Looking for the next Julia Child at Le Cordon Bleu in Boston
Is this the next Julia? Reva, one of the culinary students at Le Cordon Bleu. |
When we were walking to the Museum of Science the other day, I spied a sign that said, "Le Cordon Bleu" and asked Sara if we should dine at Technique, the prestigious culinary school's signature restaurant. As her first and only experience had been less than stellar thanks to some overly salted mashed potatoes, Sara was reluctant at first but finally agreed that we could go there for lunch. After all, $10 for a three-course meal has to be the best bargain in Boston!
Located in what's known historically as The Athenaeum Press Building, the student-staffed restaurant more closely resembles a fine dining establishment than the classroom of a culinary arts school. Reva, one of the culinary students who was working the front of the house, brought us menus featuring simple elegant dishes and answered all of our questions with a charming air of competence. After feeling apprehensive that the meal would disappoint, I started to relax and enjoy my glass of Pinot Noir.
Choosing from amongst the starters and main plates proved to be somewhat of a challenge because of the wide range of appealing options, but we finally settled on:
Nicoise salad with olive oil poached tuna, egg, haricot vert, olives, tomato concasse, fingerling potatoes. Grilled fruits with arugula salad, crispy prosciutto, shaved parmesan cheese
and champagne vinaigrette dressing.
Pork schnitzel served with braised red cabbage, spaetzle, and sauce charcuterie.
Summer vegetable risotto with crispy fried zucchini.
Seasonal fruit crumble with vanilla bean ice cream.
Classic creamy cheesecake with strawberry rhubarb compote and cocoa sauce.
In between courses, it was a pleasure to talk with Reva, who likened being a professional chef to being an architect because both fields require creativity and attention to detail. The culinary students working in the back of the house at Technique must have felt the same way because Sara and I gave high marks to five out of the six dishes that we sampled. While the risotto rice was cooked to perfection, we both felt that it could have used a bit more salt to enhance the flavor. Nonetheless, I'm fairly sure that Julia Child would have been impressed by the culinary students at Le Cordon Bleu in Boston and wished them well, particularly Reva!
With 30 Le Cordon Bleu schools worldwide, 17 of which are in the United States, there's a good chance that you can enjoy a three-course lunch or dinner for $10 or a four-course dinner for $15 prepared by future culinary professionals somewhere near you. Reservations are highly recommended.
Cambridge, MA 02142
Julia Child tells of her adventures at Le Cordon Bleu culinary school in Paris in her memoir, My Life in France.
Yummy, yummy
ReplyDeleteStephane
Wow, that's a lot of food for ten bucks. or twenty. or lunch. and I like the photos side by side, I have to see if I can do that.
ReplyDeleteI have been to the lCB here, but it's been over a year, probably worth a visit again.
And what is an 'olive oil poached tuna egg'? Or is there a comma missing?
That crumble looks so good, honestly I don't have a good crumble topping recipe. Must correct that.
Stephane, You would have approved of the spaetzle. The "little sparrows" were fluffy and light and as good as the noodles in Switzerland. The red cabbage was really good, too!
ReplyDeleteJoseph, I don't know if you can put two pictures side-by-side when you have frames around them like you do on your blog. You'll have to try it and let me know. When the pictures are "small", click and drag them next to each other. It usually takes a bit of coaxing before they drop into place. You can resize the pictures after they're on the same line.
One of the things that we found out from Reva is that LCB recently revamped their menus and have made them more consistent across the States, although they still use locally sourced ingredients. Sara went a to a place called, The Dining Room at Kendall College in Chicago that she said is really good. Have you been?
Thanks for the editing! :-) The menu said "Olive oil poached tuna" and my fingers inadvertently typed egg - that's what I think of when I hear the word "poached". For some reason, they pan sear the tuna for dinner and poach it for lunch. I don't know the reasoning behind that but would have preferred the pan seared because I like my tuna more on the raw side.
The crumble was delicious! I have a very good recipe for a topping that uses oatmeal, flour, butter, sugar and cinnamon that I would post if I had access to it right now.