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To Kate: NO OLIVE GARDEN!!! Steve is right about the research, a j& w grad might favor you and that could be cool. If you looked at TRU and that's the kind of food you want to be doing, then start looking for a well reviewed place in your area, as Steve suggested, and meanwhile learn all you can at RT. When you've found the place you like, give RT notice and get going. To Steve : No diss towards Kate or J & W but, this is the second person I've heard of who's a first year student at J & W and is working at a fast food joint. The woman who interned at our place in the summer went back and started working in a pizzeria Weird... When I was attending L'Academie de Cuisine in D.C., all of their 2 year program students were working in pretty great places. I don't get it.

will you post where this article will be published when it's cool too? Great post, thank you so much! And can't wait to see it on TV

If the worst happens, Kate, and I hope it doesn't, please reconsider what I wrote you about working in a more fine dining or casual upscale place. I was thinking earlier about a J&W student that was interning at a place I worked at. She was there for the summer and when she went back she got a gig at a big corporate joint and it ended up not working out for her. She had been fine at our place. We gave her the room to grow and didn't throw anything at her that she couldn't handle. Just keep your head up. It will be cool

Hi, Kate Man, sounds a bit rough but don't sweat it! Is this a corporate place? Because if it is, their recipe and plating logs should be up to date. Although I don't have experience cooking in that type of place. If you feel like you don't know enough about the platings of entrees, maybe you could speak to your supervisor and see if you could come in on your days off to 'trail'. If you don't know what that means, it's usually something done when you are trying out for a gig or you want to see if the restaurant is the kind of place you want to be at. You 'trail' the person and get to see what the items are, how they're plated , what's on the plate, etc. This could help you get everything together in real time, up to date, notated in a notepad so you wouldn't have any doubts about what's going on. As far as burning stuff because you forgot you had something under the salamander, or you're just not used to the timing of it yet, don't worry. When I did my appenticeship, it happened to me too. It happens to everyone. Just DON'T GIVE UP!!! It's not easy walking into the eye of the hurricane. Nothing can prepare you for that reality. But it will come to pass. And keep in mind that it's not the end of the world if you decide not to be a line cook. You might end up being more comfortable in a prep position or working in the pastry department of a reataurant. where there's a bit less craziness going on. Best of luck to you!

As written, when hot...

I.ve been using my kitchen aid grinder attachment to grind nuts with lately. Coarse disk. I made a hazelnut sponge cake with them, turned out awesome. Better luck next time

That's a good idea, Rachel. I take my ice cream out when it mounds on a tablespoon, then let it set it up in the freezer. Even with a pro machine, like a Taylor, for instance, when you release the mix, it has the consistancy of a sort serve ice cream. Then you let it set up in the freezer. Let us know how it works for you.

12 Months??????? That blows!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Question. Is this the same co. that will release it in the UK? Thanks for the info

Maybe try a 1/4 cup? of corn syrup. Also, to enhance the melon flavor, maybe try Midori? unless you want to take it that other way (port) Also, to bring out that watermelon thing more, try a pinch of salt? Good luck.

try adding a little corn syrup next time to the mix you heat. It might help the ice cream not get so hard and will help stop the formation of ice crystals. The butter thing is perplexing. Maybe try some half and half? Is there a refrigeration control on the machine? BTW, I envy your simac.I've heard it's a boss machine!

Sounds cool. Just keep in mind that: 1- I doubt you would screw anything up in a finer dining place because they wouldn't let you screw it up 2-Chefs in more upscale places generally love to get 'fresh' employees to work with, they have less preconceptions to deal with and are more mallable to train the way they want people to do things. I worked at a pretty 'heavy' place right when I got out of school ( a much shorter type of program then J & W) and they were sure to throw it at me very slowly but firmly. And later on, when I worked in NYC, most of the line at a very well known chefs new operation were all students doing externships from the 3 big Manhattan cooking schools. Timing and pacing were learned 'quickly' but assuredly. I just wanted to share that with you. Good luck to you and I hope you enjoy yourself in this crazy biz

Somewhat more off the topic, where were you taking the cooking class with WD? Peter Kumps? Just wondering. Hope you enjoyed it

Good Luck on your entry into the food biz. I have a question for you though. What made you want to work in a more corporate type of restaurant, as opposed to an indie, maybe casual fine dining type of establishment? Where there is probably more of an focus on creating and making product from scratch? Does J & W place more of an emphasis on hotel/corporate types of establishments? Not trying to be confrontational, genuinely curious.

