nightscotsman

I think there's not much in the way of uniform shops in Vegas because the hotels and major restaurants supply and maintain all uniforms for free. Sorry I can't be of more help. Both Bradley Ogden and Sensi are great, but I think you'll really be missing out if you don't try to eat at L'Atelier du Joel Robuchon. I'm not working there anymore, but I still think it's the best food on the Strip... for now.

I think Kai was asking specifially about L'Atelier, which Alana was also referring to. It is expensive, but significanly less than Robuchon at the Mansion (which is where the photos above were taken). I think the tasting menu is a good value at $105 (last time I checked), with 9 courses including 2 desserts. You can get away cheaper going ala carte, though you may not get as much food, and the tasting is a good overview of the some of the best dishes. You can also save a bit of money by ordering a glass or two of wine or a cocktail instead of a bottle.

Last Christmas was the first time since opening they changed the dessert pastry line-up by adding a few seasonal items. A couple months later they replaced the Exotic with a new version layered in a glass, discontinued the peanut/milk chocolate and a couple others, and added a triple chocolate mousse cake and a tiramisu also in a glass. So there have been some changes, but infrequent. It's hard to put a number on how many people produce product since there isn't a team that does work only for the shop. I'd say there are more than 15 people on several teams in the kitchen producing and finishing desserts, cakes and chocolates. I believe they are hiring right now, if you're interested... I'm afraid I can't comment on sales numbers.

The Borgata in Atlantic City is owned by Boyd Gaming, which also owns the Stardust. The Stardust is scheduled to be blown up early next year to make way for Echelon Place, a new multibillion dollar resort complex with four hotels (see more here). Probably won't open until at least 2010 or later. The first phase of the the $7 billion (yeah, the price went up) Project City Center by MGM Mirage will probably open first, though the $1.5 billion Cosmopolitan is already under construction, and the huge "W" hotel and casino will probably start soon. Both Wynn and the Venetian have started construction on expansion towers. Trump is also building two condo/hotel towers (you just knew he would end up in Vegas sooner or later). All these new hotels and restaurnts will need lots of pastry people, and most of them are shooting for the "high-end" traveler. If you can stand the Summers and want to make decent money and benefits doing pastry, gotta be in Vegas.

May 17th.

Shibuya.

With the exchange rate the price came to about $185, not including shipping. 2nd day air was actually the cheaper delivery option, so shipping was very fast via DHL. Yes, he uses pectin NH in a lot of recipes, as well as agar agar in some of the dairy and coconut based gels.

My Spanish/English book arrived today - yay! Some first impressions: - It's beautifully photographed, of course. Large and substantial. - It comes with a separate, smaller, paperback volume with all the recipes (also in Spanish and English) and black and white construction diagrams. It's printed on what appears to be plastic coated, water resistant paper for use in the kitchen. Very cool. - Chapters cover cakes/entremets, plated desserts, chocolates and bonbons, ice creams and sorbets, pate de fruits, decorative garnishes, sugar showpieces, beverages. - Ice creams appear to be designed for the Paco Jet, though I assume you can process with a more traditional machine as well. - English translations seem to be clearly written, though I've notices a few ingredients I'm not sure about (tiger nut milk?). - Lots of step by step photos, especially in the cakes section. - There are directions for turning some of the plated desserts into full-size cakes. Overall - great stuff. Similar in scope to the Frederic Bau book. Worth the purchace for professionals.

Oh, a couple other things I liked about the French Pastry School experience: 1) They don't use a standard, off the shelf text book. Instead they've put together two heavy binders of recipes gathered from many sources designed to cover all the essential techniques. The recipes produced excellent results (using the best, natural ingredients) and were geared for realistic and efficient production. The notebooks are tweaked, updated and reprinted after every semester. 2) They don't believe in internships. When I asked them about this they looked at me like I was crazy and said - "why work for free?". Most of the other private schools require an extensive intern/externship where you not only usually work for free, you have to pay the school tuition while you're doing it. Sure, it can be good experience, but seems like a rip-off to me. Oh, and by the way - they are very upfont with the fact you will not be a chef when you leave the school. Graduating is only the begining of a life-long learning process. On another note, I also recommend looking at local community colleges. As others have said, there are several with very good programs for way, way less money than the private schools. Many have classes taught by top local professionals. They may not be as elite, or have the most beautiful kitchens, but it is really true that for the most part, you get out of an education what you put into it. Work hard (and clean!) in class, ask lots of questions, let instructors know you are ambitious, read and experiment on your own at home, do stages at restaurants or bakeries. People will notice and offer tons of help.

