A Behind The Scenes Tasting at Trevi 5

How do you open a new restaurant? First, you need a really passionate chef. In this case, Chef Laura Simpson from The Hotel Hershey. Chef Simpson adores Italy–I’ve heard she can speak the langauge–and she had a vision for modern Italian cuisine.

I was intrigued. So after she sold me on the business reasons, I personally fast-tracked a very expensive remodelling of The Fountain Cafe so Chef Simpson could realize her professional dream.  (And I could realize my professional dream of having another superlative option in my restaurant portfolio.)

Chef Laura wrote the book!

 However, before you can open up to the public, its important to test the food on employees while training the staff on proper methods of presentation. Additionally, I’m guessing there were lengthy tutorials on the pronunciation of various Italian dishes. Nothing deflates a culinarian’s ego faster than butchering aloud the name of penne bolognese.

Chef Laura awaits her staff.

 This secret gathering was held back in March. A bunch of servers, managers, trainers, and a few Chefs gathered for a very important pre-open tasting. On the menu: the full arsenal of Trevi 5 starting with a parade of small dish appetizers, pizzas, pastas, grilled entrees, and then, blessedly, the miracle of Italian desserts.

Basically we all just waited while the food came out. I watched Chef Laura and her assistant chefs setting the food on tables. My instinct said “run, run quickly to the table and grab as much food as possible and then run from the conference room before security catches you” but this was tempered by my solid upbringing and a number of previous misunderstandings with our speedy security staff.

Chef Laura explains the dishes. Instead of taking notes, I drool uncontrollably.

After Laura explained the nuances of each dish, we descended like locusts. I tried to use my influence to work my way up toward the front of the line, but the servers outflanked me at every turn. Luckily, everyone took small portions and there was enough to go around. Here’s a sampling of the dishes…

Everyone you see has butted in front of line.

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