Looking back over the years, I would have to say my favorite serving job was at a little French restaurant in Springfield, MO called Le Mirabelle. Christian Finance was a classically trained French Chef and his wife Bobbi ran the front of the house. The food was incredible and it was arguably the best restaurant in Springfield, MO. It also was Brad Pitt’s favorite restaurant in his hometown. I attribute so much of the respect I have for this business to them and their headwaiter, Jim. It represented so much of what was right about this business in my mind. To this day when I take a shortcut I sometimes get a chill expecting to see Christian or Jim with their arms crossed giving me a disapproving stare from across the room.
One day Chef asked me in his French accent (which after two decades of living here I always suspected was artificially strong) a simple question. He asked if I knew why the French smothered their food in sauce. I admitted to both my lack of knowledge and curiosity. He explained France has a long history of being a battlefield. During wars high quality meat is hard to find. This led the French to come up with thick powerful sauces to cover up the flavor of the low quality meat.
Read the full post at Foodie Knowledge
Understanding French Sauces (Part Two) « Tips on improving your Tips
Jun 23, 2010 @ 11:14:46
Jun 23, 2010 @ 14:00:18
Ah the memorys… Yah has anyone heard from Christian?
Jun 23, 2010 @ 14:13:12
I am sure somewhere he is still making his apprentices make whipped cream with a whisk.
Jun 23, 2010 @ 22:36:06
I’m from Springfield originally and I loved Mirabelles! I loved their food and a friend of mine worked there as well. Anyways, it was nice to see that you mentioned it – I miss it when I go back.
(pssst! I also write for frothygirlz.com with my friend CJ who linked to your site recently – loved your video!)
Jun 23, 2010 @ 23:31:20
I was there from ’97-’99. I have friends who worked there til the end. The twins and Jim were there forever. The other two server spots rotated. Five person server staff. Not sure there are too many spots like that left.
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Jul 29, 2010 @ 13:04:25
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Sep 02, 2010 @ 12:14:06