L'Academie - Back of the House Week 2, Day 5. We move to a new station for the Friday rush. We are now on Station 2. Here we are responsible for four entrees: angelhair pesto, linguini, veal ravioli, and bouillabaisse. We were prepped well by the AM class. The only things we had to do were make gorgonzola cream sauce for the ravioli, par cook angelhair, roll out more linguini, and cook some clams for the bouillabaisse. We were a little late getting our demos out by 545pm, but Chef Elliot had other concerns. James showed us the procedures for each dish. Eve had given us the cheat sheet for the station yesterday which really helped. It was a little crazy at the start. I was reading off the cheatsheet to Manny as what to do step by step while doing some steps myself. Even though it was a Friday, we really didn't get slammed hard. Angelhair was a big seller followed by the ravioli. We didn't sell any linguini. Richie was in the back making ravoilis.

L'Academie - Back of the House Week 2, Day 4. I worked on the line today. Pizzas and calzones. I didn't get a chance to learn how to make the paninis because they aren't a big seller. The seafood lasagnas were kind of interesting. We make them in the pizza oven. It takes twenty minutes to cook through so we put it in the coldest part of the 600 degree oven. Pizza is another interesting item. The dough we use comes from the Basic Baking students. We make a veg pizza that uses a pesto sauce and a meat pizza that uses tomato sauce. The veg pizza just has tomatoes on it, kind of like a margherita pizza and the meat pizza has sausage and roasted portabellos. We also make a calzone of the day. The ingredients comes from whatever extra prep that's in the kitchen. Today we had some pepperoni, salami, and spinach.

L'Academie - Back of the House Week 2, Day 3. I worked in the back today while Manny and Richie worked on the line. I was busy putting together the seafood lasagna at the beginning of service. We always have ten on hand for service. I had to make seven of them because the AM class left us three premade ones. I also made some bechamel sauce for the first time since basics. The one thing about being in the back that I'm not crazy about is cleaning up. It seems like it takes forever to clean the kitchen. I had walk-in duty which meant I had to made sure things were properly wrapped, labeled, and in the right place in the walk-in. I did a lot of consolidating which usually happens because people don't look for product they need before they start making it.

L'Academie - Back of the House Week 2, Day 2. Another relaxing day at the take out station. Richie made the soup again. Manny and I prepped for the hot entree, Sausage and peppers sandwich. Manny cooked it while I tried to make some bowtie pastas. I don't think anyone could have bought a sandwich even if they wanted to because we didn't have any bread.

L'Academie - Back of the House Week 2, Day 1. We move to Station 7. Here we are responible for the take out operation of L'Academie. We usually don't do any business, but we have to have a certain amount of items in stock. We usually have bowtie pasta salad, le grande salad, spinach salad, grilled vegetable sandwich, and prosciutto mozzarella sandwich. We also have forrest mushroom soup and a hot entree. Our entire prep usually consists of making the hot entree. Today the hot entree was navarin, a lamb stew. Manny and I prepped for it and I cooked it. I added a pinch too much salt, but it was extrememly edible. The hot entree usually ends up as family at night. Richie worked on the forrest mushroom soup and made rice pilaf for the navarin. We really don't have to do anything during service, so we prep for tomorrow or help out other stations. Today station 3 was short two people. Jen and Nelson were absent, so Molly and Bjorn had a lot to do. Manny, Bill, and I helped Molly make French Onion soup. Molly was flustered, but remained very composed and got everything done. She really stepped up to the challenge. Bjorn didn't help by making a mistake with the minestrone.

L'Academie - Back of the House Week 1, Day 5. The fish of the day was stuffed squid, clams casino, and shellfish nage. The lesson of the day was braised lamb shank with wild mushroom rissoto, swiss chard, and natural jus. Richie and I handled the orders on this Friday night, while Manny prepped in the back. We were pretty organized today and a lot of prep was done for us by the morning class. They have more time to prep than we do so they do some for us as well. We did our demo plate on time. So I had time to make some red pepper diamonds for our garnish. The natural jus reduced down to an amazing sauce. Even though Manny slightly overcooked the rissoto, it went well. Being a Friday night, we were extremely busy. At station 6, we are responsible for the lesson of the day and Chicken Provencal. I think we plated fourteen plates of each.

