Goodbye CIA and 2009

I finished my classes today for the year! I completed my baking for culinary class and got to take home a few treats for the fam as well. LOVED that class, but I would never consider switching over to the baking program...but I know now that I do enjoy baking.
I found out who my chef is for the Cuisines of the Mediterraneans when I return to school next year.....the hardest lady chef of all time!!!!!!! Great. We shall see how that goes I guess....should be interesting, especially since I have never cooked with this group of students before. Keeping a positive attitude!

B is for Baking, its good enough for me!

Last week, I started the class called Baking for Culinary. It is a 3 week class designed to teach culinary students the basics of baking--breads, cakes, cookies, doughs, pies, tarts, MMMM. Every day we have tastings of what we made that day. I can feel the pounds being packed on. But I am really enjoying the class. Learning a lot, and baking makes more sense. I now understand the complexity of some of the things we eat (and science). But I have realized that some things that seemed near impossible to do really are not that easy (pie dough...not that hard!) There is definitely an exactness to baking, as we have already seen by mismeasuring things. And directions are crucial, especially when making pastry cream. It is so different from cooking because if a mistakes is made when cooking, it can often be fixed...baking, not so much.
Right now, my homework consists of making a marzipan rose every night and piping out 21 designs. Talk about easy homework! I get to bring food home often, which makes my roomie and my friends quite happy!

L block = B block on STEROIDS!

So the first 6 weeks after returning from externship is called L Block, which is like B Block. If you have been reading this blog since the beginning, you would know what I mean. Its just academic classes and all that jazz. But there is soooo much more work, projects, tests, quizzes, homework, ew! I am just always busy with work! Its almost over...three more days, then Thanksgiving break. Everyone is like, "Audrey, why are you always doing homework?" well, unlike most other students at this school, I actually want to do well, haha. Its difficult to balance job searching, working out, social life, and homework, but the bulk of it is almost over. I think my classes went pretty well. I am excited to start my next kitchen class: Baking for culinary. More later.

First day of classes

Ahhhh Its ssoooooooo nice to be back. I just feel refreshed and like a whole new person. I am dealing with all new people in my group ( not those people who hated me from my old group) and I am reconnecting with old friends. Being away for 7 months was wayyyy to long. I had orientation the first two days, which I was done with by 10:30 in the morning both days....yay for free time.
I am officially the secretary of Gourmet Society, the club I have been a part of since i got here last year. But i was never given a title or responsibilties....bummer. Its ironic, because a secretary knows dates and times of everything and anything everywhere and anywhere....last year, I didn't know what the heck was going on, and now im the person in charge of that. Im excited. I like having a title and I might even get business cards with my name on them, sweeeeeeeet. Im glad I have found Gourmet Society as my other thing to keep me busy on campus. I would join other clubs, but I gotta see how involved being Secretary gets me first. I am just trying to make the best of this year.

Back to CIA!!

I start back at CIA on Tuesday!! I move in on Monday, but today is Saturday and I am so anxious!! My room is a mess, and my brother's room, since I am using his room as my staging room for everything I am packing. I am trying to go through every item i am bringing to make sure I do not over pack, cuz I definitely did that last year! As long as it all fits in my car, im in good shape!
When I get back to school, I will be taking classes for 6 weeks like I did back when I first started. They consist of Menu Planning, Costing, Intro to Management, Restaurant Law, and Nutrition (super psyched for the nutrition class!). Ill update once I am back!

The End Came So Soon

I have two days left working at the Mooring. Its bittersweet, that is what I have been telling people when they ask if I am happy to leave or not. I have made great friends and had lots of fun this summer, but I am too excited to get back to school, so my mind is other places right now. I am working hard still, dont get me wrong, but I just dont love being at The Mooring as much as I used to. People of course ask if I am returning next year, but I dont think I am. I tell them I may return in the future, but as of right now, Im not planning on going back next summer. I want to work for a bed and breakfast in another seasonal town, Nantucket or Cape Cod maybe? I guess we will see what happens. I really like the new menu items, however, that they have put on the menu for the Fall Menu. Its comfort food, which who doesnt love comfort food? I will have to come back sometime this winter to visit and to eat some of the food! Its been a great summer.

DESTINATION: CIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Boat Show madness

I survived boat show!! That is something to be proud of. While we normally do 300 people for lunch on a saturday, we did over 700 people!!!!! Can you say, crazy?? Boat show is a weekend (thurs-sun) when people, boats, and vendors from all over the world come to show off their stuff. Its HUGE! The Mooring parking lot turns into a tent and a space for only 1/3 of the actual boat show. This event takes up basically alll of downtown Newport. And because the Mooring is the only restaurant located inside the gates of the Boat Show and people don't want to leave, they come to our restaurant. I dont even know how we did so many covers for lunch, but we did. Ill be honest though, being on hot apps wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I was just watching the grill station the whole time getting slammed by hamburgers and chicken sandwiches, mainly. But basically, our prep levels multiply by three and we are still running around! I am happy I got to experience Boat Show because everyone has been talking about it since I arrived in March. I am SOOOO tired.

I guess its part of the job description...

