Chapter 195 - Chapter 195: In Front of the Starting Line (1)

Time was never considerate toward people. Rose Island didn’t even have a month left before opening. Of course, no customers entered yet, but the kitchen was tense.

Meanwhile, Cho Min Joon was frowning at an orange in his hand in the middle of a market.

“This isn’t so good, is it? It’s probably not sweet.”

“What do you mean…? Yeah. I guess it’s a little less sweet.”

“How can you do this? If you keep lying, I’ll go over to Trudy.”

“Ugh, don’t say that. It’s still sweet enough. It’s just a small difference.”

“That makes all the difference in cooking. So where are the good stuff? Don’t you have any?”

“Sorry. I feel like they slacked when they shipped it over this time around.”

The man sighed with an embarrassed face. He then glanced over at Cho Min Joon. On the outside, he looked like he didn’t know the difference between fruits. So how could he know that at one glance…? He was in awe. Cho Min Joon sighed with his arms crossed.

“Then why did you accept it? You should’ve sent it back. I’m out. I’ll be back tomorrow.”

“No, take a look at our other products.”

“I’m not here to buy on impulse. This isn’t even my card.”

Cho Min Joon showed a disappointed face and turned around. Maya and Justin followed behind him.

“Wow, Chef. I’m impressed. How did you know that?”

“I wish I could be just like you… What’s your secret?”

“You check through the color, smell, and texture.”

Of course, he also had the system’s help. It looked like Maya and Justin were getting cocky all because of him. And it was understandable. Everyone knew that among all four chefs, Cho Min Joon was the best when it came to shopping. He never bought bad materials. It was normal for 1 out of the 10 to be, but not Cho Min Joon.

As a result, people even wanted to put Cho Min Joon in charge of going grocery shopping. Of course, Cho Min Joon would never accept. It wasn’t easy to wake up at dawn to go to the market.

But beyond the hardship, Maya and Justin looked forward to this time. The air of early morning, the scent of the fruits, and the various colors gave them joy. Of course, those things made their hearts feel cleaner, but the fun was elsewhere. It was…

“Look at those Pesto Pesto chefs. They’re not buying oranges after what Min Joon said.”

“The Glacier chefs have been following us around everywhere. They’re trying to see what we buy and don’t buy.”

That was it. Of course, the head chefs and sous chefs didn’t follow Cho Min Joon. But when the demi chefs came out to pick up ingredients, they could get good ingredients just by following Cho Min Joon. He was kind of like a guide.

And it made sense. Cho Min Joon was now famous among the shop keepers. It wasn’t because he had the perfect palate and he was from Rose Island. Since he could pick out the good ingredients from the bad, how could the rumors not spread?

It was as if he was an elite of all chefs. Of course, Rose Island was already elite, but accompanying someone as skilled as Cho Min Joon made them feel proud. So much that they even walked confidently.

As always, Justin drove them back from the market. He spoke in an excited voice, “It’s so fun when we come with you. It feels like we’re with a celebrity.”

“It’s not right for a chef to think of the market as a difficult place. Doesn’t it feel like an amusement park? The more ingredients are, the more it feels like I’m on vacation.”

“But I always have to come. I don’t rotate like the demi chefs and cooks. No matter how delicious the food is, you get tired if you eat it every day.”

“Cheer up. It’ll get better once you move up from being an apprentice.”

Cho Min Joon looked caring as if he understood. Since there was a time when he suffered as an apprentice, he understood what Justin was going through. While the head chefs were mentally busy, the apprentices were physically busy. They had to do all sorts of small jobs.

Maya thought while looking at Cho Min Joon. Although she was in charge of the molecular cooking section, she felt like she was lucky to work under Cho Min Joon. He was friendly but not a pushover, and he was stern, but not mean. His mind was always on cooking, and he never tried to teach her when it was out of his realm.

Most importantly, he didn’t treat people like crap. Of course, the other demi chefs weren’t that bad either, but it was clear that Cho Min Joon tried to think about things in other people’s shoes. That was why when she tried to complain about anything, the other cooks would say, ‘At least you work underneath Min Joon.’

Once they got back to the kitchen, they had to get back to work. People thought molecular cooking was all about using machinery, but Maya worked with special ingredients more than equipment. Agar, dextrose, lecithin, tapioca, and more.

That also meant that she had to constantly check up on the processes of making those ingredients. But she wasn’t that busy when it came to just that. But it took a lot of time and effort to use those ingredients again to make other dishes. She wasn’t sure if she could handle the real thing.

What the cooks learned while preparing for the opening was that there was a reason why there was a gap between the cooks and demi chefs. It wasn’t just in their cooking skills. It wasn’t that demi chefs never got tired, but while they were cooking, they never let their guard down. Since it was clear they poured all of their mental power into cooking, it was hard not to feel motivated.

