Friday, February 26, 2010

SECURITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To the Anonymous Blogger that left the "Not So Kind Comment" on my blog
after I went to see Ragtime in NYC over the holidays.....
You might want to see what I've been up to these days....
If you thought what I did in NY was bad wait until you
hear about the day I had today....
Flour Power Joyce.....My partner in crime....suggested we go to lunch
at the
Culinary School at the Art Institute of Atlanta....
Calling for backup in the form of the SantaMaker Rose....just incase we
needed to be baled out of jail....
We arranged to meet at noon....
I got there first.......which is a first for me.....and while waiting for the ladies
to arrive I found my way up to the 5th floor and wandered the hallways taking pictures
There were alot of these glass showcases with all sorts of awards inside.....

Some beautiful cakes on display....
Lots of classrooms....
And a cute little cafeteria where the future chefs were taking their
afternoon break....

I decided to find my way into the restaurant and I found a seat near the large floor to
ceiling windows....in between watching out for the girls to arrive...
I took some photos.....
I introduced myself as being a blogger....
And I chit chatted with one of the students....
Before leaving the house this morning I was thinking about calling and asking
if we could have a little tour of the culinary school
so we could do a post about it....
Who knew this would be frowned upon....

I took a few pictures....
Why there were crayons on the table I have no idea as the restaurant is only
open on Thursdays and Fridays....
Not someplace that children would really be coming to....
Someone must have thought it would be a cute idea...

I had gone on the Internet last night to check out the menu so
I knew ahead of time that I would be ordering the
Maple roasted half a chicken with mashed potatoes and
French green beans.....
A very nice menu..
They offered soups and salads....sandwiches and a specialty burger...
plus a few entrees...
and ofcourse dessert!


Rose arrived next...then in came my answer to Betty Crocker....
Miss Joyce....with the most fabulous new haircut....
At this point I get up to take a picture of the kitchen
that was behind this huge glass wall....
I Go back to the table....
We then see the instructor slash Dining Room Manager come out....
And the "beef stew" Hit The Fan.....
First she wanted to know who I was and when I said I was just a blogger....
she said..."No...what's your name"....and she said this in not a
"Hey maybe we can become friends since we both like food.".....kind of way....
I said "Sue".......Never give out your last name people.....
At this point I figured that they had my license plate number off the Bug and was
running a check with the DMV.....
I got a lecture about taking pictures and how you can't take pictures without asking
the person's permission.....
Which is understandable but to tell you the truth I was taking a picture of the kitchen
and didn't even think about the people that had their backs to the camera.....
I mean I love cooking and I love food and who wouldn't want to go to
cooking school and we were all excited about being there and this
Chick just took out all the fun.......

What is getting into the world these days that everyone is afraid that your
doing something with bad intentions....
I guess it has to do with that whole ACORN video taping thing.....
But Whatever.....

But then she said it would be fine if we took her photo.....



So we ordered our food each getting something different....
And it went downhill from there....

Now me and daughter have eaten at the Culinary Institute of America
and believe me this is no CIA......
I mean not even close....
I ordered the chicken....or was that little half bird on my plate a capon?
I have to say the French green beans were good....
There was no taste of maple on the chicken or in the sauce....
No color on the chicken...in person it was very bland looking...
The "mashed" potatoes were actually "smashed potatoes"....
I was corrected when I told the instructor how lumpy they were...
She said they were smashed not mashed and they were suppose to have lumps....
Okay....
I guess that's a great way to cover your butt if they aren't cooked properly....
It gives you a bit of leeway....

And Rose had the burger with Brie and a side of roasted vegetables....
Now this is a bad picture and you really can't see the veggies
But believe me you couldn't tell what they were......
Totally unrecognizable....
They were brown little blobs of stuff....overcooked to high heaven....
Rose did say the burger was good....
God Love you Rose....

Then there was Joyce's "Beef Stew"....
You know the stuff that hit the fan....
All I can say is that after one bite Joyce actually barked like a dog.....She really did.

Again a bad picture but can you see the burnt carrot in the foreground.....
and those are fingerling potatoes...And let's not even
discuss the meat.....and I use the term loosely.....
Needless to say we convinced Joyce to return the "food" to the kitchen and they
brought her out a cup of soup.....

On to Dessert!!