L'Academie - Back of the House Week 1, Day 4. We had to come in half an hour early to take a review exam of all the things we have learned in school up until this point. I would say it was pretty comprehensive. We didn't have lecture due to the exam, so Chef Elliot just handed us the recipe for the lesson of the day: Roast Pork Loin Stuffed with Figs, Spinach, and Pancetta with fried polenta and drunken fig sauce. We rotated to the lesson station just in time for the weekend rush. It turned out to be a slow Thrusday though. Maybe the war is keeping people glued to the TV.

James showed us how to make the Chicken Provencal. It's a little involved, but it's manageable. There is a lot prep for this dish. The chicken is braised and fully cooked ahead of time. The broccoli rabe needs to be blanched and shocked. We also quarter, blanch and shock red bliss potatoes. For service, when the chef calls for an order of Chicken Provencal, we heat one ladle of brasing liquid, one ladle of chicken stock, some piece of chopped leg meat, and a chicken breast in a saute pan and cover. In another pan, we saute the broccoli rabe with butter and lemon juice. We also deep-fry five red bliss potatoes. To finish the dish, we saute the potatoes in butter and parsley and plate up the dish.

The pork loin is a bit easier. We don't have to do anything on order. All the work is done a la minute when the chef calls to fire the dish. Typically for entrees, chef orders an item and then fires the item. When he orders an item certain steps are done and when he fires the entree is finished. When the chef fires the pork loin, we fry two polenta patties, slice two pieces of pork loin, and plate the dish.

L'Academie - Back of the House Week 1, Day 3. The fish of the day was sauteed lemon sole with vegetable ratatouille, potato mousseline, and basil pesto sauce. Manny butcher the sole, Richie made the ratatouille, and I tackled the potato mousseline and the basil pesto sauce. I lost my Chef's knife yesterday when I left my stuff in the kitchen to go out to the front area to cook on the line. I think it's a blessing in disguise. I've been wanting to buy a new knife for some time.

I worked in the back for prep while Manny and Richie were out on the line. I chopped a lot of shallots.

L'Academie - Back of the House Week 1, Day 2. We have lecture before service for about an hour. During this time, Chef Elliot describes the fish of the day and the lesson of the day. Today the fish of the day was Grilled Salmon with herbed orzo, asparagus tips, and roasted tomato-garlic coulis. The lesson was panfried veal cutlet with roasted fingerling potatoes, eggplant caponata, and wild mushroom sauce.

After lecture, we prep our stations for service. Richie butchered the salmon, Manny prepped the asparagus, and I made the herbed orzo. The line is visible to the diners with the chef ordering and firing dishes as the tickets come in. There is also a back kitchen where the prep goes on and the dishwashing area is. The school hires dishwashers so that the students can focus on the kitchen operations. We are still responsible for washing our own equipment.

L'Academie - Back of the House Week 1, Day 1. Back in the kitchen. We had three hours of lecture. Our chef is Chef Bryan Elliot. His Associate Chef is SCI alum Chef Andre Abelkis. Chef Elliot was born into the industry and has tons of experience. He's been around the world three times and has seen almost every cuisine. We are his last class because he is opening up a restaurant in mid-April. He'll have a pool of student among the people who want to work for him. He mentioned that he will setup an externship for SCI students. He is very energetic and shows his enthusiasm well. He told us that when he went to the CIA, he would spend two hours after classes typing up his notes, writing down recipes and techniques he learned that day. He told us that if we really apply ourselves this year of culinary school, it will pay off the rest of our careers.

The kitchen is split into seven stations. Manny, Richie, and I start on Station 5. Our responsibilities for Tuesday and Wednesday are Mussels Meuniere and the Fish of the Day. After lecture, we prepped for tomorrow's service. Other groups chopped garlic, shallots, and onions. We made the roasted tomato-garlic coulis for tomorrow's fish.

