bankchef

Oh, man, I miss Guadalupana...great place. Is that French place by Wild Oats still open? Bar menu at Melange is good.

Brother Juniper's by the U of M.

Got my start (sort of) at Another Roadside Attraction Catering and Automatic Slim's so I'm partial to Karen Carrier's food: Slim's, Beauty Shop, Cielo...(although my food is NOTHING like hers now that I've moved on). But, a couple non-Karen tips, if they're still around would be Melange and Bari. Jason Severs, the chef/owner of Bari is not only a great guy but also a great Chef. He and Scott (of Melange) have taught in New York (one-off classes).

This might sound concieted but I'd like to get the restaurant into a food magazine. Gotta give up the smokes too Cherrypi. And just to continue growing in this wonderful culinary world of ours. Learn more classic recipes and develop more of my own. Overall, I'm very content to keep at it in the same manner as last year and the year before.

There's a best of ED book out now I just picked up that has a little of everything in it. Looks really good.

Yeah, you're better off just buying some truffles and having fun at home.

Anybody have an oddity like this: I have a Messermeister Santuka. I love it. Its my favorite knife (more than my chinese chef). But I have this thing about it touching meat. It has only once when someone grabbed it and started to clean chicken with it. I was absolutely livid. I screamed like a baby whose toy was just broken by another child. It is my veggie knife for bruniose etc and I just can't bring myself to use it with meat....

From the above list these two classes I experienced: I took Artisan Bread I when I was living in Portland. Great class if you aren't already a baker. Also took a class taught by chef de cuisine of wildwood (was a winter braising class). I liked the classes because it was an easy way to see and hear other chefs and taste a little of their food.The students are a total mix of newbies and seasoned home cooks. I kept a fifty dollar spending limit and took one class per month. Plus you get a discount on cookware that night etc. etc. You may not learn a whole lot but there's usually one or two things that you haven't done or thought enough about before or just haven't thought about in a while.

Hard to find but they used to do a paperback copy. Chef friend of mine in Portland had one but I couldn't find one.

I find that I don't buy cookbooks anymore...just food lit. Just to hear the prep of different food, how its grown, what so and so's mother did with these ingredients is far more interesting. There are cookbooks I need and some that I thought I needed but hate (I really dislike Professional Chef...on the other hand the Le Cordon Blue textbook is fantastic). If I had to say a couple cookbooks that I love the most I'd say The Kitchen Sessions (Charlie Trotter) or a book I have called the Complete French Cooking Course. When I go to Portland I check out the used cookbooks and food lit books and try to find something there...

Maybe once a month do I really dig down and make a mess in the kitchen. Usually it means we have company coming over. Well...once a month seems like a lot.

Apprentice by Jaques Pepin.

Chopsticks on Hawthorne. Cheap and pretty decent. Portland Thai food is pretty good. Like Memphis Vietnamese.

too.

I moved to.

Good post wesza. Using new ingredients and creating new dishes are what keep our jobs interesting. I'd love for a guest to bring me fois gras to prep for them. Sometimes farmers stop by and bring certain produce, fishmongers bring unusual fish etc. . .and these products help to keep my job fun and evolving. Keep in mind when asking for something not on the menu that only in the quiet times do we enjoy it, though. If the room is packed we don't want to start making things up.

The restaurant scene in Portland never really did that much for me. It seems to me that local ingredients as a starter work really well. Especially in a state like Oregon that has so many different things to choose from. . .but it does tend to get old when things like fois gras are missing. And because so many restaurants are doing that the menus can begin to look alike. I can say some of the best food I've ever had has been in Portland, but something is missing. Personally, I feel that some cities that don't get as much recognition do food that is on the same level as Portland. Memphis is an incredible food town but the only thing we hear about it is bbq. I was looking for a place to take my wife on our Anniv. and it seemed that no matter where we went we would have the same seafood, same sauce choices. I sometimes think the only local menus can confine a menu. Then again, I'd love to use only local produce, even grow it all myself. I'm just a big contradiction on the matter.

Don't forget about the herb farm.

Okay, time for a shameless plug. . .my restaurant (I'm the chef not the owner) opens this Monday. We're not toooooo close to wine country but not too far. Its called The Bank @ Saginaw's. Saginaw's is a deli & diner in Elma, WA that has decided to go upscale. They've brought me in (I was in Portland for a few months as a Sous and was in Memphis working under chef Karen Carrier before that) and a front of the house manager from The Green Turtle in Tacoma. After a few months of renuvating (did I spell that right?) we're ready to open The Bank which is in the actual original town bank. Come by and see us. We're working on wine lists trying to get great local wines as well as the imports and my menu is everchanging. . .four items on our eight entree menu change weekly. Anyway, if you get a chance stop by and eat with us.

Hope to see you there.

Chopsticks on Hawthorne at about 37th is great. You do have to be picky about what you order. Seafood is out. Haven't liked any of their seafood, but since your not eating seafood you're okay. Its a fusion of Southeast Asian cuisine. Good stuff. For breakfast I always plug Zell's and Cup and Saucer. Try Castagna's for a good less expensive meal although I have gotten out of William's on 12th with only spending 100 for two (with several wines including port). Some of the more famous restaurants there all seem to have the same menu due to the 'local ingredient issue.' The culinary insitute also does some cheap eats things although I can't comment on the quality.

Great message. What other items do they have besides bread? I'm hoping to meat some cheese makers. I'd like to carry all local cheeses in my restaurant (The Bank @ Saginaws in Elma, WA). This will be my first time there, I'm new to the Pacific NW.

Weekends are insane at the Bijou but if you can get in go for it. Also, Saturday is the big artisan festival at the farmers market. I'll be coming down from WA to check it out hoping to get some contacts for products for my place.

Cookery course? Don't do full culinary school. I've seen too many bad cooks who think they know everything coming from there. Might be better in the UK I suppose as I'm in America. To me the way to learn to cook is to cook. We are doing the online courses which will help though. Personally, I'm teaching a class in plate presentation. I'd suggest logging in and taking all the egullet courses that sound good to you and taking from that whatever you can. After that, read. . .just like artists don't really need art school, chefs don't really need chef school. A little nudge in the right direction always helps though. That's what the egullet classes will be.

I found that in Portland breakfast is the meal to eat (probably because I was at the restaurant I worked at every afternoon and evening). Cup and Saucer in the Hawthorne district is cheap and fantastic. So is Zell's at 13th and Morrison.