Kangsuh Restaurant, NYC (Allis LCB classmate)

In the continuing tradition of keeping in touch with some of my LCB classmates, I was fortunate enough to meet with my classmate Allis in NY for lunch. I was lucky enough to catch Allis while she is home for the Holidays from Tokyo. we had also invited Julia but she was unable to attend due to travel plans. We decided to meet in Koreatown which is along 32nd St between 5th Avenue and Broadway. The street is lined with lots of Korean restaurants which makes it difficult to choose one from another. We decided on Kangsuh Restaurant. I deferred all of the ordering to Allis who is of Korean heritage. My only request was that we include the traditional Korean BBQ in the order. Allis ordered salads, assortment of vegetables marinated in various sauces, and dumpling soup. The table top stove was gas and not the traditional charcoal which Allis pointed out would have been better for flavoring the meats with that great smoky flavor. The meal was tasty and the service was good, but I have to confess we were too busy catching up to focus on the food. Although her job keeps her very busy, Allis has managed to squeeze in a part-time internship at a Tokyo restaurant to keep her cooking hand in the game. She provided me a small glimpse of what it's like behind the scenes of a Japanese kitchen. It's fascinating to see where we have all landed following our Parisian experience. Obviously driven by the passion for food, we have all managed to find our niche, whether full-time or part-time, despite primary careers and personal demands.

I dug up the above picture of Allis which was taken a year ago during a class party following our final written exam. Every time I talk with one of my classmates I think how much fun It would be to go back for Intermediates!

Dutch Chef in Sonoma (Sjoerd LCB Classmate)

What could be better than having your own private chef fly in from Amsterdam and serve you a meal? My buddy Sjoerd and his wife Jayne came for a visit to the wine country and brought their enthusiasm and positive energy not to mention their combined culinary skills. It was a great visit filled with culinary adventures.

Pictured here, the Chef is plating a salmon and roasted fall vegetables for a simple and delicious lunch at my house.

We took a drive through Napa Valley on day one where I had

arranged for a tour of the French Laundry kitchen. We arrived at noon right in the middle of prep. The kitchen was remarkably small but VERY clean and organized and was intensely silent. Interestingly, there is a flat screen TV in the kitchen with a live feed of the kitchen at Per Se in NYC.  Following the tour, to keep the TK theme going, we went to Bouchon for lunch. Excellent!

Our next destination was one of the premiere Napa valley

wineries where we got a nice behind the scenes tour of the grape de-stemming, crush, and the winery kitchen. I am withholding the name of the winery because I may have a forthcoming job offer from the Chef at the winery. It all happened spontaneously when Sjoerd asked the Chef if he needed any help (referring to me). So, the Chef gave me his card and asked me to send in my resume. The job would be for special events at the winery as well as events throughout Napa and Sonoma Valley. This would be an ideal fit with the airline schedule. Needless to say, the resume went out ASAP the next day. I am trying not to get my hopes up too much...stay tuned.

The day was capped with a look through the CIA Greystone

in St Helena followed by a great dinner at the CIA restaurant Wine Spectator. What a beautiful setting. I highly recommend this restaurant. The chefs are students. The students also run the front-of-the- house on weekdays during lunch.

I have to say that the CIA facilities are very impressive. The demo room above put to shame my LCB Paris facility.

Bridges Restaurant, Amsterdam (Sjoerd LCB Classmate)

Many reasons to celebrate today, to include Sjoerd and Jayne's 7th Anniversary, led us to Bridges Restaurant for a taste of fine dining. This restaurant is within the Sofitel hotel and focused on seafood as its specialty. Tonight we opted for a 6 course Chef's tasting menu with wine pairing for each course. Upon seating we were presented with an Arrive' which consisted of a cube of salmon with wasabi and ginger crystals, olives ,and puff pastry mozzarella cheese stick served along with the most delicious Champagne I have ever tasted. Next came the amuse bouche, a sardine with tomato foam on julienned red and yellow pepper topped with a pea shoot garnish. The following course came from the raw bar, an arrangement of raw oysters from Bordeaux, Normandy, and Zeeland (Netherlands). Also, there were 3 shot glasses each filled with a different type of fish or shell fish, herbs, and sauces.

