Who says you can’t take it with you?

by The Foodist

I invited The Foodist to guest blog here after reading his blog and learning that he was a student at The Culinary Institute of America. I thought it would be interesting to me and my readers to hear from someone as he made his way along what is certainly one of the more unique paths in the world of post secondary education. Well, The Foodist is done with The CIA and is off to begin what I am sure will be a great career. Goodbye Foodist, and thanks for all your contributions, you will be missed.
-Bob dG

So after countless hours, tests, hellish evenings, and sluggish mornings I now join the ranks of hundreds of others as a Alumni of the Culinary Institute of America. So how does it feel?

Does indifferent count?

I’m happy to be done, glad to be getting on, but at the same time there’s a big piece of me that wishes it wasn’t so. Not because I feel an overwhelming connection to the school or the people there, but because I feel like there’s still much I can learn from the place.

There’s a part of me that feels like I squandered the time I had. I could have spent it buried in the library, skulking around the kitchens watching, and picking teachers and instructor’s brains. Then again when I say it like that, it just doesn’t sound like fun to me.

Lets face it, I’m a cook. I love reading and learning as much as the next motivated guy, but sitting behind a desk for another 2 years just isn’t me. You’d catch me on the roof with a French knife if it came to that.

But really I feel I could have used a little more time to learn or read over, a lot of that stuff is coming with me. Course Guides, menus, recipe packets. Hell, if it got printed on paper and was required to bring to class it’s in a notebook and on my bookshelf. That was one of the best aspects about the school: going “Paperless” and working with an online database of course material, you can download it and take it with you when you go.

In the end, it’s going to be the experience that carries me through. In my, albeit short, experience in this world I’ve come to realize it’s not so much the information you are given, but the experience of having learned it that stays with you. You can tell me till your face turns blue how to make the perfect Hollandaise sauce, but until I do it with my own two hands it will never come out right for me. School was much the same way, now that I’ve done it training sessions, employee meetings, seminars; they’ll all be a drop in the bucket compared to the last few years.

And though I am gone from that place, with another student every 3 weeks to push things along, the place is never really gone from you. There will be some that will roll their eyes when they speak of where they came from, some will boast with pride, others will mention it as if it was a second thought. The truth of it is its still in all of them, and they took it with them too.

The best sauce in the world is hunger.

The Home Stretch

By The Foodist

Well, here it is. 18+ months, A gross amount of money, and a world of stress are just about to come to an end. Funny thing is, I have a feeling it’s just going to get replaced by something similar.

I started Escoffier Room Advanced Table Service a week and a half ago with the expectation of having a hard time with the material. I mean who does classic table side service anymore?

Just about no one, that’s who.

There are so many reasons for not doing it: the heavy labor, the level of skill and training required to pull it off, the product knowledge you have to obtain. Then there’s the pressure of lighting alcohol on fire while standing next to a guest.

You gain a newfound respect for service staff of higher end restaurants after this experience. It is no easy task to match 3 different types of silverware (actual Silver), open and decant wines table-side, and memorizing 8 to 10 different cheeses in a language you don’t speak . You begin to understand exactly why chefs like Thomas Keller spend weeks, heck, months training their service staff before they even talk to a guest. There’s nothing worse then being asked a question about a product and having to go “Let me check that for you” or in the worst case “um, I don’t know”.

With 6 class days to go until it’s done, over, it’s even harder to stay focused on the “now”, rather then the “what now?”. Everything comes together near the end, all your education gets put to use when serving customers who are probably the most inquisitive you’ll ever meet.

Because the CIA is a school a school and the stage at the Escoffier represents the home stretch of the curriculum, 90% of the guests are going to grill you like you’ve been doing it for 30 years, or ask you questions about the program or what your plans are. It becomes a massive juggling act managing time between tables, table maintenance, and ensuring you are doing everything to the best of your ability.

I guess at this point it sounds as though this class is a major pain in my lower back region, but honestly I love it. There’s a satisfaction you get out front that you don’t get in the kitchen, direct customer interaction. When everything is spot on you get to see it, and enjoy it. But when it goes bad, your in the killzone and its your mess to fix.

In the end the real challenge is keeping your head in the game while you know the end is just around the corner.

The best sauce in the world is hunger.

A Panel of Chefs

By The Foodist

One of the benefits to going to the Culinary Institute of America is the fact that the school has so many Alumni and so much respect in the industry that its often the case that numerous demo’s, lectures, and panels are given at the school to enhance and inform the educational experience.

