Well we are getting ever closer to our date of departure, and still in search of jobs in Europe.We are however very fortunate to have found a great net-work of people, through help exchange. Check out the link! It is Great!

So it's official! Our fist stop is the UK. which means my first culinary adventure is going to be an attempted stage at River Cottage .

Other stage option might include the Michelin three-star restaurant The Waterside Inn with Chef Michel Roux and or if I have three months to kill I might give The Fat Duck a go. Both restaurants are located in Bray, Berkshire. Much closer to London than river cottage but the food and learning experience would be completely different, from that of river cottage.

Take a look at the links and let me know which ones you think I should push for. Or if you have other suggestions of restaurants or place to check out in the UK, let me know. I am excited to hear from you.

Hey every one. Brooke and I have finally booked our flights and here are the details.

originally we booked a flight to Ireland but the credit card company didn't approve the transaction because they thought it was fraudulent activity. ha ha. So, we will be flying non-stop to London. First stop River Cottage!

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

American Airlines AA86 - Boeing 777
Depart	5.05pm	Chicago, IL Chicago O'Hare (ORD)
Arrive	6.50am +1 day	London, United Kingdom London Heathrow Apt (LHR

Travel Tim

7h 45m

Who likes Truffles!

This is about $2,000 worth of truffles. Crazy!

They were used at Wednesday nights truffle dinner at Vie. Unfortunately I was unable to be there but I heard great things.

Extra! Extra!

The good news keeps pouring in for Vie. Friday night Paul Virant won the Jean Banchet award for best fine dining.

Also some good news for Tony Priolo of Piccolo Sogno. Tony won a Jean Banchet award for best neighborhood restaurant.

Congratulations to both Paul and Tony

Hey every one! This news just came to me last night while at work.

Gayot.com, which since 1969 has been giving reviews to restaurants and hotels, just put out their 2010 list of the top 40 restaurants in the nation. Vie, where I work, is on that list. Here is a link to the list. http://www.gayot.com/best-restaurants/finestrestaurantsusa.html. Restaurants joining us on that list for the city of Chicago are L2O, Charlie Trotters, and Alinea.

All of us at Vie are very proud and excited. Way to go Paul!

The Dietzler Dinner

Dietzler Farms is a family owned and operated specialty beef ranch in Elkhorn Wisconsin. Located just 90 miles northwest of Chicago, they are a great source for premium, dry aged beef throughout the Midwest.

On Thursday January 28th I went Out to Vie to help with Dietzler farm dinner. Here is the menu.

First

charcuterie plate: smoked sausage and country pate, greens, preserves and wood-grilled bread

Second

wood-grilled quail, lentils, mustard greens, cherry mostarda

Third

housemade bresaola, pickled artichokes, preserved peppers

Fourth

potato gnocchi, braised oxtail, roasted carrots, parmesan

Fifth

roasted top round, bone marrow dumpling, wilted spinach, bearnaise sauce

To Finish

dietzler farm and seedling fruit mincemeat tart,sweetened organic creme fraiche

It is always fun to participate in dinners like these. When we are done serving the food, the kitchen staff takes a quick walk around in the front of the house. There is allot of applause and people taking pictures, but most importantly we get feed back straight from the customers. In the case of the farm dinners we even get feed back from the farmers who helped raise the animals or tend the gardens. That is the ultimate reward. Here is a photo of the first course.