Random ramblings, recipes and whatever have you of a commis.

Sunday, October 29, 2006

Antonio's Pictures.

You can now view pictures from the Antonio's at my flicker site please reber to link on the sidebar.

I will need to find a way to post pictures more effectively, but for not please bear with me. :)

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Finals...fucked up.

Don't get me wrong I have been studying and I mean it. I haven't had a decent sleep or a decent waking hour not thinking about the finals written exams and what do I do? I fuck up on the second day. I thought I breezed through the first day okay.

Today is a really bad day. I prepared myself well. I don't know what happened. Costing - Moussaka, dammit it was supposed to be easy!

Mistakes:
1. Correct solution, wrong summed up answer.
2. Didn't answer the waste, service weight part. I thought it wasn't relevant.

And to think I finished first. I even re-computed my answers, reviewed my papers over and over, making sure I didn't miss aything but I still did. Fuck it! I am so depressed! What if I fail? Shit, there goes that medal I wanted. Now I feel that all my hard work has gone down the drain and I wanna stop studying altogether.

Friday, October 20, 2006

Antonio's Lunch.

Whoppeee field trip at Antonio's Tagaytay! Finally a break from all that smothering heat in the kitchen and Chef Mike's endless shouting (I'm joking, chef! I love you!!!). We trooped in a rather small and claustrophobic bus to Tagaytay to have lunch at Antonio's. And my classmate and I agreed that it was one of the best meals of our lives. Photo ops started upon sitting down on the bus. Yes, we're a bunch of camwhores. HAHA When we got to Tagaytay some of us opened our windows to let some of that cool air in as the bus was eekk, humid. I will post pictures later on. I need to get the pics from a classmate. I didn't feel the need to bring a camera. When we finally got to Antonio's we roamed around, marveled at the baby carrots freshly uprooted from the ground, stuck our noses at the shrub of oregano and had pictures taken with Chef Norbert and Chef Hans.

And finally lunch. Our menu was specially prepared for our group.

Smoked Duck Breast with Mesclun Green and Truffle Lemon Vinaigrette
Kohlrabi and Pancetta Bisque with Lavosh
Pan-fried Scallops Set on Artichoke Ravioli with Lumpfish Caviar Sauce
Green Mango Sorbet
Grilled Tenderloin Medallion, Gratinated with Mushrooms and Mashed Potatoes
Tartufo Nero with Grand Marnier and Espresso

With an unlimited supply of fresh dalandan juice, a slice of tapenade bread and coffee or tea at the end of the meal. The food was great! Each dish is delicately prepared, creatively plated and just sumptuous. I personally don’t like duck but I can't help but enjoy my duck breast! The scallops were cooked just right, the artichoke ravioli really went with the scallops well. And for someone who doesn't like caviar, the sauce sure was tasty! The bisque was creamy, with a touch of sweet and salty. I also enjoyed the green mango sorbet. It is refreshing and it sort of tones down all that rich flavor from the last course.

The tenderloin was very nice and really tender. I liked the way that even if it was not well done the blood doesn't run on your plate. The mushroom sauce was nice but doesn’t over power the beef. And the braised cabbage was really good, tangy and sweet, just right.

Dessert was the best! Semi sweet chocolate ice cream rolled in cocoa powder with grand Marnier and espresso poured on it. Very nice combination with the slight bitterness of the espresso and the sweet orange liqueur. We all devoured the dessert too soon. And lastly to finish the meal I opted for the tarragon tea, which was actually the first hot tea I ever drank that actually got me into drinking tea.

With all that food at Php 1,000. It was not bad at all. As usual, the relaxing ambiance and music at Antonio's lets you enjoy your food without hurry. And they serve each course with a 10-15 minute lull for you to really enjoy it without being too full for the next course, chat with friends and let the food settle a bit in your stomach that it doesn't crowd up all at once, which is very different from the way we Filipinos usually eat our food.

As we were reading the menu, we can't help but comment that it looked as if we were all prisoners on death row and this was our last meal before our execution. WE HAVE FINALS EXAMS STARTING ON MONDAY! That was a great way to jumpstart our reviewing!

And since we were generally a bunch of nosy people, we decided to watch the chefs at work in the kitchen. Its like how the chef's at school wants us to work. Organized, QUIET, and productive. Everyone was on his toes at work. And when it was time to serve they were organized and quiet, while plating our food. In school we're always noisy. "DRESSING!, SAUCE!, BEEEEF!" And then Chef Mike will go "AY LANSAK!" HAHA.

When I go back to Antonio's, I really have to order the raclette. I've been salivating over it the first time I ate there! I've been looking for raclette since Tamarind Grill closed down!

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Starting out commis.

Hi all! This blog will follow my upcoming new adventure...the life of a commis. But I can't always be a commis...I want to become a chef. A mighty good one at that.

I will post not only rants about work..but also recipes, food reviews, restaurant reviews and what have yous!

See yah! :)