Simulating Real Flavors: Johnson & Wales Students
Apicius has held many end of semester restaurant simulations at the tasting room of the Via Guelfa culinary facilities. In the past season or two they've been moved mostly to Ganzo for various reasons and I had shelved the original ones in the back of mind. At Ganzo every day is both simulation and reality, our students learn and create for the different communities of Florence. Then an invite arrived for a formal dinner event at Via Guelfa organized by the Johnson & Wales summer students. As soon I walked into the doors of Apicius, I could immediately feel the heady buzz that always tinged the air – excited and/or nervous students who were professional chefs, sommeliers, and managers for one night; the oh so Italian “ciao caro/a” flitting back and forth between the invited guests (many of them your friends or colleagues), white coated squadrons of student-chefs moving in unison amongst plates and ingredients beyond the large glass entrances of the kitchens…The JW students pulled off the evening to a clockwork precision, alternating wine and food service with detailed presentations of each plate by its respective student-creator. Led by instructor Rainer Heinerwadel, the students led the diners through a culinary adventure, evocative of their time in Florence and not lacking of tasting metaphors revealing specific experiences of both personal and academic natures. I was particularly touched by an appetizer named after and created for advisor Marianna Sackler who assisted the group, and tickled by the whimsical interpretation of the bistecca alla fiorentina, a dish obviously too large to serve one per person. The miniature version was composed of two extremely tender beef slices held together in bistecca form by the “t-bone” composed of celeriac puree. A varied and well-studied wine selection, a powerhouse of a chocolate mousse dessert, and final speeches and even a few farewell tears shed rounded out the evening, not to mention made me long again for the original simulations.
- Apicius staff member
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