The ideal restaurant


The ideal restaurant
Like all passionate cooks (I suppose), from time to time I dream of opening my own restaurant.

I imagine loads of things: it will be like this or like that, we'll do this, I'll cook that, the room will have this or that – in short, I dream.
14 K 4.4/5 (18 reviews)
Grade this page:
Last modified on: October 15th 2012
For this post: Comment Follow Send to a friend
The ideal restaurant
But now I have a son who's in the trade (cook-in-exile in Brussels as I write), and another who, even with a Master's in Biology, passed several summers as “chef de commis” in a restaurant on the coast, I've been able to see what a real restaurant kitchen is like and how it functions. This (alas) brought me back down to earth with a bump…

But no matter, I'll carry on as if the two lads I've just mentioned are still little and we're playing games, of the sort that start with “Let's say that…” or “What if…”

So, let's say that:

- It would be a small, even very small restaurant, about twenty covers. One person serving, two at most in the kitchen.

- There will be a bread oven with the door opening in one inside walls of the main room. We'd bake a batch of levain-raised bread for the evening service, which will come out of the oven (the timing is crucial) while customers are arriving. There would be a batch of plain bread rolls and various specials. They'd be served fresh and still hot from the oven, and everyone would be offered one in a paper bag to take away when they pay the bill.

bread



- From time to time, there would be pizza or flammenkueche days, or for any other dish that can be cooked on an open fire, but no fresh bread on those days.

- No menus on paper, just a flat screen (or more than one depending on the room layout) on which photos of the dishes of the day would scroll through. Tablets (iPad style) would be passed around to diners so that they could consult the menu electronically. This would effectively be a mini-website in the language of their choice, diffused by wi-fi through the restaurant. Customers mobile phones and smartphones could log onto it or access the internet while they are waiting for food to be served. Diners could even order themselves, or call the waiter, who would also take the order in electronic form. This would then appear directly on a screen in the kitchen.

- The style of cooking would be simple, not a huge menu, but everything with plenty of flavour, properly cooked, as much fresh local produce as possible, preferably organic. One fixed midday menu, with just 2 choices of main course and dessert. Dishes would always vary according to the season, the market and events.

- Themed meals : Sushi, Spain, Mexico, Slow Food, etc.

- Some "core dishes", easy to prepare in advance and store, would always be available, winter and summer: Pâté de campagne, assiette de cochonnaille (selection of cold pork meats), crème brulée, tiramisu, etc.

- At the end of the meal, a choice of 2 coffees: classic espresso, or a “longer” coffee in a cafetière served at the table with (free, maybe?) top-ups. In both cases, these would be served with a little home-made treat: meringues, financiers, chocolate, etc. which would change every day.

Right, now all I have to do is come up with the name …

Lasts posts
Cherry clafoutis, with or without pits?
Cherry clafoutis, with or without pits?
When it comes to cherry clafoutis recipes, there's often a camp of those who argue that you absolutely have to leave the stones in because it tastes better, and the other camp (myself included) who prefer cherries without stones, which makes a much more pleasant clafoutis to eat. But is it true...
June 29th 20253685
Should potatoes be washed twice?
Should potatoes be washed twice?
Let's say you have to make a recipe that includes potatoes, let's say sliced, you'll most likely proceed as follows: Peel the potatoes, wash them, slice them, wash them again, pat them dry and add them to your recipe. But there's a "but": depending on the recipe, the second washing may be a bad...
May 19th 20252,126 15
Grilled bacon is much better in the oven
Grilled bacon is much better in the oven
Some recipes call for thin slices of bacon to be cooked and added to the recipe, or to prepare one of those delicious breakfasts known as "à l'Anglaise".
April 25th 20251,9585
The thermometer is your friend
The thermometer is your friend
There are many recipes or foods that require a (very) precise cooking temperature: foie gras, sugar for caramel, meats and fish, and not forgetting pastries. For these few examples, getting the cooking temperature wrong can spoil the whole recipe or dish: undercooked, it's no good or misses the...
April 10th 20252,2895
Travel cakes
Travel cakes
You may have come across the term "travel cakes" ("gateaux de voyage" in french) for certain pastries, so let's take a look at what they're all about.
January 27th 20253,761

Other pages you may also like
Candied fruits: don't get ripped off
Candied fruits: don't get ripped off
Do you like candied fruit? You might like to nibble a handful or add it to a recipe, like a classic fruit cake or delicious Italian specialities like panettone or sicilian epiphany pie.
June 21th 201762 K 24.2
In praise of slow cooking
In praise of slow cooking
You will no doubt have noticed that in cookery, it's often the actual cooking process that gets neglected. This is understandable; it comes at the end of the recipe and getting the dish in the oven is something of a relief (ah, that's done!), which frees us to cope with what's left: tidying the...
February 9th 201139 K4.2
How to choose a centrifugal juicer
How to choose a centrifugal juicer
A centrifugal juicer is an appliance designed to extract juice from all kinds of fruit and vegetables. It will produce juice from tomatoes, carrots, apples, pineapple, blackcurrants, etc.
April 1st 201142 K4.4
Should I believe my oven?
Should I believe my oven?
Can you really trust your oven? This is an important question as we are always tempted to take the temperature indicated as gospel truth and, unfortunately, this is rarely very precise. .
July 4th 201130 K4.6
The art of the charlotte
The art of the charlotte
In cooking, a charlotte is a delicious moulded dessert, with biscuits around the outside that have been soaked in a flavoured syrup, filled with a light cream or mousse. The charlotte is left to set in the fridge before being turned out and served in slices. It is very light and a lovely sweet...
February 27th 201341 K4.3
Post a comment or question
Posted by:
I am not a leaving thing

Follow this page
If you are interested in this page, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the page is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
I am not a leaving thing
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.

Back to top of page