A Moveable Feast

How I became a waitress

Last weekend I became a waitress. Now before you get worried about another career change in my up and down adventures in French kitchens, this was just for a couple of minutes. And it was in Germany.

My mother had planned to celebrate her birthday last Friday with my father, my sister and some of their closest friends in a restaurant near their home (a little town in north-west Germany, somewhere between Hannover and Amsterdam). What she did not know, was that my sister, my grandmother and I had prepared a big surprise together for that evening since a while. My mother thought that I was working in Paris, and that her monther was at her home in Bavaria, about 700 km away, but in fact my grandmother and me met on Thursday evening secretely at my sister's home, my grandmother (87 years old!) arriving by train and me by plane.

Thursday the three of us spent a day together "secretely" in Hanover, where my sister lives, and the next day we all travelled to the restaurant (2 hours from Hanover). I had told the restaurant owners about our surprise plans, and they were all excited about the idea and wanted to help us make it a big success. So while my parents, my sister and their friends arrived, my grandmother and I were hidden by the owner family in the breakfast room of the hotel/restaurant. Then, when it was time for my family and their friends to look at the menu, the restaurant owner came into the breakfast room, I put on the waitress uniform, took the menus under my arm and went out in the dining room. Everybody looked at me with this "a new waitress ! And she reminds me of someone"-look, and when I handed the menu to my mother, she couldn't believe it. I think the pictures tell the rest. The surprise was more than perfect.

   

I messed up the subsequent distribution of the menus, so I did not get hired by the restaurant. I gave my mother a couple of minutes to recover from "the shock", before I gave the secret sign to the real waitress, and ordered a glass of champagne, which meant, she was now supposed to get my grandmother from the breakfast room, whom my mother believed to be in Bavaria. And then my grandmother appeared with a glass of champagne. This was too much...and my mother didn't know anymore whether to laugh or to cry.

We did not stop laughing all evening, and it was lots of fun for everybody.

Below two snapshots of my "little" sister and me. Difficult to say who's the younger one of us, isn't it !?!. First still well behaved, then a couple of glasses of wine later falling with our heads -pretending to be tired- on the table during a boring speech of one of the party guests, whose identity I will not make public here. But I can say we did not fail to get more attention than the speaker by doing this ;)

   

Because I work Sundays, unfortunately I had to travel back already the next day to Paris. So it was a very short trip but definitely worth it. But I'll be back soon on a friends & family tour through Germany (and the US) in August, when the restaurant will be closed for 4 weeks...

Jetzt faengt das Leben an...

Liebe Mami, bonne anniversaire, und viele liebe Geburtstagsgruesse, feier schoen, flipp ruhig ein bisschen aus.

Fuer das Geburtstagsstaendchen moechte ich Dich gerne auf diesen Blog-Eintrag verweisen :

http://moveablefeast.typepad.com/a_moveable_feast/2007/11/mit-da-faengt-d.html

2 months late

I had almost given up hope this year. Eventually with only two months delay I am able to put away my Sub Zero Down Ski jacket that I have been wearing since November now everyday. Just when we almost got used to the nightmare, temperatures rose for the first time this year above 5 degrees this weekend and it stoppped raining as well. Actually the thermometer showed 25 degrees, and so spring was simply skipped this year and we moved directly from winter to summer within one day. Sorry for the boring topic, the wheather. But no. It is amazing how sudden sunshine has the capacity to change my mood and thoughts. From one day to the other I have given up plans to leave this city, country or even the whole continent, to move to the carribean forever. Paris (probably like any other place in the world ?) becomes an irresistable city in the sun, and thoughts about one day opening a little bistrot here (why move to Provence ?) even crossed my mind.

Just 10 minutes walk from my home, the Luxembourg garden below, where Parisiens and tourists relax in a beautiful setting, as soon as the sun is out.

