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.