Networking

As I've mentioned, I do love my job.  In addition to cooking, I do all the things a person does in business - meetings, phone calls, emails, marketing, accounting, the list goes on.  Today I had a networking lunch on the calendar.

I belong the The United States Personal Chef Association and also to Women Chefs and Restaurateurs.  Each group is a national organization with local groups and  I am currently a coordinator for the WCR local exchange. 

Today was a social networking lunch for whoever could attend and lunch was at Lumiere, the restaurant at Le Cordon Bleu school in Tucker, Georgia.  Several of our WCR members teach at Le Cordon Bleu and today Chef Jae Gruber made our reservations and joined several of us for a delicious lunch.  Go eat at the restaurant for lunch or dinner, excellent!

I tried to get pictures, had the camera, remembered I had it, got the group together for a shot, the camera said "change the batteries'.  I was ready, I had thrown new batteries in the purse! HA! I changed them, the group smiled, the camera insisted I needed new batteries, I insisted they were new, the camera refused to work, no pictures.  I just put in more new batteries and the camera is fine.  Maybe I'll get pictures tomorrow at class.  Or I could take a picture of my desk, but not of lunch.

The food was excellent.  Several of us had the She-Crab soup and it was delicious.  We also had some try the Butternut Squash soup and apparently it too was excellent. 

I decided on soup and an appetizer and went with Slow Cooked BBQ Pork in Cornmeal Crepes with Apple Slaw.  Excellent!  There are many choices, today there were 3 soups, 4 appetizers, 2 salads, 6 entrees, and 3 desserts.  I was too full for dessert but some at our table tried the Dark Chocolate Tart and the Creme Brulee to rave reviews.  I also sampled one of the salmon entrees, and the roasted chicken looked great. 

The menu is a la carte with soup/salad/appetizers in the $3.95 to $7.95 range and entrees from $9.95 to $12.95, dessert $4.95.  Since the restaurant is a working classroom for the students at school, tips cannot go to the students but are donated to a scholarship fund.  So go, let the students practice on you, leave a generous tip and enjoy a wonderful meal.  You could even have a business meeting there and network like I did, all while helping students learn!

I'm going to relax now, my business networking was fun.  Tomorrow and Sunday I will be teaching cooking classes with 3 to 5 year olds and while that will be fun too, it will be a different fun from today's.