Ferrandi Anglo - the next generation

Last Thursday I went out dining with Joan and Andrew. They are both readers of my blog and current Anglo students at Ferrandi in Chef Sebastien's class. We wanted to check out the tasting menu at Ze Kitchen Galerie, which received its first Michelin star this year. The 7 course menu was amazing, although we found the use of ginger, lemongrass, coriander and lots of foam became a little repetitive across the menu, and somehow in my memory the combinations of spices and condiments had been a bit more creative in the past. One of the desserts was so good, that I ordered it a second time a la carte after the end of the menu. It was "glace chocolat blanc - wasabi, pistache - torrone, jus de the vert" (white chocolate ice cream on pistachio-wasabi sauce). Trop trop bon.

By the end of the meal and a good bottle of Chablis I felt sorry for the two for having to get up the next morning early for the cuisine class. So Andrew came up with the idea to invite me to join the class for the regional menu at Ferrandi the next day, which was a day off for me. I was so excited about the idea, and hoped chef Sebastien would not have any objections.

In the middle of the night, 8:30 am, I received Andrew's SMS, that everything was o.k. I was so happy to have that opportunity ! I joined the class at noon, and as they were late (nothing has changed compared to last year ;), I could sneak around in the kitchen and watch the students work and chat with them about their experience for an hour. Some had just finished their first stages at the same restaurants I had, and it was fun to hear about their impressions. Of course I also took the opportunity to share with Chef Sebastien all my up and down adventures of the last months. 

Check out the current Anglo class below, some great talents among them, you will certainly see them in a couple of years on magazine front covers when they have become famous chefs. From left to right : Eldar, Chef Sebastien, Amanda, Andrew, Chris, Joan, Julie (both hidden), and Felipe.

And this is the menu that I was lucky to taste, based on specialties of the Charente-Maritime region. I was amazed to see what the students were able to create after just a couple of months training, and I admire Chef Sebatien's everlasting energy to teach people who don't even know how to hold a knife within a couple of months the foundations for this passionate profession, over and over again every year. Chapeau Chef !

   

   

Dear Anglo 2007/08 class, thank you for the invitation, the great menu and the opportunity to spend time with you. It was a great pleasure to meet you. Good luck for the exams and your cooking career !

Amy Macdonald - Mr. Rock & Roll

This song is currently playing in an endless loop and quite loud whenever I am at home (and not sleeping between services). It reflects my current good mood, or manages easily to get me into it...

Le Pont Alexandre III

On my day off today I walked a lot trying to enjoy Paris, despite the ugly winter wheather I am getting now really tired of. To walk from the Dome des Invalides in the 7th to the Grand Palais in the 8th arrondissement you have to cross the Seine on one of Paris most beautiful bridges, the pont Alexandre III, a gift from the Russian Tsar to France for the Universal Exhibition in 1900. An opportunity to take some postcard pictures.

   

Tarte fine aux tomates, chorizo et chevre frais

This month I am back at "le froid", the garde manger and patisserie section, where all starters and desserts are prepared and plated. Whenever I get to do a new "entrée du jour" or "plat du jour" like the one today I think I have won the lottery by working in this bistrot. Who needs a two star Michelin recipe ?! I love those simple, easy and quick to make but beautiful and tasty ideas, and I keep track of them in a little notebook, for potential later use in my own place....

Today the special starter was a "tarte fine" : tomato slices, chorizo (spicy Spanish sausage) and goat cheese arranged on puff pastry. And I got to make them !

For the special of the day we usualy prepare 10-20 pieces. This is my "workbench" this morning. They were finished in the oven before the service by 11 a.m.. Then during service, when there was a customer order simply put a minute under the salamander (grill) again to reheat, with a tiny heap of salad in the center.

The chorizo looks a little bit burnt, but the chef insisted that I leave the tartes that long in the oven, to make sure the dough "puffs" up correctly. I really would have liked to take it out a little bit earlier...

Unfortunately, out of the 30 clients or so that we had today, only 3 ordered this starter special. A pity, because the combination while it is surprising and maybe not so common, tastes simply delicious. So the starter of the day turned into an "amuse bouche" for the dinner service tonight (last photo), and probably becomes the staff meal tomorrow....

Are you the chef ?