Ever since my friends found out I like to cook, they are always asking me if I can cook for them or asking me about my cooking. Some are genuinely interested while others just want some food. I have been going through this struggle of who my real friends are for quite some time.
At work, I make cookies and desserts whenever I am doing my baking shift. I have a whole prep kitchen to my self with ovens and burners, so its easy. I started doing it one night when there was nothing to do and well, now it is expected of me to make something. There is one particular person who seems to have a nose like a dog. He won't come out to the prep kitchen to say hi or anything unless I have food cooling or any scraps. I made brownies two nights ago for the staff and he came out to get one. I called him out on this pattern of his and obviously he denied it (me partially just busting his buttons) but after joking with him about this occurance, I started to think about it.
Are people pretending to be nice to me just for food? I mean, really? I know that I can cook and stuff, so being my friend is just a perk, you get a friendship and food. But then there are those who are in it strictly for the food. Its not that fair. They don't truly appreciate it. I guess its just something I have to live with.

Speaking up helps...

So I was talking to my co-workers about the whole promise not being kept and one of them went to Adi about it and told him how mad I was that he wasn't keeping his promise. Well he had a talk with me about the whole issue of being on saute. He said this crazy thing about how he never "promised" and thats just what it seemed like. And he said that he had totally forgotten that he had to train another cook on the station for the winter back when he told me I would be on it. So he was having scheduling conflicts between training me and training the guy that is permanant on the station. Basically, I just go over there whenever I can. He schedules me for 2pm-close on Sundays. I go in at 2 and do my pastry shift till about 6 and then I hop over to saute for the night. It has worked out pretty well. I got to spend 4 hours on the station the other night. It was really fun! Its defintiely a lot smaller of a space when there are three people on the station though. But I guess that fact that I talked with Adi got me on the station.

Chefs don't always keep their promises to eager culinary students....bummer.

So as I mentioned a while back, I decided to stay for two extra months at The Mooring. It was for two reasons primarily. 1) I love working at this restaurant and I didn't really have a reason to go back to school at a certain time and 2) I was told by my chef (we even shook hands on it), that I would move to the Saute station, which I have been DYING to learn since day 1. This whole thing frustrates me, so I will try to not turn this blog entry into a rant session. Basically, he told me that since I was originally only staying until August 3, it would not make sense to train me on Saute at that point in the summer (this was June when we talked). But thinking about it, he should have thrown me on saute back in April when it was dead. But I can't look back on the past and be mad. So he basically said that if I stayed, it would be more useful to teach me saute since I would be here longer. So basically, I assumed that meant that after August 3, he would have me on saute. Well, three schedules later (aka 3 weeks later), he hasn't.
I talked with him about how he made a promise and I was a little disappointed (its awesome, I can be very straight forward with him and he doesnt get mad. He likes to hear my opinions). He explained to me that he was going to be training the other hot apps guy on saute since he stays year-round and I was leaving soon. Then i was thinking, well, thats why I stayed--so that you couldnt use the "you are leaving soon" excuse! And he proceeded to say how he would get me on there a few hours a week to learn some of the dishes and ticket times and ticket management, but he would be focusing on training the other guy. Basically for the past few days, I have been sliding over to saute to learn a thing or two when my station is not busy. I do not even know if he will schedule me, so I am just using whatever time I can to slide over. One of the Kitchen Managers saw me over there today helping my friend and he was like, Wow Audrey! Please tell me you are FINALLY on this station today!!! But unfortunately, I had to explain that I was just over there for a few minutes. So even HE wants me to be on Saute. Chef just doesnt seem to have it be his priority, which I understand. BUT HE MADE A PROMISE!!!!

The Mooring philosophy and the significance of where our food comes from...

The culinary philosophy at The Mooring is to focus on the quality of food that is being served at the restaurant. To ensure the freshest food possible, they strive to obtain local and organic ingredients. They support local farmers with special produce arriving almost daily. The Mooring Restaurant, along with the other restaurants in The Newport Harbor Corporation, belongs to a movement and local food system called Farm Fresh Rhode Island. The goals of this project are to keep Rhode Island farmland at its freshest and most bountiful by supporting local farmers as well as increase the access to fresher produce.
Every year, The Castle Hill Inn and Resort holds an event to support the Farm Fresh Rhode Island movement. It is an afternoon spent to acknowledge local farmers, fisherman, and bakeries by teaming up with chefs from the Newport area. With over two dozen farms being represented, it is a great way to support these farmers by an evening of delicious and local food. This year, I worked with Chef Brian and we supported five different farmers at our stand. We made crostinis with baguettes from Bristol, RI and spread a pea green pesto from Westport, RI onto them along with Reynolds Barn goat cheese from South Kingstown. We then topped each crostini with Aquidneck farms beef brisket from Portsmouth, RI and tomato compote with tomatoes from Lydon Family Farms in Tiverton, RI. I got a chance to walk around to other booths, like Narragansett creamery, Aquidneck Island Honey, Olga’s Breads (based in Providence), and other local farms. It was such a great experience to see all of these farms displaying their products.
We buy local mixed greens to cut into our salad greens along with micro greens and pea shoots from Farming Turtles, located in the Narragansett Bay. We are currently receiving daily orders of heirloom tomatoes and fresh basil from Lydon Family Tomatoes located in Tiverton, RI, as well as freshly cultivated blueberries. We often use these local and organic items for specials and being able to say that it is local makes the guest appreciate where their food is coming from. The majority of our produce arrives daily from Belmont Market, located in Wakefield, RI. Belmont gathers their produce from local farms such as Poblano Farm in South Kingstown and uses the same philosophy as the Mooring by buying local and organic produce. At Castle Hill, they have an organic garden that is currently sprouting potatoes, chard, onions, zucchini, and numerous herbs such as mint, Thai basil, sage, chives, parsley, and thyme. We also feature cheeses from Narragansett and Providence on our menu, using them for the cheese plates and crumbling the Salty Sea Feta into our salads. We use cheeses like Atwells Gold and Queso Fresco for specials as well.
Seafood is the specialty of Newport because of its bountiful access to water. Our philosophy on seafood and shellfish is the same as our produce; buying local whenever possible. We use “speed to market” and “top of the catch” seafood, and when possible, day boat fishermen. A majority of our shellfish comes from Newport Lobster, Co, located in Middletown, the next town over from Newport and our oysters and clams arrive daily from farms around Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. Matunuck is our largest purveyor. Having fresh and local shellfish makes the customer at ease when knowing they are eating food that originated from that area.

