Chapter 48

The room grew chilly. Whether they were scared by Kaya’s cursing, or they agreed with her rage… Not a single member opened their mouth. Both the Red Team and Blue Team stared at Kaya as they mumbled to each other.

Same went for Allan. As the person in charge of his own kitchen, he understood how Kaya felt. The real issue was after that. How was she going to lead the team after letting out her rage? Allan watched with a serious look in his eyes.

Kaya breathed roughly. Peter didn’t say anything and just stared at his cutting board. He was angry. He was mad at Kaya and himself. Grand Chef was an opportunity for him. The only opportunity he got in his life, and that opportunity was ending right in front of his eyes. He felt angry.

But that didn’t mean he could scream either. Peter was responsible for what happened. Peter wasn’t so stupid that his brain didn’t work.

“… I’m sorry.”

Peter spoke in an unenergetic voice. Kaya, who was ready to go off on him if he made an excuse, kept her mouth shut and stared at Peter. After glaring at him for a while, Kaya finally lifted her head. She looked at Hugo and asked, “Hugo. Can you serve your Ossobuco first?”

“You’re kidding, right? I have to boil it for another 20 minutes before it tastes good. I can’t serve it right now.”

“… Then I guess we have to decide whether to get rid of the main or replace it with something else.”

Kaya looked at Peter. Peter kept his head down without saying anything. Kaya sighed and asked, “What are you going to do? Be quick with it. We don’t have time. All we have is 15 minutes at the most. Think of something you can make in the meantime.”

“H-hold on.”

“Sigh, Min Joon. You think about it, too. If we don’t have any ideas, we’ll just have to skip a main.”

“I’m thinking.”

Cho Min Joon went deeply into thought. If he closed his eyes, he could only see his system windows even clearer, but it was a habit of his to close his eyes when he thought.

At first, he was relieved that this happened. It would have been a problem if Peter’s Tandoori Chicken turned out well. Masala, which was full of strong Indian flavors, would have gotten in the way of the dishes before and after it. It would have ruined the Ossobuco that came after it.

Peter offered to make a salad to alleviate the strong flavors, but Cho Min Joon wasn’t sure. His system calculated it to be 6 points. That wasn’t good enough, and he knew the main cause was the Tandoori Chicken.

He tried to protest, but Peter seemed all too sure. He wanted to rather switch out the menu completely.

But he didn’t think it through. Cho Min Joon didn’t realize that they didn’t have enough time to come up with a new recipe. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t think of a recipe over 6 points, and they had to make it within their limited time. It wasn’t easy to do all of that and succeed.

“How about we make chicken steak with raw avocado?”

“That’d be too greasy. We should…”

Cho Min Joon thought once more. All of the recipes he thought of were no more than 6 points, but if they added that cooking, they could raise their score to 7 points. Cho Min Joon cautiously said, “To be honest, there’s nothing special about that dish, but it at least won’t mess with the flow of the course. Grill the chicken in olive oil and then fry it with some shallot. After that, add tarragon, lemon juice, and goat cheese to make a creamy cheese sauce. The herbs and lemon juice will alleviate some of the greasiness.”

“Sounds good. What about garnish?”

“What was that again? I can’t remember. Oh yeah, the salad Peter prepared. Let’s add that. Is that okay?”

“Yup. Did you get that, Peter?”

Peter nodded in response to Kaya’s sharp voice. It was difficult for him to oppose anything at this point.

Kaya looked behind her. Carlos had made his bread a long time ago, but he was still serving the customers in the hall. Chloe was also in the hall, and besides Cho Min Joon and Peter, the rest of the team were cooking, so only the 3 of them could work on the chicken breast. Kaya’s face became stiff.

“Let’s make it with chicken tenderloin instead of breast. We’ll add the sauce that Cho Min Joon mentioned, too. Hurry. Put it on the pan! Help him, Min Joon.”

“I’ll make the sauce ahead of time. You and Peter make the chicken. Okay?”

“Okay.”

Cho Min Joon walked off and brought the ingredients. The first thing Cho Min Joon did was mince the shallot. He then grilled the chicken tenderloin and thought of sauteing it, but there wasn’t enough time for that.

He cooked it until the shallot was soft and then added the goat cheese, lemon juice, and tarragon. The smell of melted cheese was good at first, but it tended to get worse over time, and Cho Min Joon didn’t like that.

So It was a relief that he added the lemon juice and tarragon. Of course, the customers probably didn’t care. The smell only lasted until it entered their mouths anyway.

“Kaya, are you done with the tenderloin?”

“Almost. What about the sauce?’

“It’s done. What should I do with it? Should I put it on the plate or put it on top of the finished tenderloin?”

“We’ll add it after. Wait. I’ll be done soon.”

Kaya was busily stirring the pan. She was very busy. It was understandable. She was handling four frypans on her own, and each pan contained around 3 pieces of chicken tenderloin, and beside her was Peter sweating as he flipped the chicken.

Cho Min Joon walked toward Peter. Kaya could handle it on her own, but Peter was not so skilled. He also had a weaker mentality, which could lead to mistakes.

But luckily, that didn’t happen. Peter perfectly grilled the chicken tenderloin. He couldn’t check the seasoning as well, but the searing was perfect. It wasn’t too much or too little. Cho Min Joon asked, “Do you want the plates?”

“… Thanks.”

“Wait.”

Cho Min Joon brought the plates to the cooking station. He then thought for a moment whether to put the salad at the bottom or to the side, but he soon came to a decision. The salad already had oriental sauce on it. If that sauce mixed with the chicken, the results were going to be horrendous.

