Culinary School Blog

We've been home a few days now.....

We've been home a few days now & it's so good to be back home.  Let's just say that after our stint in the loft with the "bed", our bed has felt wonderful & we're both sleeping very well. 

Sunday we spent most of the afternoon, unpacking the boxes that had already arrived and the four suitcases.  This led to Mark cleaning out his side of the closet, to make room for some stuff.  I did the same with all the new cookbooks & other stuff.  We had a quick run to the grocery store in the morning, so we could make Frank & Carmen breakfast, which wound up being more like brunch. There was a distinct difference with our grocery store experience - less choices, but a checkout person that was pleasant to us.   There seemed to be a bit of a problem with the omlettes Mark was making - some muttering about the pan & the uneven distribution of the heat.  There was another "problem" that occured - Mark's car wouldn't start.  My car started right up, but his was dead.  Frank & Mark tried to use jumper cables, but that didn't work, so we called in AAA.  They got the car started, we let it run a good long time & then took it out for a drive.  We got around the block before it died on us.  Early in the evening we met some friends for a cocktail party & got to catch up.  Our lack of food in the house came back to haunt us - I had a bowl of cereal at 11:30 pm, while Mark made a BLT with left over bacon from brunch.  It's a bit different here, in that there's not really any place to call for delivery on a Sunday night at 11:30 - we're o.k. with that!

Monday, I started out the day with my morning walk, taking my usual route.  There's been some changes while we've been gone on my route.  The majority of the my day was more of trying to organize being gone for the last seven months & finding homes for everything today.  We tried to jump Mark's car last night & again this morning, but still it's not budging.  I went for a massage to work out those last kinks from the loft bed - I was so happy to see Debbie, who is one of the best - I was sore, but it was a good sore when she was done.  Mark was back to his workout routine & then had meetings all day. His car was taken in & it needed a new battery, so all is well again.  We also grilled a real dinner - it was great being back in our well equipped kitchen & to be able to grill again!

Today was more of the same - but with no boxes having arrived for two days - we had been hopeful they would trickle in at this pont.......  I did unpack all my tools from The FCI & found a home for them.  We had a shrimp pasta dinner outside tonight & I've already gotten my first two bug bites of the season - oh boy!  We also have our first Chicken Foot game tomorrow night & a few dinners set up with friends of ours in town over the next few nights.  There's a new restaurant in town that opened, so we'll give that a try.

We're going back home!

It's finally time to head back home - the final box was taken to the post office this morning.  We did our final "check-out" with Sebastian the owner of the loft - all went well.  Mark's parents will be at the airport in Austin to pick us up & take us home. 

Our dinner last night at Daniel was a lovely way to end our stay in NYC.  We both really enjoyed our dining experience.  There was a bit of screw up when we got there - arrived via cab at 8:00 for an 8:15 reservation.  They showed us to the lounge, as they needed to set up our table.  We ordered drinks & relaxed.  There were other parties of two that came in & were shown to the lounge, but then were seated prior to us.  After this happened for the second time - we were asked if we were still waiting for the other people in our party.  We explained that it was just a party of two & they apologizied and got us to our table quickly.  We were well taken care of, as were all the other guests the rest of the evening.

Mark ordered a bottle of Kistler Pinot Noir, to got with our dinner.  Once again, we opted to have the three course meal & not the Chef's Tasting Menu, due to me.  I had the Peeky Toe Crab Salad as my starter & Mark had the Tuna Tartar.  I then had the Black Sea Bass, which is one of their signature dishes & Mark had the Rack of Lamb.  Mark ordered the Mango Granny-Smith Tarte Tatin & I ordered the Chocolate Fondant for our desserts.  When our waiter came back to our table, before dessert, he asked if we were celebrating a special occasion & I told him we were celebrating that we were leaving NYC in the morning after being here 7 months.  This then lead to some questions as to why we were here & we explained that we had been at culinary school - he also questioned as to why we didn't have the Chef's Tasting Menu - I confessed it was due to me.  When our desserts arrived, there were two additional desserts that were sent compliments of the pastry chef.  That was then followed by Petit Fours.  The final "dessert" served at Daniel is Madelines, which we opted out of, seeing as it was getting close to 11:30 - ah, next time.

