Ranya and the Sauté

So, what exactly do we, or rather I, sauté? Well many things to be exact, or not! Just taking a look at the menu should give you a glimpse into just how many of our dishes require that sauté person. From flipping omelets in the morning, and sometimes throughout the day, to flapping crepes and twirling pastas, sauté is responsible for bringing out the best of la Madeleine. And for a week that sauté person was me, assisted of course by Lucy, Jose or Rodolfo (whom, for some reason, I always call Fernando), the three Hispanic sauté experts (you would not think that Lucy did not speak any English, though, judging by her name)!

Working with Jose was the better experience of all three. Maybe because he spoke some English or because I helped him during the more quiet evening shifts, it was obvious that he and I made a better team than the other two and I. In all three situations, though, the sauté station still ranked the highest on my “favorite station” scale. Boy was I made to cook! And cook I did!

Whether it was the knowledge that someone else was going to clean the pans, pick up the trash or prep the ingredients, or the heat radiating from the gas stove that created that affection between my and the stove remains to be discovered. What I did discover however, was that there were no limits to what I could do while behind the counter; flip an omelet in mid-air and not worry about its falling on the clean kitchen floor (well, I did worry about it falling apart, but then after it did it was not too bad – it was all part of the learning process!); set the pan and its contents on fire without worrying about burning the food (I had always wondered how they did that on T.V. and was really excited to be able to do it myself. There is just something special to seeing the contents of the pan go ablaze and then settle back down); put too much clarified butter, oil, tomatoes, onions, sauce and not have to think about the loss of an ingredient (well I do, since I have to think about my food cost); and, create my own variations of the meals without having someone wag his finger at me – I was the manager after all! (I even put together two Lebanese dishes one time using the ingredients I had on hand – I felt like an Iron Chef!).

It was not all play and no work, though. It was work after all, and important work at that; the reputation of the food and the satisfaction of the guest was in my hands and I had to ensure that they got what they were expecting. And that is why I had my Hispanic assistant to one side and the recipe book and the quick guide on the other hand!

But neither of those would be present in the next phase ...More to follow...