I’ve resigned at “Au Petit Marguery”….what next ?
Last Thursday, at the end of my evening service, I left my position of demi-chef de partie at “Au Petit Marguery”. I was finally enjoyng my job, I was a lot more confident and was, overall, a hell of a lot better than when I started. So why stop then ? Well, I guess not […]
a more positive note to start my week at “Au Petit Marguery”
I finished last week (Thursday evening) on a bit of a downer with a poor service. 2 days break, a sunny trip to Lille (to look after my wife’s mum who has broken her ankle) and a calm Sunday service have all lead to me feeling much more positive about myself in the kitchen and […]
How to avoid the stock market crash….become a chef on split shifts !
In the last month banks and stock markets around the world have been collapsing….along with our own savings at the bank ;-( ! Turn on the telly or go to any newspaper web site and it’s pretty much the headline every day. However, these last few months I have managed to find the perfect way […]
Conversion from Consultant to Chef : phase 2
It’s almost 1 year to the day since this incredible, crazy, passionate and sometimes stressfull conversion process began. The first step was my “Initiation” – 1 CAP Cuisine (infact my actual diploma only arrived this morning !), 6 restaurants / caterers, umpteen cookery / chef books (of which my latest is a true gem – […]
Next steps for Chefsdiary….
Yesterday I had a much needed discussion with my wife (whilst the kids were jumping around in a softplay castle with hundreds of other little Geordies) about the next step after the end of my time here in Newcastle. There’s a bit more than 1 and a half months to go here in Newcastle before […]
Le Pont du 8 mai – la pause “famille”…..1ère partie
Toute la France (ok, pas tout le monde, mais c’est quand même pas loin….les restaurateurs exceptés, bien sûr) s’arrête entre jeudi 8 et lundi 12 mai, et donc, nous aussi. Alors, qu’est-ce que l’on a fait ? Jeudi 8 mai visite au marché “Pari Fermier” à Rambouillet pour voir si ce rassemblement de plusieurs producteurs […]
Birthdays…..
So there we have it for another year, the end of the 22 days of birthdays in our house (me the 20th April, Noé 28th April and today my wife)…..and quite frankly, we kept the best for last !! Yesterday at 18hrs I was a worried man – just coming to the end of Noé’s […]
Happy Birthday Noé !!!
28th April 2008…my son’s 5th birthday, and of course, an opportunity to do some more cooking, though this time more like good ole’ home baking. So, the birthday cake this year was a chocolate version of the classic “fraisier”. All the usual stuff – sponge cake (square), crème patissière with butter added, butter softened (en […]
One step for Chefsdiary, a giant step for the Family Quirke….
Yep, I’m nearly there….the end of my CAP Cuisine will be upon me in 3 weeks exactly !! That’ll be the end of the first step towards my own restaurant. Well the first bit of news is that I’m not stopping there. The overriding aim of me spending 8 months doing this CAP was to […]
En coupure et, “Oui Chef”, enfin je trouve ma place….
OK, la fin de ma 3ème semaine de cette 3ème période à la Fontaine s’approche vite, et notamment, la fin d’une semaine de 2 coupures (qui n’est tjrs rien par rapport aux autres dans l’équipe qui font au moins 4 coupures sur 5 jours de travail !). Je ne voulais pas écrire une tome sur […]