The Home Stretch.

I just realised today that when I head back to work on Tuesday, I have 4 weeks to go.  Time is really flying by.  There is so much to plan for and get ready to do, I hope I will have enough time to get it all done.  

Things have been overwhelming here as of late.  For some reason there seems to be more to do than ever before.  It is stressful, however it is preparing me mentally for things to come.  Im finally getting a chance to push myself and see how hard and fast I can move and still have the perfect brunoise, julienne, or picked grapefruit.  When the kitchen calls the prep-house and says they need 50 oyster shells opened in 15 minutes, and you still have 3 more things to accomplish, you learn about yourself and how you can produce.

New stagiers started this past week as well.  Its nice to have the extra set of hands, but at the same time (as im sure it was with me) they needed to be trained and their production needed to be double checked.  All of which takes time away from the supervisors and their jobs.  Im sure they will get used to it by the end of the upcoming week.

 

Certainty Vs. Uncertainty.

Sorry it has been a while since I have written in the blog.  Its been a hectic few weeks here in Bray.  I have really settled into a routine here.  Wake up, go to work, come home, go to sleep….repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat.  To be honest, I kind of enjoy it.  Since I have little to no personal life here, it works.  The majority of my free time is spent at the local pub having a few pints and a plate of meat and veg.  I am looking forward to returning back home to a little bit of uncertainty.  Uncertainty about a job, where I am going to live, how long I am going to live there, things of the sort.

I have come to realize here why I love the restaurant industry.  The fact that it is unpredictable.  I love the idea that tomorrows service is not going to be the same as yesterdays service.  I love the fact that decisions need to be made on the second in the heat of the moment.  I enjoy the feeling of getting through a service when the dishwasher breaks, the hoods are down, and your a man short.  Being a cook, a plumber, an electrician, and then walking into the dining room and resolving a conflict.  This is what drives me to be in this industry.  

Here at The Fat Duck, it is not like that.  Everything is set to a specific standard here.  Much to the credit of The Duck, they have eliminated the majority of chance through their cooking methods and such.  The variables have been eliminated and marks have been placed on consistency.  This is what Blumenthal wants.  Consistency.  I cant blame him one bit, it is the mark of a great chef, and certainly the mark of an amazing restaurant.  

The problem that I have with this system however is that it lacks excitement.  It lacks the rush that one gets in the heat of battle because nothing changes.  I don’t know exactly what to make of it in the grand scheme of things.

 

Cricket

On Monday the 13 of September, The Fat Duck had its annual staff cricket tournament.  Now until playing this game, I thought that cricket was quite possibly the stupidest game ever invented.  How wrong was I.  It has the slow pace of baseball, but you add beer (on the field mind you) to make it seem faster.  And while in baseball you have gloves to catch the ball, in cricket you don’t.  This can result in broken hands which require surgery (see photo below).  Leave it to the Brits to come up with this game.

At any rate, it was a fantastic day which left my entire body sore for days; my hamstring in-particular.  I pulled it while diving full sprint into the crease as to avoid getting out.  I will be bringing cricket back to Atlanta and starting a cricket club.  You are all invited to play.

 

Me bowling against Heston

 

 

Me and Heston. Notice his broken hand.

 

Too many quail for one dish.

The last thing I had to do today before cleaning and going home was grind up some whole quail for making an ice filtered consommé gellie.  Now granted we make huge batches at a time because we sous-vide it, but still.  140 lbs. of quail, one grinder. I believe it was somewhere around 325 quail.  Thats a lot of quail, but you should taste the result.  

Its a layered jelly of quail consomme, pea puree, and langoustine cream, topped with a foie gras parfait.  Wow.  The flavors here are so bold and rich.  It seemed as with each bite you tasted the progression of the dish as the layers became mixed in your mouth.   

The more menu items I get a chance to sample, the more I realize that the work I am doing is just as important as the cooking that the chef de partie are doing.  Its making the days go by a bit quicker.