There have been several threads here on pastry schools and the value of paying for an education versus learning on the job. Here are some: click. I attended the French Pastry School and would do it again in a heartbeat. When I went, tuition was $13,500 for the six month program, and though it is higher now, it's nowhere near the $30-40k or higher they charge at most other private schools. I got two very important things for my money: 1) comprehensive training covering all aspects of pastry, baking, chocolate and desserts using modern techiques and tools; and 2) access to the extensive industry connections of the instructors. Being an older person making a career change with no experience, I just did not have the years it would take to work my way up where I wanted to go, so attending a school offered me a kick-start. Right out of school I got a job at Bellagio here in Vegas making over $15 an hour with full benefits, making world class pastry for a highly respected team of chefs. After two years I've moved on to a pastry cook postion at Robuchon at the Mansion in the MGM Grand. Of course I'm not saying that going to culinary school is the best route for everyone. But for me, the investment has been more than worth it. Beyond helping to land me a couple of great jobs, I just love being able to confidently say "yes" when a chef asks me if I know how to do things like temper chocolate, make a cremeux, or pull sugar.

Yes and yes.

I highly recommend the Ryon Emmanuel book, though I don't think they deal specifically with really large batch production issues.

Bradley Ogden for sure. Maybe not the best restaurant on the Strip, but easily the best at Caesars. Mesa Grill isn't bad.

Just wanted to post - in case you missed it over in the PH 10 thread - that the English/Spanish version of the Torreblanca book is now available. I ordered it from Derecoquinaria here. 150 euros.

I see the bilingual Torreblanca book available here for 150 euros. Anybody see a better price elsewhere?

coolcoolcool - I'll definitely be waiting as well if this is true. Just in time for my birthday! Thanks so much for the tip. Where did you learn about the English version coming out?

OK, Fnac just informed me that they can't get PH 10, so they are shipping the Gerard Mulot book and cancelling Herme. I wish they had given me a choice - I would have cancelled the entire order. Now if I still want PH 10 (and I do), I'll have to pay twice for shipping.

At both Bellagio and Robuchon we used raw fresh eggs in several recipes. Didn't seem to be an issue or problem at all. And by the way, don't think that making a pate a bombe or italian meringue with hot sugar syrup will "cook" the eggs enough to make them "safe". It would take a full boil to kill all the bacteria and those methods don't get the eggs hot enough.

Yes, as I posted: "Design and Realization has the same molds...". What's the issue?

That looks very promising, Melissa. Thanks again for your help! ← Design and Realization has the same molds for $21.60 US. Click on "pastry molds and shapes" in the left menu bar, click on "plastic molds" in the main frame, then scroll down to near the bottom of the page. They also have 8" stainless steel domes for about $28 US (click on "stainless steel molds).

Oh yeah, I forgot I also ordered it from Fnac, not Amazon as I posted. Just like everyone else, I checked Amazon and it was not available. Sorry for the mix up. I also checked Amazon Canada, but it turned out to be cheaper to get it from France.

After coveting PH 10 for months, I finally ordered it last week along with the Gerard Mulot book from Amazon France. I was hoping it would be aimed at professionals, so I'm happy to hear that confirmed. I'll try to post some more info when it arrives.

I'm sure it would work with almond flour, but whole almonds would probably give you a fresher flavor since the finely ground almond meal tends to stale faster. Store the finished paste in the cooler since there is no preservative and it can get moldy.

The standard, basic almond paste is 50% nuts, though you can find other proportions for specific applications. The recipe I posted does have less powdered sugar than almonds, but with the addition of the sugar in the simple syrup, the final ratio of nuts to sugar is essentially 50%.

You found that at Ikea, didn't you?