Experiencing Red Lobster's New Menu with Chef Mickler - Part 5

I'm going to bring my Red Lobster Posts to an end with the desserts.  I' can tell you that both looked so tasty but I didn't sample them.  I don't eat chocolate.  But I promise that from the look on everyone's face, they had to be wonderful.  Here is a little description to get your taste buds begging.

The Chocolate Wave cake is a warm, rich chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream and a chocolate sauce.  It's for the true chocolate lover.  This dish also happens to be our #2 preferred dessert among regular guests.  As you can see from the picture, this cake is chocolate with chocolate with chocolate and a little more chocolate on top.  Man, if I liked chocolate, this would be a dream!

The Chocolate Lava Cookie is a warm chocolate chip cookie filled with chocolate ganache  and topped with vanilla ice cream.  It's a modern spin on chocolate lava cake and is only served at Red Lobster. This is the #1 preferred dessert.  I actually started to sample just the cookie part but got wrapped up in seeing the delight on everyone's face as they took a bite that I actually forgot.  Again, judging by their expressions, this was another hit.

Now I want to tell you a little about the  2 men that actually prepared these wonderful dishes that I’ve told you about. 

Cat Alvarez (left) has been with Red Lobster for 14 years.  He started as a Red Lobster bartender in 1996 and is now a manager of culinary operations.  He is responsible for ensuring  restaurants prepare and serve the executive chef’s creations with excellence, every single day.  He also plays a key role in the menu testing program (I would love that job).

 

Cat’s favorite dish to eat at Red Lobster is the Salmon New Orleans, his favorite foods  include cheese and any kind of sausage.  Cat has done live cooking demos on Hispanic television and remembers making seafood gumbo; he also cooks his Thanksgiving turkey every year in a different style

Chef William (right) discovered his passion for culinary arts while working at his local Red Lobster in Altamonte Springs, Florida during high school; he’s currently been with Red Lobster for 13 years.  He pursued a degree in culinary arts from Le Cordon Bleu’s program at the Orlando Culinary Academy.  Soon thereafter, he became the sous chef for Red Lobster’s corporate culinary development team, working with our Executive Chef’s Michael LaDuke, Darryl Mickler and Michael Senich.

Chef William’s role consists of being responsible for creating new menu items.  His recent creations found on the menu include: beer battered shrimp and Cajun shrimp scampi.  His proudest cooking moments -- seeing his family and closest friends react to his creations.  A favorite family tradition – always cooking on mother’s day.  He favorite cooking techniques are sauté and grilling and he has a special fondness Barbecue and Chinese cuisines.

Both of these young men are based in Florida, but travel to different parts of the country periodically.  I have to say that I would love to have either of their jobs.   I want to say thank you to both of them, to Chef Mickler, to Erica Jaeger and everyone else involved in making this tasty experience possible. 

I hope you’ve enjoyed my report on the new décor, the new menu and the new and some not-so-new dishes now served by Red Lobster.  If you’re not sure where the closest restaurant in your area might be, simply click on Red Lobster for their restaurant locator tool.