That line bothers me for some reason. Why is it looked upon as a snobby, snooty, "I'm better than you" attitude if you think people screwing themselves up is, kind of screwed up? Case in point. Last Saturday nite, Mr. 'One Toke' on the line (see earlier post on this mother of all threads), the guy who hit a one shot pipe on the line during prep, in front of the chef, got himself arrested, for being an ass, this time to cops, and is warming up a cell, in jail. Seems as though he had a number of outstanding bench warrants for stupid stuff, and his bail is so high he's probably going to have to sit there until sometime in August, when his trail is scheduled. This guy is a good cook, very creative, and can be extremely charming but, he has been a screwup ever since I've known him, which been for almost 3 years. His shenanigans probably cost one chef I know, one of his gigs, because he tirelessly came to his rescue, keeping him from being banned from a place we all worked in, which was located in a 'High Security' type of operation. If somebody would have KICKED his ass, gave him a suspension of a couple of weeks a few times, maybe even a week ago, when he lit up in there, maybe he wouldn't be in jail. But this 'fuck it, it's his life', thing, has helped him perpetuate his bad boy thing till he wound up in the clink. My point about any kind of substance abuse on the job is, and always will be, this... If any of us go to work, smelling of beer or booze, chances are we will either get asked to leave or at least be told not to show up like that again or else. But if somebody comes in red eyed from smoking weed or even reeking of it, it's not cool to say anything to them. There's no difference between the two. I used to argue about this to recording engineers all the time. No smoking while we're working. If the band wants to, fine. It's their place. Not us.

When you folks are talking about stovetop creme brulee, are you A- Talking about cooking the mix on the fire, pushing it to that Anglaise state and pouring it into molds for cakes,etc. B-Could you use that method for plain old poured into the regular dish type of brulee also? I saw the recipe for 'quick' brulee in the Bau book but haven't really checked it out yet. Thanks

I think it was pretty much the way he called it. Since he wasn't a hire, I doubt GR chewed on his butt. He just seemed very uncomfortable to witness the fear of his employees and the general attitude of the kitchen. As for me, I still get stoked everytime I see something on Ramseys kitchen on the tube. I think he's a 'chefs' chef. And I'm still looking for a copy of the BBC Omnibus show,'Boiling Point', a documentery done on Gordon Ramsey (quite?) a few years ago.

Lesley, I can see how you would wonder about this. ICC makes an orange oil that I've used on plates for some of my desserts. Maybe try this? Are you experimenting with hard caramels, ala Balaguer and Adria? Or soft, for candy or bon bons? And Spencer, were you wising off to LC? It seemed kind of rude.

Did you see anything that you thought was particularly cool? Interesting flavor combos? And, is he American? Not that it matters, just curious

Same here.

I just spent two days in the kitchen of pastry chef Johnny Iuzzini at Jean Georges; a great choice, that is, if you haven't already embarked on this outing, Erin. Johnny has an amazing resume, having spent a number of years in the Boulud camp under Payard, Haas, etc. and his own style is well developed now at Jean Georges. I believe all of the desserts at JG are multi-component tastings, while Nougatine, also under his direction, offers a more traditional, casual a la carte selection. Does Jean George still have a website? I can't find it anymore,except for the Starchefs one, which doesn't really float my boat. Would love to look at Johnnys menu.

Is Trotter one of those guys that want you to use a cake tester on meats? As for the secret? I'm all ears...

If the cut's and burns indicate no balance in your life, I'm screwed!!!

CWS clearly has had personal dealings with the effects of alcohol on those around him and maybe that tips the scale more towards a zero tolerence in his kitchen with those that are abusing it. I think it's as bad as anything else when people can't control how much they're putting away, before, during and even after work. Coming in day after day, hungover, badly, and seeing that your place is getting screwed up can tweak you into a mad rage as easily as a coke binge. It happened last week at one of the places I do my stuff in. Chef owner, who is exhausted to begin with, hitting too many wine tastings, walks in and just loses his shit on all his people. Who are screwing up, because they don't have someone to lead them enough, let alone set an example. The guy is a friend of mine, I hate to see what's happening to him. But I can't say anything to him. That grey area thing.

Can we nip this in the bud, no pun intended? I don't think Ramsey is talking about weed. Neither am I, except when I see some fool light up a one shot on the line. I don't think Ramsey is going to throw out some shit hot cook because he or she tests positive for smoke, although they're his Michelin stars, to protect as he sees fit.He's obviously shaken up by the death of a guy he respected, maybe loved as a person, and perhaps he feels guilty because he rationalized just about ANY kind of drug use by an employee like the way you and a lot of others here are and will do. 'Nuff said, I'm out.

Jesus, you're so predictable... So now, presuming you don't smoke weed anymore, you suck??? Is that why you're a writer now?