Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Institute/Technique Restaurant

Each year our water aerobics group here in the park goes out to a nice restaurant for a luncheon. This year we went to Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Institute in Scottsdale. It was quite a dining experience! I shared some of the photos with you yesterday in my "Things in a Row" post.


The school occupies the full second floor of a building, and the restaurant is a fairly good size.

Some of my friends going up the escalator to the restaurant.

There were glass windows next to the entrance and I saw some students/chefs who were busy working....possibly baking our desserts?

Besides the restaurant, there is a little deli where you could buy a quick sandwich and grab a drink. It looked  like there was both chicken and egg salad available.

The swimming "gals"!

Students led us to our tables, took our orders, and cooked our food. We had to evaluate our server at the end of our meal.

Some more of our servers:

This guy was so nervous that we thought he was going to spill our water on us! But he did well, and warmed up after awhile! He gave us a big smile here!

The cooks did a WONDERFUL job! Here they are in action!

The young students were following orders from this big honcho (the one with the BIG hat). He'd say what he wanted done, and I'd hear the students answer, "Yes, Chef!"

I walked up to the kitchen area and asked one of the cooks if I could take his picture. He said, "It's 'cause I'm good looking, right?" Oh, he was cute alright! And young! Unfortunately, my flash bounced off of the plexiglass and the photo didn't turn out. So then I held my camera up high and pointed it down towards him and at that time another cook joined him.

I sat back down and told my friends what happened and one said, "Why don't you stand on the side and take the photo?" So I went back to the area and asked if I could do just that. The girl in the above photo said "fine". The young man had his back to me. I yelled, "Hey cutie!" He immediately turned around and posed. Gotta love him!

Here is a shot of the area where you can sit by the counter.

Another area of the restaurant

Just hanging with my peeps.

l-r: Pat, Viv, me, Judy

l-r: Rachel and Thelma

l-r: Jean and Nadine

And now for the food. The meal cost $10, which included a starter, entree and dessert.

First we were served bread and three different kinds of butter - not sure of all the flavors, but ONE of them was a tomato basil.

There were six starters and a flatbread or pizza to choose from. Here are just SOME of them.

This is what I ate. It was DELICIOUS!! The basil leaves were quick fried in oil so they were crisp.

Caprese  Salad - served with fried mozzarella, heirloom tomatoes, roasted red peppers, basil, olive oil, balsamic vinegar reduction

Shrimp Risotto

There were NINE entrees to choose from, plus the daily special.

I had the salmon.

served with English pea puree, asparagus, Parisian potatoes with butter sauce

One friend had the lamb burger. Now let me tell you, I'm not real big on lamb, but this was so tasty and tender that I would definitely order it!

with feta cheese, tomato marmalade, spinach, sautéed red onions, served with hand-cut french fries

Another friend ordered the halibut. Outstanding!

served with corn and fava bean succotash, tomatoes, peas

But let's face it. We were really there for the DESSERTS!! Choice of five.

Here they are!

Cookies and Ice – Raspberry, pineapple and vanilla sorbet in a thin caramel wafer crisp, raspberry, chocolate and caramel syrup sauce, and two chocolate chip chocolate cookies

Salted Caramel Pot de Crème – with Chantilly cream and almond sable cookie

Classic Creamy Cheesecake – with strawberry-rhubarb compote and cocoa sauce

Chocolate Mousse – classic chocolate mousse with Viennese sponge cake, raspberries and raspberry sauce

Seasonal Fruit Crumble – with vanilla bean ice cream

Now isn't this a bargain for TEN BUCKS? Here's the good news! There are several of the schools with restaurants across the United States.  They are located in:

• Atlanta, GA
• Austin, TX
• Boston, MA
• Chicago, IL
• Dallas, TX
• Las Vegas, NV
• Los Angeles, CA
• Miami, FL
• Minneapolis, MN
• Orlando, FL
• Pittsburgh, PA
• Portland, OR
• San Francisco, CA
• Scottsdale, AZ

If you get a chance, check it out! But you should make reservations! They fill up fast!