The Retort

Meet, Greet, & Eat

November 18th, 2011 by Patricia Hampton Of The Retort Staff

Which direction do you lay your soup in a professional setting?

If you drop your utensil on the floor in a restaurant, what do you do?

On Tuesday, November 8, Career Services, in conjunction with their employer partners, Sodexo, and Alumni Relations, sponsored the fourth annual “Meet, Greet, & Eat.” Career Services’ employer partners are EideBailly, Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch, Billings Clinic, PMG and Connoisseur Media, LLC. The event began at 6pm in the Lewis and Clark Room of the Student Union Building, designed to give students networking experience and opportunities as well as “dining etiquette for the new professional.”

The evening began with an introduction by Patricia Reuss of the Alumni Association. Reuss introduced each of the representatives from the five employer partners as well as a representative from Sodexo at Gonzaga University in Washington state.

Over the course of three hours, Martin led students and hosts alike through each of the five courses provided at the event.

The soup course was French-roasted onion, served in a roasted onion. Along with the soup, the wait staff – including MSU Billings’ own Sodexo employees – served rolls; the question was, how does one eat a roll professionally? Rather than buttering the entire roll, it is proper to tear off one bit-sized piece of roll at a time and butter it.

The salad course was roasted red and golden beets on a bed of arugula with goat cheese and a citrus-infused olive oil. Following salads, the intermezzo was served. The intermezzo is served between courses to cleanse the palate, similar to a sorbet. The intermezzo was a tart apple hard cider granita, and was accompanied by sparkling cider.

The entrée consisted of seared duck breast with sweet potato gnocchi and sautéed broccolini.

The final course was dessert – a port wine poached pear with a port reduction, bleu cheese, and candied pecans.

Throughout the night, MSU Billings students had the opportunity to converse with their host representative from one of the employer partners. Students were organized according to their major in order to be able to talk with someone who was in their field, or one similar to their own. Conversations ranged from how the university had changed in the past several years, to what the employers did in their professions, to the aspirations of the students.