm the pick-up time and other details on Monday.

Event: Armonk, Citigroup Dinner for Top Customers Worldwide
Chef: Tyler Florence
Dinner: Upscale Italian - 4 courses (90 people)
When: Wed 20 September 2006
Volunteers: 2
Bring: Chef whites, knives
Work: Prep and cook during the day, service during dinner

Thanks,
Anthony Hoy Fong
Culinary Director, Tyler Florence TV"

Read the article I about the event HERE. It was picked up by the FCI blog: The Hot Plate.

Here are a few more pictures from the event:

And, yes, it was weird being around Citigroup folks again, but the whole experience was so great it still makes me consider corporate dining as a career option.

The French Culinary Institute

2009-03-26T19:40:00.010-04:00

Entering the real world with an undergraduate degree in Quantitative Economics got me just where I was supposed to be - working for such companies as World Savings (now Wachovia), Morgan Stanley, BearingPoint (now bankrupt), Citigroup, and Fannie Mae. Basically, the who’s who in evil banking/mortgage dudes. After 5 years of closing bank branches (read as: dissolving lots of jobs), public relations (read as: lying to the press about crooked brokers), and consulting on corporate governance (read as: covering up screw-ups with fancy words and charts), I had my fill. I’d been suppressing my desire to become a chef since high school, and eventually realized if I wanted to make the leap, I should do it now – before marriage and kids – when I had the money and it was still okay to be selfish and spend it all on myself. And I got out of that hell hole just in time.

I attended the 9 month FCI Culinary Arts program from July 2007 to May 2008. There were four levels, although I think now there are six. Level One was the basics. In each class we would focus on one item – one day, stocks; the next day, soup; the next, chicken. We were partnered up and graded on our plates at the end of the day. At the end of every week, we were tested on vocabulary and basic recipes. The chef instructors were all militant strict old French, Ukrainian, and American chefs with thick accents and tattoos. They yelled and berated and told us our food sucked. When we eventually did do something right, we were rewarded with only a silent nod. Three people dropped out by the end of the first month. I thought it was all so very hardcore and exciting.

In Level Two we rotated stations - Garde Manger (cold station - salads, soups), Poissonier (fish), Saucier (meats), Pastry and family meal. Family meal was, for me anyways, the absolute worst station, as it was spent making dinner for the students and faculty (read as: breaking down 100 chickens). The whole of Level Two is devoted to preparation for the midterm. Two practiced dishes were drawn at random and we had an hour to complete it. Judges watched our every move, quietly ticking points on and off. By the end, we plated for four additional judges who were sitting in the next room, knife and fork in hand.

In Levels Three and Four, students are moved to FCI’s restaurant, “L’Ecole.” Here we rotated stations and prepped one or two dishes. After a two minute pep talk and a couple hours of prepping (chop, slice, marinate, parboil), orders start coming in at 8 o'clock sharp. A big black board in the front of the kitchen holds the orders, "order up!" and "fire!" are being called out by a big French chef with a thick accent. After deciphering that he was saying 4 lamb, 6 salmon, and 2 veg plates, pots clang, food is flung and plates appear under the warming lamp. It is during these last levels that I gained the new satisfaction that comes from knowing the food you create is actually being eaten by paying customers. Even better is the adrenaline rush that comes from working in a professional kitchen. There is no time for hesitation, second-guessing, or excuses. If you make a mistake, you fix it and move on. The heat is all-consuming, the challenges come every second, and the movement is constant. It's a feeling I could never get sitting behind a computer, in a conference room or in front of a client. I fell in love with it. Blink and it's over. Blink again and it resets.

Upon graduation, I was awarded “Graduate with Distinction” - ranked #2 in my class. I also won “Best Final Project” for A Tasting of Philippine Fruits and Vegetables, an original seven course tasting menu of Philippine fruits and vegetables prepared using classic French techniques. Finally, something I loved to do that I was actually pretty great at.

You know those people who love their jobs? Well, I'm not quite there yet, but now I feel like it's a real possibility.

My tiny space on the web.

2009-03-26T14:54:00.030-04:00

My plan is to treat this blog much like I would brand new chef's whites - slowly stained with the colors of my culinary trails and tribulations... (gag)

Okay, so that was bad. I have to say creating a blog is easy in concept, tedious in execution. It took me the good part of a month to come up with the title. After some seriously punny ideas - food&whine (taken), my thyme (taken), how to blog water (will never be taken) - a friend suggested "the girl in whites". The most intriguing and a literal fact. Blogging also makes me reevaluate my writing style. Attaining a balance of detail, honesty, wit and humor without sounding forced is exhausting and the self-scrutinizing and editing is constant. In short, I take a big deep breath before I hit "Publish Post", but maybe that's just me.

And who is me? I'm a career changer from finance to professional chef. I went to FCI for culinary arts, was a line cook at Nobu, and am now trying to start up my own catering/cooking school/private cheffing company. Since it is the most awesome time economically for me to embark on this, in the meantime I'm experimenting in my tiny kitchen, creating a portfolio of original recipes and freelancing to keep my skill level up.

This is my little place to blog about culinary school, professional kitchens, and other food-related randomness. I know it's probably only family and friends reading, but that's fine with me.

So here I go - the girl in whites - ready to make a mess. (gag)