"Five Hundred Dollars."

That's what Julian offered me today in class, if I'd finish his menu costing project for him. I could probably start a whole side business.

Fortunately, we had a couple of distractions during an otherwise painfully tedious day of spreadsheet development. Chef Stephanie gave a lecture on the "purchasing cycle," followed by her own personal Purchasing Recommendations. She used the word "shit" a couple of times ("sheet") and "damn," so she had the full attention of the class.

To summarize: Purchasing is Selection, then Ordering, then Receiving. While you can select products based on your menu items, she recommends also paying attention to what's in season, and adjusting your menu accordingly. While much ordering is done by telephone, it's also common now to order on-line, and there are some systems with the "price-grabber" feature, so you are supplied by the least expensive vendor. "But that takes you out of the personal relationship," she said.

Chef called the Receiving function the "most abused" in the kitchen: usually it's the dishwasher, closest to the back door, who can most easily drop what he's doing, who takes receipt of the merchandise as it's delivered. She noted the inherent problems with this approach, and she recommended that you take care to train the people handling receiving so that they understand what's expected, and what's acceptable. "Sometimes they're even quite smart," she noted. "They can become quite an asset in your keetchen."

The Purchasing Recommendation part of the lecture was like "Advice from Chef Stephanie," and it was heartfelt. Bread: "Get the good stuff." It's your first impression. Make it special. And be inventive: don't throw it away. Oil and Vinegar: "Taste, taste, taste." Ask your vendor to set up a tasting. Choose judiciously. Don't use one type of product for every application. Dry Goods: "Don't be tempted to always buy the cheapest. Those little inexpensive olives can make a martini taste like sheet."

On Spices: "Buy them whole, and grind them yourself." She spoke rhapsodically about Cheese: "It will be a lifetime's journey to taste them all." She quoted Charles de Gaulle who famously complained, "How can you be expected to govern a country that has 246 kinds of cheese?" She suggested always buying cheese with an appellation, and urged us to become familiar with the seasonality of cheeses. With regard to Dry vs. Fresh, she said, "I'll be very tempted to tell you to always buy fresh. And local." But she acknowledged that sometimes dry is better, and more convenient.

She talked about Luxury Items. "About foie gras, just go for it before the ban is on." And she advocated a continued interest in Specialty Ingredients. "Your customers are expecting exceptional food combinations." She used the example of a sprinkle of pink salt on a plate of scallops carpaccio: "Something is coming up for the eyes." And in summary, "THIS IS YOUR LIFE NOW." (Her emphasis, not mine.) "You should be doing perpetual research on products that will make the difference."

And to top it off, we were excused from class at 11:30 to attend a lunch prepared by one of the Hospitality and Restaurant Management (HRM) classes. They turned a teaching kitchen into a 32-seat restaurant by hanging white tablecloths from the ceiling with thumbtacks, to form walls. They began service at 11 and planned to be open until 1, turning the tables three times. We had a 3-course meal of appetizers (tuna tartare for me), poached salmon or chicken or a vegetable terrine, and either chocolate cake or cheesecake with fruit. They'd run out of the sorbet. Talking amongst ourselves, we were simultaneously ultra-critical (the rims of the plates were not properly wiped, the servers reached across one diner to remove plates, the chocolate cake was dry) and in awe: this was a far bigger project than anything we've undertaken.