I've been feeling rusty since I stopped cooking. I was off from my spa work today so I decided to call my friend who's a sous chef at Chez Tj, a french restaurant in Mountain View, CA.
I spent the entire day just helping out the cooks. I did a lot of knife work and help prepare the little details on the plate that a lot of people don't like doing... like fried parsley, brunois shallots and chive rings.
I had a lot of fun! I'm so amazed at how the system in the kitchen works so well. They only have 4 cooks. The Chef de Cuisine expedites at the pass. At the beginning of the line is the Garde Mange cook, followed by the Sous Chef, then the Entremet then the Saute Cook. The Entremet plates everything. He stands in between the Sous Chef and the Saute Cook. Saute cooks most of the protein. The Sous Chef helps supervise the line and cooks some of the vegetables and sauces too. As the Entremet plates, the Chef de Cuisine takes them at the pass and finishes them with oils, salt, pepper, fried herbs, chives, creme fraiche or truffle shavings.
It was amazing how much food comes out of that kitchen. The plates and beautiful and fairly complex and yet service runs very smoothly.
I was only there for a day and I already learned so much. Thanks Chef Bruno and Chef Henry! I would love to come by and help again sometime soon.
Some tips and tricks and photos on my next post.
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