Normally I miss out on these events due to my schedule. Most are scheduled at around 2 PM or 9 PM, and being a PM student in restaurant row I’m in class during those hours. But much to my pleasant surprise our Chef treated us to a day free of lecture and had us meet at the lecture theater at the library for a Entrepreneurship lecture.

The panel included Chef/restaurateurs David Burke, Peter X. Kelly, Nick Livanos, and John Piliouras. Some of the most successful and -in David Burkes’ case most well known- Chef entrepreneurs.

The panel started with discussion of the changing times and how each got their start. Each member of the panel shared interesting tidbits of info such as “It is best to start in the suburbs with a small restaurant. Reviewers will be kinder.”

After the members spoke for a few, the floor was opened up for questions from the students. I had already had 6 or so questions written out and spat out the most pressing one on my mind.

“With the changing economy and shrinking middle class how has that effected privately owned restaurants versus the larger chains? Have you seen, or do you expect a drastic change away from or to your establishments as a result?”

The answer I got kind of surprised me.

Peter Kelly replied “Its something that we as chefs and owners need to pay close attention to, and I think its really the chain restaurants that suffer the hardest during a recession.”

David Burke chimed in with “Peter is right in that sense, Most of the clientèle at places like ours aren’t going to really be effected by a recession as much as a middle class would. As a result, we will probably see less people going out to say Chilis and more people eating a 8$ Aramark hamburger at work than the pricey meals at chain restaurants.”

It was also added that “When you start a restaurant you want to try to be the best, that way you can get that upper class clientèle that will help get through times like this.”

Really good advice in all. There were some key parts in the panel that I really picked up on before having to leave to get going in the kitchen.

• Start Small. Don’t try to do a 500 seat restaurant for your first one, its harder to do and takes a lot more capital.
• Be attentive to detail. Something that’s repeated so often, but really on this subject you need to be. One bad day, one bad review if your new can hurt you for months.
• Take chances. I think it was Nick Livanos who said “Don’t be afraid to take a chance. Taking a risk is what this industry is about, but don’t do it uninformed.”

All in it was a good seminar on what awaits those who still dream of being Chef/Owner of a place. Since I know deep down in side that’s my ultimate goal, having the chance to hear these men speak really helped enforce what could be.

See the Official CIA blurb HERE

The best sauce in the world is hunger.

Too Many Chiefs

by The Foodist

With all the positive aspects about attending culinary school there are negative ones that should be address as well.

The Culinary Institute of America prizes itself as being the top culinary school in the country. It’s an idea that’s drilled into the heads of the students from the time we arrive on campus until we leave. In conjunction with that, you have the individual students. Students from all walks of life, from all kinds of places, and with many ideas on how things should be done.

The combination of all of this in classroom here causes what we refer to as “The CIA Ego”. It’s not always a bad thing. It instills in us pride in our work, a strong work ethic, communication, and understanding. Well, in most cases. In other cases it causes some of us to become bull-headed, stubborn, and downright lazy. These individuals see menial tasks like peeling potatoes or cutting herbs as beneath them and feel as if [I] “have more important things to do”.

When you cram 19 bodies into a kitchen here -which is ten more than should really be there- you have very little space, a lot of work to do, and things go from a normal state of organized chaos to uncontrolled chaos. With so much ego and so many bodies tension builds and tempers flare.

Being a few weeks from graduation my class has the problem of “Too many chiefs, not enough Indians”. My station has two other people assigned to it, and has struggled for the last few days to produce a quality product. Part of the reason is that we are not used to the kitchen. It always takes a few days to feel comfortable in a new kitchen , but besides that is the fact that my group members have decided to take “sick” days. As a result, Chef has been on my back about family meal.

In response I have taken de facto control over the station, and have since produced better quality meals. But then today a group mate returned after missing his second day and is screwing things up by trying to get over on me and take control of the station.

Here-in lay the problem. With me at the helm Chef has been more pleased with family, and as a result I plan on staying in control of the station to ensure it continues to improve over the next 2 weeks. The other student ignores direction, does what he wants, and undermines what little authority I care to exert.

Frustration sets in while the pressure to come up with different and exciting dishes increases. Through it all I cant help but look at the situation from an outside perspective and wonder if the students graduating and going out into the world will carry this attitude with them. The idea of being “Holier then Thou” has never been one that interested me, but seems to be standard operating procedure here.

