Final Project Assignment: As a final project, all students are required to develop an original menu around a unifying theme that is apparent throughout the project. The project menu shall consist of five dishes that are as original as possible. The project menu should utilize classic techniques and demonstrate the student's proficiency in using them. The project menu allows students to express their own creativity and imagination while using the knowledge and techniques learned at FCI. All work is to be done outside of school and must go beyond everyday study. The technical viability of the recipes will be evaluated, and they must work. In addition to describing each dish and relating it to the project theme, each dish must be accompanied by a concise and clear recipe, a list of ingredients, and the cost per dish.

THE 1939-1940 WORLD'S FAIR IN FLUSHING, NEW YORK

The 1939-1940 World's Fair introduced hundreds of new products and ideas to fairgoers searching for an escape from the Great Depression. Some of the exhibits, such as the futuristic "City of Tomorrow" were fanciful and were never realized. But the Fair also introduced television, frozen preprocessed foods, home refrigerators, and many other products that significantly changed the way Americans lived their lives and viewed the world. Americans found hope and the promise of a better life in the displays and exhibits at the Fair, although many of the new products had to wait until World War II was over and prosperity returned.

Le Restaurant du Pavillon de France in the French Pavilion had a tremendous and far-reaching influence on the American public that is still evident more than sixty years later. This restaurant gathered from all corners of France the very best kitchen personnel, ingredients, techniques, presentation, and dining room service.  When the Fair ended, Le Restaurant was reintroduced in Manhattan as Le Pavillon, acknowledged as the best French restaurant in the United States for almost thirty years. Le Pavillon's legacy directly lives on through La Cote Basque, a sister restaurant to Le Pavillon, and countless restaurants that were opened by former employees of Le Pavillon.

Today, Americans are well educated about food through television programs, newspaper articles, books, and culinary schools. Among the pioneers in each of these areas was the late Pierre Franey, who was an assistant poissonier at the World's Fair and who eventually became the executive chef at Le Pavillon and La Cote Basque, as well as a celebrated newspaper columnist, television personality, and author. One of Franey's proteges was Jacques Pepin, who worked at Le Pavillon in the late 1950's, and who later became successful in his own right as an author, television personality, and educator.

Le Restaurant du Pavillon de France was a crucial culinary link between France and the United States. French restaurants existed in the United States before 1939, of course. Restaurants such as the Stork Club, the Colony, and numerous French bistros served French cuisine. But none of these places served haute cuisine as described and categorized by Auguste Escoffier and Antoine Careme. Le Restaurant du Pavillon de France, and later Le Pavillon, introduced haute cuisine to New York and, eventually, to the rest of the United States.

No other restaurant has ever had so great an influence on the American culinary experience as did Le Restaurant du Pavillon de France.