This evening, I bring you a special post dedicated to one of my besties, food-in-crime-ing, bike-riding, 9-to-5 hating, photo loving, fame-whore-ing, all around funny man, Emiliano.

Since Emi got smart and departed the shores of Manhattan for the bright lights of Brooklyn, it was only fitting that I send him off with a list of top ten Williamsburg restaurants/dining options:

1. La Superior: The Mexican-est, most fresh, flavorful tacos this side of Cali. Don’t miss their nightly specials cuz they are…special

2. Motorino Pizza: Pizza ‘n things from a wood-burning brick oven. I had one of my lasy meals here before leaving for Paris. ’nuff said.

3. Fette Sau: It’s meat by the pound at this BBQ joint. Beats out most of Manhattan’s options except for Dinosaur BBQ (one love).

4. Egg: Open early for those who need one of the best, local and organic breakfasts in Brooklyn.  They have their own farm wher most of their products are sourced. They rule Brooklyn brunch but there is always, always a line.

5. Roberta’s: More in the Bushwick area, this warm, dark and cozy wood buring brick oven pizza resto is best during the cold months of winter. Don’t miss the Specken Wolf pizza. Oh, and the meat plate obvs.

6. Marlow & Sons: Meats, cheeses, oysters and a good wine list. Great atmosphere and if you haven’t heard of this place yet, you clearly can’t read. Clearly.

7. Diner: The Marlow and Son’s team also have Diner. Featuring a seasonal menu, these guys also publish one of my favorite food magazines called, Diner Journal.

8. Dressler: To be fair, I have not taken a meal here, yet. I have however, known many who have and from the looks of the menu (and reviews), you best not miss this fine-dining-in-Brooklyn option.

9. Papacito’s: Ok, fine. It’s in Greenpoint. But it’s Mexican (surely you know my love of Mexican food by now) so just go ‘k?

10. Fatty ‘Cue: I give this an honorable mention as, again, I have not been here yet as it wasn’t open before I left for the Left Bank of Paris and is slated to open in August. BUT, it’s Zakary Pelaccio of Fatty Crab fame (big love to the Malaysian food!). How can he go wrong with BBQ? Try it and tell me…

Other notables:

Coffee from Gimmie! Coffee

Bagels from The Bagel Store

One of the many taco trucks in Willy Bee

Have fun exploring. Send me a taco…

While neglecting you, I drink Campari.

After spending the last month and a half not writing and convincing myself I had “writers block” (we all know it’s BS), I have to confess that was just an excuse. I have been busy and taken well (almost too well) to the savoir vivre of Parisian life. Somewhere in here I have to find my neurotic/ambitious/gimmie a coffee/waddaya want New Yorker. Ok found her!

Here we go again:

The end of May/beginning of Jun brought me to the end of Basic Cusine. It was strangely tres dificile to say goodbye to the entry program and to some of my friends who only enrolled in Basic before retuning to their normal lives.

Our final exam consisted of a written part (easy) then we had to study ten dishes that we made over the course of the program (the list was given to us) and the chefs would choose two of the ten dishes for the exam. Before we entered the kitchen we’d pull one of two colored chips and cook the dish that coordinated with the color. Ya dig? Luckily, after me and my friends purchased truckloads of groceries   for days, a little bird told us what two dishes were chosen. I, luckily, got the duck. The other dish was a hot fish terrine. Can I get a hell no from the crowd?

Our graduation ceremony was held in the Winter Garden and it was cute until I went to the mayjah graduation for those finished with the program. Whoa der. It was super boring but held in a beautiful space and the energy was amazing. I recommend LCB get a relevant chef or food-minded person as the commencement speaker. I don’t think it would be that hard ‘k?

So my final thoughts on Basic:

1. I can brunoise like a pro
2. Knife skillz = check
3. Jus making, sauce making = in my sleep
4. Breaking down a duck, chicken, rabbit and fish = childs play
5. I can do anything, ANYTHING with a potato

I will miss my class. I will miss those who left but Intermediate is way more fun…stay tuned beetches.

xo.

Comme ca.

French Vogue is ten times better than American Vogue. Fancy, cutting edge, witty, shameless. How I do heart Carine Roitfeld.

Editor. Muse. Mother.

I confess.

I’ve been busying myself with things other than updating you on LCB. Oh but there is so much wine to drink, cocktails bars to try and dinner parties to be thrown when you are surrounded by the young and beautiful boys and gals of Le Cordon Bleu. Did you just want to slap me sweetie? I digress…

Week 5 (which happened 3 weeks ago) brought us the following learnings and teachings:

1. How to decapitate (the French did invent the guillotine after all) and break down a wittle bunny wabbit and cook it with a tart mustard sauce. Saucing is key to the education of French cuisine.

2. How to poach fish and make a hollandaise sauce. As you may or may not know, hollandaise requires a lot of whisking. I nearly pulled a muscle but the lovely sounds of our class emulsifying clarified butter into egg yolks kept me going. Samba baby.

3. How to fillet a fish (again) and braise said fish. Love filleting a fish, not too happy about gutting it and ripping out the gills but c’est la vie baybee.

This week, we also had our second “Conference”. In addition to our Demo’s and Practicals, we have two conferences where Chef Bruno Stril, who heads up Basic Cuisine (a.k.a. Kindergarten), talks to us and uses the time as a forum to chat with us. Conference 2 brought on an “open-mic” night where we shared some feedback on the course and thoughts on cuisine. One appealing and controversial topic came from lord knows who, who asked “Why aren’t there more women in the kitchen”. Ouch. Needless to say dear Ben our translator had quite a time playing comparative languages when our very French Chef Stril went on and on about how working in the kitchen is tough and hard and suggested that maybe it wasn’t a job for women. Um, yea. Try translating that for a room of 21 women and 9 men. You can imagine how that went.

