The Fraiche Dining Experience

I'm a little late with this update, but Kim, Katie and I went to Fraiche for lunch a few weeks ago. I had a rare Saturday off (only my second one since I began in May), so I decided to make a reservation. Dinner would have been nice, but with Katie teething, we never know if it is going to be a good day or a bad day, so I decided to play it safe with a lunch reservation.
We were seated next to the windows by the restaurant manager (Phil) and it was a sunny day, so we had the full overlooking view of the city.
Even though we were not there for dinner service, I still wanted to do a 3-course meal. Chef came to our table to say hello and asked what we were planning to have. This part requires a little background:
The previous day, the last thing I did before going home was take bison short ribs out of their braising liquid and put them in inserts for the dinner service. While doing this, the aroma of the ribs made me want to take one and sneak into a corner and shove a whole short rib down my throat. When our server (Ashley) said that the chef's daily lunch creation was bison stroganoff, I decided I'd have it....I wanted the bison, regardless of what form it was in. So when I mentioned to Chef that I was getting the daily creation, I said, "I didn't realize bison was on the lunch menu." He said, "Yeah, you can have bison for lunch." I wasn't really sure what he meant. More on that in a bit.
For appetizers, I had the compressed watermelon salad and Kim had the charcuterie plate.

For our mains, I ordered the chef creation mentioned earlier and Kim ordered the Pemberton Burger. When it was served, Ashley had Kim's burger, and Phil had a plate of bison short ribs and said it was "something special from the chef". Chef actually prepared a dinner service meal for my lunch....I would have been completely satisfied with the pasta, so this was a real treat.

The bonus about going during Saturday lunch service is that I knew the pastry chef (Kimberley) was in, so I knew the desserts would be great. I had the panna cotta and Kim had the chocolate trio. They were served by Kimberley, who wanted to say hello and see Katie, of course.

Katie also had a taste of the meals. She had some carrot curls from my salad, some bison, and some strawberries from my panna cotta. Ashley took a photo of us after the main course.

After a very satisfying and tasty meal, I was getting ready to face the music with the arrival of the bill. Ashley approached our table, and informed us that Chef had taken care of the meal. I was floored. I was also very grateful. I thanked him profusely on the way out of the restaurant and during my shift the next day.

Before leaving, we did manage to pop out on to the deck and snap a few photos:

The week following this meal was when I made the decision to take my chef up on his offer and accept a permanent position. While deciding not to go back to school at this time was difficult on some levels, I realized that leaving Kim and Katie for 8 months was not going to be in anyone's best interest.
The support for this decision from friends, family, my program director at the Culinary Institute, and co-workers was amazing.
So just like that, my internship became an apprenticeship and I am on the (slightly longer) journey towards my Red Seal through experience alone.
Other than to learn the basics, the reason I went to the Culinary Institute in the first place was to eventually be able to work at a restaurant like Fraiche. I still can't believe how the pieces fell into place.

While the name of this blog is probably obsolete now, I'll still try to update as time permits and if I have something interesting to say.   

  

New knife!

I decided to bite the bullet today and lay some cash out for a new chef's knife. I have the chef's knife from my school issued knives, but having one knife is like having one pair of shoes....sometimes you need different styles for different tasks. (You usually don't wear the same shoes to a wedding and to play tennis.)

My school knife (Wusthof) is a heavy, German steel with a full tang and bolster. My new knife (Global) is a light, Japanese steel that is all one piece with no bolster.

A point to ponder: Is it just a coincidence that Germany and Japan make the best knives in the world and were also the axis powers in World War II? Just curious.

My internship is still going well. I've been working shifts all over the time clock. My evening shifts are typically spent helping out on garde manger station and doing the dessert station for dinner service. My day shifts are spent doing the garde manger station and dessert station on my own.

Last week I got another lasting reminder of my internship. We were breaking down the kitchen after dinner service and I was responsible for the deep fat fryer. At the end of each day, all the oil is drained, and the fryer is thoroughly cleaned. This includes taking all removable parts to the dishpit. As I was taking the rack that holds the baskets in place to the dishpit, the set of tongs I was using slipped and the rack swung around and came to rest on my wrist for a few seconds before I threw it to the floor. Since it had just come out of the 380°F oil, it left a pretty noticeable burn. That's gonna leave a mark.

 
I am currently reading Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain. He is coming to Vancouver on a speaking tour in October. Ironically, the ticket prices are a little on the high side, so the aspiring chefs who should hear him speak probably can't afford it.

Day shift on the way, I should get some rest.