“Maya, taste this.”

Cho Min Joon gave her a plate. Maya stared at it. There was a white powder on clear noodles, and there were coriander and lemongrass on top. Maya opened her mouth.

“What’s this?”

“I cooked Thai noodles, caramelized calf broth, and after that, I made it into powder and added it. Of course, it’s not finished yet… But tell me how it tastes.”

“… It’d be my honor.”

She looked hesitant for someone who was honored. And she couldn’t be blamed. Cho Min Joon’s molecular cooking was always groundbreaking, and that meant…

‘It’s always hovering between Heaven and Hell.’

Maya put the noodles in her mouth with her eyes shut. At that moment, her eyes slowly opened, and her face looked touched. Maya chewed on the noodles and clapped.

“Wow, this is amazing. This is the best you’ve made recently.”

“Really?”

“But if there’s anything that’s missing… I think the broth powder could use more depth.”

Cho Min Joon nodded. Recently, Cho Min Joon was interested in broth. The difference between the East and the West was the broth. Eastern countries tended to drink broth in the form of a soup, but the Western countries added ingredients or used it to make sauces.

The problem was that both sides put a lot of care into it. Demi-glace sauce and broth could both seem like basic ingredients… But it wasn’t easy making them. Even cooks of Korean soup rice houses devote their entire lives to the broth.

‘… There is a recipe.’

He went to a lot of soup rice restaurants in Koreatown. And Cho Min Joon knew all of their broth recipes. But the problem was that most soup rice cooked large amounts of beef all at the same time. And some even stood in front of the stove for 24 hours straight watching it.

“Is this what you’re working on these days?”

A voice popped out. It was Rafael. He rolled the noodles onto a fork and put it in his mouth. He nodded and opened his mouth.

“It’s good, but there’s no depth.”

“I think it’s because I didn’t spend enough time on the broth.”

“Did you use a broth that you buy?”

“No, I made it myself. I thought homemade would be best.”

“I don’t know. It might be better to use store-bought ones if you want depth. Don’t look down on it. You might think all factory-made things are the same, but some are made very well.”

“Yes, I know. But… I feel like customers would want us to make everything from scratch.”

“That’s true. Then try making it yourself. I’ll give you permission.”

Rafael answered. Cho Min Joon stared at Rafael in confusion. Rafael smiled and said, “That broth. Make it yourself.”

***

“… I was wondering why you were so busy. Was this the crazy crap you were doing?”

Kaya stared at Cho Min Joon with judgmental eyes. It was nighttime, and there were three of them in the kitchen—Cho Min Joon, Kaya, and Anderson. Cho Min Joon smiled and answered, “I wanted to try it. I’ve never made slow food myself before.”

“Come on. This is even worse.”

“… I can’t believe you.”

Kaya sat at the cooking station. Anderson knitted his brows.

“That’s my cooking station.”

“Oh no. Sorry, my bum. I got weird stuff on you.”

Kaya got off and brushed off her bum. Cho Min Joon sighed.

“Just go home if you’re going to keep fighting. It’s late.”

“But you’ll be lonely.”

“Who gets lonely while cooking?”

Cho Min Joon answered calmly and took out the oil from the broth. Kaya leaned her head in beside Cho Min Joon’s neck.

“The kitchen’s going to reek of pig. How long do you have to boil this for?”

“24 hours.”

“… You’re going to be here that long? You’ll get sick.”

“I’ll just rest here and there.”

“You’re going through too much trouble to make slightly better ramen broth.”

“… That’s demotivating.”

He laughed. While Kaya rubbed Cho Min Joon’s neck, Anderson opened his mouth.

“Anyway, we should look for a place soon.”

“Have you guys decided?”

Cho Min Joon’s eyes stayed on the broth. They currently had 2 options for living one was Beverly Hills and the other was West Hollywood. The former was close to Rose Island and the latter was close to Kaya’s Grand Chef restaurant. Of course, the distance wasn’t too different. Kaya opened her mouth.

“I like Beverly Hills.”

“Why?”

“Too many crazies in Hollywood.”

He knew what Kaya was talking about. All sorts of artists roamed around Hollywood, so it gave off an eccentric vibe. Anderson answered, “But you know how Beverly Hills is… All they have are places with a master bedroom and a normal bedroom.”

“I know.”

Beverly Hills was expensive. So it was hard for them to find one with three rooms. That meant that two of them would have to share a room. Anderson shrugged and said,

“Then we just have to decide one more thing. Who gets the master room? The two of you? Or me and Min Joon?”