Be well, do good work, and keep in touch

Tonight marks the final service for Carlyle, a restaurant nestled underneath the looming shadow of the I405 Bridge. Honestly, if you aren't actually headed there for dinner, there is no way you could stumble upon it. Six weeks during this last summer, I spent my externship there.

A couple of weeks ago over at ThePortlander.com I wrote about the restaurants closing, and included the email that Bruce Goldberg who has owned and operated Carlyle for the last 7 years, wrote.

Dear Friends,

Next month is Carlyle’s seventh anniversary. February also marks the end of our current lease. Both milestones are significant in that they factor into my decision to announce that Carlyle will serve it’s last meal on Sunday, February 14th.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the many loyal customers, employees, and friends who have made Carlyle special. Though saddened by the closing, I ’m comforted by wonderful memories, ,and the opportunity to have worked with some very talented people.

I hope that over the next two weeks you’ll make a point of joining us for dinner or a drink. In addition to some recent menu changes, Chef Martin will be presenting a special prix fixe dinner , offered on both February 13th and 14th , to celebrate Valentine’s Day, and to serve as our farewell.

On a personal note, my heartfelt thanks to Carlyle’s past and current staff, some of which have been with us from the beginning. Their talent, dedication, and humor has made for a rich and rewarding experience for which I will always be grateful. I would also like to acknowledge the many local vendors who’s fine products and excellent service have become synonymous with a raised bar in Portland dining.

Lastly, I’d like to extend an invitation to all former Carlyle employees to join us for a drink (or two) at 10:00 pm on the 14th. I look forward to seeing you.

Thank you for seven years.

Sincerely,
Bruce Goldberg, Carlyle

Both Jake and Bryan (the sous chef) will be heading over to Fenouil in the Pearl. Daniel Mondock of Sel Gris and Foster Burger fame got his start at Carlyle, and there have been a few more chef's in-between. While a great space, the location isn't all that grand. Like I said if you weren't already going there, you'd never stumble upon it.

I had seen a write up on Carlyle in the Portland Monthly, and at the time I had that it would be great if I could do my externship there, but Simpatica Dining Hall was at the top of my list, after meeting with the chef and waiting three days to find out my fate, I got a polite voice mail saying that it was a no go.

So I called around to a couple places, sent off some emails - to Beast, Screen Door and Carlyle. My thinking was if I was going to get as much out of my short six week externship (it should be more like 9 weeks) and even though I lacked serious experience I wanted to be in the best kitchen, to optimize my learning. Being a part of the competition team at school had at least put me ahead of the curve.

I was starting to get nervous I hadn't heard back from anyone, and had my externship looming in the very near future. Finally I got a call, but not from who I was expecting: it was my buddy Brett. I've known Brett for at least 20+ years (he was a graduate of Western Culinary and now executive chef of the Stockpot Broiler).

Come to find out, Bryan had worked for Brett in the past, and had given him a call be cause he was listed as one of my references. While we've never worked in a kitchen together - having known each other as long as we have, he was a good character reference.

Next thing I know, I go in talk to Jake and Bryan, a short interview and talk about my major lack of experience (I mean, that is why I was going to school right?) and I'm sent on my way. They called me as I was driving home from the interview to inform me that I would do a stage with them, and then they would make their decision. I knew I had to go in there and not suck..

As I'm sure you can guess, I didn't totally suck (though months later I guess they had a nick name for me "Lump" though they never called me that to my face). Did a stage on a Friday night they called me back the next week, and the rest as they say is history - matter of fact that's when I started this blog over on blogspot.

I wrote four posts about my time at Carlyle, for those of you who may have missed (and I'm sure there are plenty), here are the links to those posts, I'll save you the hassle of searching for them.

The Carlyle "Chronicles"

Here's a quick video of my last night of externship, Jake just started sending out plates of food, and I had to run and get my camera. What a great friggin' meal, really.

While I still think that six week's wasn't long enough, I learned a lot - more than I'm sure Jake realizes. One thing that I just could never wrap my head around was the owner Bruce bringing his man eating dog to work. That dog would either hang out in his office, or guard the doorway from the kitchen to the two desks just off the kitchen.

I've heard of office cats, but kitchen dogs? There are so many things wrong with that, I can't even begin to explain. But that isn't the focus, I took what I learned from there (like the fact it's all about speed, something I wasn't all that great with, and I'm sure dead sure that's where the lump moniker came from) and have building on it.

Sometimes (not very often) as I'm flying through prep, I wish Jake could see how fast I'm moving now and how much my speed has improved. I always use him as motivation "You really need to work on your speed", to make myself faster and more efficient in what I do.

I'll always have a soft spot for Carlyle, may she rest in peace.