Extern update!!!!!

I would say that I have only three weeks left on extern, but because I am staying until mid October, I have more than two months left. I cannot wait to move to the sauté station. I am not expecting to learn how to run it by myself in just two months, but I hope to learn how to make a few of the dishes, the prep, how to set up, how to manage tickets, and how to time different dishes on one ticket. As we move into October, the business slows, so it will be a good time for me to learn. I can easily say I have done my fair share of rotating, between working pantry, hot apps, and baking once a week, as well as working at Blackstone Catering and Waterman Grille.
However, the season is not over yet. We are at the peak. It is so incredibly busy that the amount of prep we have to do is five times more than we were doing back in April. There is such an immense amount of prep on the pantry station that we are always working on something. For about two weeks, we changed the Caesar salad to have chopped lettuce instead of wedges of romaine. I preferred the wedges because in the heat, the chopped lettuce wilted so quickly and the salad quality dropped. Using the wedges also meant a lot less romaine to chop every day. There were times when we would have eight fish tubs of bagged lettuce in the walk-in, but sometimes it would go bad before we could use it. We went back to using the romaine, which I think works a whole lot better, especially considering the heat in that kitchen (even though it is air conditioned).
For prep on the hot apps station, we are doubling each recipe, sometimes by three. We have to always have plenty of backups because with the great weather that we have had in the past few days, we are so busy. This past Saturday night, we hit 710 covers! It was absolutely ridiculous. There were three of us on pantry, but the raw bar was slammed. While we usually have three people on that station, a fourth had to come over to help raw bar out while we continued to make salads and desserts. It was a hard night, especially after working that morning too, making it a double.
I had another chance to make an appetizer special. I made a goat cheese, ricotta, lemon, and chive mixture and stuffed in into squash blossoms. I then sliced heirloom tomatoes and drizzled them with olive oil and a balsamic reduction. I considered deep-frying the squash blossoms, but I wanted to keep it light. Chef Casey and Chef Brian came into lunch that day, ordered the special, and commented on the texture of the dish and how it would have been nice if they were fried. I fried one at the end of the day and it was so delicious. I am hoping to run the special again, but I will fry them instead and possibly make a different filling. I still plan to run my special of pan-seared scallops with a fennel orange salad. I just keep forgetting! I am very fortunate to work in a restaurant where the cooks are allowed to come up with their own specials. It gives us a chance to be creative and use our talents.
As for pastry, I used to only come in on Sundays to prep for the week. However, because what I do on Sunday only seems to last until Thursday, Adi has scheduled me for two days a week. That way, what I do on Sunday gets us until the weekend, and then we are fully stocked for the weekend. The last thing we want to do is 86 desserts, so it was a very good idea to have two pastry shifts. When I come in for these shifts, I usually do my baking for four hours or so and then I do prep for any station that needs it throughout the night. I am the “go-to girl” when a station is low on something and they need it right away.

Raw foods diet, it has come to this...

I decided to go on a raw foods diet for a week. It may last longer, but a week is my goal. I have been doing a lot of reading on the raw foods diet to make sure I do it in a way that is healthy for my body and not malnourishing. A raw foods diet consists of uncooked veggies, fruit, nuts, and seeds. NO milk, eggs, dairy, meat, chicken, fish, grains, processed and refined foods, carbs. It seems like I am giving up three whole food groups, but surprisingly, I can get most of my nutrients just from the fruits, veggies, nuts and seeds. Nuts are high in fat and protein, fruits have fiber, carbs, sugars, and vegetables have fats, fiber, and protein when thinking about legumes. While some people say it is stupid, others think its a good idea. After reading about all of the food that you can eat for nutrients, it is easier than you think. I have found that my cravings for food have gone down (I have only been on the diet for 2 days) because I do not have as many options for snacks available to me. If i'm hungry, I grab a piece of fruit, or munch on walnuts, almonds, or pecans. I have craisins and raisins in my cabinet, which is great for those cravings. I already feel cleaner. I am drinking more water, since the only beverage I can really drink is water, if I want to stick to the rules. I do drink tea, which technically is not allowed because water boils above the raw food temp limit (115). But that is ridiculous to me.
I am only going to be strict on this for a week, then I will slowly encorporate other foods in, like yogurt and grains. Some articles I have read said its not good to mix raw foods with not raw, so I have to read more into that. What I may end up doing is just being very careful of what I eat, focusing on raw foods, but not limiting myself. I will have to keep you posted on how long I do this raw foods thing. There are side affects because of lack of certain nutrients, like calcium, B-12, and Vitamin D. WHile I hate to say it, those can be replaced by supplemental vitamins, but I am trying my hardest to stay healthy.

