Two out of Three Stars

So for this week I was in a elective class called Cuisine and Tradition. The first two classes were based around opening a restaurant in France, what types of cuisines work, which don't and finally what kind of education is needed to open a restaurant and make it successful (hint: none!). The third day was canceled due to the person being sick. Day four was presented by an old Michelin worker who helped write all the Michelin guides for several different countries, that included giving starts out to restaurants and finding new restaurants in many cities all over the world. It was very interesting to talk to him for a while, but after two hours he got a little repetitive. Finally today was the best day of the week. We got invited to go to the fanciest and best rated restaurant in Clermont-Ferrand: Emmanuel Hodanq, don't worry I don't know how to pronounce it either. But it's on the second floor, above a permanent farmers market. We got to visit there all morning while the chef was there preparing for the lunch crowd. First we talked to the owner and manager about the restaurant, what it takes for upkeep, why she went into the restaurant business. Then she pulled the head chef out of the kitchen for us to talk to. It was a really good experience, and one of my favorite quotes from him roughly translates to: If the beginning isn't good, you can't make it better by covering it up, it's the same in food as it is in life.
After several minutes of asking him questions he invited the class back into the kitchen to see the professional kitchen. And boy did it smell good! They were pan frying guinea hen and wow it made the entire place smell amazing. The chef talked to us a little about kitchen set up and how to be efficient in professional kitchens versus private kitchens, and that was very interesting to hear from a French point of view.
After talking with the chef for some time, we went back out into the main restaurant where the French students asked about internships etc. and the piece of information that I found most interesting is that they serve a menu for very cheap during lunch time. This way people can eat well, eat good produce, but at a lower cost. I thought that idea was amazing. Now if only I could find someone to go with, because without someone there it's just food - it takes conversation to turn it into a meal.
Peace, Love and Delicious Food