Level 5: Working at L'Ecole

It's hard to believe that tomorrow is my last day in Level 5 at the International Culinary Center, and that I'm only a month away from graduating from culinary school! It's been a crazy, busy, and exciting five months, and I'm excited to be at the tail end of my education and ready to enter the food industry as a professional chef.

Level 5 at ICC is the first level where we actually cook at the school's restaurant L'Ecole. It's a fully functioning, professional kitchen and restaurant where all the school's students cook dishes for patrons. It just like any other working kitchen; you prep food for lunch or dinner, run service, then break down and clean up. Because I'm a day student, my classmates and I work lunch service every day. The restaurant doesn't get too busy, maybe on average 30 covers a day. But its a great atmosphere to learn kitchen etiquette and technique if you've never experienced working in a kitchen before. You also get to experience working at every station in the kitchen, starting with entremetier, then garde manger, poissonnier, saucier, and finally patissier. Level 6 will be exactly the same as level 5, except we get a whole new menu with all different recipes, and these recipes will be what we have to cook on our final exam. It's been a fun experience working at L'Ecole, and I'm ready for level 6 and my final month at ICC!

Here are some dishes from our menu at L'Ecole:

Arctic Char with Lemon-Yogurt Sauce, Carrot-Dill Vinaigrette and Marinated Cucumber

Strawberry Tart with Creme Fraiche Ice Cream and Basil Oil

Vegetable Terrine, Blue Cheese Mouse and Arugula Salad

Profiteroles with Coffee, Chocolate, and Cookies-and-Cream Ice Cream