Monday, March 16, 2009

From Powdered Mash in Paisley to Scallops at Gordon Ramsay's

So who would have thought it, me going from fine dinning such as powdered mash potatoes in the Neilston Road Flat (occasionally with some grated cheese melted into it, I know, fancy..) to cooking scallops at the London Hotel in NYC, home to a good friend of mine Gordon Ramsay!

What I hear you say??

Well part of the previously blogged trip to NYC was dinner at the Chef's table at Gordon Ramsays NYC.

So the 6 of us got suited and booted and sat waiting to be fed...



L-R Lauren, Craig, Ross, Gillian, Catherine, Me (AKA Chef Bellshaw)

The menu was amazing and the wine matched perfectly, funny that as we did a wine pairing.....anyway the menu looked like this


And the items on the menu looked like this

1.Selection of Canapes
2. Loin of Pacific Yellow Fin Tuna, Battera Kombu, Jimica, Steamed Shitake, Yuzu Glaze
3. Pressed Hudson Valley Foie Gras Quince and Black Pepper Sherbet, Crispy Amaranth, Marocan Almonds
4. Sauteed Maine Diver Scallops with Braised Veal Cheeks, Tahitian Vanilla, Parsnip Cream
5. Slow Cooked Sablefish with Butternut Squash Carpaccio, Preserved Cucumber and Red Wine Vinaigerette
6. Carmalized Duck Breast with Spiced Anjou Pear Glaze, Beluga Lentils, Chicken Liver Rillette
7. Selection of Cheeses from the trolly
8. Olive Oil Gelato on Pistachio Sponge
9. Earl Grey Souffle with Milk Ice Cream, Apple Tarte Tarin with Vanilla Ice Cream, Single-Origin Venezuelan Chocolate Mousse, Passion Fruit, Balsamic Reduction and Yogurt Sorbet

The best by far was course number 4, which was the one the whole gang got to cook. Obviously led by Chef Bellshaw!

So the chefs gathered us for our instructions and off we went to cook!!


Ross and I were on the front of service preparing the plates and putting the final touches before it was served, I think this is normally the head chefs job!!







And the luckiest person of them all was Catherine who got to shout "service!" and I thought I was the birthday boy!! :)


But true talent shone through and I was asked back to make desert!

Everyone did say that the Earl Grey Souffle with Milk Ice Cream was their favorite desert (I think just to keep me quiet!)



Monday, March 9, 2009

Life Begins at 30, Right??


So today I'm just back to work after four days in New York City for mine and Ross's 29 and 12 month b'days.

Our traveling group consisted of Me and Catherine, Ross and Gillian and Lauren and Craig. I have to say that I had an amazing time with really great company and we all seamed to get on well. Thanks to all Y'all!!

We arrived at LaGuardia airport after about 1 1/2 hours of delays in Dallas and NYC, jumped in a cab and arrived at our hotel around 1:15 am. We were both exhausted from working and traveling all day so we decided just to go to bed and save

So as we only had four day in NYC we had a to pack alot of things in. So it pretty much went like this

Day 1 (Ross' actual birthday):
-Times Square


-Ground Zero


-St. Paul's Chapel

-Statue of Liberty

-Drinks at The Shoreham

-Dinner at Riki-Yakiniku Izakaya (really great Japanese BBQ place)
-More drinks at The Shoreham


Day 2:
-Macy's

-Wall Street

-New York Stock Exchange

-The Bull


-China Town

-Drinks and Dinner at Gordon Ramsey's which was amazing but more to come on this and the start of Chef Bellshaw's career!!


Day 3:
-Site where John Lennon was shot

-Strawberry Fields

-Central Park

-Museum of Natural History


-The Guggenheim

-Ice skating in Central Park (trust me it is not like riding a bike! Just think Bambi and you will get the picture!


-M&M world


-Biggest McDonald's in the world


-Dinner at Becco (great little Italian restaurant)

-Drinks at Deacon Brodies (Andy Adair friend runs this bar)


Day 4:
-Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)


-Rockefeller Center


-Top of The Rock




Next time, Chef Bellshaw!!