I've had a book on my bedside table for the last few months - just no time to read it.  The funny thing is, it's called "The Fourth Star" & it's about the restaurant Daniel.  I started reading it on the flights home - rather interesting, as we'd just been there.  Our flights back were delayed - late leaving Newark due to weather in Chicago & then late leaving Chicago as we had to wait for a crew.  All & all, we arrived 20 minutes late.  As we flew into Austin, we could see how pretty it all looked, green & the rolling hills. 

We got home around 8:00 pm & noticed the numerous boxes, the stack of mail & the quiet!  We're both very happy to be home!

Our last day here

Today is our last day here....... it meant disconnecting the Tivo, more boxes to pack & trips to the post office, as well as collecting a few things - prescriptions, dry cleaning, etc........ the final tally on the boxes appears to be 18, not sure where we put it all in the loft & we have four full suitcases to take on the plane with us tomorrow - I'm sure we'll be over the weight limit on a few of those suitcases.

We're off to Daniel tonight for dinner, so we're looking forward to that.  We went to one of his other restaurants a few weeks ago - DB Bistro - and enjoyed it.  I realized today, that in my zeal to pack, I packed shoes that I needed for tonight and they're on they're way to Texas - oh well!

We're both ready to head back to TX at this point - we'll miss some things about the city, but we're looking forward to where it's a bit more quiet.

Packing boxes to head home

Today we packed up four more boxes – two going back to TX & two going to FL.  We had a reservation for lunch at Il Mulino, a recommendation of Julie’s.  It’s one of those places that it’s hard to get through on the phone for a reservation, but well worth it. 

When you’re seated, they immediately have a zucchini dish on the table for you to eat, as well as some wonderful breads – one of which is just soaked in olive oil.  They then bring you bruschetta, salami & garlic bread.  We were pacing ourselves, as we heard that you could easily get full here.  We had a bottle of a Super Tuscan with our lunch, Fattoria Uccelliera – Castellaccio.  Mark had the Tuna Carpaccio for his starter & I had a pasta starter.  We both had the Langostino Risotto, which was a special for the day.  After having such a good Italina meal, we did what the Italians do, we walked around a bit after lunch. 

We took the four boxes to the post office & then packed up three more.  We probably have one to two more to pack tomorrow, so the count should be around 20 in total.  Our friend John who's been staying at our house, sent an e-mail yesterday, saying the boxes were piling up there.  We'll be home on Saturday to start sorting it all out. 

We were due to have dinner at Cru tonight, but Mark wasn’t feeling up to it, so we stayed in. 

What we thought of our dinner at Per Se

Last night we went to Per Se.  Our overall experience was good, but both of us walked away not being thoroughly blown away.  We’re not sure if it was too built up for us, we both felt that it was very good meal, but we’ve been more impressed at other restaurants we’ve been too.

We had a 9:00 reservation, and seeing as it was a long day for Mark, he was yawning 10 minutes after we sat down.  We opted to have the five course menu.  I ordered a French Martini to start off with, but the waiter came back & said that they wouldn’t be able to make that, as they didn’t have Chambourd, so I ordered a Cosmopolitan.  When the waiter returned with our drinks, he poured Mark’s drink into my glass & didn’t notice until he was almost done.  He apologized & took his tray back to the bar to get us another set of drinks.  We had a lovely bottle of Pinot Noir from Burgundy with our meal.  Mark’s main course was Cobia & mine was Halibut.  That was followed up by each of us having our “cheese course”, which was ricotta & pecorino ravioli – we both thought this was the best course.  Mark had a chocolate dessert & I had a cherry, chocolate & pistachio Tartufo.  That was following by a tray of Petite Fours & they also sent us home with macaroons. The food was very good, but I guess it lacked the wow factor of unique combinations…….