All the more reason to kick ass sweeties.

Le petite berry.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one.

I have become obsessed with strawberries. I buy a carton a day and I eat them for breakfast with yogurt and for dessert plain or with a butter cookie and whipped cream (that’s real whipped cream you fool). Now, these aren’t your mom’s berries kids. These are the real deal. Mara des Bois and Gariguette strawberries which are both indiginous to France are some of the best I’ve ever had. Almost a throwback to the days of yore when berries actually had flavor, Mara des Bois are part of my repetoire now; I am rarely seen without these delicate and small berries that walk that fine line between acidic fruit and musky berry. These strawberries have so much flavor for it’s size, you won’t ever wonder why it’s the choice of France’s most popular and best patissiers. There is almost a candy-like flavor to the Mara des Bois and after tasting one you will never ever want to buy another species of strawberry again.

I wish I could share some with you. But I can’t.

xxxx

Check it bitches. It’s the trailer for Julia & Julia, the book made into a movie about a young women who spends a year making every recipe in Julia Childs’ Mastering The Art Of French Cooking and ends up…ahhhh, finding herself. How very H-Wood and screenplay friendly.

All things set aside (not to mention I could not get past page 10 of the book) the movie does look delightful and honestly, could you really go wrong with Meryl Streep. Honestly.

PS. Cute little Le Cordon Bleu scenes too.

Thanks for Topshop Paris! Not.

SO. I can’t turn a corner without bumping into a Zara or H&M or Etam but not one TopShop? I call BS.

Chef Lesourd//Demo class

Cherrio lasses!

I’ve been getting a lot of questions on whether or not Le Cordon Bleu supplies you with everything you need to ensure a successful tenure as a student. Answers…

- Kitchen shoes: I found it strange that they didn’t come with the uniform so we all had to hike to the kitchen supply store for super cute white clogs (note the sarcasm). They are comfy tho…

- Hair ties: I think LCB should add this to the uniform, little blue and white ones to go with everything else they brand with the letters LCB. 

- Wife beaters: It gets hot and sweaty in the kitchen and you’ll want to wear something light under your chefs jacket. 

- Ziplocs: Most people use tupperware but I find Ziploc bags to be very efficient for leftovers. Remember each recipe you cook feeds FOUR people = lots of food to feed your 3am cravings. What? Yea. 

- Clear sheet protector and magnet: To hold up and protect your ingredient list + notes during your practical classes. 

- Hand cream: We wash our hands several times during class. Not to mention washing your ingredients and knives. You’ll want to do your best to save those dainty hands and use some hand cream.

Jolly good fun chaps.

Holleration GG lovers. I’m a week behind on my posts and I’m sorry but I’ve been either drinking wine, smoking cigarettes, talking about boys, trying on clothes or eating ‘k? Sometimes I do all five things at once so it can get a bit messy.

Annnnyways. 

Week four brought on some serious dishes and old-skewl French techniques:        

• Demo 9: Omelettes & Roasting Fowl, Turned Veggies. (Practical 9: Roasted Chicken au jus)
• Demo 10: Grilling Salmon, Emulsified Sauces, Byron Potatos, Roasted Pork, Profiteroles with Ice Cream. (Practical: Grilled Salmon with Emulsified Butter Sauce)
• Demo 11: Forcemeats 1- Paupiettes de Veau and Duck Terrine 2 ways. (Practical: Paupiettes de Veau with glazed onions and carrots)
• Demo 12: Forcemeats 2 – Stuffed Chicken Breasts, Turned Mushrooms and Plating. (Practical: Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Mushroom Sauce)

So far, this was one of the best weeks of class yet. We made great dishes that I will surely make again and really started learning about emulsions, sauces, stuffed meats and (ugh, spare me) turned vegetables. 

Turned vegetables are not my thing nor are they very relevant anymore but again, it’s very traditional and although it’s antiquated, I can say I’m glad I know how to perform this circus trick of cutting down vegetables into 1 inch football shaped pieces. I’ll do it for you at my next NYC dinner soiree. Not. 

We also had our market tour with our beloved Chef Stril, who took us out to the local market, schooled us on various French produce, game and sea creatures then we went back to school and had a picnic with our markets buys (including wine at 10:30am). Now, the big market – Rungis will be visited during Superior Cuisine. Can’t wait. Biggest. Market. In. The. World. 

Now, since our classes are at 8:30, 12:30, 3:30 or 6:30, this can leave ample time for long lunching with friends between classes which we all take advantage of. I highly recommend going to Montmartre after your 830 class for some girl time and lunch then be back at 330 for class. Ahhhh springtime in Paris. Be jealz and stay that way. 

xxx. 

The answer to your question is yes, yes I will have your babies.

This has gone to far and it’ stupid at this point but I’m mad about T. Col so wanted to share his take on the Banh Mi as he is the quiet king of sandwiches (let us not forget ‘wichcraft people):

 ”I’m so over Banh mi.”

And the next sandwich trend?

“I think it will be something inspired by Indian street food…”

Um, like a Kati Roll? God, we are SO meant to be. 

Read more about sandwiches from Tom here.

Related:

The Banh Mi jumps the shark

Banh Mi: A tasting

How to make Banh Mi: A great recipe

More Banh Mi tastings

Word.