Tonyy13

Chef, This is very challenging, I have never had to deal with such patterened china, and while these plates are beautiful, it is a really tough quandry. If you read below, Jensen had a great idea, using the expensive china as a charger, which would allow the guests to see the patterns in their full beauty, rather than being somewhat covered by food. Great job Jensen!! As far as the cauliflower is concerned, you could char it until it was total carbon, and as long as it looked appetizing to you, that would be fine!! The food police don't live here, or near you, so you won't be arrested any time soon, I promise!! Whatsup1, I love all of Charlie Trotter's books, they are amazing. Of course, two staples of mine are also French Laundry, and Bouchon by Thomas Keller. Two that I have been using of late as well are The Art of Aureole by Charlie Palmer, and Amuse Bouch by Rick Tramonto. As far as culinary school teaching a course like this, I have never heard of a class being offered at a culinary school. I haven't researched whether or not Art schools would do anything regarding food or not. The one thing that I have been taught about presentation was regarding Garde Manger platters that had been poured with aspic and had inlay and all of that. But as far as individual plates, I have never seen anything in an academic setting. Snowangel, When cooking for family, the biggest concerns that I have is that it is cooked properly and safely (no foodborne illness please..... ), and that it is plated simply and quickly. In my house, the food isnt' on the plates for very long, so even "smiley facing" is acceptable (starch and veg on top, protein coming across the bottom), as long as the food tastes good, and looks appetizing. As far as the wedge, I will try to make some fritata this week, and take a pic of some plating techniques for that.... Placebo, I think this looks very nice, simple, but you are correct in my eyes, a little bit sloppy, just be carefull about slice order and keep the edges very lined up when going for presentation points. Fifty, I too, eat average sized food. I find that a good 10-12" plate is fine for entree plates.

Swiss-Chef, Great looking food!! There are only a few things that I see. I know that not everyone has white square china at home for their own personal use, but I think that it is very hard to plate patterned china, as discussed in our thread. Your food looks like it is cooked well, the cauliflower might have gotten a little bit dark though. The salmon makes me drool, so good job there!!! With the chicken breast, just be carefull, it looks like you dind't rest the chicken breast enough, some liquid has seeped onto your plate. The biggest thing about your plates, and the only thing that sticks out in my mind at all is the use of the flowering chives. Just be carefull about using something for garnish that is not completely edible or functional. OTher than that, your stuff is pretty good. Try plating on white though, I think you will be suprised how much better your food looks.

Lol... Yes, I do enjoy a meal out every now and again, I am just happy not to have to cook it!! In all seriousness, it is hard to go out to eat and be impressed with a dinner, or even just be content. This is a business which is hard, but also very easy. When I go out to eat, I expect to recieve the level of food/service/etc. to which I am dining. If I go to the nicest place in town, I expect the best food, the best service, the best wine, and the biggest prices. If I go to Taco Bell (a nasty habbit, I know), I expect it to be quick, hot, and somewhat tasty, and I expect to get what I order. That is all. I do not expect any culinary genious out of fast food, family places. I expect a good meal for what I am paying. I do not think that my expectations are high, just dissapointed with the local food scene down here. I miss Providence, I can't beleive that I am saying that, but I do, because I could go to East Side Pockets and get fallafel that was hot and quick, or Parragon Cafe and get food that was hot, somewhat quick, in a nice atmosphere for not too much money, but decent service; I could go to New Rivers and get great food, culinary genious, I could dress it up or down depending on my mood, and I got great service. I can't find that in Orlando, although I am trying really hard.... BTW, I have been thinking about that Primo Pizza all week.....

