Last week's Thanksgiving feast reminded me of another time when I enjoyed good food. I was washing this cooking jacket when I remembered what good food we enjoyed there. And one particular time, we helped to cook the food.
When we were living in New Jersey, there were so many good places to eat. It was very difficult to choose from. One place we found was actually a restaurant in a hotel. The Hilton at Short Hills was located in an upscale part of central-eastern New Jersey west of Newark and east of Morristown. An upscale shopping mall was located nearby (named The Mall at Short Hills for some reason!) which we often would walk around but seldom buy at.
Back to the cooking jacket. After we had eaten there a few times, including anniversaries, we saw an announcement promoting a new project: a chance to cook your own meal and then have it served to you! At the time the cost was $150 per person. This may sound expensive, but once you add in the experience of preparing and cooking alongside real chefs for over three hours, the price sounded reasonable to us. (Some people go to casinos; some go to resort beaches - we went to good restaurants.)
So we signed up and made reservations for a Saturday evening. When we got there we were first taken to an area that had clothes lockers and individual lockers. We were told to leave our dining clothes - jacket and ties for the men and similarly appropriate attire for women - there and we could take a shower before we sat for dinner. Working in a hot kitchen, the thought of a shower sounded like maybe a good thing later.
Next, we were taken upstairs to the kitchen. Surprisingly, it was not a huge room, but obviously, every bit of space was taken up by some useful workspace. We met the head chef and a few of his assistants. Then we were given our assignments. Lisa was first responsible for wiping the edging of the dinner and smaller plates with a cloth towel to ensure each shined without any fingerprints. Later, closer to dinner, she squirted little dollops of sauce on dessert plates around the dessert. I was given an equally important and responsible job. I was to tie up those little straight green beans in small bundles with long pieces of chives. These were called haricot verts. From what I remember, they were raw and would be thrown in boiling water just for a few minutes before taken out and plated.
I forgot to mention that both of us had a supervisor. I forget who my wife had, but I had a young man about thirty-two who was one of the sous chefs. He (I'll call him Jeff) had been working there for several years. His previous job was on Wall Street in Manhattan as a trader. He just decided one day to quit and do something he loved to do. And that was cooking as he told me.
Our station was small and crowded and we worked essentially back-to-back. It was sort of like working in a small galley on a boat. I worked in front of a long flat table where I had everything before me. Jeff worked in front of a very hot stove that had both a flat grill and several burners, all of which most were going full blast during the afternoon I was there. I can see why they provided the opportunity to shower and change clothes before dinner. Speaking of changing clothes, I just remembered that we were provided tocques, the chef hats, as well. We kept them for a while but since there wasn't any real opportunity to wear them they sort of disappeared.
About 5:30 that afternoon we stopped doing our jobs and were given a short tour of the other areas in the kitchen. My favorite, of course, was the bakery area. I watched them make several desserts. My favorites were a Napolean and something chocolate called a piano, which looked like a small grand piano with keys and even a piano seat! I was told I could choose one for my dinner.
The final treat was a pouring of a small glass of a single malt whisky. I can't remember which one it was, but it didn't really matter since I loved - and still do - all single malts.
We were then finished with our cooking experience and returned to the shower/changing rooms.
Coming upstairs, we were now no longer cooks, but customers. We were shown to our table and given menus. We had been given a preview of the specials for the evening when we in the kitchen. As for the menu, it was not a stranger to us since we ate there before; though the menu did change somewhat with the seasons.
I'm not sure what we ate for dinner, but it was probably either a fillet, Chilean sea bass, or scallops. I usually had one of those when we went out. Lisa thinks she probably had lobster bisque soup and lamb. Those were her usual favorites.
But we do remember what we had for dessert of course. Lisa had a chocolate souffle. I had to make a choice so I went with the piano of course.
The final surprise of the evening was when they brought our desserts out, they brought out BOTH the Napolean and the chocolate piano for me, and an extra fork for Lisa!
Truly a memorable cooking and dining experience.
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