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You’ve seen the ads on TV for the Le Cordon Bleu cooking school Scottsdale Culinary Institute, but did you know that the school has two restaurants that are open to the public?
Our reservations that night were at the more upscale of the two locations—the 3-star L’Ecole, at the main campus. White linen tablecloths were topped with a perfectly laid out assortment of silverware that would give country folk a heart attack.
“Let me show you the desserts we will be featuring tonight,” said our maitre d’, pointing to a delicate, light slice of cake, a garnished shortcake, and an assorted cheese plate. “Also, we offer Bananas Foster prepared tableside. They are working on a crème brulee right now, but we still don’t know if it will come out, so you can ask you waiter later if it will be available.”
The prix fixe menu offers a three- ($30), four- ($40) or five-course ($50) meal. We decided on the four-course meal, which allowed us to pick a cold and hot appetizer, one entrée and a dessert.
From the cold list, I had the romaine salad, with a spicy dressing spread over two whole leaves. My companion’s mixed artichoke heart and baby white asparagus salad was mixed in a tasty oil dressing.
From the hot appetizers, we took our server’s suggestion and ordered the ravioli. “I tasted the sauce when they were working on it earlier and it is the best thing I’ve had here since I started here,” he said. A round piece of pasta lay over a reduced butter and cream sauce with garlic and mushrooms and whole langostinos. Our waiter was right. I could have eaten a bowl of the rich sauce.
I have always felt like a medieval princess when served a whole tiny bird, so I ordered the Cornish game hen, while my carnivorous companion chose the filet mignon. My bird was adorable, but not as good as the perfectly cooked steak my fellow diner generously shared with me. The filet sat on a slab of Parmesan imbued doughy bread floating in a delicious beef gravy and a swirl of Bleu cheese.
Our waiter told us that the crème brulee had been successful, so I chose it as my dessert. My guy was good enough though to order the Bananas Foster instead since I am a fan of the spectacle of any tableside preparation.
We watched our waiter as he wheeled up a portable gas stove. With a whoosh, he fired up the gas and started to swirl butter in a pan. A teacher walked over and whispered in the student’s ear and they then pushed the portable a few feet away. We watched, fascinated, as our waiter created the delicious dessert in front of our eyes. He poured the caramelized concoction over a bowl of vanilla ice cream with a flourish and a smile. “My teacher made me move because the flame might have set off the sprinklers,” he grinned pointing to the ceiling.
Now that would have been even more of a night to remember, but a definite D minus!