Hey guys! It's Restaurant Week in New York City and you know what that means, the food you usually can't afford just became affordable.
From now until August 18th, a variety of 390 restaurants will be participating in restaurant week in all five boroughs. For lunch, the deal is a three-course prix fixe menu for $29. For dinner, it's also a three-course prix fixe menu but it is $42.
Here is a list of my personal favorites.
It's awesome, and I wouldn't want you guys to miss out on this, so click here to find a restaurant in your area that is offering a restaurant week deal!
Showing posts with label trends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label trends. Show all posts
Thursday, July 27, 2017
Thursday, July 20, 2017
A Sit Down With a Sous Chef at Cafe Boulud
I have blogged about Cafe Boulud once before when I talked about the importance of food presentation. If you missed that post, you can read it here. This time, I asked their sous chef to answer a few questions I had regarding her experience working in the kitchen. Her name is Kiki, she is from Korea and this is what she said...
Q: What sparked your love of cooking? And why did you decide on French cuisine?
A: My love for French cuisine is based on the similarities it has with Korean cuisine. It is very simple, yet elegant. This is what I want my future restaurant to be based on. A mixture of French and Korean cuisine.
Q:How do you motivate your employees to work hard and care about the food that they are preparing?
A: It is sometimes very hard to do by yourself. Loving your job is important which shines through when you are working. Your employees mirror your own work ethic.
Q:What was the most stressful situation you have faced in the kitchen?
A: When unexpected things happen it gets stressful. For example, a cook not showing up for work or being short on ingredients to make the dishes.
Q:In your opinion, what is the most important aspect of your job?
A: Consistency. Having to be in the kitchen every day both mentally and physically. This is a mentally taxing job and subduing emotions from your personal life is very important.
Q:How do you feel about racial diversity in the kitchen?
A: My current kitchen is very diverse. Most chefs respect diversity within the kitchen. You can see this in our voyage menu because many cuisines from around the world are displayed. Having this voyage menu allows all of us to learn from each other's culture since there is such racial diversity in this kitchen. I even was able to do a Korean voyage dinner.
Q:Do you feel the role of women is different than the role of men within the kitchen?
A: Mentally there is no difference but yes, physically. My arm is currently injured after two and a half years of grueling hands on labor, so I cannot lift heavy things or do repetitive tasks which slows me down. Men have an easier time completing their daily tasks because of their physical strength.
Q:What is your favorite food to eat? What about to prepare?
A: Korean food is my favorite to both eat and prepare. I like to cook all Asian cuisines. Southeast Asian and Japanese are some of my other favorites.
Q:What individual has had the greatest impact on you?
A: Chef Aaron who is the head chef at Cafe Boulud has always given me opportunities to grow and has always pushed me beyond my limits to make me grow extremely fast. There is never nothing to do.
Q:How do you evaluate success?
A: I rely upon feedback from my coworkers. I make something good, it tastes good and I feel good.
Q:What is your greatest strength? How does it help you as a sous chef?
A: I am a very organized person and as a sous chef prioritizing and keeping the rest of the kitchen organized is extremely important. It makes delegating tasks faster and more efficient which keeps the machine going.
Q:What do you do to stay educated about new food trends?
A: I use the internet to look up current top restaurants and visit those restaurants. I do this because the top restaurants are basically the canon in which our industry relies upon for trends.
Q:Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
A: I want to start out small with my own restaurant with a unique style which is Korean food with French influence. I want it to be called Bottari which is a cloth that Korean's used during the war to carry all their belongings when traveling from place to place.
I want to thank Kiki so much for taking the time out of her busy schedule to complete this interview with me. I also recommend you check out Cafe Boulud next week during Restaurant Week to catch their $29 Prix Fixe Menu while you can!
Q: What sparked your love of cooking? And why did you decide on French cuisine?
A: My love for French cuisine is based on the similarities it has with Korean cuisine. It is very simple, yet elegant. This is what I want my future restaurant to be based on. A mixture of French and Korean cuisine.
Q:How do you motivate your employees to work hard and care about the food that they are preparing?
