La Fontaine aux Perles and Chef Gesbert

This place I work, La Fontaine aux Perles, is owned by a man named Rachel Gesbert. He not only is the Executive Chef but as I found out a few days ago he also lives on the site with his girlfriend Sophie. He's obsessed with his restaurant, has built it from the ground up and from what Gina and I heard through the grapevine, the only thing Chef Gesbert wouldn't trade for his restaurant is his mother. After pondering that statement we discovered he would trade his three children, his girlfriend of three years who runs the front of the house and an amazing staff. Our friend in the kitchen, Hugo, who speaks English, told us "Chef is a madman..."
I believe it 100%.

Each shift is the same. We all prep our butts off, eat family meal, begin service and then Chef Gesbert trots in. You can hear his piercing voice coming from the hall before he enters in his designer jeans, pointed brown leather shoes (with small heels), black chef coat and seriousness. He plays the role of expeditor and yells out orders walking up and down the kitchen waving his hands. Most often than not he becomes angry at something within a shift and the kitchen changes from a composed and confident atmosphere to a stressed one. Last night I thought his rage sounded like a 5 year old temper tantrum, in French of course. He flipped his lid at one of the cooks who accidentally put butter beans in with the steamed vegetables while plating. If I didn't know any better I would think someone just lost the Chef thousands and thousands of dollars and he was going to have to close his establishment and choose another career. The funny thing is that in the middle of his tantrum he came up to me and pointed to a saute pan with Sole and kindly said a quick sentence in French telling me what to do as though it were an ordinary hour and ordinary behavior. Maybe I need to be enlightened on what "normal" behavior is for French Chefs.

Check out the restaurant van below..."RS" stands for the one and only Rachel Gesbert. There are also plates within the restaurant that have these same symbol engraved in them.


I should point out that aside from his frequent rages during service he is a really nice man to Gina and I and has bent over backwards to get us in for externship. He also showed genuine concern about my Dad when I came back and wanted to know the status of everything which was very sweet.

I've just learned to completely stay out of his way during service and watch the commotion from a safe distance...you just never know what he'll be nit-picky about next!

Charles de Gaulle Airport

I'm back in France. Yes, crazy.

My Dad and I talked it out and now that he's stable (God is good) and is onto a future of recovery and clinical trials at UCSF, Jared and I are back in school/externship and for me that means hitting the ground running again at La Fontaine aux Perles in Rennes, France.

To get back I went SFO to Dallas, Dallas to Charles de Gaulle (Paris), bus to train station (over 1 hr.) and then a 2 hr. train ride to Rennes. Forgetting everything else, I'd like to fill you in on Charles de Gaulle.

The airport is HORRIBLE. I would say avoid it at all costs if you have the choice, especially if you're traveling alone since there won't be anyone to share the misery with. After experiencing the airport a few times now I think of it as a massive concrete structure full of confusing signs, construction, taxis/buses/cars and a number of different languages being spoken at once.
A few months ago my Dad and his work buddy came to France on business and I received this email from him speaking of Charles de Gaulle:

"This airport has been solely designed to make you appreciate everywhere but here. Someone could use it as a case study for mass confusion...Amir is walking as though someone put a bag over his head and spun him around...and that's every 10th step. You can't find the restrooms, let alone the gates...oh, you thought you were in the correct TERMINAL!?...yeah, get on a bus and go to the next city! I asked 2 people who WORK HERE for directions...forget it...one shook his head and the other looked as though she were about to cry."



I couldn't have said it better myself.

The good news is I'm sitting in the apartment right now that Gina found while I was away (what a trooper) safe and sound listening to the rain patter on the roof. Back to the grind....stories from the kitchen soon to come.

Update 101

I am so grateful for family and friends, diligent prayer warriors and the wealth of support my family and I have received since hearing the news about my Dad.
Thank you so much.

Here are some facts of the current situation:

1. My Dad had a successful surgery and now has a scar with tons of staples on the right side of his head and it's shaped like a giant staple. Pretty ironic right?

2. He is still hopeful for getting better, still trusting in the Lord for healing, and still cracking jokes. He is an inspiration.
(He was taking a pain med called "norco" and insisted on calling it a "bronco" so he could tell the nurses he wanted to "ride the bronco into the sunset")

3. He has more friends than I ever thought imaginable and they all care so so so much. What a blessing. I guess he's kind of a big deal at work...
(actually, funny story, last night one of his old co-workers came in and after recognizing one another in the elevator we did a half hug with a side kiss that I didn't know was coming...so we ended up brushing lips and basically almost getting to first base. awesome)

4. Purell must be making a fortune these days in the hospital market...shoot, everyday I read the sign outside the door that tells me to "gel in and gel out."

5. We're continuing to pray the swelling in my Dad's brain goes down so they don't have to go in and drain it themselves...and that he'll get into a clinical trial at UCSF

6. I'm officially in the Bay Area for an unknown period of time. France will still be there when all this is over with their quirky habits, weird store hours and cobblestone roads. Until then, here is a picture I took in Rennes a few weeks ago at a flower shop that I love...love the wooden ladder, love the buckets and love the sign.

