Chapter 130 - Chapter 130: Night in Florence (2)

“It’s good to see you again.”

Allan spoke in a calm voice. After hugging Rachel and Emily, he looked at Cho Min Joon.

“Min Joon, did you get taller?”

“No. I might be wearing taller shoes, but I’m too old to grow.”

Cho Min Joon smiled playfully and pointed at his shoes. Allan also greeted Anderson and then looked over at Jeremy and Sarah.

“Long time no see, Jeremy. I’m still affected by your evaluation ever since you came to my restaurant.”

“… Oh, I can’t remember. Did I compliment you?”

“I’m not sure. From what I can remember… you said my apple rice cakes were disgusting, and that all of my other customers must’ve gotten food poisoning.”

“Haha, I don’t have much time. I don’t like to look at the same information twice.”

Jeremy answered in a nonchalant manner. Allan also got over it and smirked and turned his gaze. He then smiled softly.

“I’m honored to meet you. I’m Allan Craig. Please call me Allan.”

“Oh, yes. I’m Sarah Kates. It’s good to see you here. I’ve always wanted to meet you.”

“Wait, Allan. Do you know Sarah?”

“She was on the cover of Cookers Magazine as the sexiest food critic in the world. Everyone knows her.”

“… You’re not the type to look at magazines though.”

Allan avoided answering and shifted his gaze. Jeremy grinned and said, “People tend to buy magazines even if they don’t read them. That’s the power of covers.”

“I see what you mean.”

Sarah grinned like a sexy model and looked at Emily. Emily didn’t look so pleased, but she didn’t say anything.

“But what brings you here, Allan? Is it because of Rachel?”

“That’s the biggest reason. How could I not come when my mentor is here?”

Allan smiled in a way that didn’t suit him and looked at Rachel. Rachel coughed. Allan spoke in a serious voice. “Thank you for returning, Rachel. I’ve wanted to see you back in the kitchen one more time.”

“… I haven’t taught you for long, but you’re better than my other pupil.”

Rachel spoke while sniffling. Allan was only in his mid-thirties. And when Rachel left the kitchen, he was only 24 or 25 years old… So he hadn’t learned from her for more than a few years. So she was thankful to Allan. But Allan answered in a calm voice, “It was short but deep.”

They all got into the van and headed to Florence. When they first landed, they thought they would be greeted by gorgeous Roman architecture, but what they saw in front of them were grass and a wide road. Martin called them via walkie-talkie.

[Ah, ah. Can you hear me?]

“Yes.”

[It’s a little too late for lunch and too early for dinner, so I think it’s best that you roam around and try different street foods. Allan, you know of many good places, right?]

“I even know how many buildings there are in Florence. Don’t worry.”

[How many are there?]

“20032.”

It grew quiet. Allan put down his walkie-talkie in victory. Anderson, who was driving, asked, “How did you know that?”

“I just guessed.”

“… Really?”

Emily asked with a surprised face. Allan shrugged and answered, “I don’t even know how many forks there are in my kitchen, so how would I know that? I’m sure Martin is researching as we speak. He’ll check if I’m right or not.”

“… You like to tease people, don’t you?”

“I’m not that evil, but it’s kind of fun making fun of Martin.”

“Why?”

“He came to my restaurant the other day and barfed on my floor. I told him to drink less, but…”

Cho Min Joon burst into laughter. He then opened his mouth out of curiosity.

“Come to think of it, do you get a lot of bad customers? I doubt there are any who start fights about how your food tastes.”

“Of course, there are. Even when I managed Rachel’s Rose Island in Venice, I got at least one bad customer a day.”

“In what way?”

“I’ll answer for you. People who spat or threw up on the plates… as well as people who smoked in the VIP section. There were people who didn’t pay their bill, and one person even put a cockroach on our plate and left.”

“… The last one just sounds like a mental patient.”

“That’s just how it is. People will tell you it was delicious and that they had a good time… But once you get a customer like that, all the good energy fades away.”

Rachel twitched her lips with a sad face. Allan added, “Luckily, everything’s by appointment now, so terrorists like that are rarer to come by. Of course, that’s only possible if you’re popular enough to only take appointments. But appointments are also difficult in their own way. Many people don’t show up, so that means we lose money. You’ve heard of no-shows, right?”

“Oh, yes. I really don’t understand that. They could just call.”

“I don’t understand it either, but many things are hard to understand in this business. Many restaurants went under because of no-shows, so some places don’t even take reservations.”

Allan then smirked and looked at Cho Min Joon.

“Are you worried thinking about your future restaurant?”

“I know I’m thinking too far into the future.”

“No, I like it. But don’t think about problems you can’t control. No need to be stressed about it so soon.”