By the time Chloe finished setting up the salad, she brought the cart over but made a confused face.

“Huh? I thought you were making Tandoori.”

“It burned, so we changed it last minute.”

“… That must’ve been hard. Are you okay, Peter?”

Cho Min Joon was shocked by this. Although everyone was angry about this, she was worried about Peter first, and he thought that was admirable.

‘The man Chloe will marry is one lucky man.’

That man was never going to perceive anything as a hardship. Even Peter was smiling at Chloe. At that moment, Kaya asked, “Chloe, are those plates on the cart for your bass?”

“Of course. They finished it all. Even the sauce.”

“… You’ve got to be kidding. That means the tables are empty.”

Kaya quickly placed the chicken tenderloin on the cart, and Chloe calmly helped. Cho Min Joon poured the cheese sauce over the chicken, Kaya sighed out of relief. She then said, “Peter, follow me. This is your dish. You need to explain it.”

“… Okay.”

The two left to serve the dishes. Cho Min Joon watched from the entrance of the hall. The responses of the customers weren’t bad. Of course, Emily’s response was a little cold. She put down her fork after just a few bites. She slightly smiled, but she didn’t look satisfied.

And that was understandable. Kaya was capable of producing better flavors than that, but it was so rushed that it wasn’t up to par.

But the Ossobuco that came out afterward lifted up the mood, and at that moment, Cho Min Joon was even more excited than the customers.

The score of the Ossobuco was 8.

Hugo’s cooking score was 6, and Cho Min Joon had the belief that if one’s cooking level was 6, that meant they couldn’t make a dish worth more than 8 points. That was what Cho Min Joon thought. If one was capable of making a dish worth 7 points, that meant their cooking level was 6.

But that wasn’t the case. Hugo was level 6, but his Ossobuco was an 8. He didn’t have time to process that fact. As soon as lunch ended, they had to prepare for dinner, but as soon as they finished cooking and serving, it was already time for evaluations.

Cho Min Joon looked at the judges. The first one to speak was Emily. Emily looked at them without a smile.

“You’ve all done your best. I really believe you made the best dishes you could today, and some of you were flawless. Chloe, Hugo, Anderson, and Marco. Your dishes were my favorites.”

Cho Min Joon wasn’t sad that his name wasn’t mentioned. He was a little sad, but he understood. All of the dishes Emily named were 8s. Chloe’s bass and Hugo’s Ossobuco, and Anderson showed off his steamed lobster. As for Marco, he made a tart.

“Two from the Red Team and two from Blue Team. That makes this even harder, but I’ve made my decision. I pick…”

Emily showed the chip in her hand. In front of her were boxes for the Red Team and Blue Team, containing votes from the 40 customers, and she pointed at the blue box.

“Blue Team. Your courses were both similar in quality, but the best dish out of all four was the Ossobuco… And the best server was Chloe. Chloe, your smile is a treasure that’s very valuable. If you open a restaurant one day, and you still have that smile… I’ll probably become your regular.”

“T-thank you.”

Chloe smiled awkwardly. Emily laughed and pointed at Chloe.

“That smile is lacking. Have more confidence. You’re a great chef. No matter what happens here, I’m already a fan of yours. Remember that. Restaurants loved by critics will succeed.”

“Yes, Ma’am!”

Chloe clenched her fists as she answered. Emily backed off with a smile. Joseph stepped up next. He put his chip in the red box without hesitation. It happened so quickly that the contestants and the producers were taken aback. Joseph spoke in a calm voice, “I won’t waste your time with my vote. After all, we’re just 1 vote out of 43. I picked the Red Team for a simple reason. I enjoyed the Red Team’s dishes more. Especially Marco’s. Your tart was perfection. I think you’re the best baker here. I want to tell you what Emily told Chloe. Have confidence. You deserve it. Right now, what set the Red Team apart was your tart.”

Marco didn’t answer. He couldn’t. He was tearing up and sniffling. Anderson hesitated beside him before he patted him on his back. Joseph also stepped back. Next was Allan’s turn. Allan spoke with a cold and serious voice, “I don’t’ know about the dishes, but you caused quite the spectacle. You were stupid like monkeys, and one team even swapped out a dish. What I’m evaluating today isn’t your dish, but your knives, cutting boards, and fry pans.”

No one answered. Peter hung his head with a pale look on his face. He couldn’t help it. Allan lifted his chip.

“Red Team also knows just how stupid Blue Team was. Kaya, answer me as the head chef. Do you know what it means to change the recipe?”

“… That means to change the dish.”

“Something like that. That means the order changed. Of course, today’s course wasn’t decided by the customers, but in a different situation, the customer would have cursed you out without paying. Chloe’s smile? Service? What does that matter? You made a huge mistake in your cooking.”

Kaya hung her head without a word. She didn’t want to put all the blame on Peter. It was also her fault that she didn’t check on Peter earlier. Allan put his chip in the red box. Allan continued with a cold face, “I’m not voting for the Red Team because they were great. It’s because Blue Team was stupid. Remember that. Cooking happens in the kitchen, and if the process is shabby, so will your final result. Be perfect. You’re doctors while the ingredients are your patients. It needs to be perfect. No customer expects a chef to make a mistake.

Peter bit down on his lip. He felt as though all those words were directed at him. Allan looked at Peter for a moment before stepping back. Joseph sighed, and as soon as his sigh trailed off, he announced, “Let’s count the ballots.”