Saturday we were up at 6am and out of the house by about 7:15am, driving to Truckee. The interview for Hey Chef! was at the Truckee Airport. Apparently the Verbecks (who own and operate Hey Chef out of their home) also own the cafe in the airport and attached to that cafe is a conference room. Who'd have thought?
There were four of us, three of which were looking for a position as wait staff or bartenders. I was the only chef. We were met by Holly Verbeck, wife of Chef Grog Verbeck, who spent an hour going over the company and it's policies and mission, then had us set up an actual table for a luncheon. She also had each of us fold napkins in as many shapes as we could, then took a picture. Kind of funny! After that, she told us we would hear from her in about a week as to whether or not we were hired (although she says we won't actually be working for Hey Chef until we actually do a job). Seems like everything went well so we'll see.....
After Truckee, we drove on to St Helena, CA to the CIA (Culinary Institute of America). I took a class on the flavors of Tuscany from 2:30-4:30pm. It was kind of nice being back in a big kitchen. They really have everything outfitted nicely (with the help of Viking Corp). We made about a dozen dishes, divided up between 15 people. I ended up working by myself because everyone else came in pairs. Chef Sandy felt sorry for me I guess because she sent over her student assistant to help me. The student's name is Rebecca and she moved to California from Wisconsin! Small world!
After class, Jordan and I ate at the CIA's restaurant, Greystone. We sat out on the terrace. What a gorgeous view! That was a nice surprise! All in all a lovely, relaxing day. We drove home after we finished dinner.
Today (Sunday), I spent experimenting with peaches and plums and crusts. I was hoping to use wonton wrappers brushed with butter, then sprinkled with cinnamon sugar, but they turned out almost too crunchy. I tried phyllo dough-better, but no. Guess I'm going to have to just make my own crust. As for the fruit, ugh! Even though Jan and Jim brought back peaches from a farm in Benicia, they were not very good. And they were starting to go bad, so I made jam with them. The plums they bought in Bencia, however, were quite good, so that's what I'm going with. Plum tarts in addition to chocolate mousse and little Italian Almond Cakes. Time to buckle down and get to work! I also had to make cookies for Thunderbird Lodge (chocolate chip, no nuts) and Karen of Hillbilly Hotdogs (peanut butter). A busy day spent baking.
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