Outstanding at Station 1

Tonight I was given the opportunity to assist the Station 1 chefs at on offsite event called Outstanding In The Field, located at Pie Ranch, in Pescadero. It was a great night of fabulous food, wonderful people, on a beautiful farm setting.  The simple and organic dining room was set for 150 people inside the barn, with white lights strung across the barn ceiling, and bins of farm grown pumpkins linger along the back wall....just gorgeous....

Service started out with hors d'oeuvres, which I was told was about a mile up the road from the barn and make-shift kitchen area. So I hung out down the road and waited for chef, and had a very interesting chat with Marc, who works for Outstanding In The Field. He had a great story to tell about his travels with what he calls his team of "Culinary Gypsies", as they mostly travel together in the "Outstanding" bus, from town to town.

After the hors d'oeuvres were served and enjoyed, the guests came back down the road to enjoy some wine, and wait for their next plate, which was the seasonal appropriate Beet Salad. Head Chef Ryan got a good start on plating, which I got a shot of here....(but somehow did not get a shot of the finished plate)

The next plate was the wildly popular browned butter corn bread with sauteed chanterelle's and black garlic. I loved the plate because I just love corn bread, and my all time favorite food is mushrooms. So, to combine the two, to me is simply divine. Even though this dish would have been my favorite, I think we were all surprised to hear that people were requesting another serving of the dish. We must have plated up another 5 or so chanterelle dishes!

The entree course was what chef referred to as the "Pork Mountain". It was a sautee of butter bean and escarole, topped with house made pork sausage, and medallions of pork shoulder and pork loin. It literally was a pork mountain, topped with chervil and edible flowers (I don't recall the name of the flowers, but they were quite tasty themselves)....

Dessert by Chef Clara was a Pine Needle Panna Cotta with Smoked Bacon Caramel, and Pine Nut Cocoa Nib Crumble. I was not witness to much of Chef Clara's work on her dish, as by this time the temperature dropped dramatically and those of us who weren't busy plating, were hovered around the fire that was slowly dying in the grill.

As the meal winded down, we were asked to enter the barn to make an appearance to the dining guests, and we were thrilled to feel the warmth of the heat lamps, and then to see the smiles on peoples faces. They applauded the chefs, and were given the opportunity to ask a few questions. Of course, there were questions of the newly famous corn bread and chanterelle dish. People wanted the recipe to Ryan's Grandmother's Corn Bread, which should soon be posted on their Facebook page (hint, hint, Ryan!).... and people also asked about the black garlic on the dish, in how that was prepared. Even I hadn't known this, but they were fermented, (not roasted as I had assumed). It was quite fantastic to see that dish become the favorite, because we had been working on obtaining, cleaning, drying, and cooking those chanterelle's all week. What seemed to be the behind the scenes star in the kitchen, became the star of the meal.

And last but certainly not least, the chefs of Station 1....Ryan, Clara, Alex, Mike and Andrew....

Week 1 at Station 1: My Culinary Externship

Well I am happy to announce that I have survived my first week as a culinary extern at an amazing little restaurant called Station 1, in Woodside, CA. If you don't know about Station 1, and you are in any way interested in food, you should get to know them. I hadn't heard about them until a former classmate told me that I should look at them for my externship, because he thought their food sounded like a good fit for me. They are all about operating sustainably, using only local organic ingredients, with a dynamic menu and a warm and inviting atmosphere. 


Upon my first call to the restaurant, I was able to speak with head chef, Ryan Harris. He welcomed my call, and that is when I learned that he too is a graduate of CCA. Meant to be??? Maybe!!  He invited me to the restaurant for a brief introduction, and after a quick tour of the kitchen and a nice chat with chef, I was immediately impressed with the kitchen and just simply had a good feeling about it. Chef Ryan invited me back to do a stage on the following Saturday night, which just happened to be their one year anniversary event. 


I was definitely nervous about the idea of working in such a kitchen, but I was confident that once I got there, that all would be right with the world. And it was. Everyone there at Station I, from the owners, the chefs, and all the staff, are kind and welcoming, and almost always with a smile on their faces. People are happy to be there, and so was I. 


It was a fun night, filled with all sorts of beautiful foods whizzing about, watching the wait staff flutter in and out of the kitchen and back out to the dining room, and watching the five amazing chefs produce some truly beautiful plates. Chef Ryan took the time to chat with me and help me to understand some of their ingredients, and some of their cooking processes. He offered that I taste many of the foods, which I was pretty excited about....even the sweetbreads. Which were absolutely delicious, btw! I was excitedly impressed with the use of modern techniques that chef Ryan is so excellent at. And it really shows in his food. Creative but not overdone. 


After surviving my stage, I was welcomed back to the restaurant to extern for the next 6 weeks. Yay! I didn't totally make a fool of myself! Whew! I was relieved, excited, and then the nervous started to creep in....


But, again, it didn't last long. As soon as I got back into the kitchen, I felt, mostly, at ease. It is comforting to me that chef Ryan actually cares that I learn a lot during my time there. He takes the time to point things out to me, show me around, help me out. I don't feel like a burden hanging around the kitchen. And I was pleasantly surprised that chef had me plating at the garde manger station on my first night! And so it has been, each night this week, I get to assist with the prepping of foods, setting up for service, and plating at the garde manger station. And just tonight, I received a very nice compliment from one of the owners, in that my pear plate was "really nice".  Awesome! 


So in case you couldn't tell, I am very excited and feel very lucky to have been welcomed in to the kitchen there at Station 1. And I am looking forward to the next five weeks!