Strength

Rennes, France

I once heard those who built cathedrals in the past made them large so people would feel small and recognize God's power through that. If you've ever been in a huge one you know the feeling I'm talking about.

In times of struggle I think it's necessary to remember that we are small and powerless without the hand of God. He is the only one capable of providing the strength we need.

"In the day when I cried out,
You answered me,
And made me bold with
strength in my soul."

- Psalm 138:13

My family is struggling right now with news my Dad is sick with cancer. Will you pray that God would heal him and that His glory would be revealed through that? I not only believe in the power of prayer but also that every prayer counts.

the Bib

My Dad and Andrea came to France on vacation and just so happened to be here at the exact time Gina and I needed a car from Brest to Rennes to move all of our stuff. I know, what are the odds right?
We went to a restaurant where everything on the outside was green including the big green sign with the restaurant name I can't recall, over-sized green awnings, and green something else I also can't remember....perhaps it was the deck chairs? We fell upon it after being rejected at "le Wok" the night we got into Rennes and instead of noodle woks and pieces of sushi we had a great meal of seafood, glasses of champagne and white wine, dessert platters of everything delicious and laughter, LOTS of laughter...
I ordered lobster and unbeknown to me it came with being the laughing stock of the table and quite possibly the entire restaurant.


This man brought two live lobsters to our table after I ordered it and insisted I choose one to eat, calling one Herbert and the other some other strange name.
Then right before bringing the cooked beast out of the kitchen he adorned me with this cloth lobster print bib. I tried to have fun with it but I couldn't hold back my mortified expression. I didn't find out later til Gina showed me this picture that he was making that face. After he left I quickly took the ridiculous bib off and shoved it in my lap to use as a second napkin. Little did Mr. Smiley know I had cooked, cracked and cleaned over a half dozen crabs a few days prior....didn't need the bib then and definitely didn't need it now buddy.

He also told us later he's an artist. With his broken French he managed to explain that he only paints radishes. He was wearing a radish tie, had a radish print on his business card and pointed to one of his paintings in the restaurant that had multiple boxes of radishes in different colors. My question is, why radishes?

Gem of Fleur de Sel

La Fleur de Sel proved un-educative and not a good fit for me or Gina, BUT....
I walked away with a few good dessert recipes since I had to be on that station for most of the time I was there. My favorite was their soft caramel that blew me away. It's a bit soft but if you keep it in the fridge it's perfect. Here's the beloved recipe...I would venture to say putting some Maldon sea salt on top would make it magnificent.

La Fleur de Sel's Soft Caramel
200 g. glucose
1332 g. sugar
666 g. heavy cream, warmed
1066 g. butter, salted or unsalted...just be sure to add salt if you use unsalted butter

*amount is good for a 9x11 pan size or similar

Directions:
1. Put glucose and sugar in heavy saucepan and put over medium/high heat. Stir and cook until it turns a dark brown/golden color
2. Put warmed cream slowly into pot and stir vigorously (it will bubble like crazy..just keep stirring)
3. Put back on stove and cook until it reaches about 300 degrees Farenheit (145 Celcius), stirring consistently
4. Take off the heat and add in chunks of the butter while continuing to stir and emulsify
5. Pour into mold and let cool
6. Keep in fridge and bring out when you want to eat it. Great if you cut into squares or diamonds and wrap in waxed paper as little treats!

They're Delicious, beware. Worth the effort and though you'll probably have to buy a candy thermometer, I think it's worth it.

Je T'aime BREST....

PSYCHE!!!!

Alright, I'm going to be real with you on this post...my confession today is this...I haven't been honest with you about where I've been and how I'm doing over here in France...at all. So, here it goes:

Brest is terrible. It is actually known as the "armpit of France." When we told our friends in Paris about where we were going they all gave us strange looks and questioned why we would go to such a place..."really? oh...you do know there are NO Americans in Brest and you know, it's the armpit of France...?"
Well, we thought that was just a dramatization by Parisians so we came here not expecting the armpit, rather maybe an elbow or a knee or something.
Turns out the Parisians were right. It IS the armpit. Fully and completely. I would equate it to a Modesto or a Bakersfield...but WORSE (no offense to anyone from those towns). Seriously...there is construction everywhere, people are still depressed from the war (WWII) and there is close to no history since it was all destroyed from the war. Sad but true. So sad actually.

From the beginning I've been "disappointed in humanity." I know that sounds dramatic but it's true. I've been sad about the people here. I feel like superficiality is taking over me and I'm drowning in a pool of it. The people at La Fleur de Sel were pretty challenging and unwilling to accept that women can be key players in the kitchen...and from what we experienced, their attitude towards externs in general didn't get better with time. But enough about that.

I'M EXCITED.

You want to know why? Remember my post a few days ago about Rennes? Well, I'm moving there!!!! Yep...to the beautiful town of Rennes. I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am. God is so amazing...He has orchestrated the entire thing. I am so grateful.

Gina and I are starting work a week from today in a Michelin Star restaurant called Le Fontaine aux Perles. We're beginning our entire 18 week externship over but you know what, it's WORTH it, SOOOO worth it.