New York

     As most of you know, I have left the shores of T&T. I'm back state side and slowly settling in Houston. I just finished visiting my old stomping ground New York and geeeeez did I miss it. NYC is like a theme park for chefs. Here is one of the most popular suppliers for chef knives in the states. I myself have  few knives from them, and when i'm in NY I carry them to sharpen and just look around and drool.

Some of the many knives on display

    And of course what else do you go to New York for?..to EEEEET!

Feeling the midnight munchies? look for one of these many food stalls

My personal favorite late night endulgence. Fresh Belgian waffles with warm nutella...YYUUMMM

Feeling for something more classy without bussing the pocket? Go straight to Eataly for some of the best Italian fare. there are sections throughout that specialize in specific dishes. Weather you're feeling for fresh homemade pasta, thin slices of Prosciutto, Mortadella and Sopressata or even some of the fresh wood oven pizza, Eatly has it. You can spend all day walking around inside ( I know because I lost track of time already and walked out in darkness).

I was in the mood for pasta

Some of the guys rolling our fresh pasta

And of course you can't visit NY without going to Chinatown...

A bowl of ramen I had at one of the many ramen houses  ( and yea that's a duck egg you see)

     Anyway, the whole purpose of my trip was to do what we chefs call a "Stage" . It's basically a practical interview that mosts cooks do when they want to join a new restaurant..some Stages can be for a day some can be for a week. So Basically you are working for free just so that the other chefs can " feel you out" and see if you'd be a good addition to the restaurant.

    Now... not any and everyone can just walk into a kitchen and say " eh allyuh hiring or what?" Some of the most elite restaurants in NY and through out the states have a waiting list to stage, and some you actually have to be referred by someone. Its serious! 

    I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to stage at one of the world's best restaurants Eleven Madison Park by Chef Daniel Humm.There is an organization that produces an award called The Worlds 50 Best Restaurants. It's an annual award list that Chefs worldwide strive to be on. EMP has made it to the top 10 this year...top 10 in the world! 

Chef Daniel Humm

A cook using liquid nitrogen to make a special dish

    Needless to say, my experience was phenomenal. Having the chance to cooking in the kitchen of one of the best chefs in the world was definitely a humbling experience. As most stages go, the chef makes you prepare a dish, to test your culinary skill and see what you're worth. During the dinner service, I was handed a single piece of Squab breast and was told I had one hour, I automatically knew what was going on.

Dish I created was a Squab sausage with roasted fingerling potato and maitake mushroom

    At the end I sat down with the Chef and spoke in depth about food and what the vision and future of EMP was, and what he is trying to achieve. Eleven Madison Park is slowly evolving and improving themselves based on what the Chef had to say, keep an eye on them because they're doing great things!

    I'm always sad to leave NY, like the last day of summer vacation, you wish you had one more day, or one more outing before going back to reality; But I had an amazing time not only visiting the city but to reignite that passionate for the industry by being surrounded by so much influence.

till next time...

Stay hungry
Brandon