Chapter 166 - Chapter 166: Friendly Judge (1)

[Okay, there’s an emulsifier and nitrogen dioxide inside this tin. If you add strawberries to it, watch. Bubbles form.]

“… Hm, but if you add foam sauce, wouldn’t it make it taste blander?”

Cho Min Joon, who was watching a video on his phone, opened his mouth with thought. It was a recent and popular cooking show. He acknowledged that most of the molecular dishes showed off refreshing and refined flavors, but he wasn’t sure about the foam sauce. Of course, food critics would taste that small difference, but not regular customers. Cho Min Joon looked back at Anderson.

“Are you interested in molecular cooking?”

“Why do you ask?”

“I’m not sure. I don’t really like it, but I feel interested at the same time.”

“There won’t be much for us to do for the time being anyway. Ever since Rachel retired, molecular cooking became the next trend in restaurants.”

Cotton candy also counted as molecular cooking, but like Anderson said, the restaurants only started doing molecular cooking after Rachel retired. Cho Min Joon shrugged.

“Who knows? Maybe she researched molecular cooking for 10 years.”

“Is there a need for that? She’s at the top of the world with regular cooking.”

Cho Min Joon shrugged without a word. Anderson changed the subject.

“How do you think the auditions will be?”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you think there will be a lot of people? I mean applicants.”

“I don’t know. There will probably be more than the crowd that gathered in front of the restaurant.”

He felt strange. Just a few months back, he was being evaluated by judges, but now he had to be the one to evaluate others.

“Does that mean we succeeded?”

“Success would be to get Michelin stars and buy a house in Beverly Hills or Hollywood. All we are are demi chefs.”

“But we got a good start.”

“That’s true.”

Anderson smirked. At that moment, Rachel appeared at the kitchen doors. She gestured with her hands and then disappeared. Anderson and Cho Min Joon looked at each other before going out to the hall. It wasn’t just Rachel in the hall. Issac, Lisa, and Ella were there, too.

“The auditions start tomorrow. Issac, can you please explain the details?”

“Sure. There is a total of 49 applicants, and 15 of them signed up to be cooks while 27 of them signed up to be demi chefs. The remaining 7 are here to be apprentices. As for baking, 9 people applied, and 2 of them will work as Lisa’s assistants. We’re going to pick 2 demi chefs and 4 cooks, and there will only be 1 apprentice.”

“… Rachel, can I ask you a question?”

“Sure.”

“What’s our evaluation standards?”

Rachel calmly answered, “That’s up to you.”

***

“… Can we really do whatever we want?”

On the day of the auditions, they mumbled while looking at the people outside the restaurant. They could see their nervousness and anticipation from far away. Their fates were up to them, but even the evaluation standards were up to them as well.

But Anderson didn’t seem burdened by it. He looked out at the applicants with his calm and cold face.

“Our standards will be the average chef’s standards. No need to be so nervous. You seem more nervous than when we were on Grand Chef.”

“… Yeah, but I can’t help it. Their fates depend on my choices. Now, I’m responsible for other people’s destinies.”

“Don’t hesitate. If they don’t touch us, that means they’re not good enough. If they have talent or make a lot of effort, we’ll see it, too.”

Instead of answering, Cho Min Joon looked out the window. He saw the families and friends of the applicants cheering them on. However, most of them would be disqualified today, and Cho Min Joon had to be the one to do it.

Anderson watched Cho Min Joon quietly. Cho Min Joon was hard to read. At times, he looked like a nice person with a soft smile, but he wasn’t the type to open up so easily. He entered other people’s hearts easily, but when it came to his own, he didn’t let people in.

That was why Anderson was once confused. He wasn’t sure if Cho Min Joon really thought of him as a friend, but that was a stupid question at this point. Anderson now knew what kind of person Cho Min Joon was.

He had a big heart and a lot of affection, but he knew what he wanted. Even now, the softness in Cho Min Joon’s eyes slowly faded. And a moment later, Cho Min Joon’s face had no expression whatsoever. He had already made up his mind. Anderson spoke in an annoyed voice, “… You scary bastard.”

“Why?”

“No, nothing.”