Dieting in the culinary industry....proves to be a challenge

So its not the smartest thing to do when you are surrounded by food, but a few weeks ago, I decided to go vegetarian. Well, pescatarian, so I was eating fish. I made a lot of exceptions, so I was eating yogurt, milk, cheese, and things cooked with chicken stock, for example, but I was not eating cuts of beef, chicken, or game meats. It was a bit difficult to restrict myself because certain things that I make at work have meat in them, so I was having co-workers try it for me, which they seemed to be annoyed which at first. I gave in though and started tasting, it was necessary. I can't let what I am eating affect my work.
The reason I gave up meats to begin with was for weight loss. I did not see a difference in weight (but thats also because I am not working out as much), but I did notice mood changes, in a positive way. I am more relaxed and content. I have more energy and motivation, and I feel happier. It is proven fact that those who are on a vegetarian diet are less hostile because of what is in meat.

I BURNT the cookies!!!

So this past Sunday, I was in at noon for a split shift (noon-8 pm) and I was outside in the prep kitchen baking desserts and doing prep work. I like that shift because its relaxing. Well anyways, I finished prep early, so the cooks asked me to make cookies for them. And i told them that I never really was good at making cookies. But one of the cooks gave me a recipe, so I went to town with Mint Chocolate Chip cookies (made with creme de menthe). The batter tasted SOOOO good! Well, i put them in the oven, but then they called me inside to help with the pantry because they were busy, and you guessed, my cookies burned!!!! I was SOOO mad! They were an ugly brown color. I immediately wanted to make new cookies, but the chef told me I would just make them again next time. But for the rest of the night, the cooks were teasing me about it. I need to redeem myself!!!!

CHOWDER!!! GEEEETT SOME CHEOWDAHH!!!

Yesterday was Chowder Fest in Newport. People come from all over the country to compete! There were some people from North Carolina and another group from Seattle! There are three categories: Seafood, Clam, and Creative. The Mooring has won three times in the clam category, so they cannot compete in that category anymore. They had won the past two years in the seafood category with their scallop chowder (with dill and corn), and were going for a third. Unfortunately, we did not win for a third year. The booth next to us won with their shrimp, crab, and scallop and zuchini and roasted red peppers and carrot chowder. It was SOO good. I hate to admit it, but I actually liked it more than ours. (Shhh don't tell my chef I said that.) I am glad they won. It was just that good. I also tried the Seatlle one from Pike Place. It also had roasted red peppers. Neither of the winning chowders were that thick, and ours was thin as well. When I had a break, I walked around to other booths to try the clam chowders. I gotta admit, they were horrible. Most were floury and thick as glue or too creamy. I really did not like many of them at all. It made me appreciate the clam chowder that we have at The Mooring much more! I spent the whole day running back and forth from our restaurant with hot chowder and scallops and pouring chowder. It was fun though. It was a gorgeous day! I am going into work today and I have to face Adi. He was so convinced we would win, so I don't want to know how he takes the news of third place.

Bada ba ba ba, I'm lovin' it!

So because I love it here so much and because Adi asked me to stay longer, I'm officially staying longer than August 3rd. Staying till Oct. 10th or so. I'm super psyched because I just love hanging out in Newport and going to work. I don't have much to say on the issue, but I'm stoked!!

Which team will reign supreme?

Front of the house (FOH) vs. Back of the house (BOH). You often here about the rivals between the front and back in restaurants and how sometimes the two dont often get along. But I have to admit, the relationship between the front and the back at The Mooring is surprisingly good. We have great communication and we are always joking around with each other. As far as I know, there is no sabotaging of the food or anything immature, haha. Although there are the few servers that don't get along with us, only because they need someone to blame their mistakes on. The food runners (basically just there to help bring food out into the dining room) give us the most shit, excuse my language. For some reason, they think they can criticize our food. First off, who do they think they are giving us lip? Second, it makes us hate them, which is not good! There is this one food runner (who sadly i admit I used to have a thing for him, but his "i know more than you" attitude made me dislike him), so anyways, this food runner tends to critique my food by saying I should do it a different way. I'm not sure if he is just being "friendly" in a rude way, but after a while, it gets obnoxious. It gives us cooks something to talk about though. We get to share stories about how "this food runner did this..." and "this server said this..." and "oh my god, if this server says that to me ever again...." And its funny how most FOH people don't even know who is cooking thier food! PLEASE....there are more of them than us, and we know all of their names. Is it that hard to know who is making your food? They should be a little more thankful if you ask me!