The food we cook demands more humility, patience, and understanding from us. Food cooked with ego instead of love is awful. So I am faced with a challenge in this kitchen of producing good tasting food while dealing with a control issue. Given time to think on it, a new perspective on the matter has emerged. I will take this as a real-world lesson. There will always been employees who are difficult to work with, to get on your side to do things your way. How I handle this case will help me handle future ones.

With so many chiefs, I will have to play the roll of a wiser, calmer, more focused chief.

The best sauce in the world is hunger.

Too Many Chiefs

by The Foodist

With all the positive aspects about attending culinary school there are negative ones that should be address as well.

The Culinary Institute of America prizes itself as being the top culinary school in the country. It’s an idea that’s drilled into the heads of the students from the time we arrive on campus until we leave. In conjunction with that, you have the individual students. Students from all walks of life, from all kinds of places, and with many ideas on how things should be done.

The combination of all of this in classroom here causes what we refer to as “The CIA Ego”. It’s not always a bad thing. It instills in us pride in our work, a strong work ethic, communication, and understanding. Well, in most cases. In other cases it causes some of us to become bull-headed, stubborn, and downright lazy. These individuals see menial tasks like peeling potatoes or cutting herbs as beneath them and feel as if [I] “have more important things to do”.

When you cram 19 bodies into a kitchen here -which is ten more than should really be there- you have very little space, a lot of work to do, and things go from a normal state of organized chaos to uncontrolled chaos. With so much ego and so many bodies tension builds and tempers flare.

Being a few weeks from graduation my class has the problem of “Too many chiefs, not enough Indians”. My station has two other people assigned to it, and has struggled for the last few days to produce a quality product. Part of the reason is that we are not used to the kitchen. It always takes a few days to feel comfortable in a new kitchen , but besides that is the fact that my group members have decided to take “sick” days. As a result, Chef has been on my back about family meal.

In response I have taken de facto control over the station, and have since produced better quality meals. But then today a group mate returned after missing his second day and is screwing things up by trying to get over on me and take control of the station.

Here-in lay the problem. With me at the helm Chef has been more pleased with family, and as a result I plan on staying in control of the station to ensure it continues to improve over the next 2 weeks. The other student ignores direction, does what he wants, and undermines what little authority I care to exert.

Frustration sets in while the pressure to come up with different and exciting dishes increases. Through it all I cant help but look at the situation from an outside perspective and wonder if the students graduating and going out into the world will carry this attitude with them. The idea of being “Holier then Thou” has never been one that interested me, but seems to be standard operating procedure here.

The food we cook demands more humility, patience, and understanding from us. Food cooked with ego instead of love is awful. So I am faced with a challenge in this kitchen of producing good tasting food while dealing with a control issue. Given time to think on it, a new perspective on the matter has emerged. I will take this as a real-world lesson. There will always been employees who are difficult to work with, to get on your side to do things your way. How I handle this case will help me handle future ones.

With so many chiefs, I will have to play the roll of a wiser, calmer, more focused chief.

The best sauce in the world is hunger.

Family Meal

by The Foodist

The title refers to a term used by those in the food service industry to describe one of the few moments we have during prep and service to breathe, sit back for a minute and relax.

Most commonly when use this term, people who are not-in-the-know will look at me and say something like “Like your when your family comes in to eat?” or “Wait, your family comes to eat in the kitchen?”

So allow me to explain for anyone who’s confused that family-meal is the name for the meal served by the kitchen staff for the restaurant staff. In most establishments it’s leftovers from previous service gussied-up and laid out for the taking. There are a few higher end establishments that manage to work in a budget for their staff and order fresh material to make family meal , but this is rare.

Currently I am in the Advanced Cooking Techniques class in the Escoffier Room at the Culinary Institute of America. I”ve been assigned to the tournant station (“Tournant” at CIA is loosely translated as “the one who does what no one else does” or “the chefs guy Friday”). The main job of tournant in E-Room is to prepare the family meal. I have from 3 till 5 to get the job done, and it’s not easy. I have to feed the kitchen staff of 19 students. I have to feed the Front of the House staff of 14 students. And I have to feed the management people(Another 6 mouths right there) and the Service Staff which on a good day is another 7 to 8 people. I have two hours to finish prepping, cook the food, and have it in the service window. With 30 minutes open to eat dinner if I’m late, I’m in trouble.

