Another Chance as a Leader and Enjoying a Delicious Meal

I'm back from a small and temporary hiatus. It's been busy earlier this month with finals, practicals, final projects, and etc. I am happy to be back in my food blogging and restaurant reviewing grind.

 I've literally put a pause on Yelp reviews and blogging for about for 2-3 weeks, so yeah it's definitely good to be back and I do have a lot to share with you.

So on the last day of service in my Dining Room class, guess who was one of the captains that day? This girl here. It wasn't as difficult as the first time that I was captain. My partner and I were definitely more well prepared this time around and proactive in contacting other students from other classes about menu items.

I had a little trouble with the portion of wine we were serving. According to the professor, I was being a little too generous. However, I definitely felt a little more confident about being captain this time and it was a pleasant experience.

On our last day of service, this is the food we had: 

Butternut Squash Soup with Caramelized Apples

The soup of the day was the Butternut squash soup garnished with caramelized apples. I love how bright and vibrant the soup was and had a nice thickness to it. I couldn't really taste the apples in the soup. The taste of the butternut squash is relatively the same as a pumpkin soup.

Penne with Arrabiata Sauce

This was the appetizer of the day and it was very well presented, simple, and straight to the point. The penne was cooked to al dente with a flavorful, spicy tomato sauce. 

If you don't know what arrabiata sauce is, it is a spicy sauce for pasta made from garlic, tomatoes, and red chili peppers cooked in olive oil. "Arrabiata" actually means angry in Italian and the name of the sauce is due to the heat of hte chili peppers.

Rye & Foccacia Bread

For breads of the day, we served Rye and Foccacia. 

Grilled Skirt Steak with Chimichurri Sacue, String Bean Almandine and Potato Croquettes

For the entree we had the grilled skirt steak with Chimichurri Sauce, string bean Almandine and potato croquette. The steak was grilled, not that tender with a bright chimichurri sauce accompanied with green beans , almond and a golden brown croquette.

I never had chimichurri sauce before but it had an interesting taste to it with a mixture of different herbs and condiments. The potato croquette was nicely composed, crispy on the outside and moist on the inside.

Salad Nicoise

The entree alternative was the salad Nicoise which is a traditional French salad served with a tender tuna, cured olives, and smooth hard-boiled eggs.

I was a little hesitant in trying this salad because it has tuna in it and I'm not a huge fan of tuna at all. However, after taking my first bite it wasn't so bad after all. I really liked the blend of vegetables, eggs, and potatoes. A very nicely composed salad.

Opera Cake

For desserts we had assorted layer cakes and Swiss roll. One of the assorted layer cakes I had was the opera cake. This was new to me and I liked it. It was very moist, layers of deliciousness, and chocolate heaven!

We were also serving two wines on the last day of service. The wines were the 2006 Faustino V Reserva, Rioja from Spain and the 2010 Riesling from Coopers Creek in New Zealand.

For our practical, my group and I put together a vintage-style table. It was very classy, elegant, and well balanced.

Our gorgeous table

Not bad right? I absolutely loved it! The professor loved it. Everyone loved it.

I am very grateful to have taken this dining room class because it taught me a lot about details  and opened me up a lot to different foods I thought I would never like tuna fish or arugula. I also learned a lot about wine and the proper way of drinking and smelling the different aromas of wine. I will miss this class, but also will remember all the important little details that may make a difference in my future.