I found myself holding down the fort with the kitchen staff today. Our guest chef Leah Caplan was on the train for a well-earned Marrakech excursion after 10 intensive days of training our staff. Rachid, our kitchen manager had his weekly day off. Issam, having been intensely productive for our 5th anniversary and Leah's visit, is away for three days. Mostafa Moushi the stalwart Maitre d'Hotel was not coming in til the night shift. I had to make sure tonight's menu specials Leah had presented yesterday afternoon were well understood. Of course they weren't. I'll see later tonight when I have my dinner how the Beef Shortribs are, and can't wait. I started with the Coq au Vin pot pie and told Tarik, the chef in charge, to prepare it for my lunch. The coq au vin was on the dinner menu last night and this was Leah's novel approach to feature it the next day in another form, boning the chicken and using the same sauce in an onion soup bowl, with puff pastry on top. It was a bad sign when Nourredine the waiter peeked into my office and said, "your lunch is ready." I could read a look of worry, maybe puzzelment, or even fear on his face. There was the onion soup bowl, and on top of the coq au vin were two pieces of the shell-shaped pastry shell we use for our Seafood in Puff Pastry starter. Two shell-shaped pieces - the top and bottom - just placed in the center of the coq au vin. I thought, "It's supposed to be Coq au Vin pot pie, not Coquille aux fruits de mer pot pie." As Nourredine stood back I picked up the plate and took it to the kitchen, asking Tarik what he was trying to do. He claimed Rachid had told him to place the pastry used for the Seafood on the stew - it was obvious Rachid had told him to use the pastry, LIKE THE PASTRY WE USE FOR THE SEAFOOD. He tried to tell me this twice. How he could have thought I would have turned my fury on Rachid shows this young man still does not understand Madame Kathy. So they set about re-doing it by placing the pastry sheet over the top of the bowl. Nourredine began giving me updates. "The pastry fell into the stew, they're starting over with double the size." "Hassan Farhan told them that wasn't how Chef Leah described how to do it." Finally I got my lunch. The bowl was too wide and deep, so the pastry, instead of puffing up and staying there, was depressed in the center. I called Tarik out to discuss tonight's execution (at this point not knowing if the word would be used for HIM, or how the pastry step would be carried out). When he repeated what Rachid "told him" for the third time I was leaning to the former. Tarik complained it took 25 minutes to prepare, which was not practical as it was a starter. I counted to ten and ventured I hoped they wouldn't have to take two tries to complete each order. Anyway, I told him to pre-bake circles that would fit in the bowl on top of the stew. After lunch I asked Hassan Farhan his interpretation of yesterday's training session. He said he tried to tell them they weren't using the method Leah had described for them, absent the pastry sheet, using a folded napkin instead. When I heard that I considered myself lucky Tarik had chosen to misconstrue Rachid's description, rather than Leah's. It's easier to eat puff pastry even in the shape of a shell, than a napkin. Meanwhile the dish is selling well. |