Tonight I had another one of those happy moments, that remind me of the reasons why I am going through all this. Yes, despite all the nice photos and stories and all the things that I am learning, I am still "going through something", (especially crazy coworkers). While there is much less pressure and pain in the bistrot than in the two star restaurant, I still can't say that it is a place I really love going to, and in any professional kitchen I will probably never be as comfortable as in the HP environment, until I will be running the show myself. Or maybe the grass was just greener on the other side ? ;)

Anyway.... tonight during service one of the waiters mentioned that there was a chef from New York among our guests. I was very curious, and kept asking the waiters for details, but they didn't bother. So after my service was finished, I walked by the table that the waiter had shown me. And to my surprise there were four women. So I just stopped, and started talking to them (nothing to even think about in the two star restaurant). I asked where they were from (new jersey), which restaurant they was working for. And it turned out they had just talked about me as well, as they were excited to see a woman coming out of the kitchen. An then the killer question "ARE YOU THE CHEF ?" Oh that felt so good ! I know that the rest of my work week will be more fun, because I am now reminded that all this is a transition and I am working towards being able to answer "YES !" one day.

Millefeuille de carpaccio et choux vert croquant a la thai

Here is one of my favourite entrées du jour of the bistrot I have been working at now for two months already. The chef proprietaire, while running this so traditional french bistrot, loves thai cuisine and from time to time he adds a thai twist to the starters or dishes of the day. Therfore there has always to be ginger, lemon grass and coriander in the fridge. I love it, but it is not very well accepted by our customers, who come to our place mainly for blanquette de veau, foie gras, pied de porc or sole meuniere, so unfortunately this entrée du jour did not sell at all.

Millefeuille means "thousand leaves" and while originally the name for a dessert with alternating layers of puff pastry and vanilla cream, it is used these days for any dish that has at least two alternating layers of two different ingredients. Typing this it just comes to my mind, that with this new "fashion" Lasagne could be called in a much more sophisticated way something like "Millefeuille de boeuf tomaté, feuilles de pates italienne et parmiggiano gratiné". How about that !?!

I had been in charge to "produce" this starter, and I liked it so much that I redid at home.

Green cabbage is shredded and fried just a minute in oil, only peppered, not salted (the salt will come later through the soja sauce). It is very important that the cabbages stays crunchy. For the seasoning mix olive oil, soja sauce, finely chopped lemon grass, garlic, coriander. (At home I also added chopped ginger an a little bit of hot red pepper). Season the cabbage with this mix like a salad. Alternate layers of thinly slices raw beef filet and seasoned cabbage three times. Finish with a coriander leaf.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter everybody...

Danke Nina fuer die Vorlage ;)

An ordinary day - part 2

During my break in the Café de la Place I decided I needed to do a bit more than just not sleep if I wanted to make the day feel a bit more extraordinary. The issue was, because of French laws I couldn't take a day off, and because of the working hours I couldn't really go out or celebrate or meet friends.

The only people I would be able to meet this year on my birthday were my new colleagues. So before returning back for the dinner service I bought the best chocolate cake in my neighbourhood patisserie. My new colleagues were really pleased, and I was glad that I had done it, because even if I hadn't told anybody about my birthday in the morning, they had found out through management. So one of the waiters surprised me with a flower bouquet, and then they put the "happy birthday" tape on very loud. Eventually I got the birthday feeling. After the service, the waiters invited me for a glass of champagne, and so on my way home in the metro with my flowers in hand, I could not stop to smile all the way....

Tomorrow after the lunch service my weekly 2.5 days off start, and I will take the train to Brussels where I meet my parents, and so the birthday feeling and smile should continue.

An ordinary day !?

Just like any day since beginning of February I left my appartment at 8:40 a.m., took the metro 10 stations to get out at "La Madeleine", entered the bistrot, had a very good espresso before climbing down the hundreds of years old wooden stairs into the "cave" and locker rooms to get into my cooks uniform. 