The maid arrived around 10:30 this morning, so we packed up to kill about 5 hours.  We went to Starbuck’s first, so Mark had an internet connection, while I read IBD.  We then went down to the Lower Eastside, so I could show Mark a few of the fabrics I found.  We walked around a bit & found Guss’ Pickles.  I got two of their sour pickles for $1 – what a bargain – and they were really good to boot. 

Lower Eastside

We then headed up to Midtown, near our first apartment to go to Bridge Kitchenware – a store that someone had told Mark about.  They had a lot of neat stuff, but we decided at this point, it’s best to contact them once we get home & have them ship directly.  We then went to Serendipity 3 for lunch & to try their famous Frozen Hot Chocolate.  Mark & I shared one – I really liked it, he thought the whipped cream on the top was the best part. 

We met Beau, one of Mark’s classmates for a drink at Merc, which is in the SoHo area.  He told us about a good restaurant not far from where we were called Dos Caminos, which serves Mexican food.  We walked over there, Broadway/Houston, but it was a really long wait.  We then wandered over to Greenwich Village & wound up having seafood at Fish.  The weather today was perfect, so it was very pleasant walking around. 

Final Exam & Graduation

Well the culinary school adventure is finally complete.  I had my final written and practical exam yesterday and all went well; everyone, as expected, passed and some did outstanding work under the pressure.   The day started with a brief written exam.  It was really just a formality and I am sure that Chef Pascal made it easy to get everyone into the kitchen in the right frame of mind.  After the written exam, we all drew numbers out of a hat (actually an ice bucket from the restaurant) that would determine our recipes for the final and the service times for those plates.  Each person would get 2 recipes for the final; there could be an appetizer paired with a meat/poultry dish or fish paired with a dessert.  Four servings of each are required.  There were 16 recipes in total and the different combinations would be prepared by the class; 4 appetizer/4 meat + 4 fish/4 dessert.  They were:

Appetizers

• Warm Shrimp & Charred Squid
• Tuna & Scallop Ceviche
• Asparagus & Leeks in Puff Pastry
• Rose-hued Chicken Consommé

Fish

• Fillet of Red Snapper with Mussels and Chorizo
• Cod & Smoked Salmon Wallet
• Fish Stew with Garlic Mayonnaise
• Sautéed Sea Bass with Glazed Belgian Endive

Meat/Poultry

• Sautéed Breast of Duckling
• Broiled Lamb Chops
• Braised Blade of Beef
• Beef Tournedos with Artichokes, Mushrooms, and Marrow

Desserts

• Tea Flan and Madeleines
• Warm Chocolate Cake with Apricot-Cognac Sauce
• Individual Caramelized Pear Tart
• Panna Cotta with Strawberry and Rhubarb Compote

I drew the Red Snapper with Mussels and Chorizo and the Pear Tart with service times of 1:42 PM and 2:38 PM.  The dishes were one of the easier combinations but the services times sucked because it meant I was one of the last to go out.   This was bad because there was TOO much time to get ready, it allows you to second guess yourself and that the judges are tired and full by the time they got to my dishes.   

I had tried to think out the possible combinations during my study/prep for the exam and knew that if I drew the tart I should start the ice cream that is served with it first.  That went well.  I then got my puff pastry dough ready and cut it into the pear shape that it needed to be in and then started poaching the pears.  Once the pears were started, I switched back to the fish. 

The snapper itself really requires no time at all to cook.  It is pan sautéed at the last minute but the other ingredients take some time to prep.   The mussels have to soak for a while in salt water then they are steamed in fish fumet and white wine until they open. The steaming liquid is reserved as the base for the soup/sauce on that dish.  The potatoes had to be cut and pan sautéed to golden brown (my favorite color for the past few months) and then reheated at service time.  Then sweat some cabbage, onions and garlic, bacon lardons and that is it.  As you can probably tell, there is too much time for this.  The potential problems will come at plating and service time. 

