movin' on up(stairs)

Starting Monday, I will be officially single-handedly manning the petit four station upstairs... This includes plating and preparing all 6 different kinds of petit fours for the 220+ people who come in every day, piping and baking off madeleines fresh for each guest, baking off the coulant (molten cake), and plating the jivara coffee dessert. All at the freaking same time. Call that multi-tasking!

One of my coworkers told me that she lost 15 pounds over a period of 3 months working that station because of stress and because she never wanted to sacrifice 5 minutes of prep-time to eat dinner... My sous-chef told me that our chocolate room would be a good place to cry, and when I laughed at his comment, he only replied back with "it's true...". If something that I prepare doesn't look perfect, it'll be my fault, and I'll probably get yelled at by 3 different chefs. If I can't plate things quick enough, I'll slow down the whole team and it'll just be disaster..

Even though I'm supperrrr nervous about starting this 2pm-2am shift, especially in the height of busy season and new desserts, I'm also strangely excited for this challenge. I will probably cry at least once, might end up dropping some f-bombs (though I'm going to try my absolute hardest not to swear at all!!!), and may even lose a bit of weight... but I know that I'll only be a stronger, quicker, and more efficient worker by the end of this. ALSO, I get to take home whatever leftovers we have at the end of the night!!! :D

But yeah. T-minus 3 days till all craziness ensues. Please pray for me... I'll need every bit of God's grace to get through each day!

asian autumns

2 out of my last 3 autumns have been spent in Asia, so now that this weather is showing full signs of autumn smells, gusts of wind, and wardrobe choices, I can't help but sometimes feel like I'm still in Asia...

edit.

I gotta believe that this is where God wants me to be right now, therefore I will trust in His will for me and obey joyfully.

⁷ "But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
whose confidence is in him.

⁸ He will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit."

⁹ The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?

¹⁰ "I the LORD search the heart
and examine the mind,
to reward a man according to his conduct,
according to what his deeds deserve."

Jeremiah 17: 7-10

hrm..

sometimes I ask myself what I'm doing working as a cook in a kitchen when I have a degree in management & economics from a top-rated business school...

... I'd like to say I'm just getting the experience I need to be able to pull off my own joint one day, but in this period between now and then, I can't help but feel like part of my intellect is wasting away...oh, and my forearms are getting significantly more muscular...

:(

Rhythm, IV.

Prayer, more than any other spiritual discipline, reveals what's really in your heart and how much pride you operate in. Prayer, more than any other discipline, reveals what you really believe about you, what you really believe about God, and how much pride is in the tank of your soul.

- Matt Chandler, from this 4th sermon in the Rhythm series

kitchen skillz, I.

After a (successful) week of work, I can now (successfully) crack two eggs at the exact same time into a bowl, using one-hand for each. Hollerrrrrrrrr.

kitchen etiquette, I.

When you arrive at work, go around,greet, and shake every other cook's hand. When you leave, say goodbye to and shake every other cook's hand.

(belated post of) bday celebrations! :)

Thanks to everyone for all the wishes, meals, gifts, cards, and just all the love shown for my 23rd! I really really really am so thankful for you all!

lunching at Jean-Georges with Steph, Catherin, and Norman! What a fun and super yums meal! Oh, the feeling of dining like royalty...so sweet.

Thanks to Danny and Sam for dropping by to say hi!

I smacked myself in the face piping chocolate ganache into cupcakes for my bday to bring to leaders retreat...(thanks Mal&Alison for getting people to sing to me. Hahaha)

Using the new torch Alison got me for graduation to toast some meringue frosting!

This is the only picture I have of that night...but wine&cheesing it on Jen's new shnazzy UES deck with Sherry, Jen, Mallory, Jeannie, Lauren, and Alison! They also got me Two Little Red Hens red velvet cake!!!!! YUMMMMMMAAYYY.

3-course lunching at Del Posto with Sherry!

The bread was SOOOOOOO good we ate 2 baskets there and also took home a basket for Catherin to enjoy too =P

Jazz @ Dizzy's in Columbus Circle. Thanks Lauren, Bommy, Jeremy, JWei (&Tanya), Mikey, and Mark for coming out!! It was exaccttlyy what I had in mind for a classy night out!

Dinner @ Locanda Verde with Mikey, and using our culinary 'ins' to pull some strings (aka, getting an extra scoop of gelato. holler)

#8 best restaurant in the world

They also have the James Beard award for 'Outstanding Restaurant', (only given to 1 restaurant in the US), 3 Michelin stars, and 4 stars from the NY Times. . . and this is where I'll be working for at least the next 3 months!!! eeeps!!!

