Hello Soupers,

I have completed my first week or so at the Saphir Lyon Hotel. Wow, let me tell you it has been crazy! I definitely love it, and I can  tell that I am going to learn so much here. It will be a real challenge, but I love challenges.

I worked 46 hours this week, 22 hours just in the first two days, and will be working 46 -49 hours a week on average. While it is a lot of work, I am so glad to be getting this experience. I know I will never forget it.

What am I doing exactly? I guess you could call me a prep cook. My responsibilities consist of peeling and cutting vegetables, slicing cured salmon, fabricating lobsters, and plating for the buffet. I have already worked with a variety of fun foods including lobsters, cuddle fish, a few different types of cured meats, tartines, stomach lining (I forget the proper term for it) different vegetables and more. I am not “on the line” as there is only one person who works there. While the restaurant is good sized, it is primarily a buffet and the line only is for  the “Plat du jour.”

Only five people work in the kitchen at a time including Chef. Talk about getting direct experience with a French Chef! Other than Chef, the staff is all under thirty. There are two men and two women, one of which is also an intern. I love working with the ladies because I learn more French from them than anyone else. I love speaking it and get excited when they understand me.

Language is still an issue in the kitchen, but I am able to take steps everyday. At first, I wondered how I was supposed to find my way around and know what to do. When we were in a rush, and I was told to do something, I pretty much guessed and luckily for me I usually understood correctly. Even still, being unsure of what you were just told to do is kind of scary in high pressure situations. I mean, I didn’t want to mess anything up. Each day I walk into the kitchen with a positive attitude and the determination to prove to them that I can cook but not understanding makes it doubly difficult. I don’t want to disappoint them or make them regret their decision to hire me.  

If I have learned anything in this first week, it is how culinary school has helped me, and that what I learned in school will benefit from it no matter where I work. I hope that makes sense. While at school, we might only work with certain types of fish, poultry, beef, etc.; but if you understand the basics, then you will understand how to work with the different varieties. The basics are key to success. They are what French cuisine is all about. I have always known this, but now I get it.

Just the other day, I was thrown a recipe book that was completely in French and was told to make a terrine. I almost freaked out, but then everything I learned in Garde Manger suddenly came back to me. It was quite simple actually. Instead of following the recipe, I just did what I remembered from Chef Inauen’s class. Once it was done, I was told it was “very beautiful.” I was surprised at first because I wasn’t expecting them to say anything about it at all. I thought it was nice and well prepared but “beautiful?”  Another time, I was told to make a crème brulée. First they asked if I knew how, I told them I have made it on more than one occasion at school.

So, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all my Chefs at the International Culinary School at the Art Institute of Phoenix for what they taught me.

I hope everyone has a better understanding of what I am doing here now. I have long days and a lot to learn ahead of me. I know it will go by fast, so I am going to absorb as much as possible each and every day.

Au Revoir,

Coty

To read more of my experience in Lyon, click here.

P.S. I have included a few pictures from my trip to Paris and Perouges (including the one above).