God of Cooking

Chapter 141: Chapter 141: Kitchen (5)

Once the demi chef was decided, Allan handed Cho Min Joon the recipe as well as the exact order of cooking. He heard many things, but what Allan stressed was memorizing the order of adding the pasta.

It didn’t matter for one or two plates, but in a place with many customers, it was important to memorize the order of boiling pasta. If he happened to forget which pasta was cooked for longer, one side would be overcooked while the other side would be undercooked.

What was relieving was that the only kind of pasta they were in charge of was linguine. It wasn’t that they were in charge of linguine while another chef was in charge of another pasta. The only dish at Olive Island was the linguine. When he asked why, Allan answered, “The menu here is different depending on the day, and it continues to change depending on the day and season.”

Upon hearing that, what Cho Min Joon thought first was if there were other dishes in the week that had the same high score. There was probably no way the level of difficulty would be lower than this pasta… But he was curious about their recipes. After all, without Alfredo’s linguine, this dish would have been hard to save. He wanted to learn a 10-point recipe made of average ingredients.

‘… I’m a thief.’

Cho Min Joon smacked his lips. There were many people who worked months in a famous restaurant just to learn their recipes, so the fact that he learned Allan’s in just a day probably made Allan sad.

After a few practice runs, there was not much else to prepare. All that was left was for the customers to arrive.

Following a short break, the other chefs chatted him up. The most popular one out of the three was Anderson. Anderson was an American known to Italians because of his parents, Amelia and Fabio. For that reason, Anderson was able to speak a little Italian, so those who weren’t fluent in English talked to him… Or Anderson played the role of a translator.

While Anderson was busy talking to the other chefs, one person approached Kaya and Cho Min Joon. It was the youngest chef who approached Kaya earlier named Bertha. She cautiously took off the yellow scarf around her neck and offered a pen.

“May I have your autographs?”

“Oh, of course.”

Cho Min Joon signed the scarf with a smile. Bertha cautiously opened her mouth.

“If you can, can you please sign on top of Min Joon’s autograph?”

“… Pardon? Why?”

“I bet no one else received your autographs like this. I want to be the first. I might not be the last… But there’s something romantic about being the first.”

“Firsts…”

Kaya mumbled before signing on her scarf. Kaya flushed out of embarrassment.

“My handwriting isn’t so good.”

“No, just the fact that it’s your autograph makes it worth a lot. Thank you.”

It was pleasant to see her attempt to convey her emotions with her broken English. Kaya looked at her name written on top of Cho Min Joon’s. Her long finger and fingernail traced it. Bertha then accepted her scarf back and put it around her neck.

“I’ll keep this forever.”

They were uncertain if she meant it or was just saying it out of respect. Even after that, beautiful words were exchanged between them. But that sweet moment soon ended. 4:50 PM. The chefs were on standby for the customers that would soon come.

Allan stood in between the hall and the kitchen and kept his eye on them. The waiters and waitresses began to take orders from the customers. Allan spoke in a calm voice,

“The reason why I gave you positions in my kitchen today wasn’t for the fun of the show. The reason is simple. I trust your abilities, your mentality, and hearts. I’m certain that you’re not so incapable that you’ll give the customers bad dishes or make them wait too long.”

Allan met eyes with Cho Min Joon, Kaya, and Anderson. He then continued in a low voice, “I hope I’m not wrong. Please make the customers happy so that they can finish their days with a smile.”

Upon finishing, a bill popped out of the machine attached to the pillar next to Allan. Allan ripped it off and shouted in a stern voice.

“Table 13, course meals for 4 people. It’s time to start!”

The chefs in the appetizer section moved hurriedly. It wasn’t Cho Min Joon’s team’s turn yet. It took at least 20 minutes to enjoy the appetizer, and it only took them 8 minutes to make the linguine.

Cho Min Joon looked back at Kaya.

“Kaya. Check the temperature of the water.”

“It’s perfect.”

“Anderson. Did you finish the basil olive oil?”

“It’s enough to make 100 plates.”

Cho Min Joon nodded. He calmly scanned the ingredients. That was enough to check the origin, quality, and freshness. And Allan was good as well. The ingredients on top of the cooking station were all in great condition.

He calmly checked the time. They would start the pasta once the amuse-bouche returned. It normally took 7 minutes to eat the next appetizer, seviche with mozzarella, and that was the perfect time to make the linguine.

“Kaya. Linguine.”

“Okay. For 4 people, right?”

“We have to make one for 3 people in 2 minutes.”

“Okay.”

She had to boil the right amount of pasta for the number of people at the table. It took a lot of focus, but Cho Min Joon didn’t find it difficult because he was relatively smart. He was great at memorizing as a student, so this was a piece of cake.

Anderson chopped the squid and pak choi and handed them to Cho Min Joon. Cho Min Joon cooked the cabbage in the oil and then added the squid and pak choi on top. After flambéing it with white wine, Kaya took out her pasta noodles just in time. It was already complete.

