First Weekend - January 10th & 11th

With a little pile of butterflies in my stomach I got up at 6:30am to hop in the shower, eat breakfast, feed the pug and double DOUBLE check my gear (and of course, I forgot an apron, but got it on the way out) and headed off to class. MY VERY FIRST CLASS!

Of course, everything I had PLANNED for the "nite before my first class" was thrown out the window. It was a Jonathan Levine gallery nite AND I worked late. So I met Amanda and the gang at the gallery right at 8 and from there we headed to The Smith for dinner. We had 9:45 reservations. Yeah, right! I want to like this place. I REALLY do. Especially since Amanda loves it so much. I just can't REALLY love it. They are doing almost everything right. Maintaining good food in an overbooked, "hip", loud and cramped restaurant. They gave us a couple of apps from the chef for messing up the reservations so BADLY. But that happens I guess. The secret of TAKING reservations is the KEEPING of reservations.

The food was ok. Still didn't blow me away AT ALL, but it was pretty good. Way better than the last time(worst pork chop I have EVER had). The company was great and the cocktails were perfect. Anyway . . . . we stayed out WAY later than my proposed 10pm bedtime. In the end I got pretty good nites sleep, just not according to plan.

As I reached the 23rd st stop to head over to ICE running ALMOST late but still early. Got through with the Registrar, got changed and joined everyone in the WINE ROOM. Chef Andrew gave us the low down on the school and policy followed by a trip up to room 1403 . . . my classroom for the next 9 months! Fully equipped to the teeth and surprisingly spacious. 4 Vulcan 6 burner stoves, 4 salamanders, 4 convection ovens, a proofer, freezer, fridge, pot washing station and prep sink. If it is not in my toolbag, it is in this room! So, already I am excited.

As with anything, one sizes up their competition and finds their allies. Not to make it sound like a cooking version of SURVIVOR, but it is true. From the second we got to the Wine Room, I had been sizing people up. Who seems SLOW, who seems LAZY, who isn't taking any notes, who has an annoying laugh. It all adds up. Needless to say, by the end of Sunday and the second knife exercise, I have put together my "dream team". I hope I am on theirs! I don't want to be a jerk, but I want to do well and I DO NOT want to carry anyone. People not following early, SIMPLE instructions were off the list quickly.

As for the lessons. I have the best Chef in the house. Chef Ted Siegel. He is an intimidating man to most. To me, he just seems to know what he wants and will PUSH you to get it. Even on this first day he had people redoing a medium dice. On the flip side, he was easy on the compliments if you were doing a good job.

On Saturday, after the in processing, we went over sanitation and dairy ID. We learned how he wanted the kitchen ran and what we could do to keep our heads above water for the next 9 months. It was a LOT to take in and exhausting but I was not ready to leave. I almost felt ripped off! Hell, I didn't even grab a knife, clean a veggie, wash a bowl . . . NADA! At least there was SUNDAY!

The second day was a lot more full of knowledge. For me it felt more like breaking bad habits rather than learning something new. I have DECENT knife skills. This day showed me how much BETTER they can be. Simple things like squaring up the cutting board with my table and my body helps a ton. Not to say that it it COMFORTABLE by any means. I kind of have a half turned stance at home, but HERE I have to change it. Until I am PERFECT at this technique, this is just the way I NEED to do it. Seems like anything else, get it RIGHT and then add your flavor!

We medium diced some carrots, onions, tomatoes, celery. Minced garlic, parsley, jalapeno and cilantro. Not the most entertaining group of food, but it was fun and informative. we ended up with a METRIC TON of salsa. On top of all of this, this was the CHEESE TASTING DAY! HOLY CRAP! SO GOOD! If you like cheese and get a chance to lay hands on MORBIERE . . . GET IT! No matter the cost. It is made with the milk of just woken up cows who are then lead up 3500 feet into the Alps to graze for 8-10 hours. While they are grazing the morning milk is prepped to become cheese. Once the exhausted cows return, they are milked again and this time the lactic acid in their tired bodies influences the milk and this cheese is made as well. The Morning and Nite cheese are pressed together between burnt chestnut leaves and ripened for 1-4 months. It is soft, creamy and DELICIOUS. The nite milk being much more flavorful than the day. You can take 3 bites of each slice. Morning, Nite and both with the chestnut leaves. All 3 are amazing. I could regale you with a bunch of boring cheese knowledge and numbers, but what is the fun in that. What I found funny/disturbing was when we did the HERB ID stuff, half the people in the class didn't EAT the herb. Smell yes, eat, no. WHAT THE HELL! Same for the cheeses. This is stuff you should LOVE! We are in CULINARY SCHOOL! How do you not want to know the flavor of anything you can get your hands on? Weird. These people also were kicked off the Dream Team.

Once we cleaned up for the day and got ready to head out, Chef tells us to go get our ID card pictures and day 2 comes to a close. Satisfyingly.

Overall, I am glad I was kind of nervous because it kept me on my toes, but looking back it was a great way to start and that is exactly what this is . . . just the beginning.

Oh, when I got home last nite, I HAD to do some cooking. Being in the kitchen and NOT cooking was killing me so I whipped up a roasted butternut squash risotto. YUM! It was a LITTLE al dente but tasty. I think I need better arborio next time. I roasted the squash with a brown sugar and balsamic mix I came up with that does a DAMN nice job.