Master's Tea

Each Friday from 3:30 PM-5:30 PM, the Resident Masters of South Campus East, with help from a small staff of students, host a Master's Tea for student residents. I was invited behind the scenes for March 15, 2013's tea.

This is where the magic happens - apartment E137 of South Campus. Located in Cathey House, Resident Masters Lawrence (Larry) and Cathe McEnerney live here.

I came one day earlier on Thursday at 4 PM. The highlight for March 15 was a delicious Irish Coffee Cheesecake, made from scratch. Christina Ochoa had already begun preparing the crust for the cheesecake.

Cathe maintains an impressive kitchen cabinet, where she keeps the ingredients used in making the food for tea. She buys all the ingredients beforehand, so the student helpers only need to cook.

As Allison Demes prepares the filling for the cheesecake, she explains the basic structure of tea. The three student volunteers, who apply for the position in spring quarter, do most of the cooking.

As she pours out the cheesecake mixture, Allison continues her explanation. The schedule for the foods for tea is chosen beforehand by Cathe and the volunteers. Preparation always starts on Thursday for two hours.

There is never a dull moment when cooking for tea. The volunteers all become good friends, and converse about all kinds of things to pass the time while cooking.

Christina and Cathe look over the recipe for the cheesecake. Cathe collects the recipes from magazines, websites, and cookbooks into her own recipe book. This cheesecake recipe is a conglomeration of several past recipes.

The apartment is filled with inspirational and uplifting messages like these, which makes it a very pleasant and happy place.

Christina takes out the first baked cheesecake. There were a total of five cheesecakes prepared for the tea on Friday dude to its popularity. At 6 PM, Christina and Allison put away the cheesecakes and go home.

When I came in Friday morning at 10 AM, Esteban Valencia, the third member of the cooking team, had already prepared a good number of cookies.

This Friday, Esteban has the morning shift all by himself. All the shifts are staggered so the work is spread evenly. Esteban's focus is on making shamrock cookies.

Unlike the cheesecakes, the shamrock cookie dough was premade. Master's Tea always has a mix of homemade and partially premade foods.

Esteban prepares the cookies by glazing them and affixing St. Patrick's Day themed green sprinkles on top.

Preparation takes a total of five hours for each tea. Two hours on Thursday, two hours Friday morning, and one hour right before tea starts.

Esteban ends up making a total of around 144 cookies. According to Cathe, on a slow day, they get 60-80 people. However, they always prepare for a busy day, which usually have around 120 people.

The hour before tea starts at 3:30 PM, the final preparations are made. Cathe usually makes a delicious batch of special drinks, such as this Leprechaun Lemonade.

All the food, including this Italian Soda Bread, is prepared to be both pleasing to both the mouth and the eyes.

Years of experience have taught Cathe and their helpers how to ideally prepare the food. Allison lays down a fine layer of cocoa powder onto the cheesecake using a strainer.

Allison and the other volunteers treat all the food with care during preparation.

The cheesecake is topped off with a dollop of whipped cream and arranged on the table.

There is always hot water (for making tea with teabags supplied by Larry and Cathe), iced water, and usually a special drink. Past special drinks have been ranged from spiced cider to fruity punch mixes.

Before everything is ready to be served, Allison creates a menu for people to know what is being served, since no one is told what is being prepared beforehand.

The full arrangement of foods is placed on the dining room table with themed tablecloth and decorations, plates and napkins, and utensils.

Allison, Christina, Esteban, and Cathe pose for a quick picture before opening 

In the spirit of fun and St. Patrick's Day, the three student helpers show off the food they worked hard to make.

During tea, Larry always engages in intellectual conversation with students on a variety of subjects, ranging from literature to current events to the University itself.

Christina puts down a few more pieces of cheesecake to replace ones that are eaten. The student helpers have to replace the food every so often.

Resident Master's Tea attracts a lot of people. There are usually groups of people who stay around to talk, but since this Tea was during finals week, most people didn't stay for long.

Throughout the afternoon, as dishes are done being used, the volunteers clean the dishes as they come. This prevents a surge of cleaning at the end of the evening.

As 5:30 rolls around, people start to clear out. An empty table is a sign that the food was well-received, as was the case with this study break. Allison, Christina, Esteban, and Cathe clean up, and have a few days of rest before they need to start working on the next study break.

Robert Lipman's March Dinner

On Saturday, March 9, 2013 The Hearth chef Robert Lipman took over the new Seminary Co-Op Bookstore and, using only equipment he brought into a break room of the store, attempted to emulate the famed New York City restaurant Eleven Madison Park. Instead of his traditional randomization process to pick attendees, the eight guest slots were auctioned off to raise money for Relay for Life to fight cancer.

