by Maria Quezada Bandini, September 3, 2021

I staged in Vistro Prime, a restaurant in Hinsdale owned by Chef Paul Virant. The restaurant is a steakhouse with a lot of traditional dishes on the menu. Regardless of being very classical food being served, it has a very modern twist that makes it more welcoming to the population in the area. With good vibes, nice greenery, beautiful plating, and exotic cocktails, customers range from young millennials looking to have food and a few drinks to older folks looking for classic dishes made with fresh ingredients.

During my shift, I was placed as the garde manger line cook. Therefore, I had to prep and set up my station for service. This included cutting vegetables, making salad dressings, “debearding” mussels, slicing charcuterie, cooking shrimp, making soup, and more. Once the restaurant opened, I was handling about eleven items on the menu. It was a great opportunity to have such a big responsibility and to also not only handle the cold salads (like most garde manger cooks do) but also have some hot apps under my umbrella.

Studying in Kendall was a good resource to understand certain techniques and have capabilities when doing basic tasks. Additionally, it surprised me how valuable is the Kendall name in my resume. So much trust was given to me because it is expected that if you attend Kendall, you have a certain level of knowledge and drive. Even though it was a little nerve-racking, it was very helpful to my performance.