Please keep in mind that I’m not talking Hamburgers and Hot Dogs here folks. That stuff wont fly. I’m feeding 40 or so food-centered people, and I need to make them happy. There are few things in this world more disappointing to a cook than a lousy family meal.

Family meal needs to be taken seriously. It shows your skills. You must be resourceful and pay attention to detail and proper procedure at every turn. Its as though 30 or so food critics are going to dine with you tonight, and you need to make them happy. It’s a such a big deal to some chefs it even shows up in their cookbooks. For example, Thomas Keller writes in “The French Laundry Cookbook” in a section called “The Importance of Staff Meal”:

“Staff meal was the first about the fundamentals of cooking and how to work with by-products, using scraps to make something tasty, eye-appealing, and satisfying. But the message underlying was “Can you be passionate about cooking at this level? Staff meal. Only the staff sees it. If you can make great food for these people, create that habit, have that drive, that sincerity, and keep that with you and take it to another level in the staff meal, then someday you’ll be a great chef. Maybe.”

Those words alone show the importance, the strength in family meal. 2 hours to prepare, cook, and present a meal to the people who stand beside you,the people who pull you from the weeds, the people who pull your sauce off the stove when it boils up. These people are your family, fill their bellies with great food, make them happy, give them a moment of serenity in a world that is otherwise the embodiment of chaos.

The best sauce in the world is hunger.

Family Meal

by The Foodist

The title refers to a term used by those in the food service industry to describe one of the few moments we have during prep and service to breathe, sit back for a minute and relax.

Most commonly when use this term, people who are not-in-the-know will look at me and say something like “Like your when your family comes in to eat?” or “Wait, your family comes to eat in the kitchen?”

So allow me to explain for anyone who’s confused that family-meal is the name for the meal served by the kitchen staff for the restaurant staff. In most establishments it’s leftovers from previous service gussied-up and laid out for the taking. There are a few higher end establishments that manage to work in a budget for their staff and order fresh material to make family meal , but this is rare.

Currently I am in the Advanced Cooking Techniques class in the Escoffier Room at the Culinary Institute of America. I”ve been assigned to the tournant station (“Tournant” at CIA is loosely translated as “the one who does what no one else does” or “the chefs guy Friday”). The main job of tournant in E-Room is to prepare the family meal. I have from 3 till 5 to get the job done, and it’s not easy. I have to feed the kitchen staff of 19 students. I have to feed the Front of the House staff of 14 students. And I have to feed the management people(Another 6 mouths right there) and the Service Staff which on a good day is another 7 to 8 people. I have two hours to finish prepping, cook the food, and have it in the service window. With 30 minutes open to eat dinner if I’m late, I’m in trouble.

Please keep in mind that I’m not talking Hamburgers and Hot Dogs here folks. That stuff wont fly. I’m feeding 40 or so food-centered people, and I need to make them happy. There are few things in this world more disappointing to a cook than a lousy family meal.

Family meal needs to be taken seriously. It shows your skills. You must be resourceful and pay attention to detail and proper procedure at every turn. Its as though 30 or so food critics are going to dine with you tonight, and you need to make them happy. It’s a such a big deal to some chefs it even shows up in their cookbooks. For example, Thomas Keller writes in “The French Laundry Cookbook” in a section called “The Importance of Staff Meal”:

“Staff meal was the first about the fundamentals of cooking and how to work with by-products, using scraps to make something tasty, eye-appealing, and satisfying. But the message underlying was “Can you be passionate about cooking at this level? Staff meal. Only the staff sees it. If you can make great food for these people, create that habit, have that drive, that sincerity, and keep that with you and take it to another level in the staff meal, then someday you’ll be a great chef. Maybe.”

Those words alone show the importance, the strength in family meal. 2 hours to prepare, cook, and present a meal to the people who stand beside you,the people who pull you from the weeds, the people who pull your sauce off the stove when it boils up. These people are your family, fill their bellies with great food, make them happy, give them a moment of serenity in a world that is otherwise the embodiment of chaos.

The best sauce in the world is hunger.

Funeral Food

by The Foodist

Unfortunately over my holiday break from school a family member passed, a well-loved man who was devoted to his wife (They just celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary last year), his children, and his town. I’ve been to a few funerals in my day so I have seen plenty of funeral food. But I can say without doubt that I have never seen anything like what I saw last week.

