Chapter 139 - Chapter 139: Kitchen (3)

She sounded childish. But since the feeling behind the immature words was so beautiful and kind, he didn’t hate it, but what Allan told him was just as pure. Cho Min Joon spoke in a calm voice, “I won’t lie. I won’t give up on cooking either. Allan, I promise I won’t stop until I open the best restaurant. So don’t worry.”

“… I feel relieved to hear you say that.”

“But what were you talking about earlier? You said you ran away once.”

“When do you think that was?”

Allan smirked as he asked back. Cho Min Joon thought for a moment before answering.

“Was it when you first learned to cook under Rachel?”

“No. Quite the opposite. Back then, I had hope. I thought that if I became a demi chef or a sous chef, or even a head chef, things would change. I thought I could make my kitchen fun.”

“… Were you wrong?”

Cho Min Joon asked with a confused face. Allan flashed a smile and looked back at Rachel. Rachel was looking back at Allan in a mysterious manner. Upon seeing her face, Allan retraced his memories.

“Hope is a step forward into the future. Like I said, when I became a demi chef and a sous chef… looking above that made me feel relieved. ‘It’s only hard because I’m at the bottom. It’ll change when I’m the head chef.’ But…”

Allan clicked his tongue and shrugged. He then sighed and continued in a calm voice, “I realized it when I became a head chef. That that position wasn’t the most comfortable, but that it was one with the most responsibility. I’m sure you’ve all seen it on the internet. The head chefs that scream at everybody in the kitchen. What do you think about them?”

“… Don’t they just have bad personalities, to begin with?”

Kaya answered. If someone screamed at her like that, she would fight back. Anderson jumped in and said, “There are many chefs with bad personalities, but that’s not the only reason.”

“Yeah. You have to have your head on straight, but there’s no need to scream. I’m not saying it’s bad. To be honest, I know I might be like that when I’m a head chef.”

“… Really?”

“Yeah. I’m ready for that to happen. Is that bad?”

In response to Kaya’s casual confession, no one could say anything. Kaya raised her eyebrow and glanced over at Cho Min Joon, but Cho Min Joon was looking at Allan. He opened his mouth.

“I understand what you’re trying to say. Are you saying head chefs feel so pressured that they end up screaming all day? And that they never feel comfortable?”

“Something like that. But that’s not all. Being the head chef means you have to start worrying about the restaurant’s sales and reputation. You also have to come up with new menus, show off new flavors that aren’t too crazy, and satisfy customers so that they’re never disappointed.”

Allan sighed and shook his head.

“To be honest, it’s still hard for me. Friends ask me what I’m worried about since I already have two-stars… But I still can’t get used to the pressure. Every day is a war. ‘Is the kitchen okay? Did the ingredients arrive? Are the customers happy? If they are, is it because of my cooking? Or are they just being picky?’ I end up thinking a lot… And the more I think, the more my head hurts.”

“I can’t say I know what you mean… But I think I understand.”

He remembered what Rachel said. She said cooking was still hard. If Rachel thought that way, Allan must’ve thought the same. The deeper you went into any profession, the harder it got. Cho Min Joon opened his mouth. It was possible he would work with Rachel after the show ended. That meant that he wouldn’t have much time to meet other chefs.

If that was the case, he wanted to obtain information. Rachel would teach him well, but he believed that Allan knew things Rachel didn’t. Allan continued, “The hardest part is the mentality. People who work in companies get stressed because of their bosses, but we get stressed because of customers. The ironic part is that while chefs are the most stressed because of customers… what they love the most and who they crave love from are the customers as well.”

“Is it best to just not consider the mean customers as customers at all?”

“Do you think the mean customers have always been that way? A customer who always complimented me left my restaurant one day with a stiff face. He then never came back again. When I checked out my blog later on, he expressed his disappointment in my restaurant. That’s the biggest pain a chef must endure. It almost feels as though you lost a significant other.”

How long would it have taken him to say those words out loud? The atmosphere was heavy. Allan clapped his hands.

“But that’s just the hard times. As much as there’s criticism, others will smile at you and give you compliments. And that will give you much happiness. But no matter how happy you are, you’ll feel sick when you get attacked. In order to not get sick from it, you must stay strong. Min Joon, Anderson, and Kaya, are you strong or weak?”

No one could say they were strong. That was how people were. Many people pretended to be strong, but not many were actually that strong. Some might mistake themselves to be strong, but the three of them knew themselves better than that.

At that moment, Martin glanced at Allan. Allan closed his eyes before opening them and asked, “If you don’t know, how about we do a test?”

“A test?”

“Yes, stand in my kitchen.”

Allan pointed at the pasta that was half empty.

“I’ll teach you the pasta recipe until dinner time. Can you prove it to my dinner customers?”

“… What are we proving?”