As soon as Cho Min Joon placed the linguine in a beautiful way on the plates, Allan scanned them. He wiped off the olive oil that splattered and tasted a noodle. There was no problem. He mastered the recipe in just a few hours…

‘He’s different.’

Allan nodded. In terms of cooking ability alone, he wasn’t any worse than one of his sous chefs. They were that talented. Even if Kaya or Anderson was in charge, the result wouldn’t have been much different.

A dish was only perfect once the entire process was flawless. The only reason why it was a stable 10 points was because Anderson and Kaya supported him with perfection.

But this was only possible because there weren’t many customers. Those inside the kitchen couldn’t see it but Allan could, that people began to flood in. The bills began to pop out more frequently.

While Allan checked the other dishes, the sound of four people’s footsteps approached. Allan lifted his head and asked, “Did you enjoy your excursion around Florence?”

“Florence is such a charming place with good food. Even the plates are full of romance.”

“I’m glad to hear it.”

In response to Rachel’s answer, Allan smiled. Jeremy stroked his beard as he asked, “Did Min Joon win?”

“Yes.”

“The perfect palate sets him apart.”

“Hm, the situation was different… But that was a part of it.”

It was Kaya who figured out it was cabbage, but he didn’t know if Cho Min Joon knew it as well. Sarah crossed her arms and asked as she watched them cook with twinkling eyes.

“Chefs are the sexiest when they stand in front of their cooking stations. Don’t you agree, Emily?”

“Yeah… What’s with those eyes though?”

“Nothing. You just seem to understand the sexiness of chefs pretty well.”

Sarah then glanced over at Allan. Emily coughed in response, and when Allan looked away, she jabbed Sarah on the side.

“Agh! What are you doing?”

“Shh. Be quiet. Stop trying to get us together.”

“You’re the one who did the same thing to Min Joon and Kaya.”

“This is different!”

“How…? Okay, fine. Don’t cry.”

“I’m not crying. I’m angry.”

Sarah looked at Emily as if she didn’t believe her. If she asked other people what Emily’s face looked like, what would they say?

Emily purposely looked away from Emily and toward the hall. There was no need, but she couldn’t help being aware that they were a team. She couldn’t help but watch the customers as if she made the linguine herself.

What was relieving was that no one seemed to grimace. Many of them looked satisfied, and some even looked touched. Emily smiled and said, “Rachel, you must be happy. Min Joon will be a great pupil.”

“Yes, I agree.”

Rachel watched Cho Min Joon, Kaya, and Anderson. Despite the continuous bills, they weren’t taken aback. Some would have thought that that was no big deal.

But it wasn’t easy. There was a limit to the number of pans and how much pasta they could make in a small space, and once they received more orders than their limit, even the most experienced chefs would be shaken up.

And that ultimately led to mistakes that made the dishes suffer. This was the reason why it took a long time for dishes to come out at fancy restaurants.

But Cho Min Joon didn’t make a mistake, neither did Kaya or Anderson. It wasn’t because they were nervous since it wasn’t their restaurant. If that was the case, their eyes wouldn’t have twinkled so much.

“Um…”

Rachel spoke up before shutting her mouth again. She didn’t realize how choked up she was. It wasn’t because she was sad. She was touched. Their passion rang through her soul and heart. Rachel opened her mouth again. Her voice was still choked up, but she didn’t even try to hide it.

“They’re beautiful.”

“Beautiful…?”

Emily asked with a confused face. The way they focused on cooking looked cool, but she thought beautiful was an exaggeration. However, Rachel was serious. She continued, “They still have a long way to go, but they’re not nervous, not by their paths or the orders in front of them.”

“… Hm, then shouldn’t you call them bold instead?”

“Bold… I suppose. But being bold doesn’t accomplish that. They have to make an unfamiliar dish in an unfamiliar kitchen around unfamiliar chefs. It was a similar situation in Grand Chef. But this is still different. Customers were eating contestants’ cooking back then while customers are eating professionals’ cooking now. They’re over there as professionals with their young hands.”

It was hard to understand what Rachel meant, but her feelings could be felt. Emily and Sarah nodded in response, and Rachel confessed her true feelings.

“It’s because of love.”

At that moment, Sarah’s eyes wandered to Kaya and Cho Min Joon before returning. That couldn’t have been what she meant. Rachel continued, “They love cooking. They love the process. That’s why they can endure the fear and pressure.”

Rachel could understand their feelings the best because she stood there once when she was younger. Rachel smiled.

“Not a single customer will think that that dish is not delicious. They made it with love. Things may change, but there’s one thing that won’t.”

“What’s that?”

“Dishes made with love are delicious.”

It was a common saying, but the person who said it made it sound heavy. Rachel looked at the three of them with affection as if they were her grandchildren.

“That’s a rule of the kitchen that will never change.”