We were then served a starter of lobster prepared cleverly with Indian ingredients. The  half lobster, resting on shiso leaves, was coated with a tandoori sauce, and presented along a coriander pesto sauce,  a yogurt/cucumber sauce, and Nan. The presentation was beautiful.

The main course was a monk fish on a bed of pea risotto, and was coated with a  mussel beurre blanc foam and tempura asparagus.

Finally, after 2 1/2 hours of eating, we were greeted with the dessert pictured to the right. All in all it was a feast, a treat, and a fantastic session for 3 people highly interested in food to discuss and explore fine cuisine. After the meal we managed to get a tour of the kitchen and met the "back of the house". What a night! I'll remember this meal for a long time. Thanks Sjoerd and Jayne for arranging this fantastic night! 

Amsterdam (Sjoerd LCB Classmate)

I'm having fun in Amsterdam visiting Sjoerd and Jayne. I'll keep the writing brief and just share a few pics of my stay so far.

Happy Hour, then went back home to cook

dinner for Jayne

Squid Ink

Rolled out and drying on a broomstick

Skate

Sjoerd demonstrating a Dutch Cooking

technique

Plated

Jayne made dessert

Del Posto, NYC (Julia LCB Classmate)

It has been a week for getting together with LCB classmates. Today it was lunch with Steve and Julia at Del Posto in NYC. Del Posto is a Mario Batali 1 Star Michelin restaurant on 10th Ave in the meat packing district. Julia and I became fast friends when we found ourselves in the same practical group among a bunch of young 20 somethings. We had shared a few meals together in Paris and had last met in January at the restaurant Boulevard in San Francisco where I had met Steve and Julia for a nice dinner.

It was great to meet once again over this delicious 3 course meal. Regrettably, I have no pictures to share (how could I forget my camera!). It was lots of catching up and talking about food, restaurants, and LCB classmates as we worked our way through the fixed price lunch. By the way, this is a great deal for $29! I had done my research on yelp and the consensus is that the fixed price lunch is the way to go. I had a lobster salad for the antipasti (Additional $10), the grilled lamb chop with ceci and swiss chard ragu for the secondi, and the  chocolate ricotta tortino for the dolci. The service was impeccable with a team of waiters hovering about at the appropriate times. Great lunch!

It makes my layovers so much fun when I can actually meet friends and share such great dining experience with them. Julia has no plans to further attend LCB, but as she cooks in her own kitchen she is realizing, as I have, the depth of the education we received in Basic Cuisine. One of these days we'll have to get together and cook.

Willis Seafood, Healdsburg (Alan LCB Classmate)

I always maintained that one of the most rewarding aspects of my culinary education in Paris was the people that I met. Today I made a trip up to my old town of Healdsburg. I lived there for 2 years in mid 2000's and it was fitting to go back to meet my old LCB classmate Alan (the "big guy" as I would refer to him in my posts). Alan is in Northern CA for a week from his home in Wyoming. It was great seeing him. We managed to meet at one of my favorite restaurants Willi's Seafood which is actually not really a seafood place but a tapas restaurant. What a place to meet a fellow foodie! As the plates of delicious tapas paraded across our table we talked about the past and the future of our culinary worlds. It was great fun rehashing some of our favorite memories of LCB, what we have done with our acquired skills since, and our course for the future. What fun!
It's a possibility that Alan will be going back for Intermediates this year!

Apartment Hunt

The search for a suitable place to stay in Paris has been VERY time consuming. Given my budget, my need for a washer (2 chef uniforms that will need to be washed continuously), a stove and oven, cool location, and metro friendly area, etc...I have had to spend lots of hours scouring rental agency, Vacation by Owner, and Craigs List sites. I have been amazed at how many of my friends have friends or relatives that own a place in Paris! I had originally found a cool place in the Latin Quarter on the left bank, but unfortunately, it fell through. I have secured a new place, not as cool or hip, but it will do. It's in the 1st arrondissement which is near the Louvre and Les Halles on the right bank. In the process of scouring the ads I have discovered many pitfalls, so if anyone needs help in the future let me know. As an example, one of the confusing things about French building nomenclature is the floor numbering system. All the ads refer to the "French 1st floor", or the "French 2nd floor". This one is on the French 4th floor which apparantly means the 5th floor in the U.S. System (I hope). As my prospective guests can see, there's not a lot of room here (hint), so my ability to accomodate is very limited:)