Franky2Times

Amazon, South African and South Pacific Fish is the trend. Very inexpensive now.

Alacarte, what a great topic. Thanks for the article. I grew up in Quebec and my family was from the Jura region in France so I inherited their old cook books and personal recipes. I always loved collecting "antique" french recipes and it just went downwards from there: I just kept every recipe from bad French magazine that my mother read in the sixties and seventies (yes, the French too had their Family Circle and Woman's Day). I then dicovered traveling and went numerous times to Mexico, sometimes just to study cooking. There is no recipe book tradition over there, so you have to learn from the old people. I am still an avid researcher on Mexican food and I've acted as a consultant chef for a few mexican places. Is there anybody out there with old family recipes from Mexico?

KimmyB72, welcome to eGullet and I support your comments. I also agree with Fat Guy in everything he says.

JosephB, I am more familiar with kitchen internships but some very upscale restaurants also accept interns to work with the sommeliers. As for the front of the house, I don't know any manager with an ounce of brain who would refuse free help. If you're talking about a waiter's job, you also have the "dead shifts" that nobody wants such as Tuesday's lunch. Most places will train you on such shifts and let you keep whatever tips you get. You can always get whatever training you want if you push the right buttons...

Bond Girl, if I can help with anything regarding the BOH, I would love to. I worked for about 10 years as a chef in NY and I can get you internships and probably answer lots of questions but I'm not sure how to reach you.

Already way too much useless info on these replies but let me add mine. HOLD ON: you want an 80 seat place with a Chef, a sous, 3 line cooks and 2 pastry cooks. I haven't read anything here about labour costs but right here, I can tell you that you're out of your mind. Unless you pay these people about 2 bucks an hour, just these wages will kill you. Your chef should be on the line with no more than 2 other line cooks. Do you know that only about 20% of your customers will order desserts even if they are fabulous. How will you justify your 2 pastry cooks salaries to your investors? I've worked in places where we were only 2-3 guys on the line for 150 covers a night and these are places still rated 25 to 28 for food by Zagat. I would not work for these places anymore but these are the only guys I know who make money.

God bless and good luck. I just lost about 3 months of work because I thought I had a "done deal" with respect to a much smaller investment. Even if you do find investors, which is a hard thing to do in the restaurant business, you've gotta know who you're dealing with. My only advice: DO NOT spend that kind of money on a first restaurant, whatever your name is.

I'm far from being a bear expert but my cousin used to trap them for fur in Northern Quebec. These were smallish brown bears (about 250 lbs) and we ended up throwing pretty much all the meat in the garbage, which was a big mistake. Bear meat can be very tasty if butchered and cooked the right way. Feet and claws are considered a delicacy in lots of Asian countries. The tenderloin is the best part but it MUST be slow braised and finished on the grill. Try this recipe for shanks: BEAR CONSOMME 1 bear shank (about 7-8 lbs) cut in pieces, all the fat trimmed (be prepared to leave a very good tip and ask a butcher to do it) 1 cup Canola Oil 2 gallons purified water 2 yellow onions, quartered 2 tablespoons Kosher Salt 1 tablespoon black peppercorn 5 whole cloves 1 bunch of fresh Thyme 1 bunch of fresh Marjoram 2 bunches of flat Parsley 2-3 pounds of Ground Bear Meat (as lean as possible) 1 carrot 1 celery stick 1 large onion 1 tomato 10 egg whites 1 bouquet garni -Brown the shanks in oil; discard all fat and add the water, onions, salt, spices and herbs. Bring to a boil and let simmer gently for about 10 hours. Strain the stock, reserving all meat chunks, and refrigerate overnight. Degrease. -Clarify stock with remaining ingredients as you would with any other stock. -Serve the consomme with the reserved meat, grilled corn on the cob and parsley leaves.

As far as I'm concerned, you only need ONE very good chef's knife and that would be an 8 or 10" Wusthoff or Henckell's. If you're not a professional, do not spend a lot of money on anything else although a good serrated knife and a good slicer are very useful but here you could buy Sabatier or Lanson which are much cheaper. My advice is to try after the holidays in New York. Places like Broadway Panhandler and Zabar's often have huge sales.

Thanks for the info, Rosie. Now, I know you guys are a little busy now but I'll be looking for some feedback after the holidays. I will personally enjoy my first holiday at home since I don't know when... Babies will do that to you. As for your question, Rosie, I still regard the French as the masters. I don't have enough money to dine out very often (remember, I'm a chef) but I did enjoy Taro and Fascino in Montclair. My next target is Le Petit Chateau in Bernardsville and then I'll really need to start working again.

Is there any chef, line cook, kitchen staff reading these messages? I would like to hear from fellow kitchen people or restaurant "insiders" just because it would be nice to know what's going on in Jersey. I just moved here from NY and the whole scene seems to be totally different. I don't know what customers like apart from Italian food which seems to be the only way to go, at least in Montclair or around. I would also like to hear your stories about customers here like when I had a request for a very well done duck breast just to get it back in the kitchen 'cause it was "dry"... or that the fish was "fishy"... or any other oddities. I really don't mean it as being sarcastic to the people using this board, it's just that I feel a little isolated. To Hank, whoever you are, I feel for you and your critiques of red sauce places. I

Dear Rosie, I was going to open up my own place but some financing didn't go through. Right now, I am just trying to get some "personal chef" business or catering parties (any ideas???). Soon, in collaboration with a restaurant in Montclair, I will have a four or five course degustation evening, probably once a week. I'll let you know. You're right about Orlando, the line chef who came in from Blue Sky after being recommended by David. He's a very skilled cook. On another subject, I have never been to Orbis and would welcome any recent feedback. Thanks.

Just thought I would mention that I had been the Chef at Liberte from December '01 to this past October. So if you go there, you will find a different style of cooking although they kept some of my dishes. I just don't know how well they are executed. One of the many problems this place has encountered over the years is the lack of resource and the fact that the chef is pretty much left by himself. I had no control over the hiring of cooks and some of them were pretty bad (Diner guys...). The place now wants to do simpler food and more pasta. Let me know what you think if you do go.