August 26, 2009
Le Jeune Chef
One College Ave.
Williamsport, PA 17701
The Setup: Just about a month ago, Greg and I packed up and moved to Central Pennsylvania. Greg has been going to school in Pennsylvania for a few years, but for me, having never lived outside of Akron, Ohio, this was a huge change! I decided it was time to take a big step in my life and go back to school for something I should have gone for the first time: Baking and Pastry Arts! The school I'm attending, Pennsylvania College of Technology, has a student run restaurant called Le Jeune Chef, which I will get to do some cooking in later in my schooling. Greg and I decided to try it out for dinner to see what I had in store for me in the next 2 years!
The Experience: I made a 6:30 reservation on a Wednesday night, just to be safe, although the reservation wasn't completely necessary. School having just started the week before and it being a weeknight, there were plenty of open tables. The matrie d' showed us to our table, pulled out my chair for me and even draped the napkin across my lap - very fancy! I don't go to many restaurants like that so it was a nice treat. Although the restaurant has a formal setting, it wasn't at all pretentious. The restaurant staff is made up of hospitality students so they are being taught the proper way to do things, while the atmosphere is still light and welcoming.
The Food: Le Jeune Chef has a diverse menu that changes monthly, and they always offer a prix fixe menu where you can choose one appetizer, one entree and one dessert for about $32.00. Greg and I both opted for this option. Before our appetizers came out, we were a given a "gift from the chef" of a skewer filled with 3 types of olives and pepper jack cheese, served with a peach chutney. It was delicious! We were also served rolls with butter and olive oil. For my prix fixe dinner, I chose an appetizer of sun dried tomato and olive tapenade stuffed tomato with goat cheese croutons. My entree choice was grilled rack of lamb with mushroom confit, mashed red potatoes and seasonal veggies. For dessert I went with a fruit soup with homemade graham crackers and a free form cheesecake. To sum all of this up in one word: DELICIOUS! I was completely impressed and blown away by each course and it made me even more excited to get in the kitchen and start creating my own dessert menu. The appetizer was light yet still hearty, and my lamb was cooked to perfection. The only complaint I had about my fruit soup was that it was a bit on the bitter side, but the graham crackers and cheesecake were delicious.
For Greg's meal, he chose an appetizer of sweet breads with apples, walnuts and pork belly over a bed of red cabbage and leeks. His entree was the blackened catfish fillet with crab creole sauce, corn fritters and seasonal veggies. For his dessert he went with the chocolate crepes. His meal was delicious as well (trust me, I definitely sampled all of it)! The sweetbreads paired nicely with the sweet apples and the red cabbage, and his catfish was spicy and well cooked. Do I even need to say anything about the chocolate crepes?? I think they speak for themselves! Just imagine a light, fluffy crepe filled with chocolate mouse and topped with fresh raspberries. SO GOOD! His dessert was the better of the two.
The Verdict: A++ I can't say enough about how impressed I was with Le Jeune Chef. I went in expecting an average meal being cooked by culinary students in training, and what I was served far exceeded my expectations. Nothing about our meal suggested it was cooked and served by anything less than professionals who knew exactly what they were doing. The best thing about Le Jeune Chef: Since the menu changes every month, you'll want to keep coming back to try all of the new creations!