Anderson turned his head, not wanting to tell him. Cho Min Joon looked in the mirror and fixed his chef scarf. A white chef’s uniform with a black scarf. Sous chefs had yellow scarves, normal cooks had grey, and apprentices had white, and Rachel had red.

Every restaurant was different in terms of what the colors meant. Some places had their head chefs wearing black scarves while some other places used chef hats to differentiate the ranks.

‘Black looks nice.’

He didn’t have any complaints. Anderson saw Cho Min Joon smirk in the mirror and said, “You were just pained at the thought of disqualifying people, and now you’re smiling.”

“It’s not like I can cry. I might feel bad, but I also feel excited.”

“For what?”

Cho Min Joon smirked.

“I need to let my tongue loose once in a while.”

“Do that later and come to the kitchen, so we can do our final inspection.”

Lisa appeared with a sleeping Ella on her back. Cho Min Joon followed Lisa out. The kitchen inspection was simple. Frypans, fire, and the condition of the knives. Also, the freshness of the ingredients. Besides that, they just had to check that the floors weren’t slippery.

“There’s no problem. What about the ovens?”

“These are fine, too. Oh, can you hold Ella for a second?”

“Sure.”

Lisa put her back against Cho Min Joon. Cho Min Joon carefully took Ella. Ella must’ve still had her instincts while sleeping because she hugged Cho Min Joon’s neck. Lisa straightened her back. She took Ella back and put her on the sofa in the office. Cho Min Joon felt the warmth leave his arms and opened his mouth.

“Ella’s a good girl. She must be bored being at the restaurant all the time, but I heard no complaints from her.”

“How can she be bored when a fairy is here? Of course, Ella is a good girl. She is… She’s kind and beautiful.”

“… I think you’re a good mother.”

Cho Min Joon spoke while watching Lisa smile at Ella, but that only put a sad look on Lisa’s face. She spoke in a self-mocking voice, “A good mother wouldn’t make her grow up without a father.”

“… Many kids grow up like Ella, without a father and just a mother. And they don’t hesitate when they say their mother was a good mom. Ella will do the same.”

Lisa looked at Cho Min Joon without a word. Just as she was about to say something, Issac said something, “The head cook wants us out in the hall.”

“I guess it’s starting.”

The hall, Rachel was waiting in her chef’s uniform. She smiled softly and looked at everyone.

“You look like you’re at war. There’s no need to be nervous. Just relax. There’s no reason for you to be nervous.”

In response, Cho Min Joon looked at his watch. 9:55. There were only 5 minutes remaining. Rachel slowly opened her mouth.

“Today is important for those auditioning, but it’s important to us as well. This is our first activity at Rose Island, and I’m happy you’re here with me… Okay, Issac.

“Yes, Chef.”

“Let’s begin.”

Issac nodded and opened the doors. They heard all sorts of loud voices before the nervous contestants entered the hall. Cho Min Joon quietly scanned them.

‘Cooking level 5, 4, 4, 5… 2? They’re no good.’

Cooking scores gave him a rough idea of their overall skill. Of course, Yamamoto in Japan showed off much better dishes than his level 7 implied, but that was only in one field. If all of them had low scores, it was hard to expect someone special.

Cho Min Joon naturally lost his appetite. Of course, the ones with lower scores were probably aiming for apprentice positions, but it wasn’t right for them to enter the kitchen if they had never properly cooked before.

Cooking could be learned outside the kitchen as well. They could easily practice at home, but the fact that they were levels 5 or even 4… meant that they made no effort at all.

So it was understandable that Cho Min Joon’s face turned cold. He had always cherished this profession, so he hated the idea of people coming along who had no respect for cooking. Not only that, but it was also an insult to the other contestants.

But that feeling was conveyed in a different way to the contestants. A Caucasian man with curly black hair spoke to a woman beside him in a Spanish accent.

“Ugh, I thought he’d be friendlier like on TV, but he’s not. He looks so cold. I guess reality is always different from TV.”

The woman with dark braided hair looked beside her. Her eyes looked sharp and scary, so much that the man almost flinched, but the voice that came out was surprisingly soft.

“Maybe he’s forestalling.”

“Well, it’s working. Oh, my name is Havier Diego.”

“Janet Pay.”

Janet responded in a soft voice. Havier grinned and said, “It’s nice to meet you. I hope we both get in. Oh, I’m trying out to be a demi chef. What about you?”