Six Week Update

As the summer is getting closer, the restaurant is getting busier and busier. But unfortunately, the weather has not been cooperating, which is a large influence on business side of things. This past Sunday was Mother’s Day, which was busy, but not out of control. There was a steady pace of people throughout the day. I worked pantry and we had a special appetizer and special dessert to take care of. The special appetizer was four oysters with a spinach and parmesan risotto and the desserts was angel food cake with white chocolate mousse and a strawberry. Because we were well prepped, service went smoothly. I trained a new person on the pantry station as well. He is from Johnson and Wales, but because he is still in school, he only works weekends. I think he will be a great addition to The Mooring because he is very enthusiastic to learn the most he can and to stay busy.
By this time, I have trained on the Hot App station and been the hot apps person two days, but one of the days was ridiculously slow, so I really didn’t get much practice. This past Monday was a little busier, so I worked on the timing of putting appetizers up. For the most part, when a ticket comes in, we fire the appetizer, unlike an entree which waits. It is only when the ticket is AS ENTREE that we have to time it with the saute and grill stations. I have also been practicing the timing for when I have two or three items that take differing amounts of time so that they are both hot and fresh. There is definitely a lot less prep than the pantry station, but I can see how it would be very busy in the summer. I hope to pick up more shifts on the Hot Apps station so that I can become really good at it, since it is my only hot line experience. As it gets busier, it will be great practice for me to learn how to multitask. As for working the pantry station, I have definitely developed a rhythm and flow. I really enjoy working that station because there is always something to do for prep—sometimes too much to do! For both the Hot App and Pantry station, it is important to have back ups and to be aware of what the station has and does not have. For example, the Hot Apps station was running low on caramelized onions, but because it was not needed immediately, I just sliced the onions for the station so that when they are needed, the person working the station already has sliced onions.
The other day, Chef Adi and I were talking about how I will be picking up a shift as pastry/night prep once a week. I am really excited about that because I love making desserts, so I guess he saw that. Maybe this will give me a chance to come up with new dessert ideas too. I then mentioned that I like getting experience on the hot line and that I want as much practice and experience as possible by training on saute as well. He said that the best way to do that was to stay past my extern date (August 3rd) and to stay until the end of September or even through October. I only have three months left, so by the time I learned the saute station and became good at it, I would be leaving. Previously, the only reason I wanted to return on August 18th to CIA was to be with my stream of students because we worked well as a group. But if it means learning more and staying at The Mooring, I am strongly considering staying. I really love working at The Mooring and want to continue to learn as much as I can. But Adi assured me that there is no rush to making a decision, so in the mean time, I am taking each day by day and learning what I can. I am pretty sure that I will want to stay longer than August 3rd, I just need to make sure there is a date in October that I can return to school. I love Newport, I love The Mooring, I love my externship!

Look Ma, I'm cooking!

So a few days ago, I moved to the Hot Apps station, so I actaully cook now. I really like this station because there is a LOT less prep than the pantry and we arent responsible for nearly as many items (pantry had salads, raw bar, and desserts). There isnt much room to move around, so once two people are on that station, it must be crazy! It is a little harder to manage the station though time wise because the things take time to cook, rather than on pantry where you make a salad and its done. And you have to time things to be ready with everything else (unlike pantry where you can make a salad and let it sit.) Its really a matter of understanding the items on the station, like understanding how long everything takes. So if I got an order for the Stuffies (stuffed clams) and crab cakes, I would get a pan hot for the crab cakes then put the stuffies in the oven (they just have to heat up). Then i would sear the cakes in the hot oil and put them in the oven to warm with the stuffies. While they are cooking, I would set the plates up with the greens and sauces. Seven minutes later, I would take both out and plate them. It takes practice. I trained on the station for three days (but all three days it was pretty slow, so I didn't get to practice much). I was looking forward to being on the station alone today so that I could practice, but it was SOOOOOOOO SLOOOOOWWW!!!! I don't think I cooked more than seven items (5 of them came in at once).
Because it was so slow, me and the other intern (she is also from CIA) made a special dessert. We took chocolate ice cream and added graham cracker crumbs, marshamallows, and hershey bars. We pressed it into a graham cracker crust and drizzled caramel sauce over the top. OMG it was SOOOOOO good!!!!

Right Answer, Audrey.

