Bastille Day at Chez Panisse

I started interning at Chez Panisse in June. It has been a very exciting experience so far. I feel privileged to have been accepted as the pastry intern for Summer where so many fruits are in season and there are various special events where they prepare special theme menus.

One of the recently celebrated events was Fete dela Bastille. Bastille Day is a celebration of French Independence Day. Chez Panisse prepares a special garlic menu on this day too.

Being in pastry, one of my tasks for the event was to make the Garlic Marzipans. Day prior to the event, she gave me a heads up that she's giving me a project that will take up a lot of time so I better manage my time well so I'll have enough time for the production of the Garlic Marzipans.

We made the marzipan batter to taste. Basically we worked out some Almond Paste, added some powdered sugar to dry it out a little bit, seasoned it with lemon zest, kiersche and some salt to bring out the flavors in it. Once we got the color and the consistency that we liked, she showed me a garlic model to follow. My assignment was to make 150-200 pieces of garlic looking marzipans. I did my best to make them look like real garlic.

I think they came out really nice!


These garlic marzipans were to come with the other migniardes such as the vanilla macarons and some nut jobs. It was really busy that night so the cooks weren't able to take pictures of the beautiful desserts they plated. Reservations were well made in advance. People travelled across the country to be at Chez Panisse's Bastille Day celebration. Some people lined up at the restaurant too.

I wasn't able to help during dinner service wehre the garlic marzipans were served but the chef gave me the biggest complement the next day. 'They are the best they've seen, SINCE THE RESTAURANT OPENED."

Thanks to the chef's patience in teaching me how to make it and sharing some tips and tricks to get the work done faster too. I must admit, it was quite tedious.


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About Chez Panisse (from www.chezpanisse.com)

Chez Panisse opened its doors in 1971, started by Alice Waters and an assortment of idealistic friends. A neighborhood bistro named after a character in Marcel Pagnol's 1930's trilogy of movies (‘Marius,’ ‘Fanny,’ and ‘Cesar’), the Restaurant and Café are a homage to the sentiment, comedy and informality of these classic films.

From the beginning, Alice and her partners tried to do things the way they would like them done at a dinner party at home. The restaurant, located downstairs, is open for dinner Monday through Saturday, by reservation only. The dinner, served in two seatings from 6 to 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 to 9:30 p.m., has always consisted of only one fixed-price menu, of three to four courses. The menu changes every night, designed to be appropriate to the season and composed to show off the finest ingredients obtainable including meat, fish, and poultry.

Bastille Day
July 14, 2006. A celebration of the garlic harvest, liberty, equality, fraternity, and sorority. The music of a Parisian bal musette and a Gallic garlic menu.

Parisian Macarons. Little Treats. Good Eats

I'm obsessed with these little things. Miette Patisserie offers them in simple flavors of Chocolate, Hazelnut, Pistachios and Vanilla.

I had to buy some as soon as I saw them at The Ferry Building. I just couldn't help myself. I tried one, then two, three, four and MORE!


Ana and I had a bonding moment eating so many of these in between chit-chats in our celebration of a decade of friendship. We didn't realize we ate an entire box of them... (more like I ate an entire box of them... I think, I ate most of it! Right Ans? Say, 'no' please.)


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Miette is located at: One Ferry Building, Shop No. 10, San Francisco, CA 94111 415.837.0300 www.miettecakes.com

Meeting 'The Apprentice'

I'm currently doing my culinary apprenticeship. I can say 2 things about it.
1 - There's so much to learn
2 - There's too little time

It's timely that I'm reading Jacques Pepin's 'The Apprentice: My Life In The Kitchen.' It helps me put things into perspective. Especially in moments when I feel like throwing away my apron in frustration.

Simply written. Very real. Truely Inspiring. I love it.

A few of my favorite quotes:

"My six-year-old's imagination filled in the rest of the details. Enourmous plow horses. Fat, grunting pigs. Dairy cows with sharp horns and swollen, swaying udders. All manner of fowl: chickens, ducks, geese. Dogs and cats. In short, heaven."

"I love the very things Roland dreamed of escaping. The hurly-burly noise of the kitchen. The heat. The sweat. The bumping of bodies.. The raised voices. The constant rush of adrenaline...I belonged... More than anything in the world, I wanted to be a chef."

And how fortunate is an apprentice to meet 'The Apprentice.'

IACP Conference, Seattle. 1 April 2006

In Black and White

I always thought I wanted to be in a profession that required a white jacket. When I was younger I thought I'll be an MD, like most of my friends from highschool. I realized that I wanted a different set of whites... and I'm proud to be wearing them now.

Rebuilding Old Ties

I haven't seen Kuya Jay in a long time. He moved to the US when we were still little kids. Kuya Ba stayed in Pampanga but I rarely get to see him. It's good to meet up and catch up. Though in a city faraway, it feels to be home with some family.

Kuya Ba went back to the Philippines. I get to hangout with Kuya Jay and his brother Jun during my days off from internship. We've already done a lot of things since. We ran Bay-to-Breakers together, watched movies, eat and go hiking. They're my new fun and fabulous family in the Bay Area.