Janet didn’t respond. Before she could, Rachel’s voice rang loudly, “First of all, I’d like to thank you for coming. The fact that you want to join my family means that you trust me. But unfortunately, I can’t take all of you. We’re only looking for one apprentice, two demi chefs, and four cooks. As for breadmaking, we’ll pick two more people. Out of 58 of you 48…”

Cho Min Joon quickly whispered in her hear.

“It’s 49.”

“… Ahem, 49 of you will have to go back home. The rules of the audition is simple. Let’s begin with the apprentices. The test is prepared in the kitchen. Everyone else, please wait out in the hall. I don’t care if you watch from outside. After all, it’s an open kitchen. Let’s go.”

Rachel turned her back. Meanwhile, Anderson raised his voice, “Those here who are trying out to be an apprentice, please enter the kitchen.”

In response 7 people followed them into the kitchen. And what they were handed was simple. Cutting board, garlic, and a knife. Rachel calmly opened her mouth.

“The first test is simple. Please slice garlic for Alio Olio. Min Joon, show them an example.”

“Sure.”

Cho Min Joon grabbed his knife. He then sliced the garlic calmly. His face didn’t look too focused, but every time his knife went down, the garlic were sliced evenly. Cho Min Joon lifted the thinly sliced garlic and said, “It can’t be thinner or thicker than this. Please begin.”

That was when the contestants began working with the garlic. Some showed off decent knifework, but most of them were a mess. It was understandable. Among the contestants, there wasn’t a single person who were above level 4.

And there was no point in even talking about level 2s. Cho Min Joon approached a man. He must’ve been of mixed race. The darker-skinned man tried to slice the garlic as thinly as he could… But it wasn’t easy. Green onion would’ve been easier. The garlic were too small, and he had a hard time keeping it on the board. Unless he had a good sense of how to hold the knife, slicing garlic wasn’t easy.

But that didn’t mean it was an advanced skill either. Even an average person could slice garlic properly, but not this man. Aside from not having uniform thickness, the way he held the knife proved that he had never cooked before.

Cho Min Joon sighed and looked back. Rachel, Anderson, and Lisa were all looking at the man.

‘… I guess I’ll have to do the hard job.’

His decision came quickly. Cho Min Joon opened his mouth.

“Ben?”

“Yes!”

“Do you like to cook?”

“Yes, I do.”

“You’re lying.”

“… I’m sorry?”

Ben looked at Cho Min Joon with a confused face. Cho Min Joon took the knife from Ben’s hands and glared at Ben.

“How can someone who likes cooking hold a knife like this? Do you even cook at home?”

“… Not often. But I want to cook.”

“Many people want to do things, but it all depends on how much time and effort you put into accomplishing it. In my eyes, you just came here to fool around.”

“That’s why I applied to be an apprentice, so that I can make that effort. This position will help me learn.”

Ben’s voice was sharp as if he didn’t like what he had said. Cho Min Joon sighed and shook his head.

“Effort isn’t location-specific. If you were sincere about cooking, you would’ve practiced on your own. You can’t say you want to be a chef without having practiced at all.”

“I didn’t have time…”

“That’s what I hate to hear the most. You must eat at home at least, one or two meals a day. You must eat no matter how busy you are. You must sleep, too. No one is so busy that they can’t hold a knife because you can practice just by sleeping a few minutes less. Of course, if you’re so busy that you can’t even sleep, I’ll understand. Is that how busy you are?”

Ben was unable to answer. He wasn’t that busy. Cho Min Joon lifted the garlic that Ben sliced.

“You said you want to be an apprentice so you can practice. But if you want to learn English, you should at least know the alphabet. You’re the only one here who doesn’t know the alphabet.”

His voice was quiet, serious, and friendly, but his words were cruel. Ben bit down on his lip and dropped his head. Cho Min Joon looked at him with sharp eyes and opened his mouth.

“It’s hard to believe that the passion you didn’t have at home will magically happen in the kitchen. There are too many obstacles for us to work together.”

He didn’t smell a single drop of sweat, which was an insult to the other contestants. Cho Min Joon looked back at Rachel. She nodded. The decision had been made.

“Thank you for coming out. Please go back home.”