Between Stability and Transformation (part 4)
“A psycho’s joined us,” Gwen muttered in surprise.
Even the sous chef Jill is unable to give Jo Minjoon and Kaya an unbiased evaluation. Actually, it is not just Jill, but other famous chefs and epicureans were also careful with what they say about Lotus Bridge. The reason for this is simple. Because Lotus Bridge had already achieved first class status with no room for differing opinions.
Naturally, Lotus Bridge is not the best restaurant in the world. Lotus Bridge had quite a ways to go to be considered the best. Even though Michelin’s ratings are not an absolute standard in the industry, even within its own system, Lotus Bridge is only rated 2 stars. When even restaurants rated 3 stars are being criticized, there is no reason why a 2-star rated one could not be.
But the important point is that Lotus Bridge is a rising star in the culinary world these days. Lotus Bridge was setting trends. If you were to ask if they were setting those trends in the most sophisticated of ways, one would have a difficult time agreeing. Clearly, Jo Minjoon and Kaya were still subtly falling short in influence compared to the true maestros.
But it is also true that Lotus Bridge’s attempts were always novel and innovative. And that is why those who refused to acknowledge Lotus Bridge were thought of as old-fashioned people who were unable to appreciate their innovation. It was typical black-and-white logic, but luckily that black-and-white logic was actually favorable towards Lotus Bridge.
All that notwithstanding, Lewis criticized anyway. Was it due to a young chef’s reckless bravado stemming from a desire to be different from others? Or was there actually something different he could see others could not?
“Guess we need to test him?”
Frank, the demi chef in charge of appetizers, flashed a wicked smile. He was the official nasty guy Kaya had described as “Not an evil guy, but still evil.” Gwen glanced sideways at Frank but soon lost interest. While he did seem to be up to something, it was surely not something she should concern herself over.
Gwen looked quietly at Lewis. If she looked carefully at his tanned face burnt by the sun, he looked a bit like a young boy. It was right then when Lewis looked back at Gwen and winked one eye.
‘…I can take a good guess as to his character.’
She had a feeling her new colleague would be difficult somehow.
“It’s been a while since you brought me a dish.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. It’s been a bit over three months.”
Gwen was shocked by his words. But she was not surprised that three months had passed. Rather, she was shocked at how much attention he paid that he could remember each and every chef’s actions despite how often they came up to him.
‘…Minjoon really cares about his people.’
Until right before their opening, Jo Minjoon had concerned himself over her almost to the point of obsession. He was so focused on her she had to wonder if he had been interested in her.
It was only later she came to understand that Jo Minjoon had understood just how insecure Gwen was. And that was why he could not leave her be.
Gwen had heard countless chefs from other restaurants sing praises about how great Jo Minjoon and Kaya are as head chefs.
Jo Minjoon was quietly eating the smoked barbecued duck Gwen had made. When he stabbed the skin with a fork, the oily surface crackled and tore. The tines dug into the meat as if being sucked in.
“It’s been cooked through thoroughly,” Jo Minjoon smiled brightly as he praised her.
Jo Minjoon is someone who gives out many praises, especially to Gwen. She did not understand why in the past, but now she understood even this reason.
Gwen quietly watched Jo Minjoon eat her dish. What she had made was a duck dish with a side of radish and rhubarb purée. Because she had cooked the duck after covering the skin with a sugar-soy sauce mixture, the taste of the barbecue came through more vividly. It was a decent dish. Although she hadn’t spent the entirety of the past 3 months on this one dish, the dish she had made at the end of her journey was able to express the significance of that journey very well.
And Jo Minjoon read into that as-is. Once he was done tasting her food, having cleaned off his plate, Jo Minjoon looked Gwen straight in the eyes.
“That tasted good. Gwen, looks like you managed to overcome your worries?”
“You think I had worries?”
“If you did not bring me a single dish for 3 months straight, that means you had your own share of issues, no?”
“…Well, yes,” Gwen admitted flatly.
While stealthily looking at the plate, Jo Minjoon continued.
“But for your purée, you’ll have to increase the ratio of the radish. The rhubarb is overpowering the radish. When the taste of the purée is being emphasized like this, it is more appealing to have each ingredient’s taste be showcased. Of course, these are only my thoughts and you may have your own style and philosophy. However, this is my advice. When bringing out the flavor of a purée, none of the ingredients inside of it should feel out of place. Because a purée is a dish where flavors are compacted together.”
“Yes, I’ll remember that.”
“Aside from that, I don’t really have any other advice for your dish. You’ve made a lot of progress,” Jo Minjoon said with a wide smile.
Gwen smiled half-heartedly but did not leave. Jo Minjoon put his hand under his chin.
“Looks like you have something more to say?”
“Sorry?”
“Weren’t you still standing here because you have something to say?”
“…Ah, something to say.”
Gwen stood there like a fool. Did she have something to say? She was not sure. But she did not want to leave, either. She did not know why that was the case. She just did not want to. Normally, she would just leave without saying anything else, but something was making her chest pound today.
And then it was instinct that drove her to speak the words she had already known from the start, even if her reasoning had failed to articulate them.
“Do you like Lewis?”
Even though she was the one to bring it up, she still did not understand why she had done so. She had no feelings about or interest in Lewis. To her, they simply had acquired another demi chef. That was the extent of Gwen’s impression from the recent interview.
Jo Minjoon made an expression that indicated her question was a bit unexpected. Gwen speaking first on something not related to her cooking or to herself was not common.
“Yes, I do.”
“…I see.”