Robert shops for ingredients days before the dinner at local Hyde Park stores Treasure Island and Hyde Park Produce. 



Robert selects only the best components to incorporate into his meal, even though he is working on a limited budget of $25 per person. 



Of course, he needs to purchase supplies for dessert (perhaps the most important part of any good dinner!)



Before Saturday night, Robert spends time at the Sem Co-Op envisioning how he will transform the space into an eatery.



The tasks before him are daunting, but he knows he will be able to get it done. 



Robert starts cooking for the meal at 1 a.m. Saturday morning.



Many of the recipes he cooks require complicated techniques. He almost completely takes over the Hitchcock kitchen in the hours before the meal.



Robert works on re-creating Eleven Madison Park's granola, a take-home present for diners at the real Eleven Madison Park restaurant. Robert is surprising his guests with the same treat. 



The granola has rolled oats, pistachios, unsweetened coconut chips, pumpkin seeds, salt, brown sugar, maple syrup, olive oil, and sour cherries. As a sweet touch, he adds more brown sugar than the recipe calls for, and packages the granola in beautiful glass mason jars, truly creating a keepsake gift.



He utilizes Eleven Madison Park's incredibly expensive and expansive cookbook for help with the recipes. The book is so thick and detailed, it is intimidating for the inexperienced chef. 



For table decorations and ornaments in his caramel apple tea, he prepares flower "bundles."



The "bundles" have flower buds and mint leaves creatively tied together with twine.



After hours of preparations in his dorm, Robert packs up full plate settings, cooking equipment, prepared food, and more ingredients in suitcases and moves it over to the bookstore with the help of an employee. As soon as him and his team arrive, they set the table.



When diners arrive at 8pm, they are greeted by this beautiful scene.



Passerby outside wonder what is going on at the Sem Co-Op on a Saturday night, when the store is supposedly closed.




Surrounded by dazzlingly colorful books, the diners start to introduce themselves.



He serves the delicious beverage to his thirsty guests.

1. 

   Some of them are previously acquainted, but others are meeting for the first time.



Heather, a bookstore manager who also attended the U of C and studied English, dines with the students. When Robert approached the Seminary Co-Op with his idea, Heather and her co-workers were thrilled to help out. At the meal, she shares anecdotes about her time at the College, stories about working at the bookstore, and information about its new location.



In the back, Robert prepares the caramel apple tea in small glasses.



They are awed by the unique taste of the tea, as well as the eye-catching arrangement of the dish.



Robert makes the decision to serve the granola now, instead of as a parting gift. "I thought it might be more fun as an amuse bouche," he says. 



Robert's friend, Avi, helps out in the back with the second course. Avi and another friend, Luci, helped Robert all day before the meal. They are also his graphic designers.



The students enjoy each other's company waiting for the next course. 



For the 21+ crowd present, no meal is complete without some wine accompaniments. 



At 9pm, diners are surprised by the Ransom Notes, who sing several entertaining songs.



Clad in blue and black, they start off with an astonishing rendition of "Some Nights."



Their voices are beautiful. This is one of the best moments of the evening. 



They go on to sing several different songs, each magnificent and impressive in its own way.



Diners sit captivated by the performance.



Meanwhile, Robert's next course, prawn poached with calamari and gnocchi, is ready.



He puts on the finishing touches on a table just a few feet away from the diners before he serves it.



How delicious. The practically professional dish is definitely a departure from dining hall food.





Before the next course, diners browse the graphic novel shelf next to the table.



While chatting, diners share wonderful stories and life experiences. The camaraderie of the room is incredible.



Lots of laughter was shared throughout the evening.



The next course is beef roasted with asparagus, parmesan, and bone marrow. It is mouthwatering. 



After another hour of merriment between the diners, Robert serves "milk and honey," an ice cream-like dish with solid honey crumbles. It is heavenly.



His second dessert is chocolate fleur de sel and caramel, an incredibly rich chocolate cake with cookie crumbles, caramel salt, and homemade ice cream. It is one of the most delicious cakes the guests have ever eaten in their lives.



It makes sense that not a bite is left over!



The dinner ends around 1 am, with diners on a sugar high. They exchange contact information and well wishes with their new friends.



Each diner gets a copy of the evening's menu and a bookmark as a memento of the night. Designed on Microsoft Word and printed on thick cardstock, these were created by Avi and Luci. The duo aimed to re-create the clean font and watercolor lines characteristic of Eleven Madison Park's actual menu. 



Before they leave, the guests explore the book stacks for a little bit, posing in the picturesque store. The architectural design of the new space is sensational. 



Before his guests leave, Robert takes a moment to thank them for a wonderful evening. 



It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience for all involved.