Tuesday, April 8, 2008

A National Geographic Special

So I'm closing tonight and we are closed for a special event with The National Geographic. It is only for 100 people, but these guys have gone all out...today I have prepped the most food for this small of an event in my entire career. As short lived as that may be, I did start out catering so I would know!

Three different fish to choose from including Hawaiian Sunfish, Atlantic Salmon, and Black Grouper. Thats just for the fish, they also have two different carving stations and a pasta station. Three different cheese displays and a crudité as well! That's a classy way of saying a vegetable display, basically. Sounds better in French.

After an hour of prep work and in the thick of working, one of my managers approaches with news of a vendor bringing in grappa to taste. What is grappa you ask? It's a high proof spirit that's distilled grape and pomace, typically used as an after dinner drink (or in Italian, a "digestivo"). But basically it smells like rubbing alcohol to be perfectly honest. To the trained nose and palate you can get every bit of flavor that you would from a fine wine, but to the Mad Chef it seems more like Italian moonshine.

After a cup of cold coffee I was back on track only to see that my favorite wine vendor (hey Maggie!) had stopped by with 10 different whites from California... needless to say I could not pass this up! Until after the third different one I realized I wasn't tasting anything anymore. So I went back to work finishing up prep for the party. And now my head is beginning to hurt...

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