First Externship Post!

Alright! So tonight will be my third shift at Restaurant Eugene, and I'm loving it. I'm coming home exhausted, hungry, and plenty irritable, but I absolutely love the restaurant and the people I work with. So before I get started, here are a few more pictures of the outside of apartment.

The outside, we're on the bottom floor.

The view from our front yard: you can see the buildings on Peachtree!

Okay, so now the breakdown.

On the first day I was there, it was pretty slow. They told me it was the slowest Friday they'd had in awhile, but it was for the best. I plated a lot of desserts, and mastered the art of the two-spoon quenelle, which they use for the cheese plate. I'm still trying to work on the crazy technique that Billy (the guy I work directly under) taught me, but I just bought a tub of butter to work with before I go in tonight.

The second evening (last night) was pretty busy. We did around 85 covers, which included a 5-course dessert tasting menu. It was awesome! I plated almost everything, and I now feel like I could work the station with less assistance. It would definitely get rough when it's busy and we have multiple cheese plates as well as desserts, but for my second day, I feel like I'm doing a pretty good job.

Tonight, they said, is hit or miss. Because we live in the South, most places are closed on Sundays, but Restaurant Eugene stays open. Since it's one of the only fine-dining restaurants open tonight, it could either be crazy-busy or crazy-slow. I guess we'll see once I get there.

For now, here are a few pictures of the desserts we did last night...there are plenty more, but I didn't have time to photograph them. I'll try to post some more later!

Licorice Cake with with Spicy Candied Pecan crumble, Tamarind Ice Cream, and Satsuma Pieces.

San Andreas Cheese Plate.

Mignardises! From top to bottom: Lemon Pine Financier (I baked these!),  Raspberry Ganache-filled Macarons, and Raspberry Pâte de Fruit.

Apple Pâté...I can't even explain to you what this is like. It's crazy; it's like stewed apple pasta. Topped with a wine fluid gel, pecan streusel, a quenelle of chevre, black pepper, kosher salt, and olive oil.

Carrot Cake dessert: cream cheese custard, pears soaked in buttermilk, cocoa soil, and, of course, crumbled carrot cake.

As soon as I have a few more pictures, I'll post them! Au revoir mes amis!