L'Academie - Front of the House Week 3, Day 5. Final exam. It was a race to the finish. 100 questions in 1 hour. There might have been a handful of multiple choice and fill-ins. The majority of it was short answer. Quite challenging but in an organizational way. It was open notes, so to succeed you had to either know the answer straight out or know where to look. For service, I was the student manager. I had a small chore rearranging the students who wanted to do different positions. I have slight trouble being someone's superior after being their co-worker all along. But things went well. We had 96 covers in the books, I'm not sure how many showed up, but a lot did. We even took in some walk-ins. Everyone was on, so I didn't have too much to do.

L'Academie - Front of the House Week 3, Day 4. Today I presented my project to class. My idea was to open a new restaurant in Kew Gardens near London. It already has four places to get food, but not the type of Modern British cuisine that I want to prepare. I mainly liked the fact that I would have a large potential audience to start off with since the Gardens are such a tourist attraction.For service, I was backserver for Gabe. Even though I was sleep deprived, I managed to do the job without breaking or spilling anything. I just realized that for the past three weeks, I've probably eaten more sweets than I have since Baking. It hard to realize because I get so hungry during family at the end of the night. So at the end of the night, the back of the house puts out food left over from the day's service for family meal. They get first dibs, then everybody else gets to dig in. Every night there are lots of desserts left over. They range from panna cotta to cheesecake to tortes and different cakes. Tonight I had a Chocolate Marquee Cake and the Roasted banana tiramisu. There's three more weeks of eating like this and then it's all gone, except for when our management class gets invited to eat at the restaurant.

L'Academie - Front of the House Week 3, Day 3. Project presentations in class. For service, I was expeditor with Deborah. Expediting consists of bursts of activity. When plates come up from the chef, we wipe them clean, finish with whatever special utensils are needed for the dish, then send it out with the front or backserver. For this job, it's important to know who at what table ordered what item so that we can arrange it one the tray properly for the server.

L'Academie - Front of the House Week 3, Day 2. History of food from the 1900s to the present. I was frontserving again today with Shelby as my backserver. I only had three tables. Chef didn't allow the Management students today because he thought they might be disruptive today. I got the opportunity to serve Deborah's fiance Bobby and his friend. They make a nice couple; Deborah and her fiance that is. The specials today were Chilean Sea Bass and Brasied Stuffed Veal Breast.

L'Academie - Front of the House Week 3, Day 1. History of food from 10000 BC to 1900s. For service, I was a frontserver and Shelby was my backserver. I had five tables, but four of them were only two people. Our specials were Grilled Wild Alaskan King Salmon and Grilled Top Sirloin. Nothing out of the ordinary. I got to serve Will's brother and neice. I also had my first experience serving Management students. On slow nights, we invite the students from Management to dine in the restaurant so that we can practice. They were okay, but two of them ordered double cappucinos as their beverage. An odd request for a starting beverage that only a student would request.

L'Academie - Front of the House Week 2, Day 5. We learned about the history coffee and tea in class. The history of food is quite fasciating. I think kids in public schools should be exposed to it. I think I was eating too much before and during service yesterday which affected my balance. I abstained from the wine tasting before service. We had a 2001 Incognito Viognier, a 2001 Incognito red blend of syrrah and petite syrah, and 7 Deadly Zins, a blend of seven different zinfindels. I was a front server tonight - our only busy night of the week. I had six tables one two-top, four four-tops, and a five-top. For me, one one the trickier parts is timing the capuccino or espresso order so that it comes out at the same time as the desserts. But I think front serving is my favorite position. It kind of like a game juggling all the tables and making sure the right food goes to the right person at the right table. I am begining to see how vital are the parts of the front of the house are. The host determines how busy a server is. The back server sets up the front server. The front server is the link for the chef to decide what to fire and when. The expeditor gives the server what it ordered. The cashier handles the money, and the bread server, the wine steward, and the bartender take care of their niches. And of course, the manager oversees the entire process and handles any problems that arise.
The specials tonight were Monksihfish Saltimbocca and Prime rib. The monkfish was excellent - the mild firm flesh surrounded by salty proscuitto with a creamy spinach and leek rissoto base. Prime rib was prime rib - we ran out of that during service.