Official working time to be in the kitchen is 9 a.m., but with everybody having an esprosso first, it usually gets 9.15. For the month of March I am assigned to working "au chaud", on the hot line. This morning I prepared a "gratin dauphinois", which was the side dish for the "plat du jour", the entrecote. It needed to be planned to be for 20-30 orders, so it was a huge gratin. Then the usual "mise en place" checking if of everything for the service was ready and in enough quantity in the fridges, from lemons, to tomatoe cubes, to meat, fish, scallops, lobster, precooked vegetable. I cooked some potatoes, that are served with the sole meuniere and the "blanquette de veau", and prepared the mini-legumes that go with the lobster. Before 11 I also finished preparing the meal for the staff (4 cooks, 1 dishwasher and 4 servers), today roastbeef and pasta.

Like every day at 11 a.m. the chef kicked us out of the kitchen, even if we wanted to continue with the mise-en-place. But he insists on everybody respecting the break time. It is the first of the restaurants I have been working at where the staff eats at the normal customer tables and not on the pass or on the working benchens, so I am enjoying those 45 minutes. Like everyday I get back into the kitchen at 11:45 and double checked if everything was ready for the service to start. I quickly produced a sauce Bernaise, that we were running short of, that is served with the filet-frites. The amount is 10 times more that we used to do at school, so the techique and tools need to be adjusted a little bit, but I can do a sauce Bearnaise for 100 people perfectly now in one shot ! Customers come in starting at noon, and are accepted until 3 p.m. Today it was my turn to cook everything, while an appretice did the plating. Usually we take turns. The chef just interfered, when we were starting to "drown" or to be "dans le jus" (in the juice, or losing it).

We sold a lot of "blanquette de veau" today, a dish that goes very well, when it is cold outside. Basically it is a combination of big cubes of veal, carrots, bacon, potatoes, and small onions in a thick creamy sauce, not light but very yummy and the specialty of the bistrot. I also cooked ris de veau, andouillette, chicken breast with vegetables, pork feet, sole meuniere, filets de boeuf, "saignant" and "a point" perfectly mastered, something that was a mystery to me only 1 month ago, the plat du jour, entrecotes served with my gratin that the chef had complimented. Around 1 p.m. the apprentice and I got a bit in trouble, because the tickets were flowing in all at the same time. For each table the machine spits out a ticket twice, once when the customer orders (la commande), and once when the waiter wants the order on the customer table (la reclame). Depending on whether the customer has a starter or not, drinks an apero or not, eats slow or fast, the time between the reception of the two tickets at the hot line can be anything between 1 second and 20 minutes. So I started to lose it a little between knowing what I had to cook for sending out immediately, or what I had to prepare for later. Sometimes you can't wait for the second ticket, for example a pork feet cooks at least 15 minutes, so it must go in the oven with the first ticket. For an entrecote on the other hand, you just start to sear it, when you get the second ticket, and then imagine 15 tickets getting in at the same time... But the chef interfered a little bit to set the priorities and very quickly we were back on track.

(my current work area at the end of today's service, with the last order for a table of two on the pass : a steak-frites with sauce bearnaise and an entrecote)

It got quiet for me around 2 p.m. when the last customers all had their main courses and moved on to desserts. But this month I am not in charge of them. So at that time I started to clean my area, the stove, the workbench, moving items back into the fridges, and cleaning the floor while being ready for late customers, which we have to accept, but everybody hates when they walk in at 2:50. Whether there is something to do or not, we have to stay in the kitchen until 3 p.m. and then are kicked out by the chef again. I took the metro back home, usually I take my afternoon nap before getting back at 6 p.m. to start the service at 6:45. But I decided I will skip the nap today, and instead be awake the most time possible today, and offer myself a nice café in the Café de la Place. 

Actually I don't want this day to be just an ordinary day.

A list of moments

"There is no happiness; there are only moments of happiness” says a Spanish proverb. I think there might be some truth to that. The last days I had a couple of such moments that made me smile for a while ....