APRIL 26, 2009. A day that I will remember for a while, only because it was absolutely GORGEOUS outside, and I was inside a kitchen all day. We kind of knew it would be wicked busy for the days leading up to it. The restaurant opened its patio seating (extra 100 seats i think) and we had TONS of reservations. Plus it was Sunday, a beautiful day to be outside. The day went somewhat smoothly. We were prepped, so we never ran out of food (except for a temporary hold on littleneck clams, also called 86'ing the littlenecks, thats a term in the kitchen for when something is out of stock) we put them back on the menu about an hour later when the daily shellfish order arrived. And we only got minorly set back with salads and raw bar orders. It became confusing as to which salads we had made and which ones we hadn't. We actually waited until there were no salads in the window and until servers had to call for them so we would know which ones we had done and not done.
I was so ready to go home at 4 pm when my shift was over, until Adi (the chef, but we call him Adi, not chef, its a very informal kitchen!), calls out, "Hey Audrey, you wanna stay a few extra hours?" The way he asked was pretty much saying, "Audrey you are staying a few extra hours, thats not choice." And because I had tons of adrenaline running through me, I yelled back, "sure! I would love too! (but there was also someone working there that I have a tiny crush on, so I was okay with staying, SHHHHH.) Then one of the food runners looks at me and just laughs probably thinking, "that was stupid, hahahahahaha." And then I look at Adi after I gave him my answer and he looks at the sous chef and says, "she gave the right answer," almost like it was a way to test my value as an intern....either way, I only stayed 3 extra hours, no big deal, but I was tired. I think I'm on his good side though now, or he just knows that I have a hard time saying no to anything and now he will take advantage of it. I'll report back later.

BURN #2

Yup. I burnt myself again. I was making bacon and my wrist hit the oven door, so I have a nice mark on my arm. It was funny cuz after it happened, I looked at the chef and was like, "Chef I just burnt myself." and I show him. Then I'm like, "its about time I burnt myself here! I've been here 2 weeks and it took me that long to get hurt!" And he looks at me and is like, "NO!! Don't think that way!" I guess you had to be there. ANyways, I uploaded a photo of it.

DAY 1 at The Mooring

Today was my first day of work, and it was awesome! It wasn't that busy of a day, it was actually quite slow, but that was what I was hoping for. That way I would be able to learn my way around the kitchen. I worked with Rudy in the pantry/pastry/raw bar station. Rudy is from Guatemala, which is awesome, because now I can practice my Spanish. I understood most of what he said, and I think he understood what I said. Currently, only one person works those three stations, but once the volume increases, it goes to at least 2 people, sometimes 3. We did a lot of stocking of food items today, which gave me the chance to figure out where things are stored.
When we got a ticket for a salad/dessert/raw bar item, I would make it because for me the best way to learn anything is hands on practice. I know what is in all the salads, I just need to work a little faster I think, but hey, for day one, not bad.
We got a ticket for the Grand Sampler, which is a raw bar item with 6 oysters, 6 clams, 6 shrimp, and 3 lobster claws. Rudy helped me with everything, and it was my first time opening a clam. THAT is going to take practice. I'm not that bad at opening oysters though. I'm happy we got a ticket for that because now I know what it is.
As we were nearing 4 pm (when I go home), Tim (the sous chef) and Marina and I were trying to think of an appetizer to go with a wine tasting that takes place every week over on Belleview Ave. We came up with a roasted/pulled duck leg with caramelized onions and a raspberry wine reduction in puff pastry. I think it will be delicious. I stayed a few minutes past 4 o'clock to be able to finish it. As a joke, Tim was giving me a hard time for not being on my station. He was like, "gosh Audrey, for Day 1 you sure are being lazy!!"
I really like the kitchen as of Day 1. There is a lot of humor going around, and that is the type of kitchen I like to work in. The people are great and I feel that I will fit in (unlike some of my past jobs).

Move-in Day to Newport, RI

So I moved to Newport today. Pretty crappy day though cuz it was raining the whole drive down and while I was moving in. The rain has subsided though, its just misting now, but even still, weather sucks. My apartment is actually quite large. I am the only one in it for the first 2 or 3 weeks, which will make it quite lonely. There is a living room, eating area, kitchen, bathroom, and three bedrooms that hold 5 people total. There is no internet, no cable, and no roommates as of now, so its boring there. I moved all my stuff in and headed out (in the car, not the bike) and wandered around, trying to find my way to and from the restaurant and trying to find an internet cafe. I found a Panera and was able to find a parking space (free parking until April 30th, sweet!!).
As i was walking to Panera though, I looked at all the shops, and its very dangerous here! So many cute shops but I'm sure they are expensive.
I brought my bike too, so tomorrow I'll be riding around to get used to the town (its also much easier to get around that way because there are lots of one way roads and traffic gets pretty bad come summertime).
As for move in day, my chef told me to just hang around and he wanted me to stop into the restaurant tonight (he's gonna feed me, haha).
Tomorrow I am going in to the restaurant around noon to fill out papers, do orientation, and just chat with the chef (probably about goals and stuff). After that, I have the whole rest of the day.
Tuesday I have off, which is excellent. I'll be using that to bike around and go window shopping, read, cut out recipes from magazines, most likely come to Panera (my internet source).

I am SOOO excited to be here!!! Im gonna try to write pretty frequently.

