James Beard Lunch Wrap-Up
The beginning of the end is here. We have arrived at the James Beard Foundation which is the ultimate test for our students. Everyone started bright and early at 8:00 A.M., the kitchen brigade was busy in full swing the minute they walked into the kitchen. The wine service team was upstairs in the Peter Kump Board Room working hard on last minute notes to the menu that the team needed to have about guests and any menu updates.
The team reunited for a run through of the plating designs so that the front of house team is knowledgeable of what they are serving down to each added garnish. At the same time, the kitchen brigade was told their responsibilities during plating all the dishes. Besides learning about last minute plating, teams were cleaning the areas for the reception along with the entire table set up in the Library. The teams were very efficient in producing all the plates and working with all the guests’ questions about the wines and presenting themselves very professionally. Many of the wine representatives were at the lunch in order to talk to all the guests specifically about each of their wineries and how they view all the wines that are being served.
The lunch was finished off with the presentation of the TuttoToscana team showing off everyone that took part in making the event possible followed by a short question and answer session where all the students needed to answer specifically for the guests. The team finished by thanking all of our guests for a wonderful day one at the James Beard and enjoyed a small team meal at the end. Less than twelve hours the entire team will be back to complete our trip with the Contemporary Chianti Gala Dinner.