Rose was having a banner day.....
She ordered the peanut butter cookie ice cream sandwich....
Billed as coming with Rum Raisin Ice Cream....
we all tasted it and I swear it had so much ice in it that is was more like
Ice Milk....not ice cream.....

I had the apple streusel with a little dollop of ice cream....
Not bad....but nothing special...
A Home Ec class in high school on day one could make this....
Heck....Miss B could make this...

Joyce hit a home run with this baby.....
She swore the top was not burnt but you couldn't convince me.....
She did say the sauce was good....
Well...that's a relief....
Did someone trip carrying this from the kitchen?

We all taste tested and the inside was gooey for sure....

At this point we still hadn't been asked to leave the premises....

So we wandered the halls.....
And I wandered into one of the kitchens....
Hey I couldn't help myself....I love anything stainless...I'm drawn to it like most women
are drawn to diamonds....

Some women like minks and Mercedes....
Give me a big ass Hobart Mixer any day...

We continued to wander around and Joyce made sure to ask the guys in this area if
she could take their picture....
So they can't say that we didn't follow orders.....

I asked also and got this cute shot of this guy....
He actually stopped and posed....picking up the bowl and a ladle to look
totally official....
Then we came to the storage room and I saw big stainless racks filled with
supplies....
I thought it would make a nice picture for the blog....
I asked if I could take "it's" picture....
I was starting to feel like the
"Food Paparazzi"...
I was waiting for Sean Penn to jump out from the storage freezer and break my camera...
The head chef guy had to be called in for this request.....Are these people kidding....
He said yes.....but he wasn't happy about it.....
So it was time to leave....
And as we headed towards the elevator......just Three Harmless Housewives....
Two from the Burbs and one from the Big City
and Three very Dangerous Bloggers....
We were Stopped.....
By Security.....
Rose probably thought at this point that she wished she never knew us.....
Someone had called security to find out......
As the Security Guard put it...
"What is the Nature of your Business".....
Joyce spoke up first and said...."What do you think we're from a magazine or something"....
I spoke up second....
"Oh we're just three crazy housewives who came here for lunch...and now we are leaving"....
Rose being the smartest of the three of us said Nothing......
But when the Boss heard security was called he said it best.....
"We are all here from the "Culinary Institute of Hoboken" We are opening a branch
in Marietta and wanted to scope out the competition".....
And So another day of fun comes to a close.....
Wouldn't you all like to have a Joyce and a Sue to go to lunch with....??
You might not want to ask Rose about that

28 comments:

Linda @ A La Carte said...

ROTFL! Oh wish I had been with you but not for the food!! I had thought about going there one day for lunch but might think twice about it now! Oh well!!

santamaker said...

Well, we sure had an interesting lunch today...... next time, warn me and I'll bring my paper bag!

Rue said...

Wow, at first the chicken didn't look too bad, but then Rose's burger looked not so appetizing and Joyce's stew.... Really didn't look good!!!!!

Kim @ Savvy Southern Style said...

Every time I read your stories I laugh until I cannot see the screen through the tears. You are hilarious and what a day y'all had. Thanks for the laughter. I commented today on santamaker's blog. Maybe she will check mine out. I love the pics of her home on her blog. She likes color like me.

Lisa Pogue said...

Woman, you always seem to get yourself into the best stories. OMG this was fun. Have to admit though, the pic of the food made my tummy knot up. I wasn't sure that was chicken on those potatoes at first.

Kathleen said...

Blech! None of it looks very good..yes, like a Home Ec's offerings!
I think the security from the theater tipped them off. You are on the list..you know like Elaine in Seinfeld,,every doc she went to had her on THE list! :)

Kathleen Grace said...

You are a trip Sue! Why on earth do people get their panties in a twist over photos of food and kitchens!? Sounds like they had something to hide, maybe the burnt, unrecognizable food they serve? Bleh, it looks awful!

Peg said...

I can't help but think that those folks should have hot dog "fingers" dropping from their ice machine today! Looks like you gave them the publicity they deserve. That food looked pretty bad but Joyce's new hair cut is fabulous! And in spite of the unwelcome mat, I know you girls had fun and laughed a lot!!!

Cheri said...

Here's another one of those "It can only happen to Sue" moments but I think Joyce is now going to have to be included. Poor Rose, I think she feels the need to babysit the two of you to keep you out of trouble. LOL

You know you got me laughing with this one.

