Chef Jennifer Landry of the Loews Hotel Pays the Students at Cafe Reconcile a Visit
On March 18th Café Reconcile welcomed Chef Jennifer Landry, Banquet Chef of the Loews Hotel in New Orleans, who came to speak with our students about her job, what one needs to do to make it in a fast paced kitchen, and challenges she has faced.
Accompanying Chef Jennifer were David Bilbie, General Manager of the Loews Hotel, Ray Bruce, Director of Human Resources for the Loews Hotel, and Chef Orlando Harris who spoke and did a demonstration for the students earlier in the month. Mr. Bilbie spoke with the students about teamwork and how important it is to depend on and support each other in the workplace. Chef Orlando, who came to speak to the newest group of Reconcile students, told his story about how he dropped out of high school and fought addiction. It was through cooking that he was able to get a college degree and eventually become Sous Chef of Café Adelaide at the Loews Hotel.
Chef Jennifer spoke with the students about motivation and finding that drive to reach your highest goals. She spoke about finding her drive to support her two sons and how they motivate her to work hard every day. It is about finding your priorities and taking the steps to remove things from your life that distract you and detract you from reaching your goals. An example she gave that many of our students face is about their hair. Dreadlocks or colorful hair is typically not allowed in the kitchens of restaurants and sometimes you need to make a choice between getting a good job and your hair. Chef Jennifer finished her speech encouraging the students to work hard because their talents will be recognized.
Chef Jennifer made a Crawfish Macque Choux Salad with a dressing that she used many Louisiana ingredients to make, including local Sugar Cane Vinegar. The salad was made up of a combination of micro greens, arugula, corn, and marinated crawfish tails. She garnished the salad with Abita beer battered pickled Okra. She then taught the students about the importance of presentation because food is first devoured by the eyes. She artfully decorated the plate with dressing and made sure the stack of salad was tall to give contrast to the flat plate.
Thank you Chef Jennifer and the crew from the Loews Hotel for your support of Café Reconcile!
