Global Cafe ~ Incredibly goofy post :)

A friend of mine is going to school to be a chef. He's attending one of the two-year programs at the community college and is learning all kinds of run stuff about cooking and tasting and presentation and cuisine in general. I'm wildly envious! They get the coolest field trips and classes; I want to take a couple myself.

Anyway, five times a semester, they offer seats at a "Global Cafe" they set up downstairs in one of the buildings with little tables and linens and everything, and all the students get to practice being head chef and waitstaff. My chef friend asked me about a month ago if I'd like to reserve a spot, telling me it would probably fill up by tomorrow and I pounced on the chance. It finally rolled around this evening, and I'm just hugely grateful to him for offering us the chance. The experience was fantastic and delicious.

Since I didn't bring the camera, I'm going to do the goofiest thing possible and post pictures I drew up in MS paint (inspired by Allie Brosh) of what our dinner was. I know it's ridiculous, but I've got the time to kill ;)

First, our pretend-waiter asked what we'd like to drink. They offered coffee, iced tea, or hot tea and we both ordered hot tea, so he brought us mugs of hot water, and a whole box of assorted teas. I took a tazo herbal, the "refresh" with peppermint, spearmint and tarragon. The mugs were small enough and the tea was strong enough that I got two refills on hot water before the bag was spent. Yum.

The first thing they brought out was the amuse; the "gift from the kitchen." It was a fried won-ton noodle that looked like a tortilla chip, with just a smear of guacamole and a little rolled up piece of ginger sticking up at the top. So tasty! Just one little bite of deliciousness. I thought it was going to be wasabi and was pleasantly surprised to taste avocado instead. Delicious.

Next, we got our appetizers. J got the Gyoza and Kakuni which was one little dumpling and a cube of slow-roasted pork belly which sounded disgusting and looked about as bad. I'd ordered the Tempura Platter which was a pile of fried things with a soy-mirin sauce that had little shreds of diakon in it. I got two large sweet onion rings, two pieces of asparagus, and three large slices of something that I think was asian pear. The sauce was delicious and when I was done with the Tempura pieces, I picked all the diakon out and ate that too.

Next, we got our soup and salad. I got the Green Bean Salad that was pretty much just green beans rubbed in red miso with some crunchy curly orange things on top, and J got the Udon Noodle soup that came with some red chile peppers so hot enough that eyes were watering, and a little over-easy quail-egg on top which was adorable.

Next came the Intermezzo; a home-made black cherry sorbet. It had a really strong flavour and was delectable if rock solid at first. We ate it in tiny bites while we waited for our entrees.

I got burned out on drawing the little things in paint, so the entrees were the only things I didn't draw. I hope this doesn't cause any undue heartbreak. I'd ordered the Sesame Salmon; a large salmon fillet pan-roasted and placed on top of a little square of soba noodles mixed with three cabbages and white sesame seed sauce. There was also a little smear of edamame coulis on the place which was buttery and delicious, and an oily and relatively flavourless black sesame seed sauce sort of dribbled on the side. It added an ok visual element to the plate, but also looked kind of gritty and gross and didn't have an exceptional flavour. My salmon was also so rare that it was a little squishy in the middle and I had to leave my last few bites. J ordered the Miso-braised short-ribs tempura even though the Grilled Pork sounded more delicious to both of us. (I'll eat fish every once in a while, but certainly not pork.) The ribs were disappointing, but they came with gingered sweet potatoes and a warm asparagus and mushroom salad around the edges of the plate and both were yummy.

Next came the desserts. We had the option of a "Tokyo Cheesecake;" a plate with three lemony confections including a tart, a mousse cup and a scoop of homemade lemon ice cream; and a matcha mousse cup with sake-infused cherries. J ordered the lemony plate leaving me torn between the two second-best options. As intrigued as I was by the notion of sake-infused cherries, I chose the cheesecake and was delighted to find that my dessert was the best choice of them all! It came out on a big thin cracker shaped like a crescent, on a crunchy rice cookie crust, with a little pile of macerated plums on the side and a too-sweet plum sauce on the other side. It was divine. I sampled each of J's lemony treats which were ok, but the mousse was terrible; had an odd crust on top and was nothing but pudding underneath. I was glad I hadn't sprung for the matcha mousse.

My culinary-student friend was able to come out and visit with us during dessert. Some of the other chefs sat down with their friends to chit chat and eat a little, but I guess my guy was the supervising chef for the evening. He seemed a little over-taxed, but managed to hang out and shoot the shit with us a little before schmoozing onward to say hello to his other guests. I was super psyched to have been able to enjoy the opportunity, and I hope I can make it to their future dinners!



We left $25 total and got a couple of truffles on our way out the door, which were a level past divine, but too much sugar for the evening. I managed to finish mine, but J couldn't, so I wrapped up the last one and stuffed it in my purse for later. I'll definitely be looking forward to it ;)