Anticipation is my amuse-bouche

by Katrina Simmons

Cooler doors yawn as the rattle of pots drifts over the half wall of my makeshift office. Voices from the kitchen are muffled as I try to discern what’s cooking today. The delicate scent of rice meets me at the kitchen door. Chef Bill makes a creamy risotto look effortless while students huddle around one of the stoves for his demonstration. 

I was hoping to catch a preview of the next Chef’s Table, coming up on Thursday (March 1), but even hanging out in the kitchen doesn’t give me an insider’s edge. The Advanced students collaborate on the planning here at school, but they do most of their recipe development and fine tuning at home. I will have to wait a few days for the real thing. Meanwhile those tantalizing aromas will drive me crazy as I try to concentrate on the computer in this empty classroom.

The main course, I know, will be veal, but how will it be prepared? Blackened? Broiled? Stewed? And what of the high notes and low - the other seven courses that will work in harmony with it? Anticipation will have to be my muse.