“I know. But thinking of where and what kind of restaurant to open makes me feel excited. But of course, I still need to gain experience first.”

“If a spot opened up at my restaurant, I’d call you… But it’s not worth learning Italian for. I’m sure there will be a position in America or anywhere else. Maybe…”

Allan glanced at Rachel.

“The place is closer than you think.”

***

Florence was a place that was the most exposed to war ruins in Italy and maybe Europe. Cho Min Joon was just as touched when he saw the Thai palace once he saw the Duomo and the Palazzo Medici Riccardi. He realized that buildings could be works of art.

‘I want to open a restaurant in a place like that.’

“Let’s pick where we want to go.”

Emily looked hungry. Since she relieved her stress by eating, it was a given that she was cranky when hungry. It was clear that she wanted to eat something right away. Cho Min Joon spoke up, “I’m most curious about pasta.”

“What about Panini? Pizza’s good, too.”

“We have lots of time to eat all of that. But the first meal should be light. I recommend a sandwich. There’s a famous place nearby.”

Allan answered. Since he was a local, his words meant a lot more, so everyone nodded.

“Let’s go.”

The place that Allan led them to was a shop that looked like a truck or a container. There were three people inside taking orders and in front of them was a menu in Italian. Allan read the menu,

“First, let me explain the most basic combination. You can pick the bread, sauce, and meat for your sandwich.”

“… It’s similar to the sandwich chain in America.”

“It’s similar, but the flavors are very different. Trust me. I recommend the beef derma meat.”

“Oh, one moment.”

Sarah asked the chef something. In Cho Min Joon’s ears, it sounded fluent, but he didn’t know for sure. Sarah then brought over a Panini. She handed it to Cho Min Joon and smiled.

“I still haven’t seen your perfect palate in action. Can you please show me?”

“… You’re like a kid sometimes.”

“What can I do? I’ve been curious, but I haven’t been able to ask out of fear of looking rude. But I think I’ve waited long enough. Aren’t we close now?”

“Give it to me.”

“Oh, sure.”

Sarah watched Cho Min Joon’s mouth with a fluttering heart. He felt a little pressured, but Cho Min Joon put the Panini in his mouth. The bread was very fluffy. Cho Min Joon liked Paninis like this. The flavors were better once it was grilled, but hard bread like this was better for feeling the real texture.

Cho Min Joon looked at the Panini for a moment. The system window said it was worth 7 points. It was a good dish. After all, it was similar to the dishes he made. His tastebuds became pickier after traveling with Rachel, but this was good enough for him.

As soon as he put the bread in his mouth, the system told him the ingredients, but Cho Min Joon didn’t look at it. He wanted to see if he could get them right.

“… What’s for certain is that there’s beef derma meat in here. It was fried with onions, basil, and olive oil… And there’s also garlic and pepperoncini. I taste olives, capers, cabbage, arugula… and inside the tomato sauce of tomato, cream, and garlic. Also…”

After that was up to the system. Cho Min Joon checked off what he didn’t get on his own. He then spoke in a lighter voice, “There’s white wine and honey. The honey is surprising. I think they mixed it with the sauce later on.”

Two ingredients. HE only missed two ingredients. Was it because he had been practicing all this time? He smiled proudly while Sarah stared at him in awe.

“… You’re right. I don’t know the ingredients of the sauce, but you got everything else right.”

“If you just focus, you can get it. If you’ve practiced, that is.”

“I can’t take that seriously coming from a man with a perfect palate. I can’t do it even if I tried.”

Sarah stuck out her lip. Cho Min Joon felt strange. Sarah was a level 8 in tasting like him, and his tongue wasn’t all that special. That was what he thought, at least. But Sarah said she couldn’t do what he could.

‘Did the system make me more sensitive? Or…’

Perhaps he always had a sensitive palate but never realized it. Just as he was thinking about that, Sarah made an uncertain face and approached the chef again and said something to him. The chef looked taken aback at first, but he then looked at Cho Min Joon with interest.

He then began to slice up ingredients. He sliced them so thinly that it was almost minced, and he put it on top of the bread. Cho Min Joon, who was watching from afar, got a little annoyed.

“Are you going to make me eat that?”

“I want to see how perfect your palate is.”

Sarah’s eyes twinkled. She couldn’t help herself. A perfect palate in front of a food critic was no different from Beethoven in front of a musician. When Emily first learned that Cho Min Joon had the perfect palate, she immediately wanted to make him into a food critic.

Cho Min Joon put the new Panini in his mouth. Everyone stared at Cho Min Joon with wide eyes. Gulp. He swallowed the food…

And he spoke.