Moment #1 :
The chef-owner of my bistrot is not present all the time, he comes in usually three days a week for the lunch service (he is also busy running a second restaurant). Then everybody gets nervous, when he is around, as he is pushing us to accelerate, is very demanding and creating quite some pressure. As long as he is not stressing me too much (he did become a little impatient with me a couple of times), I am quite excited when he is in, as he is the only one of the kitchen team with gastronomic experience including working for Ducasse. For example he turns mistakes into a kind of quiz to make people think why things turned out not the way they were supposed to. Why did the dough not become crispy ? Why is the dessert too liquid ? Also he is forcing everybody to taste every special of the day. But in general the team is very stressed out, when he is around, because he is double checking everything and often makes people redo all their work. When he came in this morning he said the pear tart he had seen yesterday, was the best one he has seen in a very very long time. (Every day we do one apple or pear tart as the "dessert du jour".) I will let my readers guess who had done that pear tart yesterday ! Any idea ? Writing this makes me smile again. I know that details and precision in pastry is something that I have a talent for, but it was very very good for my ego and for some recognition within the team, to have the big boss mentioning it very loud to everybody.

Moment #2 :
One thing I still find difficult is coming home around midnight from work, and go to bed immediately to get the quantity of sleep I would need at my age. I should, but I simply can't and don't want to. So to wind down, I need to have a little bit of entertainment, and since the energy level at that hour is relatively low and even in the animated Monparnasse neighbourhood everything closes down around midnight, I mostly end up in front of the TV. Since a couple of days I have a new internet subscription, that includes international TV programs, and I am sooo happy to be able to switch to something else than French TV. So now every night at midnight I have 30 happy minutes with Jay Leno, that make me giggle and sometimes laugh out lout.

Moment #3 :
Talking about the neighbourhood closing down at midnight (on weekdays), yesterday after my night service, I walked by the Cafe de la Place just before midnight on my way home. It was empty but outside in the rain was my favourite waiter having a cigarette (Since Jan 1st smoking is forbidden in bars and restaurants in France). Since he is always so nice to me, always guesses what I want to order before I even can pronounce it and makes me feel at home there, I decided to stop, shake hands and chat a little bit. Somehow we got to talk about my new profession, my exam last year (I spent all May and June with my books there to study) and life changes. Then he revealed his story, he was not the long experienced waiter that I thougth he was, but in fact the manager of the Cafe de la Place, having left his job as a trader at the Paris stock exchange 2 years ago at the age of 50, just to do eventually something that he enjoys, even if it has nothing to do with his education and university degrees. Amazing. I was very happy that I had decided to stop for a chat, and guess I will spend now even more time in the Cafe de la Place. I want to find out more about his story and who knows maybe even get some advice about my own project from someone who is already 2 steps ahead of me. 

Moment(s) #4:
I am counting down the days until Wednesday next week, I will get a year older again, and to celebrate the occasion I will cross the French border and meet some people that have considerably contributed to my existence on this planet, in Brussels durning my 2.5 days off. There will be happy moments then (Belgium is famous for beer, French (!) fries and chocolate truffels), but the moments of anticipation this week are happy too.

Carpaccio de Saint-Jacques

One of the great advantages of my new workplace is, that during weekdays we offer a lunch menu that changes daily, the "plat du jour", so besides the items on the standard menu I have the potential to learn 12 new dishes every week (I don't work Fridays), or 564 dishes if I stay one year (deducting 5 weeks restaurant closure), one starter, one fish main course, one meat main course every weekday. The exciting observations for me besides the recipes are the customer responses to certain dishes and the organization, to make sure we can get them out in quantities during "rush hour" without any delay.

One of the l'entrées du jour (starter of the day) that is very popular, is a carpaccio de Saint Jacques (Scallops), and we offer it now almost every week. During the mise en place time in the morning we usually prepare 20 plates arranging the scallops cut in thin slices, store the plates in the fridge and at the moment of the customer order, we finish the plate by drizzling truffle oil, olive oil, freshly squeezed lemon juice, fleur de sel, some parmesan and either a little salad or a heap of green herbs in the center. So it usually takes less than a minute to send the plate out once the order reaches the kitchen us.