My visit to Newport, RI

I am home now from school. I am home until March 30th, then I go down to Newport, RI for my externship at the Mooring Restaurant where I will work in the kitchen until August 3rd. This is a required piece of the school's curriculum. I met the chef when i went in for my interview back in January. I scheduled to go down to the restaurant to check it out and so that Chef Adi could meet my parents. It is about a 2 1/2 hour drive to Newport from NH, not bad.
The restaurant is located RIGHT on the water, no joke. The view is amazing, even though we went when it was snowing, the view was still incredible. I can just imagine it on a summer day when the marina is LOADED with yachts of all sizes. I am excited to see the town of Newport come to life.
Before we went to lunch, we drove around the town to see the mansions. They are just breathtaking. My mom kept commenting on how I would be better off bringing a bike to get from point A to point B because it is so busy there with cars. It is also healthier and nothing is really that far away in Newport. Biking is going to be my means of transportation, even though I will have a car down there.
As for the restaurant itself, they just completed a renovation. It is very nice inside and they have deck seating in the summer. We were sat in a separate room from the main dining room to allow for a view of the water. Chef came out almost immediately and all four of us (my parents, me and Chef Adi) talked about working at the restaurant, the accomodations, and about how Chef ended up at the Mooring Restaurant. My parents took an instant liking to him because they could tell he enjoyed working and enjoyed taking externs. I am very excited to work for him. He even said himself he is not a screamer, not a yeller, or a pot thrower, or a throat grabber, but he pushes you. People respect him because of his warm personality.
Chef brought out two complimentary appetizers, which coincidentally, where the two that I wanted to order the most. Duck confit tacos with white bean salsa and seafood fritters. Those appetizers were soooo delicious!! I am so excited to work there!!
After our meal, chef drove us to the apartment that I would be staying in, which is only 2-ish miles from the restaurant, so I will be riding my bike to work every day, most likely. I cannot wait to start working. I will also be getting two days off a week, which is excellent because then I can tour the town, ride around, and even take trips to Block Island and Providence. I am going to be spending a lot of time outside.

BYE-BYE CIA.....Done with my first year

IM DONE!! I have officially finished my first year of school here at CIA. It went sooo quickly. But the amount of stuff I have learned is overwhelming. I regret not taking pictures of what I did in class, but I guess I was just too busy having fun! I am excited to go home so I can practice what I have learned and maybe do some more experimentation. I am home until march 30th, then I go down to Newport, RI for my externship at the Mooring Restaurant and Seafood Bar.

PASSING the PRACTICAL!!!

I PASSED!. Not only did I pass, I got a HIGH PASS!!! I got a 95!!!!!!!!! THE FIRST TIME!!! Chef said he was pissed cuz I am one of the few, very few, who get a high pass on their first time. I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!! The second I sat down with my food, he asked how I feel I did. I said good, and he looked over at my station, which was in clear view for him the WHOLE time, and he saw my three pieces of paper with the recipes, timelines, etc, hanging up, and he said, "yea, I can tell you feel good, your timelines and preparation is exceptional!!"

I started cooking at 2:50, but I had from 2:10 until that time to gather everything including pots, pans, utensils, food. I could start measuring, but I could not cut anything. By the time 2:50 rolled around, I was ready to go. I had to present no later than 5:20, but I could give the chef food as early as 5:05.

The menu was this:
Grilled Swordfish with Sauce Bearnaise
Rice Pilaf
Tomato Duxelle
Buttered Green Beans
SOUP: Chicken Consomme

I drew this menu and I was very excited, because I had not heard much hype, so I was not worried. I was very comfortable with this choice. I got rolling on gathering everything.

As for how my station was set up, I was right next to where the Chef sat to grade, so everything I did, he saw. I made sure my station stayed clean and organize, that I washed my hands, did not cross contaminate anything. I washed my cutting board at least 5 times. I knew that he was watching my every move.

The first thing I started on was my consomme. I knew that would take at least an hour, if not longer, to develop both flavor and color. Once that was simmering, I spent a good 10 minutes on my garnish for the consomme because it had to be julienne, and I wanted it perfect. I blanched them off and had them ready to re-heat.

I then made my duxelle, making sure to season the tomatoes. Ahh waht I am talking about, I don't need to go through everything I did.

Anyways, I had my soup ready easily by 4:15, I just had to keep it hot, so by 5:05, I plated it up in hot soup cups and brought it to chef. I then went back to my station to plate everything else, so by 5:15, I was done.

I was very happy with my fish especially because the marks were flawless. I did not have the heat too high on the grill pan and there was not too much oil. I cross hatched it and flipped it, so that there were cross hatches on both sides. This did not cook the fish, I finished it in the oven. I knew that the marks would get too dark if I tried to cook it on the grill, even though it was not that thick of fillets. Around 4:10, everything started to come together. I had my tomatoes stuffed and ready to go in the oven, my consomme was strained and staying hot, my fish was marked, my rice was cooking, and my green beans were blanched off. The timing worked perfectly. Everything was piping hot, pefectly cooked, perfectly seasoned (but the duxelle had a bit too much roasted garlic and the consomme had one too many cloves (the spice, not garlic). Other than that, everytihng was perfect!! The plate looked really nice too, damn, I should have taken a picture. Chef loved everything and I just couldnt wipe the smile off my face! I knew I did well, but did not know how well because I would not know my grade till later that night.