Kaya asked in an anxious voice. Allan answered in a serious voice, “That you’re chefs.”

***

It had been a long time since he wore a chef’s uniform, but it didn’t feel unfamiliar. Even though it was someone else’s, Cho Min Joon still liked it. He believed that he didn’t feel awkward in a chef’s uniform because he had the mindset of a chef. That was a childish thought to have, but still… Kaya opened her mouth.

“It’s been a while, but it doesn’t feel awkward at all. Maybe I was meant to be a chef. What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“… No reason.”

Cho Min Joon looked away with an awkward face. Anderson spoke in annoyance, “Stop fooling around while cooking, or I’ll pour salt on you.”

“I know how to keep work and private life separate.”

Anderson didn’t bother answering. Since it was the preparation time between lunch and dinner, Allan’s chefs were taking a break. But it was an exception for the chefs of the lower ranks. Around three people were still at the cooking stations stirring soups, and the others were watching with interested eyes.

“It looks like we can have one cooking station each, for now anyway.”

Just as Cho Min Joon mumbled that, Martina and Allan approached them. Cho Min Joon scanned behind them and then asked, “What happened to the others?”

“They went to try the other foods of Florence.”

“While we stay here and practice cooking?”

“Why? Don’t you want to?”

“No, that’s not why…”

No matter how delicious Florence food was, there was nothing better than being able to experience Allan’s kitchen. Martin spoke up from beside him, “We’re thinking of making you compete for the sake of entertainment on the show.”

“Compete?”

“The person who makes the most delicious olive linguine will be able to work as the demi chef of the pasta section tonight, and the other two will simply aide the winner.”

Kaya, Anderson, and Cho Min Joon exchanged glances. There were times when they worked together as team leaders and team members on Grand Chef, but it was never called an assistant. Since they were friends and colleagues, they really didn’t want to lose.

Kaya asked with a determined voice, “Okay. Then can you teach us the recipe?”

“Add basil into olive oil, and fry the garlic in that oil. After putting pak choi and squid into it and flambéing it in white wine, fry it again, and add salt. After cooking the linguine for 7 minutes, add the sauce and fry it again.”

Cho Min Joon organized Allan’s recipe inside his head. And a moment later, he asked with a shocked face, “Is that it…?”

“Yes.”

Allan answered in a calm voice. That shocked Cho Min Joon even more because the dish in front of him had a predicted score of 9.

‘What’s going on?’

If there was a skill that could elevate that dish to the next level, it wasn’t impossible for the predicted score to be so high, but it was highly unlikely.

Even the sous chefs of the pasta section had cooking scores of 7. So with that level, making a 9-point recipe into a 10-point dish was almost impossible. Even for Cho Min Joon, it wasn’t easy making a 6-point recipe into a 7-point dish.

That meant it was one of two things. Either Allan told them the wrong recipe or left things out on purpose.

‘Does he want us to fill in what’s missing…?’

Cho Min Joon closed his eyes. No matter how many times he organized it inside his head, he couldn’t find an answer. He just had to make it and see.

The three of them cooked linguine side by side to each other. They all prepared the ingredients differently. Kaya cut them in a rough and vibrant manner while Anderson was quick and detail-oriented, and as for Cho Min Joon, he was calm and neat.

The olive oil with basil was savory and fragrant and on top of it, the squid and pak choi claimed their positions. As soon as the white wine went in, the darker color caused a flame to shot up, and the cooked linguine was placed inside.

Cho Min Joon took out the noodles before it was dry and placed it on a plate. Along with the noodles came pieces of pak choi and squid. On the outside, it looked just like the pasta he had eaten. But the score was 9.

He wasn’t happy because he got a 9 since the score depended not on his abilities but on the noodles. Cho Min Joon put a noodle into his mouth. It was delicious. The noodle was chewy, savory, and the flavors of the squid and pak choi were clear and alive. But something was missing. Allan glanced at Cho Min Joon and asked, “Do you think you recreated it?”

“… No. Something’s missing.”

“Really?”

Allan looked at Cho Min Joon while holding back his laughter. He was certain upon seeing his face. Something was missing from the recipe. Cho Min Joon asked the other two, “Can I taste yours?”

“If I can taste yours.”

“Let’s trade.”

Cho Min Joon traded plates. Kaya and Anderson’s linguines weren’t that different from his. Since the ingredients and recipes were the same, that was to be expected. There was a slight difference in flavor… but it wasn’t big enough to change the score.

‘The recipe Allan told us contained all the ingredients that the system showed.’

If none of the ingredients were missing, that meant there was a difference in cooking order or time. That was what Cho Min Joon believed. As soon as he tasted Allan’s pasta, he tasted something sweet. It was a sweetness that he didn’t taste in his own dish.

At that moment, he had a feeling of what was missing.

“No way…!”