I wanted to try something similar today at home, using a new kitchen toy I offered myself last weekend. A siphon compressor in order to start playing around with the currently so popular espumas and chantillys (foams and whipped creams), that are used in professional kitchens far beyond creating just plain whipped cream.

And I found a nice recipe in the book "espumas & chantilly" (editions marabout). One year ago I would not have dared to buy scallops with the shell, but now I open hundreds of them every Sunday in the bistrot, so you could say I know the technique and I am getting fast at it. So of course I am buying them now with the shell.

For the cream mix that goes into the siphon, mix :

- liquid cream
- soja sauce
- olive oil
- 5 epices (spice mix)
- lime juice

Then arrange thin slices of raw scallops on a round plate, ideally not white, to create a better color contrast. Drizzle with a mix of lime zest, olive oil and soja sauce. With the siphon add the cream mix in the center of the plate.

Decorate with afalfa sprouts, spring onions and lime zests. You do not need salt, as the soja sauce in the whipped cream and the vinaigrette contain enough salt. That's all ! And there you have a light, beautiful, not so ordinary starter ! Bon appétit !

La vie en rose

To see la vie en rose is much better than going on with a Paris Blues...

I can do that again since a couple of weeks. Against everybody's well meant advice I quit the 2 star restaurant 4 weeks ago. Too many negative things had accumulated, that resulted in total demotivation. The most difficult was that they were expecting too much from me, that I could just not deliver in the given time, so others had to always help me and bad comments and remarks didn't stop. While I did learn a lot in the short time I spent there I was not happy at all, and increasingly unpleasant personal comments from the second made my decision easy. I am now really done with the stars. I am glad I made the experience but this world is not for me. I quit on Tuesday Januar 22nd. On the 23rd I was invited to a job interview by a chef who was attracted by my CV that I had distributed on a specific internet site two days before. My search ad was titled "looking for job in bistro with small team and friendly atmosphere". Eventually everything had become clear to me. I do not want to spend many years as an employee in any kitchen. I needed to find a place that is close to what I want to run soon, while still having a life on the side, learning a lot and having some fun too.

On the 24th I started a 4 day test cooking period in the bistrot, and after 2 days the chef-owner offered me a contract as a commis. He said he was interested in my case because if I go through all that at my age, there must be some passion behind... There are two owners of this bistrot, one is the chef who hired me, but fincancially speaking, le "patron" is the guy who founded yahoo Europe. He left yahoo in 1999 with some stock options and to move into capital investment. One of the businesses he invested in, because he obviously loves French food, and the history of this traditional bistrot, is the place I am now working at since one month. From time to time he stops by, says hello to everybody in the kitchen and of course eats at the bistrot. I just love the idea of cooking in a bistrot and being paid by the yahoo Europe founder. It's a nice story.

The dining room of my new bistrot. I love the decoration and the atmosphere. So typical old Parisien. But not only me. We are booked completely most of the time (45 covers). Business lunches and in the evening mostly .... American tourists !!! 

There is much less pressure, although it varies depending on the weekday, better working hours, small team of 5 people in the kitchen, I touch everything, patisserie, cold starters, cooking fish, vegetables, meat, plating. Everything. I learn so many things that will help me for my project, in a much different way than at the 2-star restaurant. Some days are like going back to culinary school. After one month I still like going there, and I plan to stay there about a year. Of course not every day is perfect and there are from time to time bad days as well, but I think that this as good as it can get for me as an employee with my level.

I wanted to wait a bit before writing here about this change. I had moments when I thought; it must be me. Second failure in a row. I am not made to be a professional cook, I cannot be happy in any kitchen, what if it happens again, what if I have chosen the wrong path, what if I am not able to find a place to work ? My life had become very unstable, something which I just don't like. And I just didn't want to write for the third time in a row "I love it here", just to find out that 4 weeks later I hate it. Now it seems some stability is back, I have taken new motivation to go on with my plan, and I will now continue writing about the pleasures and pain of learning to be a cook again. 

Je vois la vie en rose.... And a big Merci to Marion Cotillard, for bringing some positive headlines to France !