ex-SUZE-me?

This week my internship rotation was at a DELICIOUS fine dining restaurant in Dallas: Suze Restaurant. I didn't take any pictures of the actual restaurant, but here is the link in case you want to see some: http://www.suzerestaurant.net/index.html 
This week was THE BEST week so far in the internship; it was like a week off. The restaurant isn't open Mondays, so the days I worked were Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday. My director, Kristi, told me I'd probably have to show up at 2:00 PM on Tuesday, but when I called my preceptor there, he told me to show up at 3:30, and then 4:30 on Wednesday. I got a lot done in the mornings (cleaning, dry cleaning, yoga, running, changed my name, got a new drivers license, etc.), except for maybe the most important thing I could have done: find someone to fix our broken washing machine. Oh well. That will happen this week. Anyway, I had a bunch of fun at Suze on Tuesday and Wednesday hanging out with really laid back people (NONE of them were dietitians, of course) and trying a lot of really interesting and fancy foods. 
Here are a couple of pictures of some the food from Suze:

This is a tenderloin steak on top of pureed red potatoes and topped with a foie gras sauce, a basil sauce, and tempura onions. Yum. That's Jeffery in the red hat. 

This a delicious, cobbler-like dessert. Gooseberry, pear, and huckleberry slump, with a goat cheese biscuit and truffle-vanilla ice cream. Yum, yum. I got to make the biscuits and the slump.

On Thursday, Jeffery (one of the owners of Suze) got us (Jesse and I) into this event at Fair Park for free where a bunch of restaurants were there giving out free samples. Free dinner!! Shazam.

On Friday I went to a private event that Suze was catering for, and I got to meet some people that traveled to Africa on Mercy Ships doing surgeries and things. They had a presentation and I got to see some of it and I loved it. Right up my alley. Then on Saturday I went to another private event at the Dallas Zoo. Again, a bunch of restaurants (nicer ones) were there giving out samples. Suze was giving out a roasted tomato and curry soup, with bread and a four cheese truffle sauce. I got to help hand out the samples with Amber, another intern, Gilbert Garza (owner of Suze), and another cook there. 

Here we all are. From left to right: Brady, me, Gilbert, and Amber

All of these fancy people were there and they all were dressed in animal prints or as if they were on a safari. They were bidding thousands of dollars on these "paintings" by animals at the zoo (scribbles) or the right to name an animal. They also bid on brunches and dinners provided by the chefs from the restaurants that were there. One of the dinners that Gilbert donated went for $11,000. For an 8-person dinner, that would be like an 11,458% markup on the cost of food. Yikes. All of the money was donated to the zoo because it's privately owned. Maybe one day I'll have enough money to be invited to a private event at a private zoo, and I can wear an exotic animal to a zoo with exotic animals, and where I can bid on "art" created by the animals, and eat free food made from the exotic animals (or their relatives). Hopefully not, actually :)


Also, Jeffery was nice enough to share a few recipes from Suze with me. Here is their Gourmet Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe:


6 oz. unsalted butter (1 and 1/2 sticks)
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup sugar
1 whole egg
1 egg yolk
2 t vanilla
2 cups + 2 T all-purpose flour
1/2 t salt
1/2 t baking soda
2 cups chocolate chips, or anything your heart desires


Directions: Cream the butter and sugars. Whisk in egg, yolk, and vanilla. Add mixed dry ingredients and stir until just combined (thought that only mattered in quick breads?) Stir in the chips. Take scant 1/4 cup of dough and form a rough ball. Pull the ball apart and turn the torn sides up. Gently push the two pieces back together so the cookie ends up with a jagged top. (I didn't try this, but I might next time). 
Bake 13 minutes (or longer, until edges are golden brown) at 325 degrees.


I made these and we took them to dinner at the Garza's (not the restaurant owner, some med school friends). Everyone said they liked them, but maybe they were just being nice. Honestly, I think my mom's Cowboy Cookie recipe trumps, but I like to shake things up every once in a while. "Variety is the spice of life" --Dove chocolate wrapper. hahahaha.