 Magnus
Opus – Building a Team with the Executive Chef's
Vision
A closer look
at Chef Don Letendre’s team building at the Opus Hotel in Yaletown.
Diners can be
excused for thinking that an executive chef looks
for the best and the brightest for his or her dinner
brigade – the night shift. Don Letendre recently
explained to me the oft-neglected hidden value in
ensuring the operation has an equally strong morning
shift. It is in the early morning that deliveries
are made and quality is assured. The choicest selection
of this or that box of lettuce or delivery of seafood
can impact the diner’s experience for the entire
day and more.
Fraser Valley
Duck Breast
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The frost is still on the alley at the back door of
the restaurant and the early morning sun lifts a drift
of mist from the pavement as the delivery van pulls
up. Boxes of produce are handed off to the early shift
in the kitchen and the day begins for the chefs and
cooks who have arrived in the early morning hours to
set the stage for the daily creations. Meats, seafood,
greens and all the other supplies arrive before dawn
and all must meet the standard set by the Executive
Chef. Checklists and signatures later, the commitment
to food quality of this early shift is as important
to the restaurant as the evening team’s in its
preparation for all the meals to be served that day.
Such a strong team is essential in Don Letendre’s
kitchen at the Opus Hotel in Yaletown, the latest kid
on the block. From morning to late at night, teamwork
makes it all happen. With a number of outlets in the
hotel which must carry out Letendre’s culinary
vision, his challenge was to find the team to carry
it off.
He has found what he’s looking for in the brigade
at the Opus Hotel. From room service to breakfast, lunch
and dinner in Elixir, to drinks in the lounge til 2am,
serving the only the best will do. Chef du Cuisine Frederic
Desbiens, Sous Chefs Tim Budd and Lee Humphries and
Lysann Sweeney as Pastry Chef adding her sweet credentials
to the team, all show the leadership Letendre is looking
for. Experience has taught them all to work as a team,
to give direction and to pass along their skills to
the rest of the brigade.
So, next time you’re in for dinner in one of our
city’s fine restaurants, raise a glass to the entire
team and don’t forget the early shift. There’re
the ones who did the checking and the prep. The pm shift,
the familiar faces you see in the open kitchen, are
assembling and cooking the ingredients OK’d and
prepped by the early bird pros who have now finished
their shift knowing that their efforts have contributed
to the realization of the Executive Chef’s vision.
All the work from dawn to past midnight makes it deliciously
worthwhile.
| Tartine
du jour
An open-face sandwich served in Elixir
Walnut enchoyade with
watercress and endive salad
Yield: 1 tartine
|
| 1 slice |
french country style bread |
Toast or grill bread,
then
rub garlic and tomato. |
| 1/2 clove |
garlic |
| 1/2 |
tomato |
| |
| 1 tea sp. |
Anchovy paste |
In a small bowl mix all
pastes, add olive oil and
chopped walnuts. |
| 2 table sp. |
Nicoise olive paste |
| 3 table sp. |
Toasted walnuts, finely chopped |
| 2 table sp. |
Olive oil (extra virgin) |
|
| 3 thin slice |
Prosciutto |
Spread this walnut
enchoyade on the crostini,
then lay Prosciutto on top.
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
| 1/2 head |
endive (julienne "thin slice") |
|
| 1/2 bunch |
watercress (washed and trimmed) |
|
| 1 table sp. |
Sliced shallot |
|
| 2 table sp. |
Olive oil |
In a bowl mix gently
all
ingredient of the salad.
Top tartine with salad. |
| 1 table sp. |
Lemon juice |
| To taste |
salt and pepper |
|
| 40 gr |
Saint-Maure Goats Cheese (small log
shape) |
| |
|
Cut 3/4 " disk of goat’s
cheese, place onto
parchment paper and then
onto small heating pan.
Place into oven at 350&Mac251;
until the cheese just
begins to melt. Then place
cheese onto tartine. |
Bon Appetit!
Chef Don Letendre |
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