Good service last night, 34 covers with the last pudding out the door by 2215. And then four more puddings because the Spaniards wanted chocolate and cheese after all. Spaniards are the bane of our lives, they want to eat as late as possible – preferably 2 am – and for as long as possible – at least until next week. Luckily our Maitre d’ has a few tricks of the trade to avoid this. Tricks I’m not about to reveal here, obviously.
We launched the new à la carte menu last night, so no more escabèche de supions or filets de rougets avec tian de courgettes, sauce aux anchois for me. That one was a real bugger – as soon as it’s called, even before sending out their amuses, you have to wrap a tian for reheating, season five red mullet fillets and leave them with the tian next to the salamander for reheating, put the sauce in a baby saucepan, cut the fennel and chop the herbs for the salad, cut the olives and dice the tomatoes for the decoration. It’s a pretty plate but a bugger to get out of the door.
The new starters are a bit easier – although the velouté of courge is problematical as the machine I use to make the tomato cappuchino is missing a vital O-ring seal, so it can go all over the place. Pan-fried foie gras now too instead of the old terrine, which means a bit more effort when the plate is announced but less preparation to get it going. Although I think the sauce needs more honey, and we’re still working on the plate decoration. And the artichoke flans are a bugger to get intact onto the plate. More eggs in the mix next time.
I’m definitely leaving Les Agassins at the end of next month. Immediately afterwards we’re going on holiday to lie on a beach somewhere hotter than Avignon in November – possibly Martinique – and then I’m off to the UK for some Stages, then up the French or Swiss alps for a winter season as a Chalet Chef. Then back to Avignon for who know’s what? Bit of Interim work temping in restaurants around here, bit of this, ducking, bit of that, diving. That sort of thing.
This is a sample menu I’ve produced for those who’d like to employ me up an Alp. Some potential employers seem a bit haphazard about their procedures, budgets and so on, and I’ve already turned down one job because they pay ridiculously small amounts of money – even by French restaurant standards. They rely on people working for them who really want to spend all day skiing, which probably accounts for the rotten food you get in some chalets.