Leading & Dining in My Class

This Tuesday I was one of the captains in my Dining Room class and it wasn't hard, but it wasn't easy either.  It was almost like running a restaurant, except I am sure running a restaurant is a lot harder then what I had to dealt with on Tuesday. I basically had to put the leader hat on my head, learn how to open a bottle of wine as well as serve it properly, and run the show. I was utterly nervous especially when it came to serving the wine, but somehow I managed to survive the class.

Every Tuesday after the dining room service finishes, we all gather around and eat and discuss strengths and weaknesses of the day. The amazing aspect of all this food that's served is it's made by students and made for students and the Hospitality Management faculty. 

Luckily I was able to take quick pictures of what was served/we ate:

Hard Rolls & Herb Bread

This was the bread that the Baking & Pastry Arts class made for us. The breads of the day were hard rolls and herb bread. I especially liked the herb bread because the power of the herbs adds an aroma to the bread. The herbs used were dried oregano, thyme, and basil. We had butter on the side to spread on the bread and it was delicious!

New England Clam Chowder

The soup of the day was New England Clam Chowder. Honestly, this was probably one of the best New England Clam Chowder's I've ever had because it was seasoned just perfectly and the best part was that it wasn't too creamy.

I've had a lot of New England Clam Chowder before, but not in a fine dining restaurant. The New England Clam Chowders I've had were always very creamy and not well seasoned. This particular clam chowder that I had was just perfect and there were bits of bacon in the soup too which gave the soup a nice smokey flavor to it too.

Deviled Egg

Now I can finally say I've tried a deviled egg. Somehow I thought the taste would be weird, but it was actually not bad. The yolk was flavored with mustard and seasoned with a little salt and pepper, and a little cayenne pepper.

Cold Broccoli, Sunflower Seed, and Raisin Salad

I was a little hesitant about trying this salad because it didn't sound very appealing except for the broccoli part because I do love broccoli. Any way, the portion size of the salad was rather small. The salad wasn't the best salad I've ever had, but I did like vinaigrette.

Basque Chicken with Creamy Polenta and Fresh Garden Vegetables

I was really excited to try this dish for some reason. The sauce used for the basque chicken is from a family recipe of one of the chefs that teaches the Culinary 2 class. What's in the sauce? No one knows.

The basque chicken was excellent! It was cooked just perfectly and the meat was rich and tender. I wasn't too thrilled with the fresh garden vegetables because they were a little too salty. The creamy polenta was tasty as well.

We served a red wine today - 2010 Cappezana Barce Reale Di Carmignano. I'm not a fan of red wine, but this one actually tasted really good. For dessert, we had assorted French pastries - swan, rum napoleon, and financier. I don't know how often I can post photos of the food I will be having in my dining room class, but I will do my best to snap pictures.

Overall, I had a great experience as being a captain and being somewhat in charge. Looking forward and hope I can share another dining experience in-class with you soon!