But before I tell about what I saw I need to fill you in a bit about my late uncle.

My uncle spent the majority of his life in service to his town as a police officer, and later, police chief. So as you can imagine he was a regimented man with very strong ties to the community. On the days of his viewing, there must have been 250 people a day who came to pay their respect. The line to get into the viewing was out the door and around the corner. But that’s only the tip of the iceberg.

Back at my aunt’s house, you couldn’t go two inches without bumping into a fruit basket. I’m not sure if its the new fad in funeral food or what, but I wouldn’t think to send a fruit basket. The town car wash, a multitude of local businesses, offices and departments my uncle was involved with all sent them. It got to the point where my cousins were fire-bucketing fruit baskets from the upstairs into the garage. If I were a thief breaking into her garage I would swear the lady was either insane or ran a fruit basket business by the time we were done stacking them up.

Then came the real food. The chicken, the pizza, the chips, sandwiches, the drinks… you name it. My aunt and uncle were always huge on family gatherings, they had played host (bless them for it) to our family reunions for years. Laying out spreads of tin foil covered, sterno-lit, steaming piles of food for us to enjoy and it was both heartwarming and amusing to see the same spreads at the time of mourning.

Immediately after the funeral was a brunch at the same catering hall that had played host to numerous of the families events, including my uncle and aunt’s 50th wedding anniversary. The owner and his son have run the location for years and know my cousin Danny very well. The doors were opened to the family the second they got word they needed a place for brunch, and they did not fail to impress.

Now truth be told, I’ve never been totally keen on catering. There are some great places out there that do really good food. But I don’t usually get much pleasure from catering or eating a catered event. I feel like a cog in a wheel on both ends. When I eat catered food I feel as though I’m doing so because its both required of me and if I don’t I wont eat again for awhile. When I work a catered event I feel like the food is very impersonal. There’s not the same love put in when you start a single dish from scratch and finish it on one plate.

But with the attention and love that was put into that brunch I’m not so sure I had that same feeling of being ill-used this time around. With the food, and booze flowing and bellies full I saw smiling faces, heard laughter, and watched grief get closed out for a short period of time. Maybe that’s the real point of Funeral Food.

We talk about people turning to food to cope with troubled times and personal issues and we see the post-funeral buffets laid out in movies and on TV. But I don’t think we give it much thought. We chalk it up to part of the grieving process, but its so much more then that. Food has the beautiful ability to bring us closer together in good times and bad, and when our bellies are full our hearts get lifted.

My cousin Danny gave me a quick run through of the catering hall’s kitchen before I got back on the road. I met the owner’s son, who had come in at 5 that morning to knock the meal out. After giving my thanks and turning to leave he looked at my cousin and said, “Come back soon Danny, and on a happier occasion..please.”

It kind of stuck with me a little bit. It wasn’t that the owner and his son had only opened their door to a customer. They had cooked a meal for a friend in need, and doing so, paid their respects to a friend.

There’s kinship in that for me. I have, on more then one occasion, been in the kitchen cooking for funeral guests. There’s something warming and welcoming about a kitchen in hard times. In your heart you know its a dark time, but in the kitchen you’re creating, and in doing so smoothing out the rough edges.

So next time tragedy strikes at your friends or family, pick up a knife, a saute pan, a whisk. Create something. Fill someone’s stomach and lift their heart. Because at the core, that’s really what cooking is about.

The best sauce in the world is hunger.

The Dangers and Joys of Roux

By The Foodist

Bob’s last post and Jennie/Tikka’s comment about using roux in Alfredo sauce got me thinking.

Most of us rarely, if ever, use roux these days. There are a few reasons why:

A) It’s time consuming

B) It’s fatty/Considered not-healthy

C) It can sometimes be hard to work with

But there are a few cases where nothing else but Roux will do. So what do you do? How do you ensure it works out well for you? Well here are a few steps and hints to ensure that your product comes out tasting good and looking swell.

First, we need to understand what Roux is. Anyone who has taken the basics of a culinary course could tell you that its the combination of a flour and fat. But to really understand how it works we should take a page from that foodie-chemist Harold McGee:

“Flour is about 10% protein by weight, and much of this fraction is insoluble gluten. Gluten aggregations probably get caught in the starch network and so slightly increase the viscosity of the solution, through the pure starches are generally more powerful thickeners overall…

Finally, Fats are usually present in the form of butter, oil, or the drippings from a roast. They do not mix with water or water-soluble compounds, but they do slow the penetration of water into starch granules. Fat does contribute the sensation of the smoothness and moistness to a sauce, and when used to precook the flour in a roux, it coats the flour particles, prevents them from clumping together in the water, and so safeguards against lumps.”

