I have long admired Chef Rene Frank’s dedication and precision to handling and extracting the very best in every ingredient, elevating his dishes to a new level. His out of the box thinking and focus on extracting optimal flavor out of each ingredient while making sure to respect and prioritize sustainability is what really intrigued me about Coda.
During my first month at Coda I started on the hot and cold stations. Never having worked at a restaurant with a set tasting menu and a smaller cover count, it was an interesting change to the service I am used to working. This was especially true for the flow of service and how in tune the team at Coda has to be for service to run smoothly. It was a small and intimate team that required cohesiveness and an incredible amount of attention to detail.
During my second month at Coda I worked the morning production shift alongside the sous chef. I learned the intricate process behind each product and how much care and thought goes into each plate. For example, for their chocolate and cherry course, they candy their cherries and can them for months to get the right flavor. From the cherry pits they make a cherry pit and almond cream. Each of their plates has an incredible amount of intention and labor behind it; something the guests can feel when they have Coda’s creations and why it very deservedly has two Michelin stars.
I also got to experience a new way of utilizing ingredients and in combinations I had not seen before. While some seemed a bit strange at first, when I had the chance to dine at Coda it was amazing how everything came together so harmoniously.
My time at Coda has been an amazing experience that has pushed me out of my comfort zone and helped me grow as a pastry chef. I had the opportunity to learn new techniques and work with ingredients I had not yet worked with. With my previous professional experience I had not developed products from scratch, like how they make their own chocolate or purees. I also like how they focused on minimizing waste by maximizing their utilization (for example, in their eggplant dish, they cut out the centers to use and the trim gets dehydrated and turned into an eggplant flour that is then used in the cake that goes into that dish). I am extremely grateful to the Ment’or Grant Program for this opportunity. I know this experience will greatly impact my career and its trajectory as well as the wealth of knowledge that I have gained from this stage.
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