After he sat down with me and my food, I went to wash dishes until everyone else was finished. After the kitchen was clean, we did the oral, which was where he asks us questions about cooking, all of which we learned during Skills 1 and 2. I was the third to go. The way he asks the questions was weird. He would ask a quesiton, then ask a question inside of the question. Example: tell me about stocks....(answer)...okay, now, what's the cooking time for that stock?. It just kept going. But I was getting everything right. The only question I was flustered on was the question about puree vs cream soups. He talked me through it and I surprisingly got it right. I got alll 10 of my questions right!!!! The whole time I could tell he was looking for a way to nail me and take points off. He wrote some numbers down after that, and asked me how I did on my costing practical. I said, I passed. He said, well, with what? I said, i got three wrong, so an 85? and He goes, thats too bad, cuz this is what you got tonight for your cooking practical and he had circled HIGH PASS!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHH. Before I started to cry, I asked if I could leave, and he goes yea, just dont scream. Then he says, "oh, by the way, I'm pretty pissed because very very few people do as well as you do their first time"

I am still in shock about tonight. I feel so good though that I did so well. I never freaked out, there were never any big mistakes, I worked efficiently, stayed calm, knew what I was going. I'm just, I don't know how to react. Maybe a glass of wine to celebrate will calm me down!

The Dreaded Cooking Practical, Pass or Fail

Before we leave on externship, we have to take a cooking practical. We are given 6 different menus that we have to prepare for because we draw a menu that day of the practical. We have 2 1/2 hours to prepare a soup and an entree. We have cooked all of these items during Skills 1, 2, 3, so nothing is unfamiliar. I saved most of my recipes from those classes, so prepping the recipes was not hard. The hard part was the week leading up to my practical

As each day went by before my practical, more and more of my classmates were failing, and those that passed were just barely passing. I started to get worried. The chef was picking out the little things, according to the students. I listened to the tips and hints they could give me about how to not mess up, which was hard for this chef because he had specific ways of doing things that we are not taught in school. I mentally prepared myself to pick out every single detail and avoid failing. I made sure I understood my recipes, made detailed game plans and read over everything.

The thing that is occuring with most classmates is that they are failing the first time, and when they take it the second, they get a very high grade, which apparently is common with this chef. I don't want to go into the practical with the "second chance" mentality. I want to pass it my first time. I am mentally prepared and I know what I am doing, I just cannot get flustered.

I found an externship!!!

For so long I have been stressing out about finding a place to do my externship (internship). I had my resume out at too many places to count, but the reply I kept getting was that either they were fully staffed or that the economy was slowing business, so they could not take externs! As my time here as a freshman was winding down, I was really worrying that I would not find an externship before my deadline of Feb 18th.
When I found out that the Newport Restaurant Group was coming to our school to hold interviews, I scheduled an interview because I had held interest in two of five restaurants. They are located in Newport, RI, which is a massive tourist attraction, especially the timing of my externship (spring into summer). The interview was with the chef of the corporation and the chef of the Mooring Restaurant (a seafood restaurant right on the ocean). The interview went so well that I was offered a position at the Mooring Restaurant at the interview! I told them I would get back to them in a couple days (but I really just responded the next day). I am soo excited because they provide housing by taking a small amount of each paycheck, and the housing is with other interns working within the Newport Restaurant Group.
I am so happy to finally have a secured externship, especially with the NRG, because I have heard nothing but great things about all the chefs of that corporation! I am really looking forward to starting (Mid March or April-ish). I feel like a thousand pounds was lifted off my back knowing that I finally have a location!

VACATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WOOT WOOT!!! December 18th was my last day of classes. I have been on vacation for a little over 2 weeks, driving back to my home (CIA) tomorrow. While my first week of vacation was spent out in Lake Tahoe skiing the best snow of my life, I really started to miss school. All of my friends are at that school and I realized how much at home i feel there. It was nice to get away, ill admit, and to refresh my brain before I start my next class (continue reading for more info). It was also nice to be able to shower without having to wear flip flops (community bathrooms, which I can't complain about because they are constantly clean, since we dont have to clean them!) My bed at school is definitely more comfortable than the one here in New Hampsha. I miss my roommate too! She and I are pretty much best friends, so its been hard to not see her for this long (she's been pretty much out of contact because of where she is spending vacation). I get to see her tomorrow though, thankfully. AHH I'm so excited to finally be going back, which is funny, cuz most kids would dread going back to school after vacation.


As for this class I am talking about, its called Cuisines of Asias. The chef is Michael Pardus, who is pretty much a legend in the school cuz he knows so much. He has tons of books written about him and he is wicked smart. I don't wanna say too much, but I hear his class is wicked hard cuz of how he teaches. I am not THAT worried. You just have to be WICKED prepared, like, KNOW your recipes inside and out. I have been pretty good about being prepared, so this will be a good challenge. I am just lucky that I had these two weeks to prepare, compared to the 3 day weekends we usually get between classes! I have a good group for the first few days, so I'm not too worried, I'm looking forward to (excuse my language) getting my ASS KICKED!!!! I'll keep you updated on the drama

AHH I'm so sorry I haven't been writing!!

So its definitely been over a month since i posted something! My bad. Long story short: this last block I was in was called Cuisine of the Americas. Every two days, we studied a different region of America. (New England, Florida and Caribbean, Southwest, Deep South, Northwest, Mexico, South America). I really liked this class because of the different cuisines we studied and the new ingredients we worked with. I ate too much good food (the people in my class cook well, so the food constantly turns out good.

I am really enjoying my time at school. Learning sooo much!