Ok, here we go, some of my not-so-hot dishes.... Grilled Airline Breast of Chicken with Steamed Red Bliss Potatoes, White and Green Asparagus, and a Caramelized Shallot Cream Sauce This is probably the dish that I am embarassed about the most. The chicken breast was an airline cut (with the wing still attatched....why? I have no idea), and it was over charred on the grill. The dish is presented upside down, and looks too put together, like someone thought about it WAY TOO MUCH!!!! The sauce is wrong, a caramalized shallot cream sauce, the potatoes were overcooked, and the asparagus? What is with the alternating???? Poor plate selection, not to mention that the photography doesn't do it any justice either. Boo..... Seared Foie Gras with Toasted Crumpet, Micro-herbs, Roasted Black Mission Figs and 25-Year Balsamic This is a dish that we actually served at the school, a poor plating if you ask me. Yes, there is height, there is color (although the pic is a poor indicator of that, bad light), there is texture, and great flavors. Just a poor plate selection, and too centered, with the tadpoles not extending and being too set in their place... none of that randomness that we talked about. Tabasco Potato Gnocchi with Butter Poached Lobster, a Pepper Jack Mornay Sauce and Roasted Corn This dish was a dish that I made in college a few years ago for a Tabasco recipe contest. I placed second in the nation in the student division. At the time, I thought I was the dog's bollocks, and the truth of the matter is that after I sauced the gnocchi, I couldn't get them to stand up in the ring mold that I used, so I froze them overnight in the mold, and torched the outside the next day to get it to release. The sauce kept breaking (becuase pepper-jack is a highly processed cheese containing lots of oils), so that is nothing more than thickened cream on the plate, and my cilantro on the top looks as fresh as Kirstie Alley after a trip to Krispy Kreme. I don't even want to discuss my choice of presentation plate.... a rippled glass plate that was like 20" in diameter? Oh, I am glad I am out of culinary school.... So there you go, some of my disasters. I am not above it, and in fact, I do it all of the time. I am just lucky enough to be able to play with the dish for a lot longer. I have the resources to do that, I have the time to take 10 or 20 different pictures in a play session. It's cool... don't worry, don't freak out, and don't be intimidated....if you need to, go back and read the last line of my lecture notes.

Glad to hear that it has been helpfull...keep up the good work. It just takes alittle bit of playing sometimes to get your rythm and style down. I love to tourne too, it is very relaxing I find, especially with teh fast pace of restaurant life. Don't be intimidated, please, post some pics, if it helps, I will post some pics of my disasters!! That sounds like fun.... Both. When using a squeeze bottle, you want to squeeze a dot with the tip, and then without squeezing any more product out of the bottle, use the tip to drag the tail wherever you want it to go. If you are having problems with the length of the tail, squeeze very lightly, and end the squeeze about an inch before you want the end of your tail to be. With a spoon, the same principle applies. slkinsey, Absolutely on the nose there.... in the notes section of the course, I talked about dead space around the items that you are sesrving. This is very imporant, and almost acts as a matte for a picture around your food. I am a very big fan of large plates with smaller amounts of food on them, as it allows focus to be directly on the food, not the table cloth or serviceware. Thanks for the great tip!!

Well folks, I must say that I am bummed that none of you have posted any pics up to this point. I was screwing around yesterday at work after I was done with all the stuff I had to get done, and I came up with a few things, let's start a discussion about those perhaps, and keep the posting of pics going!! Wild Mushrooms with Sweet 100 and Yellow Pear Tomatoes Seared Sea Scallops on Radish with Brown Butter, Chives, Scallion and Scallion Puree Seared Red Snapper with Sweet 100 "Concasse", Poached Leeks, Wilted Mizuna, Arugula Puree Crepe filled with Lemon Curd and Chantilly, with Sabayon, Poppy Shortbread Cookies, Meyer Lemon and Ginger Compote, Brulleed (a little bit too much) Meringue

If you're slicing ahead of time, a great option that is very simple is the whole curl and shingle. Think of a deli platter, just really sexy!! Line the whole tray with pieces of ham that are succulent and dripping because they as so moist, a testament to your cooking prowess!!! Or, if you are carving "to order", just make sure that you DO NOT stuft cloves all over meat on the outside. I see pictures of hams like that, and they look nice, but clove is very strong, and the tradeoff will not be in the best interest of your guests. A nice platter, line with your gorgous vegetables, with your ham, again, cooked perfectly, in the center with a nice glaze of some sort (I like preserves or honeythinned with a little bit of water basting throughout the cooking process). Tourne vegetables are always a nice touch, but a difficult thing for the amateur that has never attempted.

Shalmanese, I do not want to make the claim that I have never done thin lines, dots, or strips of sauce or powders on the plate, I just do not favor them heavily over other techniques. As far as your smaller plates are concerned, I have only two suggestions: 1) Buy bigger plates, 2)Try to build your plates as vertically as possible. Hope this helps!!