Ok so … in English please?

Here’s how I think it works. The gluten in the starch of flour is combined with the fats in the butter, oil, or fats from drippings and bond creating a mushy mess we call “roux.” Think of making a basic vinaigrette, you combine oil and acid with a binder to hold the emulsion, same basic principle applies. Cooking the roux allows moisture to evaporate leaving a stronger bind between flour and fat.

So now that we have an understanding of what it is, what’s the problem?

There are a few things you need to know when using roux. First off, starch takes awhile to cook away. That floury/starch flavor you get from roux means that it needs to cook longer. Starch needs time to break down leaving only the gluten and fat bond to add viscosity and texture to the product.

Secondly, Roux is very very finicky. It takes a trained eye to judge the correct amount of roux to use. There is no set rule on XX Amount of Product requires XX Amount of Roux mainly because different products are different viscosity to begin with and chemical composition is different between products. For example, chicken stock will generally have less natural thickeners than veal stock made with joints and connective tissue.

The worst part of this is that the only thing you can count on with a roux is time. Allowing a product to cook out the starches and hence thicken the product correctly is the only way to judge if you need more or, worst case, less.

So you’re probably asking yourself, Why on earth would I choose to use roux ?

Well, roux imparts a very unique flavor and texture that modern food science has come close to copying but hasn’t quite gotten right. It is also safer to use roux to thicken dairy based sauces because of the impartial flavor of roux, cornstarch tends to create an unappetizing look and mouth feel, as does potato starches.

So when do you use roux?

I haven’t thickened a sauce with a roux in a long time. Mostly because I don’t mess with a lot of dairy based sauces . But if you’re making a homemade Bechamel, need to thicken an Alfredo sauce, or want to make a classic veloute (Chicken stock thickened with roux) then there’s your chance. But a word of warning, it is almost always best to season a sauce made with roux after you are sure the starches have cooked out and you have your desired thickness, even then its always a good idea to strain the sauce as well in case any wayward flour lumps survived your whisk.

In cases like Jennie/Tikka’s Alfredo sauce, it’s also best to add the roux to thicken the cream, then add the cheese. This way you prevent the cheese from burning and becoming bitter, just remember to under thicken slightly, the cheese will also act as a thickener.

Hope this helps with any roux related questions and concerns, and remember sometimes the classics are the best!

The best sauce in the world is hunger.

Through New Eyes

by The Foodist

With our beloved Bob head deep in pork bellies and TCM I think its time I posted a little more to take the pressure off my gracious host a little bit.

I spent the day in the city Monday, inspired to catch an early train and spend a day wandering the streets before the Ruhlman and Bourdain Power Hour made a chaotic mess of Union Square.

Truth be told, I’m not a city kind of guy. Don’t get me wrong; I love the city. Where else can you find a restaurant within a stones throw of where you stand, or a used book store to bury yourself in and drool? But for a guy like me; raised in middle America’s happy homemaker suburban prisons, the city is like a rat maze I can never figure out -and all I want is the damn cheese!

Besides my obvious lack of direction skill within the city, or the fact that I cant figure out the subway to save my life, you have to give the city credit for being a foodies paradise. Its my love for all things small and mom & pop that tends to be my biggest weakness. Upon arriving in at Grand Central (Strangely enough my first time there, ever.) I wandered around the Grand Central Market looking at produce and fish. After eying a piece of chocolate I realized I had to get something to eat, and fast. In my rush to catch the morning train I missed breakfast, so I wandered (Are we getting the hint that I spend most of my time wandering?) around a couple blocks passing up Starbucks, Deli’s, more Starbucks, at least two small cafes, until I found myself back on 42nd looking at a menu outside a small Italian joint call Dominicos. The idea of hot tomato sauce and cheese won me over as a giant gust of wind nearly blew me over.

