Chef Kat

Hi everyone,

I was a Chef for a Day. In June I won a gift certificate to the Siena Hotel and Il Palio Restaurant where I became a Chef for a Day. I even got my own chef's jacket with Chef Kat embroidered on it. The day started at 11 am when I met with the Head Chef. We came up with two menus. There was 4 of us so we did two mneus so we could share. Then we went to the kitchen. He gave me a tour and explained some things to me. After that I met with the Pastry Chef. We came up with my desert. We decided on chocolate souffles with chocolate cherry ice cream. Let me tell you, they were wonderful. The cherries we used were the best cherries I have ever eaten. After Chef and I made mussels which we were having as an appetizer. They were wonderful as well. Then I worked with the sous chef. We made pasta from scratch, risotto and the muse. Muse is an appetizer the restaurant makes to give to all of the tables beofre they have dinner. The muse had mayo in it and I actually liked it! The chefs were happy. The challenge for a chef is to take something someone does not like and then have them eat it. After all of the cookng, I met with the sommelier and tasted all of the wines we would have with dinner. He picked some very good wines. He also picked some beers for my husband who is not that keen on wine.

Dinner was wonderful. The staff of Il Palio treated us great. We had so fun and the dinner was delicious. The best part was we had a free room, so we didn't have to drive home after all that wine. I can't believe I won this prize. It was definitely a wonderful experience and I did learn some things about cooking.