Chef for A Day

This lodge lets guests experience working in a busy commercial kitchen.

In my line of work, I visit many restaurants. I've even been invited by a few prominent chefs to tour their workplaces. But I've never gotten to cook in a professional kitchen. That's what I find most intriguing about the Chef for a Day program at Savage River Lodge, located outside Frostburg, Maryland.

I'm paired up with chef Brad Nesline. We fashion our four-course menu and then make a plan of attack. We work on knife skills, practice dicing vegetables, and discuss ingredients and restaurant pricing.

At the end of the day, Brad and I sit down with owners Jan Russell and Mike Dreisbach to share the meal. We start with brined-and-grilled quail atop spring greens, followed by cream of roasted cauliflower soup, beef tenderloin with risotto, and berry cobbler.

After dinner, I sit around the fire with Mike and Jan. Unfortunately, Brad is called back to the kitchen. That, it turns out, is the real difference in being a chef and being chef for a day. CASSANDRA M. VANHOOSER

Savage River Lodge: (301) 689-3200 or www.savageriverlodge.com. Chef for a Day: $300.

Copyright Southern Progress Corporation Apr 2005
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