I poked my head in the door, greeted by the sight of old businessmen and small groups of older women shoppers enjoying pasta and stiff drinks. “Good Deal” is what I thought to myself as I asked if they could seat one. The hostess looked at me as if I had two heads then nodded and said “Where would you like to sit?” in a thick eastern block accent. I think at that point I probably looked at her in the same way she looked at me, but shrugged it off thinking it was amusing. I took a seat nearest the door and was greeted by a waiter who asked in a thick Italian accent if I wanted a drink. Ordering my usual 7&7 I settled in for some food.

At this point I will skip the details of my meal, but suffice it to say:

-The fried Mozzarella was very good

-Why do we insist on garnishing plates with giant sprigs of Parsley?!

-Having to wait 10 minutes for a menu is annoying

-Having your pasta taste like it came out of a box, and the sauce out of a can or bottle is disappointing.

After finishing my meal I ran uptown to catch a movie with an old classmate who has since left the CIA for other life options. When she arrived she looked at me and said:

“My mother thinks I’m crazy”

I looked at her and laughed asking “Why because you are going to a book signing with authors of a field you just left?”

“No”, she replied opening her bag slightly exposing a copy of her Professional Chef “Because I’m going to ask them to sign this.”

We laughed about it but I reassured her it would probably go over very well with Bourdain and Ruhlman.

We finished the movie and rushed to Union Square to the Barnes and Noble for the signing and Q&A session. We arrived early and wandered around Union Square entering a book store that is famous in the city, The Strand. My greatest weakness, next to food, is books. I love them. There is nothing more heartwarming and welcoming to me then to see shelves and shelves of books. To me its like a giant warm blanket. I trolled some sections before stopping in the Culinary section, amazed at some of the books they had. Relics of 70’s diet fads, A Professional Chef 2nd and 5th edition (I already own a second edition so I passed on it), and as my eyes scanned upwards I saw a copy of The Zuni Cafe Cookbook. I’m not one who believes much in Fate or any of that, but after hearing about the cookbook for weeks, then reading Ruhlman’s Elements of Cooking in which he mentions it numerous times the irony was not lost on me. We grabbed it and I continued trolling turning up another treasure, Bourdain’s The Nasty Bits for a whopping 5 bucks. How could I pass that up?

It was ten till seven and I had to force myself to the register before I started drooling over more books, forcing me to buy them. We set out back into the cold, toward Barnes and Nobles. Making our way to the fourth floor we realized we should have gotten there earlier. The room was crowded and we were informed it was going to be standing room only from then on. We opted to get into the line for the signing that had started in the back of the room.

After the boys had been introduced (with obvious jokes again about Ruhlman’s hair, the now expected punch line) someone thought it wise to turn on a TV in the back for us poor souls who showed up to late to grab a seat. The Q&A session was about what I expected from these two. Quips about each other, Bourdain knocking Das (Food) Netwerk at every chance and giving Ruhlman a hard time about being on Next Iron Chef. Then Ruhlman cutting back some but taking it all with a smile most of the night. It became obvious that the majority was there for Bourdain as just about every question was aimed at him and about No Reservations. Ruhlman, not missing a beat, made a quip about his book currently outselling No Reservations, which got a round of applause from the audience and a slight giggle from Bourdain.

After waiting around some more to get to the actual table for the signing we said our hello’s got some books signed and went on our merry way (BTW Both Bourdain and Ruhlman were elated to see a copy of Pro Chef on the table). After we got downstairs and I paid for my copy of No Rez I realized I choked when I got to the table. I was going to ask Bourdain if he planned on returning to Beirut for another attempt. After his last visit I was curious if he wanted to redeem the episode by doing what he set out to do originally. You knew after watching the episode, and from the bit in No Reservations that he was heartbroken by his visit.

We finished the evening by eating at Republic, and I realized there was a whole list of places I desperately wanted to try to get to before school ends. Republic was nice, the atmosphere was welcoming, crowds of people sitting at community tables eating pots of noodles and enjoying themselves. What bothered me was the lighting. We questioned our waitress about it, she commented that the evening manager liked to turn the lights down low. While dim lights can be appealing we found ourselves squinting to see menu, and really unable to enjoy the look of our food.

With food in our bellies my roommate, whom met up with me at B&N for the signing, and I headed home.

All in all an interesting trip; the rewards of which are a bag full of good reading material, the mental note to make a list of places to eat before I leave, and a cold.

In the end there’s really only one question that still burns in my mind.

Ruhlman…. What was with the flask of vodka next to you at the signing?! Book tour worn you out that badly? or is it Bourdain’s bad influence at work yet again?

The best sauce in the world is hunger.