A: It is sometimes very hard to do by yourself. Loving your job is important which shines through when you are working. Your employees mirror your own work ethic.
Q:What was the most stressful situation you have faced in the kitchen?
A: When unexpected things happen it gets stressful. For example, a cook not showing up for work or being short on ingredients to make the dishes.
Q:In your opinion, what is the most important aspect of your job?
A: Consistency. Having to be in the kitchen every day both mentally and physically. This is a mentally taxing job and subduing emotions from your personal life is very important.
Q:How do you feel about racial diversity in the kitchen?
A: My current kitchen is very diverse. Most chefs respect diversity within the kitchen. You can see this in our voyage menu because many cuisines from around the world are displayed. Having this voyage menu allows all of us to learn from each other's culture since there is such racial diversity in this kitchen. I even was able to do a Korean voyage dinner.
Q:Do you feel the role of women is different than the role of men within the kitchen?
A: Mentally there is no difference but yes, physically. My arm is currently injured after two and a half years of grueling hands on labor, so I cannot lift heavy things or do repetitive tasks which slows me down. Men have an easier time completing their daily tasks because of their physical strength.
Q:What is your favorite food to eat? What about to prepare?
A: Korean food is my favorite to both eat and prepare. I like to cook all Asian cuisines. Southeast Asian and Japanese are some of my other favorites.
Q:What individual has had the greatest impact on you?
A: Chef Aaron who is the head chef at Cafe Boulud has always given me opportunities to grow and has always pushed me beyond my limits to make me grow extremely fast. There is never nothing to do.
Q:How do you evaluate success?
A: I rely upon feedback from my coworkers. I make something good, it tastes good and I feel good.
Q:What is your greatest strength? How does it help you as a sous chef?
A: I am a very organized person and as a sous chef prioritizing and keeping the rest of the kitchen organized is extremely important. It makes delegating tasks faster and more efficient which keeps the machine going.
Q:What do you do to stay educated about new food trends?
A: I use the internet to look up current top restaurants and visit those restaurants. I do this because the top restaurants are basically the canon in which our industry relies upon for trends.
Q:Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
A: I want to start out small with my own restaurant with a unique style which is Korean food with French influence. I want it to be called Bottari which is a cloth that Korean's used during the war to carry all their belongings when traveling from place to place.
I want to thank Kiki so much for taking the time out of her busy schedule to complete this interview with me. I also recommend you check out Cafe Boulud next week during Restaurant Week to catch their $29 Prix Fixe Menu while you can!
Sunday, July 2, 2017
Photographing Food Is A New Trend
It's Saturday night. You and your friends are out to eat at a new restaurant in town. The waitress comes and places all the plates of food down on the table. Yet instead of eating it while it's hot, everyone takes a picture of it for social media instead.
Why has posting food become the new pre-meal trend?
Maybe it's because our generation is obsessed with advertising every aspect of our daily lives on social media, and since we eat three meals a day broadcasting our food becomes essential.
But it also could be due to the fact that food has become 'cool'. Just look at Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg's new show that aired November 7, 2016. Who would have ever expected Martha Stewart, a 75 year old woman who started a catering business in her basement in 1976, to pair with Snoop Dogg, a 45 year old American rapper? See a clip of their show here:
Why has posting food become the new pre-meal trend?
Maybe it's because our generation is obsessed with advertising every aspect of our daily lives on social media, and since we eat three meals a day broadcasting our food becomes essential.
But it also could be due to the fact that food has become 'cool'. Just look at Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg's new show that aired November 7, 2016. Who would have ever expected Martha Stewart, a 75 year old woman who started a catering business in her basement in 1976, to pair with Snoop Dogg, a 45 year old American rapper? See a clip of their show here:
This show is the epitome of what the food culture has turned into in recent years. Maybe it isn't entirely a bad thing, as people are more conscious of what they are eating and care more about things like food presentation. But as people are snapping pictures of their food, they are failing to appreciate the moment as it happens and are once again living life through a glass screen.
I am just interested in how long the trend will last...
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