We had been coached by Chef Pascal for weeks that we should start our plating early even at the risk of the plated food being served a little cold.  Well, I thought that I started early enough but I was sending my plates out right under the wire.  I was so rushed that I forgot to put the potatoes on the plate.  I did not know this until 10 minutes later when Chef Pascal come back into the pastry kitchen where I was working on the pear tart, and asked me if I forgot anything - he then told me about the missing potatoes.  I thought that it would be a huge deal and was bummed, until I saw my grades.  It apparently was no big deal to the judges, since in their words, everything else was cooked “perfectly”. 

After we are finished serving and cleaning up our area we get a few minutes to change into a clean chef’s jacket and then back into the restaurant to hear the judge's critique. There are 3 panels of judges with 4 judges each.  The judges are other chef’s that have volunteered to judge the final exam.  It is pretty darn hard to sit in front of this panel with 7 – 8 of your classmates and have the judges pick apart your dishes.  Even for those who got good reviews the judges had to make some “constructive” comments.   

As soon as the critiques were delivered, we took a class picture and then marched upstairs to the auditorium for the graduation ceremony.   

There were awards for: 

Best Creative Menu Project – Mark Zitelli, Looney Tunes
Highest GPA - Mark Zitelli. 

Attendance – Beau Harris   

The class had the most students ever graduate with honors ( GPA of 95 or higer).  The Honor Students were: 

Edwin Alderman

Meg Colleran

Jay Devlin

Mark Hallman

Lulu Kalman

Sandy Lee

Mark Zitelli

He's done too!

Yeah - Mark's now graduated!  He also graduated with honors!  We're off to have a celebration dinner at Per Se.......

Mark's last day of class

Mark wasn't in a rush to get to school early today, I think he's ready for the final project to be over.

My cousin Liz & her daughter Lauren took the train into the city today to spend some time with me.  We walked around a lot & had lunch at Balthazar.  I had tried to get a reservation at L'Ecole, the restaurant at the FCI, but they were fully booked.  We finished our lunch at 2:50 and we were two blocks from school, so we headed in that direction so that Liz & Lauren could say hello to Mark.  I saw a few of Mark's classmates & most of them are ready for the final and being done.  We also went to get a certified copy of our maternal grandfather's birth certificate, as Lauren & my aunt are going to apply for dual citizenship (U.S./Ireland).  On the certificate the address of the building that my grandfather was born in, is just a few blocks from where our loft is.  We walked down there to take a look at what is currently there - it's now the J. Baczynsky Meat Market.  Mark & I have walked past this building a handful of times, it's a block south of the 2nd Avenue Deli. 

Building at 139 2nd Avenue

Mark had a massage scheduled for 8:00 pm and we both thought he would come home very relaxed.  Although he had a good massage, he was a bit keyed up, we attributed it most likely to his final being on his mind.  He's going to do great!

The last weekend in NYC

The weather cooperated with our last weekend here - it was sunny all weekend & is starting to warm up - I think for good this time.  We packed up some boxes in the morning, the count is 11 that we've shipped back to TX.  There's still a few more that need to be packed & sent there, as well as at least one that needs to make it's way to our house in FL. 

I went and got us sandwiches which we ate up on the roof top deck of our building. 

Union Square + Empire State Building from the rooftop

Rooftop view from our loft building

I then headed to Moma after lunch, so that Mark could study in the loft in the quiet, well golf was more than likely on the tv.  I thought that it was such a beautiful day that the museum might not be that crowded, well I was wrong.  I started out on the 5th floor, which is the where the Paintings & Sculpture start.  The museum had a large collection of Picasso works of art, pictures & sculptures.  The only time I remember seeing more of his pieces in one place, was an exhibit that was in LA years ago. As I worked my way down the different levels of the museum, some of the works of art started falling into the category of the ones I just don't understand how they call them art. I must say that I enjoyed seeing "Christina's World" by Andrew Wyeth & also the works by Seurat.

