First Impressions

Last night we went to eat at the restaurant we begin work at this Wednesday, La Fleur de Sel. It's the one we signed up for to be the official externship site. We dressed up, showed up, bought a bottle of wine and finally met the man without a face, Chef Yann Plassard. This man has been invisible the entire time we've been in Brest and our opinion of him has suffered because of it. Once back from his holiday he came into the temporary restaurant we were working, 'a O a' la Bouche, and didn't even come down to the kitchen to introduce himself...rude.
Nathan, our American friend externing here from Hyde Park, told us Chef Plassard comped his meal at La Fleur de Sel when he first arrived so we figured we would receive the same treatment.
Yes, well, we should be so lucky.

We didn't actually think we would see him that night since they "never know when he'll show up," so we figured we'd eat, check it out and speak with him the next day when he'd be visiting us at 'a O a' la Bouche. Kind of complicated, but bare with me.
Gina and I, since forming our not so good opinion of him pictured a short, over-weight man with a balding head and insincere smile.

Instead, a man came walking out of the kitchen to our table about 5'10", Levi's, a nice French build, charming face and a little boys hair cut. I honestly thought it was a different kitchen worker and after he started asking how everything was I asked him what his name was! Whatever, he deserved it, he STILL had not introduced himself.
Though we were mesmerized that he was such a "babe," we noticed later that the conversation we had with him was lame (too complicated to explain here) and the only thing he "comped" for us may have been our finishing cafe's.
He's not nice or caring and we've discovered he's quite cheap. I guess Eric Ripert was right when he came and spoke to us at the CIA about French Chefs..."they break you down to build you up." But really, that rude?
Perhaps this is the start of something beautiful.

Here are a few facial expressions of mine from meeting him, and one of Gina thinking it was absurd she paid that amount for just a steak (she later discovered sides came separately to the table), then of course my amazing dish of duck that I was honestly blown away by. At least it has delicious food!