This may be a sparse hallway, but in two weeks it will be filled with the magic burble and delicious aromas that many of us in the restaurant industry have come to know and love.
Please be a part of it by picking up a few tickets at this next Long Table Dinner! Tickets can be purchased via our Brown Paper Ticket Event link:
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2604746
We look forward to seeing you at the table!
This is a working kitchen now. I stayed late on this afternoon to finish canning the last batch of grape jelly, made from donated grapes (NaStar Farms) and Barbera grape juice (Muir Made) – no pectin, so it is a softer texture – good for glazing sweet or savory items, or even as a bit of a drizzle on some cheese. There are more donations under the window – fresh quince which have such a welcoming fragrance – and soon will become another delicious preserve.
We’ve been incredibly lucky with the bounty coming into the classroom – thank you! And our students are tackling the large quantities with gusto as we gear up for our first Long Table Dinner in two years.
Jamaican Jerk Chicken, Spicy Black Bean Soup, Cabbage Salad with Beets
Turon (Banana Lumpia), Chocolate Truffles, Pineapple Garnish
Lumpia, Potstickers, Lemper Ayam, Green Onion Pancake, Bun Cha Gio
Here are a few shots of class over these past few weeks, a Jamaican themed menu from last week, and an Asian dumpling inspiration on another week:
What impresses me most right now is the very determined nature of our students. It is compelling – and it will definitely come in handy in the weeks ahead!
As we turn our menu discussions towards the Long Table Dinner, (LTD 7!) we hope you will set aside the evening of Thursday October 6th and join us for this fun event where we will turn our newly renovated main hallway into a pop-up dinner venue, for a delicious multi-course meal made and served by our students.
Menu details and a link to tickets to follow soon!
Ida B. Wells 2016 (photo courtesy of Lemanski and Rockwell Architects)
While we wait for some final construction details to be completed, these two articles came out about us and our school:
Paste Magazine Article by Annelies Zjiderveld:
This is a great article if you are interested in learning more about the focus of our class – thank you always Annelies!
Hoodline article about Ida B. Wells reopening:
A good one if you are curious about the renovations and the feel of our new school. We will be back inside as early as next week, preparing for our students’ returns August 15th.
We are so excited to get started again!
Wow. The end of May blew my mind. We knew we were moving. All of a sudden here we are, unpacking. In our newly tiled kitchen. With windows. Real working windows!
You know what? I cried a little.
Continuing around the room, there is one feature we are particularly proud of, something very important. Perhaps only some chefs drool at the idea of a new hood. It is that shiny silver thing on the ceiling, center back. This allows you to bring in the fire power of professional cooking. For us that happens to be a 6 burner gas range. (We like to keep things small yet powerful.) And where exactly is that firepower? It is waiting patiently outside the room while contractors figure out the easiest way to squeeze it in. We know it will happen.
So enough basking in this for a bit. What helped us get through this past year and a half while our culinary classroom was being created? Our students and their resilience first and foremost, and their willingness to try a hybrid version of our class, definitely. And there are many more people who helped keep us reaching week after week:
Have a great summer everyone!
Students always give the best advice on what to teach.
We got this advice at the beginning of this past quarter when we asked students:
What skills do you want to improve? What values are important to you?
Our take aways from this past quarter are more than just the pictures in this post may relate, but these speak so much to what we are practicing in our work simulation classes. You can’t think yourself into improving these skills and holding to these values, you have to practice them. And I wanted to acknowledge them and the hard work of our 3rd quarter students before heading into our 4th and last quarter of the school year. Thank you students! Before we know it, we will be packing up and moving back into our school site and a brand new kitchen! I’m glad that this advice will go with us.
This week before New Year’s is one when my husband and I hide away somewhere to write and reflect (and er, maybe catch up on a little movie watching…). As I was organizing photos from this last quarter, many “pearl moments,” came up in my mind, and although the photos below don’t necessarily show all, one highlight that rekindled my belief in the power of sitting down to eath together was when our entire school community lunched in November.
THANK YOU Again and Always, Nopa & Nopalito.
And Thank You to all who helped us get in some cooking and connecting again after almost a year’s hiatus, from teachers and staff, to business neighbors and community partners. You all know who you are and you are all very special!
Now onto 2016. Enjoy A Very Happy & Rewarding 2016 Everyone!
It has been a long time! But we have some exciting news to share as we get deeper into fall and winter:
We are able to cook together again while at John O’Connell’s campus! This is a hybrid version of our regular class(3 days a week we travel down to the kitchen classroom), but being able to get active again is huge! We truly appreciate Chef Dan and the staff at John O’Connell who have helped make this happen. It is making a big difference to our students, to be able to actively cook together again. Pictures soon, just wanted to share our excitement now!