Rice Paper in Orlando, we have to talk. I was not impressed two weeks ago when I stopped in for lunch and left without ordering, or recently, when I went in for dinner alone against my best judgement. Not only was I greeted about five minutes after I walked in the door, there was no one in the dining room, and it was trashed. It looked like several larger parties had just left, but who knows, the messy tables stayed for my almost 40 minute adventure. I ordered the soft spring roll, they call is summer roll. It was alright, but not an economically sound choice for the portion given. The crispy was better sized, but tasted of moldy and old potatoes. I don't think that was the intention either. I oreded pho with the fixings for my entree, and I was again, dissapointed. My soup was landed on the wrong table (there was only mine and a two top in the place), and I waited about 4 minutes for the plate of herbs and sprouts. During my wait for the herbs, my meat in the soup overcooked, and I fished out the "meatballs" that I had asked be omitted from the order. What a bad meal. Scott Joseph just reviewed it not to long go, if I am not mistaken, and he said it was ok. (it might have been the Orlando Weekly, but I am pretty sure it was the Sentinel). This was horrible, and I will not be back. Anyone else been there? Hope your experience was better than mine.

Sorry Bill, didn't mean to step on your thread...my bad...

As far as your slicing concerns go, use an electric knife, they are awesome, just let the knife do the work, don't push on it at all. Then use a fish spatula to transfer carefully. BBQ is a challenge in itself. Ribs, brisket, pulled? Please specify, I will be able to help you a little bit better I think. Percy, Thanks, my aunt the photographer expained that to me, and my food plating started looking better. The boston squeeze bottles that I use are from Chef Revival, available here... they call them drizzlers. The ones that have taller threads for the tops are better, and these work great, never have any leaks.

You can always flash your food too... by that I mean resting your proteins on a sheetpan or plate, and then flashing under a broiler really quickly to heat them back up if you want, which shouldn't cause them to run everywhere...... When plating family style, I try to focus on keeping the main player in the center of the dish, obviously, while ensuring that all of the items are visible, so that everyone can get some. The actual dish that you are serving in will play a very important role, both as a functioning piece (is it large enough to fit what I need to serve?), as well as decorative. I might do a Roast Chicken family style, but I would make sure that the roasted fingerling potatoes that I serve with it might be underneath the chicken, so that they crossover flavors, as well as provide height, and visual appeal. I might have some roasted asparagus coming from the cavity, or fanned along the back or front of the plate, maybe even underneath the potatoes, fanning from all around. Braised Brisket is another story, of course, it would be served sliced, and I woudl make sure that I had a nice long platter, almost like a turkey platter. Something that I did not talk about in the course was about maintaining slice order. THis is very important, and will make your food look better if you can get it down. YOu do not want to have the first slice you take from teh brisket next to the tenth slice. You want to have it next to slice two, and slice three, and so on. Also, if I have to slice soemthing, I usually like to prop it up on another component, but that is not a hard rule. Pasta is always fun to plate, for noodles, I like the twist, almost exclusively. Take a pair of tongs, and as you drop the noodles in a bowl, lower them and twist the noodles at the same time, leaving a nice little cone shaped top (for carbonara, a fried sunny side egg and some shaved parm is all I need!!!!! ). Drab colored food are another story. Split pea and lentil soups are two toughy's, ones that I must say will be challenging. For the lentil soup, I usually cook the lentils seperately, as well as the vegetables, all in just salted water, and finish them all into a cooked clearer broth, so that it doesnt' look all muddy. Garnish would of course, be the nice cuts on the vegetables, and whatever herbs you do decide to put into it. Drops of EVOO always look nice too. For split pea soup, I would suggest a drizzle of olive oil, in a controlled, but not too controlled, cordon in the center, with a dollop of creme fraiche sitting on top. A seared Shrimp on top of that would look nice, or even some micro greens if you can get ahold of them. All of these items are bright on their own, which will make your soup look stupendous. The biggest thing you have to worry about is the consistency of your soup, you need to make sure it is thick enough to hold these ingredients up.

Susan, Thanks for the compliments, it is always nice to hear that something that you have done is helpfull to others. There are a few things that I could say as far as keeping your food warm. #1. Keep your plates warm in the oven before you start to plate. THis is very helpfull, and will give you as many as an extra 5 minutes to get your food out. #2. Sous Vide Cookery. This is an awesome way to keep food hot, as the simmering water will keep your food at about 190 degrees, and you are not loosing any quality of the food. I did a dinner for about 90 ppl. a few months back, and we plated 60 lamb shanks with gremolada mashed potatoes, all sous vide. It worked awesome. #3. Have a game plan. As silly as it might feel, draw it out on paper, or make a practice plate if it is not too expensive. When you have a game plan going into the game, you will perform better.

