*Joyeux Anniversaire

We were socked in. Up to our necks in Live Fire book presentation,

costing projects and finals week about to start in a  couple of days.

We were barely keeping our heads up above water.

Then Chef W walked in and we instinctively reached for our scuba gear.

“Hey guys, its the OCI’s third anniversary in two weeks-

Which one of you guys wanna cook?”

We all stared at each other, then back at him,

imitating frozen deer in headlights.

A couple of us psychopaths raised our hands out of reflex and it was done.

“Great! You guys get a menu together and get back with me this week!”

He happily sauntered off and we all exhaled a collective,

“Aww, fuck.”

After the initial shock wore off, I looked at Dude, one of my partners, and we had a whole conversation with our eyes… a sly smile crept up on both our faces and we lowered our heads like a wolf stalking a sheep and we tore off with the idea. It was gonna be a free-for all.

Cooking for your instructors is a daunting task. I have used the word “daunting” many times in this past five months regarding tasks assigned at school and I have somehow survived to this point. Adding one more, ever so nerve-wracking, was just another part of the game of life at school, I figured, so why not just throw myself into the pit and burn the whole way down?

I have never designed a full working menu. I have never catered a buffet before. I have never fed more than 6 people while sober. I’ve never collaborated, either…well, without a body count. Dude and I got together and planned out a menu which we hoped would reflect Springtime and its glory, and hoped we could pull it off without injury or illness to anyone involved in our grades or futures in the industry.

With a team of five, provisions got ordered, test runs were fired off, fingernails were chewed up to wrists and we took finals two days before we had to cook all this stuff. The intimidating part was keeping the secret from our new 3rd term instructor, whom I will call Chef Saran Wrap. We spent our first afternoon of our last term with him, learning about our new kitchen in the restaurant and  going over our new spring menu that he designed. Dude and I stayed tight lipped as we hoped like hell our menu was worthy, that we ourselves were worthy of using his beautiful demo kitchen, and we had to strategically ask questions about the line so that we could use all the equipment the next day without him catching on. And then we had to not trash the place or kill anyone in the process.

We arrived at an early hour, started to wail on the tons of chopping and blanching, hand making mayonnaises and seasoning meats. We slaved until we got cranky, ate some lunch and hit it again really hard. Some things went well, some got bagged and we had to improvise an alternative to take its place. We looked like rookies, cooked like rookies, and set up a lukewarm buffet like rookies, but we did 99% of it ourselves, without help from anyone other than a pastry chef for some puffs, and a last minute sauce fix assist from Chef W. When all the chefs and their families showed up, saw us all on the line cooking for them, the gratitude was overwhelming.

The tone was different, it was a day off from school for everyone, even if we students were still in uniform. It was casual, fun, frantic and full of stress-a-liciousness that we actually enjoyed. It was not perfect, but the sentiment was there, felt and received by both diners and cooks equally, and they showed us great appreciation many times over. We got to sit and bullshit with our MIA instructor, back from hiatus, and our two new instructors for final term. Learned a lot about them all as the night unfolded and more appreciation was shared. I, for one, was so appreciated when I got home that I slept until two the next afternoon.

We became a little cemented that night, we cooks. Between the years of experience and the bourgeoning love of cooking in the younger students, we all splashed out our passion for food and its preparation. Maybe we did not present it perfectly, but homage was paid. We did it, dammit.

OCI Third Anniversary Menu

By Dude and Jen

Crudite platters with aioli and Rogue Creamery bleu cheese walnut dips

Dungeness crab profiteroles with tomato shallot aioli, roasted fennel and asparagus

Mesclun and Arugula salad with tomato, blood oranges and grilled Haloumi cheese

Roasted leg of lamb with Sauce Robert and Kalamata olive gremolata

Pork tenderloins with cumin rub and  rhubarb fig compote

Polenta with chevre, caramelized Cippolini onion, prosciutto, pea tendrils and mushroom demi sauce

Grilled Radicchio and Zucchini with fig vinegar

Pastries and tarts from the bakeshop

Caught In The Act: Testing the vent hood system in the demo kitchen