MoMa

Seurat

Picasso

Wyeth

Magritte

Warhol

Pollack

Van Gogh

And the following pictures are from the museum as well, falling into the "hard for me to understand this as art" category, especially the white string/wire attached to the wall & the floor. 

We had dinner reservations at Jack's Luxury Oyster Bar on Saturday.  They have a small dining room downstairs & another room upstairs if you're partaking in their Tasting Menu.  Mark started with some oysters.  He then had Foie Gras (he feels the need to get his fill of this, before we get home) and I had the Blue Crab Bisque, which was poured into my bowl via a tea pot.  For his entree, Mark had the halibut & I had the New Orleans Style Barbequed Lobster.  We shared the Ba-Ba Bananas Foster for dessert. 

Sunday, Mark started by studying early, while I did our laundry.  We then headed out for lunch at a Mexican restaurant we passed the night before, called Mary Ann's.  Let's just say that it's not like the Mexican food we get at home.  We walked down towards the SoHo area & just browsed.  We went to dinner at Gotham, which is the third time we've dined there - we enjoyed it again. 

 

A few days in NYC

I've been making my way through the list of things that I wanted to get to before we've gone back home.  I had mapped out a few fabric stores & and went to the first one on Thursday, which was up in the Fabric District.  It's called B&J Fabrics and is located at 38th Street & 7th Avenue.  They had a lot of fabric, but the majority was suited more for clothing than for upholstery.  I then did some shopping at Macy's, which is located at Hearald Square.  Once again, I tried on a lot of things, but didn't make any purchases. 

Friday, I went to two fabric stores - one on the Lower Eastside & the other on the fringe of Chinatown, close to the FCI.  Harry Zarin Co, which is located on the Lower Eastside had a lot of great fabrics & a lot suitable for upholstery.  I found a few swatches that I'm going to take home & see if they'll work - they assure me they'll ship which one I need, to me in Texas.

I then walked a few blocks down Grand Street, to Doughnut Plant. 


I heard about this spot & was curious what it was all about.  As the sign out front showed, they're special of the day was the Elvis Doughnut, which I passed on, seeing as I'm not a fan of Peanut Butter.  I did try one of their caramel glazed doughnuts, which was pretty good - it's a bit different than most doughnuts out there.  It's a small little shop, and I think that most of their business is outside vendors selling their doughnuts, i.e. Dean & Delucca.  It's also in a bit of odd spot, an area that seems to be a lot of housing (apartment buildings) for seniors.

Manhattan Bridge

Onward I went, trying to make my way to the last fabric store - I was a bit turned around & got clarification from a guy that was coming out of a shop, and this was after not getting much help from a crossing guard with an attitude.  Seems my mistake was that I was heading east, instead of west.  I found the store which is called Long Island Fabric, located at Canal & Walker.  It was pretty much a bust & I spent less than two minutes inside the store.  I then walked up through Little Italy & stopped in a restaurant called Positano - seeing as that's where we got engaged, I figured I should give it a try.  Not one of the best plates of gnocchi I've had - in addition to the fact that the waiter clarified that Montelpulciano is in Italy - I guess he felt I needed that spelled out for me, prior to ordering my glass of wine........ o.k. the fact that I've been to Montelpulciano helped me out more in my choice of wine.  After I selected that over the Chianti they were offering, he commented that that was the "good stuff" - oh boy!

We had dinner reservations at Jean Georges, which was one of the better meals we've had while in NYC.  My starter was Madai, which is a fish that was served sashimi style & Mark had the Blue Fin.  I then had shrimp as my next course & Mark had Foie Gras.  For the entrees, I had the Filet & Mark had the Lamb Chops.  I had a neat apple dessert, with many different components, while Mark had a chocolate dessert.  It was a bit of a challenge to get a cab, the doorman for the Trump International  Hotel, was only successful on getting cabs for the line of people, when someone was being dropped off at the hotel.  After waiting about 10 minutes, we opted to take the subway home - so that ride around midnight capped off the evening.