Well, I made it to Primo the other night, and I must say, I recieved exactly what I expected, which is a good thing. We had an awesome meal, and the setting was just right. The food was good, and the service was definately acceptable, not perfect, but acceptable, and I had a great time. I did, however, go to dinner with some big name chefs from Orlando too, so that didn't hurt either. Here we go, my honest opinions.... Before we recieved our first course, we recieved two pizza's, and some of the oysters. They were awesome. I forget what was on the pizza, they weren't the ones on the menu, but it was done very well. The oysters were not what I was expecting, but I would eat northern oysters anyway. First Course (Me and one of the other chefs shared everythign we ordered, I am a glutton, but not this bad...) Oyster w/ Meyer Lemon Mignonette Maine Jonah Crab Cakes Foie Gras Special that was verbalized The oysters were better than the ones that were sent out, even though they were supposedly the same thing. They were seasoned, and not flat like the ones before. The crab cakes smelled up the whole restaurant, from the time that you walked into the place. When they came to the table, they tasted like the dining room smelled, like they were on their way out. Only average, I was dissapointed. I was hoping it was the calamari that was bad, cause I didn't order any of that. Foie Gras is always good, and this was done well. A very generous portion, I was very happy with, and nicely seared. The quality of the foie was nicer than anything I have seen at the school, which leads me to believe that she is getting it in from up north, flown overnight perhaps. Second Course Handrolled Sheep's Mlik Ricotta Cavatelli- This was a good dish, nicer than anything I have had in Orlando, but still not outstanding. In the dish splitting, they did not give me any sausage in my poriton. The wine was flowing, so it wasn't that big of a deal. Third Course Sauteed Wild Black Bass- This was good, but would have been better if the skin on my fish would have been crispy. The mussels were very good, I got to consume my partners as he doesn't like mussels, and I enjoyed everyone of them. The sauce seemed like a hot-mayonnaise sauce though, maybe not the right thing for this dish. Fourth Course Long Island Duck- This was good, par for the course. Nothing special, nothing so bad it deserves mention. Fourth Course Cheese: The server didn't tell us what they were when she dropped it!!!!!!! They were good though, but the one at K was better... Fifth Course Course I had a chocolate molten like cake with chocolate ice cream, which was good, but again, par for the course. The chocolate ice cream didn't taste like much, and I was afraid to order this becuase I am ho-hum about molten cakes to begin with, but nothign else struck my fancey, and I wasn't footing the bill...so I had to order!! Anyway, overall, a very good night, regardless of the crab smell, and the table in the middle of the expo line!!

1) He lost...in embarassing fashion. 2) What is he going to do about it? Cry? 3) Might as well earn a buck from the people who are going to be posting on eG the next day This guy is a chef, right? Regardless of whether or not he had ever competed or seen the show, he should have had his stuff together. Being a chef is all about mise en place, and that doesnt' just refer to yoru ingredients. That refers to everything from your head, to your heart, to your hands, all ready to work, and do what needs to be done in order to get the job done. It was bull to see this guy throwing flour around, on his poor line cook (who must have been embarassed as hell btw), with five minutes remainging. What a joke, whether or not his restaurant is great. He let the showboatsman get the best of him this time...

Great Pics!! As an amateur food photographer (and I do mean amateur), those are amazing shots... This stuff sounds cool, wonder if they will send a school teacher a sample!!??

There is a farmer in Little Compton by the name of Manic Organic, we used to get her greens in at Empire, she would deliver them herself, her name is Nicole, and her stuff was awesome!! She used to come to the city at least twice a week in the summer, and would bring us at little as 2# of greens, and as much as we wanted as far as larger items were concerned. Give her a call, she is awesome....

What will they come up with next? Automatic Ass-Wipers? Geez, that's taking it too far....

I watched last night and was absolutely in stitches, as my roomates looked on in horror. It brought back memories of the constant dedication to perfection that is necessary. I do think that he was a little bit brutal, especially on his first night opening, but who wouldn't be if they had absolute controll over their 1.2 million pound (about 2 milion bucks currently) investment? I know that I would be on everyone like a hawk. As for later on down the road, his cook should know how to make a sauce, and it isn't acceptable for him not to know the process of heating after two months of making it again. He kepts saying to the cook, "Are you trying to change the repetoire again?", leading me to believe that he had run-ins with this particular line cook before with him trying to change the processes. I do know that what Sarge (sp?), a junior sous chef, was right when he said that you feel a dedication, kind of like being in the army, where you know it is going to be difficult, you know that your going to get hollored at if you mess up, and you know that you will be accountable, whether good or bad. Remember, when Ramsey left Aubergine, he brought most of his staff with him, meaning that they WANTED to work for HIM!! 138 degrees in the kitchen is hot though, and I am sure that those boys were absolutely knackered (always looking for a good excuse to bring out my British slang) by the end of that night. That red-haired guy looked like toast, didnt' see him getting a bollocking (again, slang) though, means that he covered his ass by getting his stuff straight.

