Monday, February 6, 2012

A plea for help and a little bit about inspiration.

One of the sous chefs at work got into it with our owner (who is still crazy) and wants out. Which means there is a sous chef position that is about to open up. And, you guys, I am probably going to get it. 

Having said that, our recipes for the next Restaurant Week are due this Friday and I really want to impress. I have a list of about 50 things I have come up with, but none of them are wowing me. None of them are "this will definitely get you the sous chef job" ideas.

I don't want to put this on Facebook or twitter because, well, people I work with will see it. And know I am desperate and want that job OH SO BAD. 

So I am turning to you all...what is the best restaurant dish you have ever had? What is something you would go out of your way to go to a restaurant and eat? 

Our price point is $35 for a fixed price menu...an app, a soup or salad, a main course, and a dessert. Obviously our pastry chef handles the latter. The value of the meal is about $60. 

I know a lot of you don't comment at all and I am not going to beg anyone to comment here. I just need a few good suggestions...and being that my audience is all over the country and world, I think you all are my best hope. 
 
And don't worry...I am not going to steal your favorite restaurant's dish. I am looking solely for inspiration here. 

I don't know where chef's traditionally get their inspiration, but I get it from eating and talking about food. Reading food blogs, recipes, cookbooks. 

I am hosting a supper club in two weeks. One of the menu dishes I am making is a maple glazed pork belly with a shaved Brussells sprout salad. I got the inspiration from another restaurant's menu for restaurant week. They are serving a pork belly with tomato confit. Another restaurant is serving a shaved root vegetable salad. As I was looking through these menus, I thought to myself, well, shit. What is better than a fatty roasted pork belly with sweet maple syrup? What would cut through that fat nicely? The bitterness of Brussells sprouts. Dressed in a light vinaigrette. 

I am just hoping one of you inspires me like that. Just a simple dish that sparks the chain that ends in amazing food.

2 comments:

Krackle said...

This is one of my favorite pastas:

GORGONZOLA PASTA
bowtie noodles baked in creamy gorgonzola cheese sauce in our
wood-fired oven, topped with broccoli & Roma tomatoes
with grilled or blackened chicken

Another Favorite:

Seafood Americana
sea scallops, shrimp, spinach and mushrooms sautéed in a
shellfish butter sauce and served over roasted redskin potatoes

Hope this helps...

Oak said...

I will chime in since we go out to try new high end restaurants in my city four times a year (once for each birthday in our family) I have had a lot of hits and misses.

There are two apps that stand out to me as the hands down best:
1. Seared scallops in a hamhock sauce but this was very much an autumn/winter dish
2. soft egg and lobster bruschetta - a constant best from one of our restaurants here in town

Entree:
I love a pasta dish and one of the best I've had is a gnocchi in an orange and cauliflower sauce. Outside of the pasta realm I think the most standout dinner I've had recently was actually a trout dish and I'll have to noodle to see if I can remember what was in the sauce since trout is definitely hit or miss in my opinion.

Dessert:
Anything salted caramel rocks my world. I have two things that stand out - a cream filled crepe with a salted caramel topping and a pastry covered banana with cream and caramel topping.

Now I'm fucking hungry.