Culinary Arts brings the best of French

The fourth series of Culinary Arts' themed restaurant this semester featured "French bistro."

The first course was trio of amuse bouche, bite-size hor d'oeuvre. Diced tomato and olive tapenade in wonton cup with basil and olive oil, puff pastry filled with duck confit and
Profiteroles, or cream puff, stuffed with fois gras mousse and a slice of fig. Each piece created a distinctive aftertaste - refreshing tomato and olive, sweet and salty duck confit and rich flavor of foir gras.

The second course, shrimp and crab bisque was filled with pure essence of shrimp and crab. It begins with incredibly rich flavor of cream and ends with a spicy kick of cayenne pepper.

Following that came roasted quail stuffed with wild mushroom pilaf and sun-dried tomato. Young quail was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Pilaf soaked up the juices from the game which provided great flavor.

The main course was sirloin beef Wellington with oven roasted ratatouille. In spite of inconsistent doneness, size and shape of the meat, the ratatouille was loaded with flavors of succulent Mediterranean vegetables.

The dessert course featured "Trio of desserts." Fresh apple tart, caramel raspberry mousse and chocolate macaroon cookie were delightful parade of colors, flavors and textures.

Students explore various regional cuisines in the world and learn cooking and food preparation techniques as well as restaurant management. If you haven't taken advantage of the five course series yet, it is highly recommended that you try and see what the students are learning. Both of the weekly menu and the themed restaurant series are open to the public.