A Belated 30: The Spring Forward Edition

Oh dear! Here we are approaching the Ides of March and I totally neglected to do the latest edition of 30 Things. I don't know where my head is at. Better late than never? Here goes. Following are the things that I have learned, experienced, discovered I like, made plans to do, and in some cases slept through or avoided in our most recent 30 days as New Yorkers.

1. The winter blahs should be listed in the DSM-IV. Not to be confused with the winter blues, known clinically as Seasonal Affect Disorder or SAD. The winter blahs are a mood disorder that presents in the form of grumpiness, irritation, and sudden fits of snippyness.

2. Sunshine is an instant cure for the winter blahs. It helped soften the hard edge I've had lately about this city.

3. I love New York when the weather is great. I would even broaden that statement to include good, decent, not half bad, it's not even that cold, it could be worse, and at least it's not bitter/windy/raining/snowing.

4. When the weather warms up, the city has a life to it that is missing in the winter months. Happy people sit outside and sip their coffee and watch the other happy people strolling along. Even though we only had a short spell of warm, sunny days, it was a glorious preview to the coming months and a nice reminder that the dark times are almost over.

5. Mike and I have been trying to get out more on the weeknights instead of holing up in our apartment and watching TV, which has become our usual routine this winter. Let me tell you, we were not doing ourselves any favors. Who knew that being a lazy shut-in wouldn't make me feel like my best self? (As I write this, I am being buzzed by the delivery guy with my Chinese takeout since I didn't feel like leaving my apartment...hey, I never said I was perfect.) Here's where I've been lately:

6. Bourgeois Pig for fantastic fondue and French wine. Dark, cozy, candlelit and very Parisian.

7. Perilla for killer duck meatballs, the perfect Manhattan, and great service. The space is clean, but not stark or simple, and invitingly warm.

8. Death & Co. for a mixology lesson with A La Grecque. Rockstar bartenders Alex Day and Thomas Waugh gave a great class on cocktails that was made of equal parts history, technique, and tasting. Stirred, not shaken. I'll definitely be back.

9. Gottino for an intriguing selection of Italian wines and bowls of walnuts you can crack yourself at the bar.

10. Casellula for peppadew peppers stuffed with mozzarella and wrapped in speck, a fantastic cheese selection, and a well-edited wine list.

11. I just wrapped up my latest rotation in the L'Ecole kitchen: Canape (Can-Uh-Pay). We prepare the amuse bouche (uh-moos-boosh), the welcoming bite given to each patron compliments of the chef. I have a love hate relationship with the canape station. On one hand, it's not stressful, there is plenty of time to chat with my teammates, load up a plate from family meal, and watch the rest of the kitchen buzz with orders. On the other hand, it's boring and there is too much time to eat. (Loosens belt a notch).

12. Our first canape was a tuna crudo: raw tuna loin chopped in a small dice, tossed with lemon juice & zest, olive oil, finely chopped arugula, parsley, chive, capers and grated parmesan. Delish.

12. Canape number 2 was supposed to have been pate a choux filled with a foie gras mousse (pate a choux is the dough that makes the shells of cream puffs and eclairs), but the order for foie gras somehow got lost, so we ended up making agnolotti (a tiny half moon ravioli). We made the pasta dough, filled it with ricotta that had been seasoned with lemon and basil, served it over a classic Sauce Tomate (a cooked tomato puree with smoky bacon) and a roasted cippolini onion puree and then topped it with a dot of bright green olive oil, shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano and basil chiffonade (chiffonade is when you take the leaves of any green or herb stack them, roll them up like a cigar and then finely slice them into strips). All of our canapes are served in a white porcelain spoon meant to be taken in one bite.

13. Our third night on canape, I ended up filling in on Saucier (Saucy-Yay)since that team was short a couple people and they get a lot busier than Canape. But my team did delicious things to oysters. Coated in cornmeal, then deep fried and served with something pickled and some kind of tartar like dressing...I can't remember, but it was a yummy little bite.

