College of the
Ph. 758-7240
I am going to let you in on the best-kept secret in
Most colleges and universities that offer culinary training
operate restaurants and cafeterias that provide food prepared by students in
their various cooking programs. Think about it, you have to cook to learn the
trade and somebody has to eat what you make, so operating a restaurant or two
on campus makes perfect sense. The Culinary Institute of America has American
Bounty and 4 other acclaimed restaurants at its Hyde Park, New York campus and
I have had the pleasure of dining on some exquisite food at the award-winning
Chef’s Palate, run by the culinary arts school at the Art Institute of Fort
Lauderdale.
Recently I had a luncheon meeting at The Bistro with two of
the College of the North Atlantic’s administrators and cooking instructor Gerry
Crewe. After entering the college’s main doors I kept right of the central
elevator and followed the corridor facing me past the gymnasium until I got to
its end. On my left I found the main cafeteria and on my right a quiet room
with dim lighting called The Bistro.
It was a room of moderate size with walls of green, sparsely
decorated with pictures of chefs.
I saw about 7 or 8 large round tables, some with green and
some with white tablecloths, set with white plates, stainless cutlery and white
linen napkins. At one end, by the windows, was set out various buffet tables
and a hot line manned by cooking students.
On offer that day was a menu consisting of smoked salmon
appetizers, Philippine hamburger soup, corn and crab chowder, Chinese style
vegetable and noodle soup, tomato aspic, potato salad with red cabbage, crusted
rack of lamb with jus, baked Virginia ham, pan sautéed cod with shrimp and
mussels, potato gratin, snow peas O’Brien, carrots Vicky, tagliatelle with
smoked salmon and assorted desserts.
I started
with a yummy wedge of icy cold tomato aspic. It was very, very refreshing.
Essentially it's tomato juice, gelatin, a few tiny pieces of freshly chopped
vegetables like celery and seasonings. It is denser than a jelly, not
translucent. The flavour of tomato and celery was intense. Gerry Crewe, told me
there was a time when this starter was de rigueur in hotel dining rooms but
"these days there's not much call for it." Pity, beats a glass of
tomato juice any day.
There were
a couple of soups on the menu, a corn and rock crab chowder and a tomato based
ground beef soup. I tried the chowder. It was delicious, velvety, not cloying
or stodgy. In addition to several pieces of crabmeat my bowl contained some
diced fresh potato with the skin intact, as well as bright yellow corn kernels.
The seasonings were mild, not too much salt. I was impressed because the
flavour of the main ingredients really came through.
A perfectly
groomed, Ron Pumphrey, in autumn coloured casuals, was there with wife Marilyn,
who flashed one of the warmest smiles I’d ever seen. Ron told me he enjoys the
bistro's food and sometimes makes a meal out of the various appetizers. He was
in amazing shape at 75 and looked the same to me as he did when he was hosting
Phone Forum on VOCM in the early seventies.
My fish
dish consisted of pan-sautéed cod fillet topped with a sautéed shrimp and
mussel. Creamy Newburg sauce was also provided. The cod was moist, flavourful
and quite flaky. My vegetable choices began with sautéed carrots Vicky - why
Vicky I cannot say - tasting buttery and sweet. They had eye-catching colour as
well. Snow peas O'Brien was a winning vegetable dish. Snow peas were mixed with
tiny cubes of sweet red and yellow peppers. There were fabulous flavours in the
dish, sweet, slightly tart sunshine flavours of the peppers and the earthy,
slightly biting taste of the snow peas.
A potato
gratin was also tasty. The potatoes were cut in thick julienne strips, almost
qualifying as a "French fry" cut. It tasted to me of stock - possibly
chicken stock - and strongly of cheese, aged cheddar perhaps. I loved the
potatoes. They were cooked until tender but still held their shape.
For the
meat lover, the Bistro had prepared lamb chops. A hotel pan was filled to the
brim with dozens of the delicious little things. They were tender and tasted
like high quality New Zealand lamb chops.
The Bistro
provided previously frozen desserts, not ones baked by the students. However,
using their newly acquired decorating skills, the students did enliven them and
the plates they came on with some fancy squiggles and squirts of chocolate and
cream sauces. Coffee and tea was served by a staff server and like the food,
the coffee was excellent. There was no wine or alcohol available but for the
price of $10.00, it was still the best low cost fine dining meal I've ever had.
Bravo students!
The Bistro
serves lunch sharp at noon on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Reservations
are required and you can make them by calling Gerry Crewe at 758-7240. Enjoy!