We Are Family

Days 67 and 68

First two days of working the family meal rotation = success.

It's tough work. The day starts an hour earlier than usual and is nonstop until the school starts lining up for lunch at 11:30 a.m.; the rush lasts for about an hour, our team gets a mini-break, and then the madness continues until 3 p.m. as we prep for the following day.

In total, family meal is cooked for approximately 300 people. Those eating include students,

chef instructors and other staff.

Tuesday, we prepared roast beef, potatoes gratin and roasted Brussels sprouts; today, we served fish and chicken tacos, cabbage slaw, and rice and beans.

In addition to the mains, we also prep a salad bar, condiments and various drinks. So far so good: I'm hearing compliments, so I'll take that as a sign my team is doing well.

All this hard work deserves a reward. What better way to pat a chef-in-training on the back than with a good meal—cooked by someone else, of course. A small group of friends from school hit up DBGB for some of chef Daniel Boulud's house-made sausage. We split foie gras with black mission figs, hazelnuts and brioche; Thai pork sausage with green papaya, basil fried rice and a quail egg; pork sausage served over bacon and lentils; cold-smoked ribeye with cauliflower puree and bone marrow ravioli; and a green apple and honey ice cream sundae. Afterwards, we stopped by Painkiller for some retro tiki bar libations.

Can I get an "Oh yeah?"