Love Joyce's hair cut, that was how mine was suppose to be but the girl cut it shorter than chin length :(
Good thing it grows.

Ellen said...

I think you should have used the crayons to draw picture of what the food should have looked like.

What a big disappointment. I have also eaten at the CIA (the real one in NY) and the food was fab.

Something tells me that the graduates of this cooking school will only be qualified to work at only the finest chain burger joints. And the "instructors" should be ashamed of the final product they serve.

By the way, that stew looked like it was the end result of eating the stew. Before you flush it away.

House and Garden Boutique said...

Sounds like a fun and very interesting afternoon. Didn't know that the food industry was so camera shy! Thanks for sharing your adventure with us! Lynn

Debbiedoos said...

Hilarious story! At least you got some good shots, and good food! It reminded me of the time we took my Mom to Charleston, and she walked in the the luis Vitton store all happy filled with glee, started taking pics and got in big trouble LOL..the best is I have the pic of her getting in trouble...little does she know I am posting in on my blog for Mothers day...she will laugh her head off! I am a new follower I am loving these great stories! I just posted something about Aprons on my blog...do you where one? COme check it out.

Anonymous said...

Love the haircut Joyce!

Did they have a gift shop?

Necie

PS...Glad you behaved when we went to lunch at the Marietta Fish Market

Anonymous said...

Your reputation will be preceding you. Good luck getting a table next time you're in NYC. I can't imagine why they were so paranoid....wait, after seeing those pics, I know why!

Ellen

Susie Q said...

Okay, who left you an unkind comment?? Should I take 'em on for ya missus?

Now, THIS was such fun to read..see why I need to be there for a whole day at least???

You are a hoot and a holler...and if anyone ever disses ya again...I say, let us at 'em!

Love,
Sue

Susie Q said...

Okay...just saw anaon's comment...oh wow. Some folks have no sense of fun, whimsey or humor!
Now, I have been told quite a few times to put down my camera...and we all know I take it everywhere. I love to photograph food and why not? Of they are proud of it, they should be happy! If not? Then FIX it!
I love what Pat said...there are sneaky ways of getting the shot. : ) I will have to get a teensy camera though...this new one is waaay too big to hide much. Still, I have learned to hide the fact that I am shooting. Sean Penn be damned...
You ladies just have too much fun!!!
I am so envious!!
Love,
Sue

KBeau said...

Sue, you always have the best adventures. But that food looks awful.

Kim @ Savvy Southern Style said...

Hi Sue, I have something for you at my blog so please come and get it.

Marigene said...

Sounds like an interesting lunch...even though the food looks pretty unappetizing...guess it is one place I will not be breaking down the door to eat at; I could produce that at home, if I tried really hard!

Chatty Crone said...

Love, love, love Joyce's hair cut.

And your antics - you guys are so cute!

I think I'll start to save up my money so that you can call me when you want me to get you guys out on bail!

sandie

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

Both you and Joyce looks so cute in the last picture Sue.

It is so annoying when places like this get so paranoid about people taking photos ...to me it tells me they have something to hide..and from the looks of some of the dishes it was the quality of the food.

I wish you lined to the annonymous comment ..now I want to read it ..lol..going to go search!

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

Ok, back .. yes that anonymous person was very preachy weren't they?

Maggie said...

Just came over after reading Joyce's account of your misdemeanor, she said you'd tell it better and boy, what a day you girls had!
I wanna go out for he day with you but I know it'll never happen.
Keep the stories coming!
~Maggie~

Confessions of a Plate Addict said...

Nobody tells a story like you do, Sue! You are an adventure going somewhere to happen! lol Happy week!...hugs...Debbie

Daryl said...

Too funny ... I think you need to send a copy of this to whoever is in charge of that 'school' ...

Virginia said...

Oh pardon s'il vous plait. I"m searching for rue Mouffetard, one of my most favorite places in Paris!
Meci,
V

Sue said...

I really did used to think that I was the only one that got in trouble for speaking my peace and doing what I wanted to do, come hell or high water! Alas, you have proven that I have a sister in crime.... If you, Susie Q , and I got together, we would be always be phoning for bail money! Hope all is well on your end. You're having waaay too much fun and I am jealous. tee hee
hugs, Sue

alice said...

I would love to go to lunch with you! Too bad your meal wasn't better though. And I'm with you, I'll take stainless steel over diamonds any day....well maybe haha!