Gwen looked a bit disappointed at Jo Minjoon’s response. At that moment, a thought crossed Jo Minjoon’s mind: how, like a child who is afraid of losing her parents’ love when she acquires a younger sibling, Gwen may be feeling something similar right now.
“You said this before that for this demi chef position, you were looking to pick someone who could inspire you.”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“Do I inspire you?”
Jo Minjoon could not respond immediately. After a bit of thought, he replied.
“Yeah, you do too.”
“…I see.”
However, the look on Gwen’s face indicated she could not accept those words at face value. Truthfully, she was right to think that way because Jo Minjoon was unable to receive much inspiration from Gwen. There are times when he did receive inspiration, but it was not due to her specialness, but due to her shortcomings.
“I’ll take the plate away now.”
Gwen reached her hand out to the plate that had been cleaned off of even the sauce. Normally she would be happy if Jo Minjoon ate all of the food, but now she thought that even this was his way of being considerate, as well.
‘…I don’t want to just keep taking.’
Gwen no longer thinks about suicide. She no longer thinks that she is tired of it all.
Because she was actually not tired of it. Because she actually did not want to die. However, it was simply because, after coming so far, she did not want to let go.
Lotus Bridge is a happy place. It allowed her to look ahead of her. And so Gwen did not want to let go of this place. No matter how much time passes, she wanted her footsteps to always be found within Lotus Bridge.
And that is why she hated that Jo Minjoon’s gaze was directed elsewhere and not at her. She did not feel that in a romantic way. Jo Minjoon was Gwen’s savior. It was his world. In his world, when he shows interest in someone other than herself, she does not know where else she could go.
‘I’m not going to be defeated.’
Gwen clenched her fists.
Everyone thought that Lewis was an odd person. There was no way someone who began criticizing his own head chef the moment he stepped into the restaurant could be right in the head.
However, they were soon proved wrong.
Lewis was not an odd person.
He was outright an extremely strange person.
“Isn’t he straight up crazy?”
Normally, Frank is always sly and laid-back, but when bringing up Lewis in front of Gwen, he would change. He would then always be angry. However, he could not express that in front of Lewis immediately. He had already lost once in a big fight to Lewis.
That story is simple. Frank had asked Lewis to show him his cooking. Since they worked together, he thought it only right for them to be familiar with each other’s cooking.
His excuse was pretty sound, but what he was actually feeling inside was simple. He was just being ill-tempered. The competition Frank had to survive to get in was not the mere jotting down of observations. But Lewis, on the other hand, had simply written a few lines down and instantly became a demi chef at Lotus Bridge without cooking anything.
Honestly, it was not the purest of intentions. However, Lewis was not going to get caught up in Frank’s intentions. Instead, he responded with an annoyed expression:
─ I’m not in the mood.
Of course, Frank was not going to back down with just that answer since he wanted to know when did cooking become something you do only when you feel like it? He continued to ask Lewis to show him his cooking. Finally, Lewis responded like this:
─ If you want to try my cooking, then you should put me in the mood to do so.
─ Mood?
─ A cook-off or something.
Lewis took a look at Frank while saying that. And if what Frank said was true, the smile that curled on Lewis’ face at that moment was no smile a human should be capable of making, but the devil’s smile.
And that there was no way there is any other smile in the world more provoking or mean than that one.
But perhaps that smile was indeed the devil’s smile. Later, Frank and Lewis had a cook-off. The theme was simple. It was pasta. Frank made a creamy cold pasta made from fusilli, mashed peaches, peas, and basil. It was an appetizer dish.
On the other hand, Lewis had made anchovy pasta. At first glance, the pasta filled with a sauce made from anchovies and crushed garlic looked like it would just be fishy. However, the results were clear. Among those who sampled both dishes, everyone, without exception, raised his or her hand in favor of Lewis.
It was rather strange. Lewis’ method of cooking was not even a particular special method of cooking. It was a method one could see being done anywhere. But at the end of such a process, the pasta Lewis held in his hands was so impressive that one could believe Jo Minjoon had made it.
Also at the end of it, Lewis said this to Frank.
─ Don’t go thinking that I got here just by writing my observations down. If you had taken the same interview I did, you would have been finished without even having taken a good look at Chef Kaya’s face. Minjoon and Kaya were able to glimpse at my senses from my observations, at my talent that stands out among hundreds of people. So don’t bother trying to keep me in check. It’s annoying.
It was an incredibly rude attitude to be taken by someone who had just joined the restaurant. From then on, Frank would always blow hot air when seeing Lewis. However, whenever right in front of Lewis, he would stay silent like a dog with his tail between his legs. He had nothing to show Lewis in the end.
Gwen actually did not have much of a reaction to Frank losing to Lewis. If there was a battle between demi chefs, someone must come out the loser and the other a winner. Also, it was not impossible for a new employee to arise as the winner.
However, she was hung up on one thing Lewis had said. That the reason Jo Minjoon had chosen Lewis was for his senses. And that what he wanted was a chef whose senses were alive. Why is that? Did Jo Minjoon believe that none of the chefs currently by his side would have such senses?
And that is why, on that day, Gwen stood before Lewis.
Lewis smiled and asked, “Oh, Gwen, what’s up? If you want to ask me out on a date, I’ve got lots of time this weekend.”
“Let’s have a go.”
“…Huh?”
The smile on Lewis’ face froze. Gwen was looking at Lewis and said coldly,
“A cook-off. Let’s have one.”
CREDITS:
Original author: 양치기자리
Translator: Comic Seoul
Proofreader: Potato