#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.