The World’s 50 Best Restaurant Awards 1-50 (2010)

Rank	Change	Restaurant	Region	Awards
1	Up 2	Noma	Denmark	The S.Pellegrino Best Restaurant in the World, The Acqua Panna Best Restaurant in Europe
2	Down 1	El Bulli	Spain	Restaurant Magazine Chef of the Decade
3	Down 1	The Fat Duck	UK	The Chef's Choice sponsored by Electrolux
4	Up 1	El Celler de Can Roca	Spain
5	Down 1	Mugaritz	Spain
6	Up 7	Osteria Francescana	Italy
7	Up 3	Alinea	USA	The Acqua Panna Best Restaurant In N.America
8	Up 33	Daniel	USA	The Highest Climber sponsored by Cocoa Barry
9	Down 1	Arzak	Spain
10	Down 4	Per Se	USA

Daniel

Man. I really hope I have the privilege of eating at this stupendous restaurant someday. I can't speak for the savory-dishes side of things, but on the pastry end, lemme just tell you how well you'll be treated... whether or not you actually order a dessert, you automatically get: a tray of 6 petit fours (which are all delish), a selection of chocolates, and 5 freshly baked madeleines per person. Plus -- the desserts are all pretty freaking noms. But, even if you don't decide to order a dessert, you still get a complementary mini fruit soup!!!

Why are they so nice to their guests?!??!!

Another thing -- one guest came in wanting a chocolate souffle, which actually aren't on the menu, and with a 35-minute heads-up, Chef decided that he would meet that request, so he made a batch of chocolate souffles from scratch -- all that work just for one measly souffle!! Who does that?!

Amazing. I almost can't believe it.

in need of some Godly wisdom

SO MANY CHOICES.

WHERE SHOULD I WORK?!?!??!!

AHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Daniel. -- I have an offer to be a full-time unpaid intern. Rated #8 restaurant in the world. Chef is pretty nice and makes bangin' desserts, coworkers are all somewhat nice, would learn a ton. Locker room smells bad, and the kitchen isn't nearly as clean as Bouchon's. Would be a huuugee resume builder. All the big-name French chefs can be a bit intimidating...

Bouchon. -- still waiting to hear back, but would TOTALLY be willing to be a full-time unpaid intern for their retail side there if I am not offered the bread baking gig. LOVE love LOVE the environment & clean kitchen. Is really in line with what I would want to do in the future. Would die happy if I could learn how to make those macaroons.

something I have to remind myself every day

God will open the doors that He wants to open for me and will close the doors that aren't right for me. In every situation, God's got my back, so I really shouldn't stress too much about where I'll end up. I just gotta keep trying and trusting, trying and trusting.

one of the happiest days of my life

well, sort of. But lemme just tell you, this is probably one of the funnest trails I've ever had // might ever have. Why? Mostly because Per Se & Bouchon are ridiculously crazy awesome food establishments. Here are some tidbits:

- The kitchen is impeccably clean. Like, literally, spotless. My chef-instructor once said he would have his kidney taken out there -- it's that clean. They mop the floors 4x a day (vs. 1 at Nobu57), and everything is just so...clean. Even the staff bathroom is SUPER clean. (And well lit!!!)

- Family Meal....For lunch, I had salad, rice, super yummy fish, lobster, fresh green grapes, and some almond shortbread cookies! For dinner, (which the waiters served TO us at our stations, complete with fork&knife&napkin), I had mashed potatoes, yummy meatloaf, carrots, salad (in a separate container), and some cake. (dinner wasn't as good...oh, but the service! I was in shock.)

- Environment -- Even though Per Se is one of the best restaurants in the world (and therefore has SUPER high standards for everything), everyone was soooooo nice!

- The kitchen is HUGE! (bread and pastry are separated from the actual Per Se restaurant though, so I didn't get to see the live feed....maybe one day I'll get the honor).

- They let you take home what they don't sell / can't serve!! See below for the result of my pillaging :)

- One of the pastry cooks gives us all his mess-ups to eat, like madeleines, financiers, etc. Man, I would get so fat so quickly...

There are a ton of other things...small things, but I just really really enjoyed it, and we'll see what happens from here on out......... *crosses fingers*

Pictured: 2 baguettes, 3 chocolate brioches, 2 regular brioches, a pain de campagne loaf, 5 buttery rolls (that I forgot the name of...), a lemon poppy seed muffin, 2 chocolate little cake thingies, a currant loaf, and a honey cake.