14. Our final night on Canape was our triumph. It's not like it's difficult to make pork belly taste delicious, but this was just sooooo good. If you've never had pork belly, you should stop wasting any more precious moments not knowing this delicious pig part. As the name implies, it comes from the belly of an oinker and it's what bacon is typically made from. We coated ours in all sorts of spices and slow roasted it in a tangy barbecue sauce glaze. We cut the belly into bite size cubes (picture the layers of meat and fat like you would see in bacon), served it over a bed of brunoise (broon-wah, which means a very fine dice) purple cabbage, carrot, asian pear, red onion, and red bell pepper, with a sweet cole-slaw like dressing, topped the belly bite with a dot of barbecue sauce and a tiny pommes gaufrette (a waffle cut potato chip) and a single sprig of arugula microgreens. All the little elements were time consuming but the end result was hog magic.

15. I start on Poissonier (Pwah-Sun-Yay) tomorrow night and Chef Jason will be out so we have a substitute chef filling in: Chef Marc Pavlovic who was just featured on the Food Network's Chopped. Spoiler: He wins. If I've learned one thing, every chef has a different style and technique and I have something to learn from each of them, so it should be fun to get his perspective.

16. Knowing I only have 12 more classes between me and the end of my time at FCI is enough to make me misty, but I'm getting more and more excited about my post school plans. I am going to miss seeing my classmates three nights a week (most of them, anyway) and learning from our fabulous chef instructors, but I suppose all good things must come to an end. I'd like to find whoever coined that expression and throttle them. I mean, really must all good things come to an end? The more I think about it, the less I want to get out of bed in the morning. If good things don't last, what's the point?! (Angry and confused, deep breath).

17. I do have some exciting things in store for me that take the sting out of finishing this chapter of my life. A la Grecque and I are competing in The Brooklyn Brunch Experiment, in which we will prepare 300 brunch themed bites for guests who will vote and a panel of judges that includes the restaurant editor for Bon Appetit magazine. It should be a lot of fun and who knows, maybe we come home with a prize?

18. We are calling our team Wanna Spoon?, look for a new culinary adventure blog from us to be unveiled very soon.

19. I'm interning with a really fun wine website called Wine Flirt, which takes a fun, fresh approach to understanding and enjoying wine. I'll be working with wine retailers and wine bars to set up Wine Flirt tastings and events.

20. I'm starting to test my hand at the private chef/catering thing with a few wedding gigs this summer for good friends. Very excited about the possibility of doing more things like this!

21. I'll be volunteering next weekend at Cochon 555, a competition featuring 5 rockstar chefs, 5 heritage breeds of pork and 5 local, family owned wineries. It's a pricey event so volunteering is a great way to experience it without the wallet hit, and network at the same time. A la Grecque, Farmer Chef and one of my favorite instructors from school, Chef Janet, will also be there.

22. I'm looking at the next year in New York as a time to further my education, hone my skills, and narrow the focus of my career path. I've got a list of things I want to do and at the top of that list is wine.

23. I'm strongly considering furthering my wine education through the Wine & Spirit Education Trust at the International Wine Center here in New York. Now if I could just figure out how to turn water into money to turn that into a wine diploma...

24. I want to work in a wine shop. It may sound like a silly, unimportant job, but it's a great place to learn and potentially a place to work my way into wine education and events.

25. I want to learn a lot more about cheese.

26. I want to learn how to make bread and really good pizza...this may have to wait a while, at least until I figure out the formula for turning water into cash.

27. I want a bigger apartment, a bigger bank account, a book deal, and free clothes for life from Anthropolgie. Oh wait, that's from my wildest dreams list, not my plans for the next year list.

28. On a more serious note, a tragic accident this week reminded me how important it is to make the most of the time we have here because you just never know when it's up. For me, that means not being afraid to pursue my dreams even if I am scared sometimes. It means taking care of the people that are important to me. It means taking care of myself. It means leaving a positive mark on the world when I do go.

29. The weeks events also been a reminder that life is fragile, we're not invincible, and a split second decision can have very real, lasting implications that aren't easy to make sense of. The only way I know how to make senseless loss have meaning is to honor the lost by appreciating the life I have.

30. In times like these, the only things that matter are family and friends. There is so much to be said for having people in your life that you know you can lean on. I am so lucky to have friends like this and their support, love and kindness is appreciated and inspires me to be that person to more people. So in that spirit, carpe diem friends!