Living in the baren Florida, I am happy that NC is becoming a foodie place to be. I staged at Magnolia Grill in Durham, and it seemed to be one of the only places around to give a damn about sexy food. Be carefull about envy for the Californian people though... they are dealing with issues on their own both here and here.

Fellow eG'ers, I was wondering if anyone out there happens to know where to get Thomas Keller look-alike china? I am specifically looking to get some of his bowls that have the extremely small basin, with the large rims. I have found a place to get the square plates and other's like it. Any help would be great. If you have a distributer for these that would deal w/ Florida, that would be even better~!!!!!!!!!

The worm thing is no sign of handling or sanitation, could happen to any piece of fish, fresh or frozen, and I have seen it is swordfish (the worst, biggest, slimiest worms), and the best fresh tuna I have ever worked with ( smaller, but just as slimy, and heartbreaking to cut out). As an instructor in a culinary arts school, I see poor hygeine, poor sanitatoin, and poor handling of product by students daily, and I must say, I have to maintain a certain level of accpetance for that on a daily basis. It is not that uncommon for me to give a student a piece of fish, and for it to sit on the counter, even though the student is surrounded by low-boy coolers, from teh time that I give it to him, to the time that they cook it in the last five minutes of a two and a half hour practical. Now, the student looses beaucoup points, but, I have to eat it, and I am fine with it for the most part, unless I know that it is getting to be off when I give it to him. I had a chef instructor when I was in school that told me that he could drink five gallons of dishwashing detergent and not get diarhea becuase of all the messed up food that he had eaten over the years in the school....

This sucks, I am in Florida, and I feel your pain, half because all the mushroom talk makes me realize that I can't get any sexy mushrooms, but also becuase this keeps happening with all the sexy ingredients!! What is in the water in Cali that makes the lawmakers keep doing this??????? It's not right. Does anyone see the bigger picture here though? When the government stops us from eating what we want, we have much bigger problems. I am not starting a whole new conspiracty theory or anything, but it is totaly lame that the government is now telling us what we can or can't eat, all because of a few mis-educated lawmakers who are told something by some pocket lining animal lover or elderly person who ate a three week old hamburder with some nice mushroom rissotto, and told a lawmaker that the mushrooms must have been poisonous!!! It is ludicris. I am so sorry to those of you who have been effected, it is sad, really sad, and if this keeps up, I am moving to Canada, where I will be forced to like hockey and say "eh", which I prefer to going without wild mushrooms.

Doh (in Homer Simpson voice...) I guess hindsight is 20/20... My dad is a sucker for Prime Rib, and therefore, as an Adams, I guess I am too. Something about it was untouchable when I was a kid, forced to order from the kids menu, and my dad was getting this huge chunk of steak that always smelled so good compared to my chicken fingers that oddly tasted like fish. To the meat and potatoes people of the northeast and mid west, prime rib sounds like the best, particularly becuase of the word Prime. I can remember the kid who called it prime rib in meatcutting class at JWU, Vallaincourt had his ass!!!!!

MMMMMM.... Antipasto..... I love it, I love it, I love it!!!!! One of my favorite things for antipasto is to quarter some endive lengthwise and roast them until a little bit colored, remove and cool, dress with some nice fruity olive oil. Um... so good, lightly bitter, pick up a nice nuttiness, so good. We also do cold custards, kind of like a more solid pudding that is savory. I love to roast shallots, and then simmer them in some heavy cream, finishing by buerre mixing them, and straining them through a chinoise. Then I make a custard base out of them (good rule=10 eggs to 1 qt. heavy cream), whether it is for minature fritata type things for my anti's, or for just little timbale molds. Bake, chill, cut and serve, so good. I also like to do nice bread and EVOO on an antipasto, it always seems like you need some crunch. Rhode Islanders always complain if there is no salad on their antipasto too.... Such a good thread