The Butler - To Serve with Pride and Honor

For true professionals within the Hospitality Industry, there is a long tradition of service with honor and pride that those outside of our profession sometimes do not grasp or understand.

A new film, The Butler, captures that conflict as it tells the fictionalized story of Cecil Gaines, an African American, who eyewitnesses the epic events of the 20th century while serving as a White House butler. 

The film is bsed on the true-life story of Eugene Allen, who rose from "pantry man" to the most prestigious White House rank of Maitre d'hotel, to serve eight American Presidents ranging from 1952-1986.

The outstanding script captures the courage and fears of a nation (and the individuals, both famous and little-known) who sought to find (or deny) the meaning of freedom for all.

This is a film, that between heart-breaking poverty and elaborate state dinners, will leave the viewer thinking about the true nature of service, by both the powerful and the humble, to the soul of self and the heart of a nation. 

 Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2013

The Queen's Royal Menu for Barack and Michelle Obama's British State Dinner

The United States President and First Lady, Barack and Michelle Obama, were recently entertained at a rare royal state dinner by England’s Queen Elizabeth II.  At such historic events, no detail is overlooked. 

With 162 plus vip guests looking forward to being seated in the grand banquet hall, each place setting is always measured out with a ruler. (A missed inch here or there can result in a shortage of space at the end of the 168 foot table, meaning an entire lengthy table reset. Ouch!)

Treasured golden candelabras and engraved antique glasses are polished and shined under the direction of the Assistant Yeoman of the Royal Glass and China Pantry. Finally, at exactly 5PM the Queen herself traditionally enters the historic Hall to review the preparation (which is only proper as she is the host of the evening’s festivities).

Accompanied by the Master of the Queen’s Household and his supportive staff, Her Majesty always seems to find a missed detail – a candle slightly askew, a microphone waiting to squeal when turned on.  All are corrected by the palace’s highly trained staff, each with floor-saving dusters worn over their shoes.   

Down in the Great Kitchen, the Royal Chef directs a staff of 23 chefs and nine kitchen porters. Mobile hot food trolleys (carts) are used to transport all the food they have prepared for guests from the lower kitchen to the Great Hall above. Once transported to the upper floor, the prepared courses are laid out and garnished by the supportive chefs, who are waiting in the prep rooms that adjoin the Banquet Hall.  

Each group of nine guests along the formal banquet table is served by an under butler, a wine butler, a footman and a page – not a bad staffing level!

Service begins and pauses, quite literally, with staff signals from a discreetly placed series of red and green lights. Additionally, the floor staff is trained to respond to an array of subtle hand signals that relay each guest’s instant needs.

And the menu served? One truly worthy of such a memorable event!

THE CUISINE

Paupiette de Sole et Cresson Sauce Nantua (Roulade of Sole and Watercress Accented with a Nantua Seafood Sauce)

 Agneau de la Nouvelle Saison de Windsor au Basilic (New Season Lamb Herbed with Windsor Basil)

Courgettes et Radis Sautées (Sauteed Zucchinis and Radishes)

Panaché d'Haricots Verts (Panache Mix of Green Beans)

Pommes Boulangère (Baked Apples)

Salade (Fresh Greens Salad)

Charlotte à la Vanille et Cerises Griottes (Vanilla Charlotte Garnished with Sour Cherries)

Fruits de Dessert (Dessert Fruits)

THE WINES
Ridgeview Cuvée Merret Fitzrovia Rosé 2004
Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos 2004 (Domaine William Fèvre)
Echézeaux Grand Cru 1990 (Domaine de la Romanée-Conti)
Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin, Vintage Rich 2002
Royal Vintage Port 1963!

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2011

Rene Verdon French Chef of the Kennedy White House Era Passes

Once there was a place called Camelot…..

Do you remember the grace and pride we all once felt when Washington sparkled with style?  It was a grand time, full of hope and youth.

This past week Chef Rene Verdon, who with the admired Jacqueline Kennedy crafted that re-birth of elegance, passed away at 86 in his San Francisco home.  Prior to his (and Jackie’s) arrival in White House kitchen, a vague array of chefs and caterers had created years of less than impressive presidential cuisine.  

But when the elegant Jacqueline Kennedy swept into the White House, all that changed. Beginning in 1961 (was it really that long along?), Chef Verdon instituted classic French discipline and techniques into the kitchen. And the results showed.  

State dinners were no longer dull gray diplomatic gatherings but became glittering social events with fine wines matched to gourmet selections.  Indeed in the years prior to the Kennedy era, White House dinners were so bad that foreign diplomats traditionally ate before coming to presidential dinners. 

And though some Americans were concerned about the “foreign influence”, Chef Verdon proudly stated that he was merely continuing the tradition of enjoying the best just as President Jefferson had done 200 plus years before.

Chef Verdon’s influence spread far and wide, creating a wave of interest and appreciation for the amazing but nearly forgotten world of French cuisine in America.  His success at the White House made it easier for diners to ‘think French’ when they made a reservation.  

Americans even began to visit France more frequently to see first hand the wonders of French cuisine.  And, of course, there was Julia Child making it all seem so easy and so much fun.

Sadly, for many of us, the ease and wonder of those days ended with the crack of a rifle bullet shattering the nation’s heart one dark day in Dallas. 

Jackie, dressed in a widow’s black dress, left the White House, but Chef Verdon stayed to help the nation continue.  But one president is not like another one.

 Chef Vernon found he could not accept the more casual culinary standards of the Johnsons and so he left, preferring the supportive atmosphere of San Francisco where he mentored generation after generation of American chefs in all things French.

And now he, too, has left us.  One can only imagine that Jackie and Jack will greet him on arrival in heaven with a deep smile and warm hug and tell him, “Well done, good friend – great chef.”

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2011