I've got a two tier cake on the way... wanna piece?

Well, I'm nearly on my way to completing the Pastry program at ICE. Time flies... I'll be done on March 19th! We've been decorating cakes - buttercream shells, roses, royal icing "embroidery" and draping, covering cakes with marzipan, working with chocolate plastic (actually not so much a "plastic" as a much more delicious version of a tootsie roll) to make roses, and now we're working on making gumpaste flowers and roses. We also have to design and execute a 2 tier wedding cake - which is due next Friday, all while learning new gumpaste flower techniques and trying to ensure we are ready to rock our own cake. If anyone is in the market for a 2 tiered cherry blossom themed cake in a week, let me know... you pay shipping costs and assume all risk of delivered goods... :)

And... sad to say, I'm not bringing home any goodies from class anymore. Which is terrible... now I'm always in the mood for sweets! Lately I've been craving cookies, but I haven't had any recently. I was in Boston last weekend and so so so close to Modern Pastry in the North End, but didn't drag myself over there for a delish black & white cookie. God, I love those things! I should try to find a replacement in NYC or NJ... not sure it will work out though!

And the last bit of exciting news... As a requirement to complete my diploma program at ICE, I must complete a 210 hour externship at a restaurant of my chosing. For the 6 weekends prior to the most recent one, I worked my butt off Saturday nights at restaurants I was interested in externing at. I loved every second of the experiences! It was insane how different each restaurant was. There were good and bad things about each place, but the one that made me practically jump up and down was Gramercy Tavern. The group I met and worked with was amazing. The Executive Pastry Chef trusted me enough to let me make pizza dough - which is sort of a big deal because it contains yeast, which sometimes can be tempermental. After completing the tasks I was assigned in the very nice production kitchen, I was invited to go upstairs to the service kitchen were I was able to experience Saturday night service. The vibe was great. The kitchen was steady busy, but not overwhelmed - (dining in January in any large city experiences a slump after the holidays). People from the savory side of the kitchen came by to grab something they needed from a refrigerator or to go downstairs and on their way back introduced theirself to me. The guys working dessert service let me plate desserts - okay, okay, fake plate - I messed up more than I sent out. And most importantly, they were proud enough of everything they were making they wanted me to try whatever I wanted... And it was delicious!

So the ending to this tale is that I found out tonight I got the externship at Gramercy Tavern... I'll begin working there about a week after I graduate from the Pastry program...

Restaurant Week

For all my Boston buds... just because I'm not there, doesn't mean you have to miss out on Boston's Winter Restaurant Week... March 4th to March 9th! Make your reservations for lunch or dinner and make me proud!

Because... Restaurant Week in NYC was the last 2 weeks here and I went to 3 places! One all by myself... and Boston gets such a better deal - 3 course prix fixe lunch here is $24.07 and dinner is $35 - Boston is still a deal for lunch at $20.07 and dinner (prices went up slightly) at $33.07!

The places I went...

Artisanal, two Tuesdays ago for dinner with me, myself & I, before my wine class at school... All I remember about that meal was how upset my stomach was pretty much immediately after I walked out and how dry the beef bourguignonne was (hello!?! this is a braised dish - meaning a moist cooking method... the beef should be juicy and I shouldn't have to cut through tough pieces of fat), and, oh yeah, the cheese that the customer behind me ordered that made the whole area smell like manure... so my recommendation... don't eat there unless you'd like to lose about 5 lbs in 30 seconds or really love the smell of stanky cheese.

Craftbar for lunch, last Thursday, with 4 of my classmates & instructor from Culinary Management. Such an awesome meal!!! They weren't stingy with the menu either - I'd guess that nearly all their appetizers were on the prix fix menu (about 16), they had 9 different entrees and 6 different desserts. I had these succulent little fried oysters as my app, a pork belly with beet choucroute as my entree and a crispy warm chocolate cake with pistachio ice cream. You know what made the chocolate cake crispy? It was wrapped in one small square of phyllo and baked like that. It was a really cool idea and delicious too!

The Rocking Horse Cafe for dinner, last Thursday, with 5 of my classmates from Baking & Pastry. The company was better than the food, and after 2 margaritas, tax, tip and a shared $10 guacamole, my portion of the bill quickly soared to $70!!! I should have reconsidered ordering from the prix fixe menu when I was only excited about the app I was ordering - a tasty black bean tamale with a cabrales (I think) cheese cream sauce. But my bad... I ordered a full 3 mediocre at best courses and regretted it later. I could have at least had 3 margaritas and only one app (or a $16 burrito!?!? ) for less!

So get out there and experience Restaurant Week in your area... and at the very least, bring people you enjoy being with so that even if the food is shitty, at least you have fun conversations!!!