Chef’s Table
February 7th, 2010

Last week, I completed my rotation at the chef’s table. The timing couldn’t have been more impeccable as I had just the week before obsessively watched an entire season of HELL’S KITCHEN with GORDON RAMSAY. Here I am with my clipboard getting ready to knock some chef’s in line.

On Hell’s Kitchen, Gordon Ramsay runs a tight ship, and he commands respect. All the aspiring chef’s address him in military fashion answering all his inquiries with an enthusiastic, ‘YES, CHEF!’ Well, truth be told, I didn’t lay down the law quite so forcefully. Though I was successful in getting HELEN to respond to me with a ‘Yes, Chef.’ Admittedly, it was less enthusiastic and more giggly. But hey. Everyone’s got to start somewhere, right? Here is Helen dropping off some marvelous tuber rolls at the pass (this is where dishes pass hands from the kitchen to the wait staff).

Nina was on the Latin station this week. She wasn’t quite as enthusiastic with the ‘YES, CHEF.’ Well, actually, I don’t think she was into it at all. She kind of looks like she’s thinking to herself, ‘WHATEVER. I just make nachos.’

She DOES make a mean plate of nachos though. So I let it slide…

This is SONJA, and she’s all business. Not really. But the ITALIAN STATION will drive anyone to that. It’s definitely the busiest station in the house. No time for Gordon Ramsay role playing here.

Don’t worry though. She always makes time for the food. Look at this perfect plate of canneloni that Sonja put up to the pass.

The pass is also the unofficial headquarters of the paparazzi.

This has got to be the most well documented pass in the blogosphere.
Last Friday ended with a fun surprise. Anjela had secretly made a cake for Helen’s birthday. She told everyone that it was a special so that Helen wouldn’t get suspicious. Then, unbeknownst to Helen, we gathered everyone in the restaurant and started singing ‘Happy Birthday.’
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HELEN was so surprised! I think it really made her day.

And mine too. The cake was really yummy!






















Look what lovely package I got in the mail this week! I’ve been wanting this book for at least a couple years, but for whatever reason haven’t gotten it. Then, a couple weeks ago, one of my ex-boyfriends resurfaced. I had kind of lost track of him and haven’t seen him in 8-9 years. (Has it been that long? Geez. I’m getting old.) Anyway, out of the blue, he decided that he was going to buy me THIS book for Christmas. How random is that?






Probably our biggest seller is the 





For lunch, I was in charge of the canneloni. I actually developed a mantra that I kept repeating to myself to keep from getting too stressed out while drama swirled all around me. It started out as, ‘Whatever. I just make canneloni.’ I had this friend once who was in a band with this really narcissistic drama queen. And I would often wonder to myself how he managed to deal with the situation. Something really dramatic had happened at some point (which I don’t even remember now). But I remember that his response was, ‘Whatever. I play bass.’ So, I decided to adapt his technique. I think it worked. I actually got really in the zone with the cannelonis by the end. I’m definitely going to have to make these for my first catering function.





As soon as we breathed a sigh of relief, it was time to start getting ready for the evening event…a celebrity chef dinner featuring demos by 






