Today I wanted to check out the cold side, and desserts. Called garde manger, this station has three to four people, each with specific tasks. The menu is set up so that the guests receive a lot of the farm fresh vegetables. What makes this station and the food truly stand out is the presentation pieces—they’re unique and dramatic. For instance, baby vegetables are served on a “fence,” baby tempura corn is served on skewers that are placed into what I can only describe as “large wooden dice,” and things like face bacon are arranged on these wooden towers with narrow slits. To see more, plug some of these words into google and go to images. You’ll see what I mean.
Salads are plated in glass bowls, charcuterie on slates of rock—these vessels truly make the food stand out more and bring some aesthetic presence to very simple dishes. The food itself is pure. Conceptually, the objective is to truly show off the ingredient(s) of the dish. I appreciate and understand this approach, and while I focus on doing this myself, it’s enjoyable to be able to look at it from another’s perspective as well. It just adds awareness in my own thought process, which is unbelievably refreshing.
Desserts are phenomenal. I don’t eat sweets often. When I do though, I kind of go on benders. Tonight was one such case. Sorbets, cakes, ice creams, syrups. Now I need to follow this path and work with the pastry chef Alex – a very talented man. Sunday will hopefully be my day for pastry, tomorrow I have a plan: charcuterie and walking the farm. I can’t wait.
SugarToad Chef 