 

My First Week

And were off and running here in Bray.  72 hours over 5 days this week at The Fat Duck.  Needless to say I was a bit exhausted.  I have seen so much over the past few days explaining every detail might take some time.  I’ll only point out the highlights and keep the post broad.

3 Michelin stars…I now understand what it takes to be a 3 Michelin star restaurant.  The devil is in the details.  Detail is a word I have become familiar with over the past week.  From brunoise carrots and celeriac, to laying out mushroom plates, its all about the details.  Time consuming, often times painstaking details.  For the first 3 days I did nothing but prep work.  I found it really hard to understand why I was picking the individual cells out of 3 grapefruits.  Then on the evening of my 3rd night I had an observation of the kitchen for dinner service (The restaurant kitchen and prep kitchen are in separate buildings).  That is when it all made sense.  I now understood why my brunoise had to be perfect.  Seeing the detail and time spent on every dish made me realize that the painstaking work I had been doing for the past 3 days was such an integral part of the menu at The Duck.

The following day I spend all day in the kitchen at The Duck working the line on the amuse station.  I was responsible for the oyster with mango gellie and lavender, the red cabbage gazpacho, the quail jelly with foie gras mousseline, and I also helped plate the infamous Sound of the Sea dish.  What a fantastic feeling to complete a full day of work in the the kitchen at the second best restaurant in the world.  

The first week is done, 11 more to go.  I am beginning to miss it state side.  I miss my friends, my apartment, things of the sort.  I am just now realizing how much everyone has meant to me over the past year.  I know if i don’t learn any more techniques here at the duck, I know I will grow mentally into a stronger more dedicated person.  and for that I am truly grateful.

 

Im a bit busy…

Sorry to everyone that has been keeping an eye on my page waiting to hear the events of the first days of The Fat Duck.  I am putting in a lot of “proving” hours this week.  I will catch everyone up on Sunday when I have a day off.

 

Pictures of The Fat Duck and Hinds Head Tavern

 

The Fat Duck

The Hinds Head Tavern

 

Bray

If you could take the charm of country living, combine it with Aston Martins, million dollar homes, a famous river, and world class dining, you would have Bray.

This afternoon when I arrived into town, I was privy to a quick drive around the area.  We drove back this two lane road through a canopy of trees, to a soft light at around a sharp corner.  And there was Bray.  We parked the car in the village lot and as I walked out of the lot I spotted The Hinds Head Tavern.  Next to that…The Fat Duck.

I talked about it for months.  Actually seeing it in person put a whole different perspective on my situation.  It became a reality.  I can only imagine what I will be going through next Tuesday when I start.

 

Thank You!

Before I leave for The Fat Duck, I wanted to express my thanks to everyone who have helped make this past year possible for me.  I cant help but think that all of you that know me helped make my goal of The Fat Duck come true.  

To all of the Chefs at LCB, thank you for pushing my limits.  Without the strong critiques, and sometimes harsh criticisms, my skills would not be as sharp as they are today.  You all have helped me reach farther than I felt I could and have helped me get to the next level in my career.

To my fellow students.  While I am sure you have hated me at points over the past year, I can’t look back and say that I didn’t deserve it.  Thanks for dealing with me.  See you at graduation.

And to everyone else… my family, my ex, the women at Mr. Cues, thanks for being there and listening.  Its been nice to escape the every day food talk and converse about other things.  

I hope we can all stay in touch.

 

The Externship.

For those of you that don’t know already, I have secured my externship for LCB at The Fat Duck in Bray England.  As of 2008 it is ranked the number 2 restaurant in the world and has retained its 3 Michelin Stars.  This ranking puts it second to El Bulli in Spain. 

My flight across the pond leaves on the 19th of this month.  This should give me a few days to get acclimated to the culture shock that I am about to go through.  The Fat Duck is located in a small town about 30 minutes train ride from London.  Getting used to small town life is going to take some time.  I’m feeling rather anxious.  I don’t know if it is from all of the life changes I am going through right now, or if I am worried about my performance in the kitchen.