L'Academie - Front of the House Week 2, Day 4. More culinary French in lecture. I was Lara's backserver today. It was another slow night, but I managed to spill a tray of water at the bar and drop a glass of Mint Italian soda at a table. I don't think liquids are my friends. Maybe that's why they put me on front server tomorrow, so that I won't have to bring out the drinks. Another night in the books. I learned not to try to do too much at once and to concentrate on the task at hand.

L'Academie - Front of the House Week 2, Day 3. In lecture, we learned about Culinary French. We went through A-M of terms for sauces, wine regions, garnish terms - basically stuff we've learned before at different times. For service I was Eve's back server. The backserver gets water for the table, serves and clears plates, and then busses and resets the table when it is done. It's a very simple job. I think the toughest positions might be front server and expeditor. I would like to expedite next week. We only had two tables in our section, so it was another slow night. I'm beginning to realize what a big night it was for our first full night of service.

L'Academie - Front of the House Week 2, Day 2. We watched a video about the Riveria. It was a Food Network production featuring Mario Batali, Bobby Flay, and Rocco (I forget his last name). They talked about various aspects of food near Cannes. After that we had a quick beer tasting: Ace Pear Cider, Moretti, and Fischer Amber. They all tasted pretty good and I'm a fan of beers. I had more alcohol before service as wine steward. Tongiht's offerings were Cote du Rhone Viognier and Handley Pinot Noir Rose. The Viognier was clearly the favorite. I even got to serve my first bottle of Champagne, but it was another slow night.

L'Academie - Front of the House Week 2, Day 1. We had a short allergy awareness quiz and then we looked at menu projects from previous classes to get an idea for our projects. We need to come up with a business plan for a
restaurant. In the restaurant Gabe, Jim, and I were the wine stewards. The two wines we showcased for the night were Porcupine Ridge Sauvignon Blanc from South Africa and Ca del Solo, a blend of many French and Italian grapes. It was a slow night. We would approach the table after they ordered their beverages to offer a sample tastes of tonight's wine selections. We would then get them whatever wine they wanted.

L'Academie - Front of the House Week 1, Day 5. We thought it was going to be a busy night being Friday, but there were only 64 covers. Service was pretty smooth. I was front server again because our assignment are for two days. However, Molly was manager today, so my backserver was JB. He broke a water glass, but it was taken care of quickly. We had our first wine lecture and tasting before class. Chef Larry is very passionate and knowledgeable about wines. We also had a menu item quiz before the wine tasting. Chef didn't prepare us too thoroughly for it as the other chefs do, but he said we were going to take it again. We serve French Riveria style cuisine:

Tomato mozzarella salad with greens wrapped in proscutto
Mussels Mariniere
Spinach salad
Le Grande Salade
French onion soup or minestrone

Tomato mozzarella basil panini
Italian deli meat panini

Roast turkey on focaccia with brie, spinach and red onion
Pan Bagnat - tuna on ciabatta with grilled squash, roasted peppers, aioli

Tomato mozzarella basil pesto pizza
Italian sausage, portabello, mozzarella pizza
Calzone du jour

Chicken Provencale with fingerling potatoes
Bouilabaisse
Fresh Seafood Lasagna
Homemade Linguine with sauasage
Pesto Angelhair with Spicy Shrimp
Veal Ravioli in a Gorgonzola Cream sauce
Fish of the day
Chef's Lesson of the day

There are different desserts everyday based on what Advanced baking makes. I think Basic baking saometimes makes the tiramisu. There's always a gelato flavor and a sorbet flavor. I haven't tried the seafood lasagna nor the bouilabaisse. I really like the veal ravioli. I'm also a big fan of the calzones and