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Heat On For Culinary Students' Final Exam

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By JEFF HOUCK

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 13, 2008

TAMPA - "Panic" is too strong a word. It would be a perfect time to do so, but no one is panicking. Not yet.

Still, a nervous vibe is definitely running through the kitchen as word gets around that 85 people have made a reservation for a five-course dinner tonight at the Tampa Club's restaurant. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 had been expected.

Normally that kind of an adjustment isn't a problem. But tonight, the kitchen staff primarily consists of five student cooks, all of whom have been learning under the club's executive chef, Joseph Van Bemmel, as part of a three-month immersion cooking class. The "Pro Am Dinner" tonight, held on the 42nd floor of the Bank of America building downtown, is their final exam.

The class members, all of whom are Tampa Club members, have each been assigned a course. Lawyer Chris Griffin will start the meal with an onion tart. Darren Shields, who owns an information technology company, has made a Consomme Celestine soup.

The third course, a lobster salad with a cherry tomato stuffed with greens, will be handled by marketing consultant John Taylor, while his girlfriend, retired insurance company owner Pat Lamphear, has been working for two days on a chocolate terrine for dessert.

The entree tonight is a roasted pheasant breast wrapped in veal caul fat (a fatty stomach lining) and stuffed with zucchini, tomato, Japanese eggplant and sauteed onions and peppers. College basketball referee Tim Meister, whose girlfriend enrolled him in the class as a gift, has spent hours tightly rolling the pheasant portions under the watchful eye of Chef Bemmel.

'Not Like A Cooking Show'

This is the third time the Tampa Club has offered a culinary apprenticeship course to its members, and as cooking classes go, it is one of the most immersive around. Dozens of classes and demonstrations are held each month in the Tampa Bay area, from Apron's Cooking School at the Citrus Park Publix to Rolling Pin Kitchen Emporium in Brandon. Enrollment in the culinary program at the Art Institutes of Tampa continues to swell as students look to learn the restaurant trade. Eleven Young Chefs Academy franchises in Florida - four in the Bay area - teach students from kindergarten through high school how to have fun in the kitchen.

At the Tampa Club, it was Taylor who suggested weekly cooking classes six years ago. That morphed into a more hands-on apprenticeship class about a year ago, after he hired one of the club's chefs to cater a dinner he and Lamphear hosted at his condo about two years ago.

Once a month for the past three months, the five student cooks have come together to learn how to make different courses, taking turns on appetizers, salads, entrees and desserts.

"This is not like you're sitting through a class. It's not like a cooking show where you watch on TV." says Meister, who never took a cooking course before. He enjoyed cooking at home and had experimented with recipes but hadn't considered such an intensive experience before his girlfriend enrolled him.

Group Goes French

On this night, Meister has center stage with his pheasant, cooked with classic French techniques. He's enjoying bringing the succulent entree to the plate with help from his team members, but his mind is elsewhere.

In about 12 hours, he'll be helping to open Nina O's, a new sports bar and restaurant on South Dale Mabry Highway in Tampa of which he is a part owner. His schedule was supposed to be clear by now, but the opening was delayed by inspections.

"This is probably more than we bargained for," Shields says. "But we signed up to learn a lot and push ourselves."

Shields specifically wanted to hone his French cooking skills. Making the consomme in a giant stockpot in the club's kitchen and learning how to stir it correctly so that a raft of vegetables and beef forms on the surface was something he was unlikely to do at home.

Taylor so loves French cooking that he's reading "Escoffier: The Complete Guide to the Art of Modern Cookery," a culinary bible written by the legendary master Auguste Escoffier.

"I had done a lot of grilling and a lot of Cajun food, which has a basis in French technique," Taylor says. "But the group decided to go French. It's interesting that every one of us in this group chose that as a direction."

A Winning Service

Dinner begins promptly at 7 p.m. Everyone finds his or her seat at circular banquet tables, most of which have spectacular views of the sunset on the western horizon and thunderstorms moving in from the east.

Griffin starts plating the flaky, delicate onion tarts as his colleagues assist - with 85 people to serve, everyone pitches in on the various courses. The dishes arrive at the tables with great speed, and diners begin to enjoy the delicious, creamy, oniony flavor.

The next course, Shields' consomme, offers a bold, beefy aroma punctuated by the morels. Taylor's crisp salad, with the cored tomatoes acting as a ring for the greens and the slice of lobster and the vinaigrette sauce providing different textures, looks like some sort of leafy architecture.

For the fourth course, Meister's dish delivers a tender pheasant with vegetable accents, The veal caul fat, now dissolved, has done its job, keeping the breast moist and flavorful. And Lamphear's difficult chocolate terrine - she had to flash-freeze the dessert to get it to carve correctly - puts a sweet, decadent touch on the meal.

After coffee is served, the weary group of newly seasoned cooks is greeted by a standing ovation as they emerge into the dining room from the kitchen and receive their apprenticeship certificates.

"We just hope we brought pleasure to you tonight in both your company and your cuisine," Griffin says to the room after thanking the club's restaurant staff.

"I had a wonderful time," Meister says. "Anyone who can take the class should take the class. It was a lot of fun."

Reporter Jeff Houck can be reached at (813) 259-7324 and jhouck@tampatrib.com

FRENCH ONION TART

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 yellow or white onions

1 tablespoon garlic, chopped

2 sprigs thyme

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 sheet puff pastry

1 cup Swiss cheese, grated

Heat oil in pan. Slice onions thin.

Add onions, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper to saute pan and cook until onions begin to brown.

Remove from heat to cool.

Cut six circles from puff pastry.

Add sauteed onions on top of pastry. Add cheese on top of onion.

Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

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