The Secret Life of a Wanna be Chef...: Lunch Service

First, just in case you wanted to ask...the cake did not get made at the restaurant today! We didn't have what was need to cook it in, so it will be on the menu tomorrow (Wednesday)! Thanks for asking! :)

So today I went in and helped with the lunch service, which was great! I was able to work with Chef Jen, the co-owner of the restaurant. She is great; I worked with her years ago in Las Vegas when she and Chef Eric worked at Andre's. She was the Sous Chef at the time, and she was so helpful to me that evening, and let me do a lot! Today was similar...she just let me jump right in, and explained what needed to be done, and WHY things were being done a certain way, which was really helpful to me. It's funny because she and Chef Eric are so different in their people skills (Chef Jen being more of a people person!) and their process of getting things done, yet, they end up with the same result: superb and amazing food! She mentioned that too me, saying that it was good for me to see how they are different in their styles, but both of them want the same outcome. It's very true.

The lunch menu is A LOT more diverse than the dinner menu, which is great for options, but is a little more challenging for the kitchen. Chef Jen has experience cooking different ethnic foods, so the lunch menu has things as simple as the Cooks' House salad, to a curry combo plate! And speaking of curry...Chef Jen gave me her recipe for daal lentils, which I LOVE! I can't wait to go home and cook them! I tasted her saag paneer which was also amazing. For lunch I had to choose between a hot Amish ham and local cheese sandwich and the Mexican breakfast, which I choose and it consisted of 2 sunnyside up eggs, a mix of potatoes and chorizo, and salad! Oh, and she made this wonderful salsa with chili peppers in adobo (sp?) sauce and cilantro. It was sooo good...so good, I ate before I could get a picture! Sorry! Anyway, other things on the lunch menu were a number of indian style wraps, a burrito, falafael, posole, and a Hawaiian pulled pork plate, with macaroni salad and rice. GOOD!

It was really fun working with Chef Jen today, and I will probably spend the next 2 days working with her in the afternoon. Things I learned today: