Day 190 - 193: BURNNNNNNNNNNNNN

The road to the grand final weekend was a slow one. The week was quiet as the big day approached. I had my weekend early in the week so my splits would lie on Saturday and Sunday. Booking were low on grand final day I mean low like a Tuesday low.

On the day of the big game I was carrying buckets of hot stock when I had a accident I tripped over and poured hot chicken stock on my foot which hurt like hell. After swearing for a few seconds I got my shoe and sock off and my foot into cold water, it wasn’t long before it started to blister and hurt through the cooling effects of the liquid my boiled foot was in.


I was taken to the medical center on Acland street and I was told I had 2nd degree burns on my foot and I would need a week off. This was definitely not a good time since we already have no staff but I had no choice I saw my foot and it was pretty bad.

School Day 23: Congrats to all..

Walked into school and received many pats on the back. Found out that the 2nd and 3rd year competitors from Sofitel on the following days also placed in medal positions. As a celebration we have Mezzo booked out for a private masterclass and a 5 course dinner with wines.

Unfortunately I will be unable to attend, due to my flu. Which I thought was hayfever. School was buzzing with excitement though we all had to do the salads and canapé theory test which consists of definitions and the naming of some classic 80’s style hors d'oeuvres and identifying leaves of different lettuces.

Day 185-189: Just Flying by...

The lack of staff is getting out of hand, our shifts are getting more intense as the weather is picking up as wew get out of spring. The Stokehouse has finished their 6 weeks of renvovations. The start of the week was full of praise as people slowly found out about the competition. We had a very harmonious dinner service on Thursday, tables came in late, there were no fuck ups just a clean smooth service, food in food out and go home. PERFECTION

I got Friday Saturday off this week and came back to a nice Sunday lunch which wasn’t to busy. A nice way to end a draining week with tripple splits.

School Day 22: COMPETITION DAY!

7:00AM alarms screaming from my computer, telling me it's to wake up. Only 8 more hours till crunch time.I went to school to gather my ingredients, when I hear commotion coming from the kitchen, my ‘partner’ the other entrant from Sofitel Academy working at maze was late and they had to be there at 8AM an hour before the first section was scheduled to begin.

I went to put my own ingredients at home whilst the others hurried to make it on time.

9:15AM: I hurried back to the exhibition center to see if I could make it in time to watch the first section.

10:00AM: The fine food festival opens for real and people start to flood in. seats begin to fill up and the pressure gets more intense as people start to watch.

10:45AM: A mad rush begins as the seemingly calm contestants scramble to finish within the 2 hour mark.

11:30AM: a quick debrief on what the comp was like from my partner as we are cleaning the dishes.

12:00PM: I start to feel a bit sick, as I watch the 2nd section begin.

12:30PM: I decide to go home and get my stuff and change into my whites.

2:00PM: I return to the exhibition center with all my gear ready for the comp, I still want to vomit.

3:00PM: I meet the other section 3 competitors, and a quick debrief about conditions and just to have fun.

3:15PM: 15 minutes time to set up.

3:30PM: READY STEADY COOK! Surprisingly when I started I was calm and mellow.

This is where time begins to fly without me knowing before any of us know it. We are about to enter the 15 minutes within the 90 dedicated to plating. Though my potato boudin was a failure and my purée had not been passed I decide it would be better to get it up on time rather than loose a massive amount of points for running into overtime.

5:30PM: all dishes are up and we all begin to clean it up and change out of our whites for the announcement of the medals.

6:00PM the exhibition center was clearly empty now with only us left and other stores finishing their daily pack down. I finally hear my name Silver medalist WHAA HOOOOOOOOO

My dish, flawed and all but still my beautiful Terroir Pig

Silver Medal!

Day 180 - 184: Exhausted

Hate to be a whiner but. this lack of staff is killing me.. and these posts. I'm to tired to actully stay up and write a little somthing that, represents how my day went..
I had a split weekend this week which probably made it worse.
mentally and physiclly exhausted..

Here are a few pics of the new desserts added in from last week's menu change.

Chocolate and orange 'jaffa' parfait

Honey and lavender bavarois with honey tuile
and extra buzz

School Day 21: Practice Continued...

It draws near. Crunch time... The Aus-Tafe Culinary Trophy State Finals.
Trial run 90 minutes 2 main servings 1 starch 1 green veg 1 precision cut.

Day 179: Happy Fathers Day!!

Father’s day was just a painful service, probably in the top 3 of the hardest I’ve done so far whilst working at Donovans. I didn’t expect the sheer amount of oysters to be ordered by guests, I think I might have shucked around 216 in a single service my arm hurts and I just want to go home and to bed!

Thank god I have school to break up the week tomorrow.

Day 176 - 178: Spring Time!

It’s been a long hard week, with the new menu changes and fathers day, the whole kitchen was in chaos and on edge. The first day of spring meant our quarterly big menu change, and the cross over between dishes is always tough due to having to prep new and old to phase out dishes slowly.

We have a beautiful new Venison Dish with a Beetroot Terrine sautéed spinach and potato crisps, which is my personal favorite. A tea smoked duck breast with duck liver pie and pickled cherries, Mulloway with a Brandade filled Baked Potato with Scallops and Red Wine Sauce.

Larder got a new Vegetarian Crepe dish with a Black Olive Salsa and a Poached Egg as well as a Potato Dauphinoise.

The new desserts are also pretty amazing with the Bee Hive inspired bavarois and Short crust 'fine' apple tart with cider ice cream being the biggest stand outs.

Yum Cha @ Gold Leaf - Docklands

PINCH AND A PUNCH FOR THE FIRST DAY OF THE MONTH! 
So it's the first day of Spring. But today the weather man decided that Melbourne isn't ready for Spring, so he kept Winter. Rained all night and rained all day. So what does one do on a rainy day? Nothing a little Yum Cha won't fix. So off we went to Gold Leaf at Docklands.

Wasn't so busy today but on weekends it gets chockers so ensure that bookings are made or else you'll be waiting.

Seeing as though it was quiet today, we got a seat right outside the window. Oh what a view it was. The once finished Southern Star Observation wheel stood tall over New Quay, but now there lies only, how does one describe it? A nut without its bolt? A recipe without its ingredients?

Just couldn't wait to dig into the Har Gaos - Dumplings with Prawn and Bamboo shoots

Fun Gor - Seafood Combination

Hum Sui Goc - Deep Fried Savoury Rice Flower Dumpling

Personal favourite - Prawn Dumpling -  Har Gao

Another close up

XO Chung Phun - Rice Flour seared Noodle tosses in XO

 Lor Mai Farn - Sticky Rice steamed in Banana Leaf