Time to Reach Out (5)
Park Shiwoo felt strange watching Lee Duho shower Jo Minjoon and Kaya with compliments. It is not like Lee Duho never gave anyone else praise since he was always the type of person to say how incredible a chef is in front of said chef and even in front of others.
However, the very nature of this incident felt different. Lee Duho was saying simply that Lotus Bridge was amazing. Park Shiwoo could feel in Lee Duho’s every word his acknowledgement—the acknowledgement of defeat.
‘…Today’s been surprising in several ways.’
Park Shiwoo stifled a sigh. It was because he knew that this Lee Duho who was praising Lotus Bridge actually felt uneasy inside.
But, it was inevitable. To say he had to admit defeat in front of Hong Mangil, of all people, to the very people Hong Mangil showered the most love on.
Lee Duho was saying to the world that Jo Minjoon and Kaya were people from another world who were altogether different from any other person who had lived so far, that they were in another dimension. That those two had been cut from a different cloth from Lee Duho, in the first place.
It was a moment that only served to make him depressed. Even the PD Im Taehyung could only feel a bit surprised at Lee Duho’s attitude.
‘Were they that much better?’
Im Taehyung knew a bit more about cooking than the average person. However, that was as a result of producing the shows. He is the type of person who has lived and would continue to live without ever having cooked.
However, he could fully understand the process through which ultimately made Lee Duho say those words. You could clearly see how he felt from just looking at his face. Lee Duho looked happy and yet simultaneously sad. While he was happy to be alive in the age where these chefs were active, that also made him realize he could never become like them, and it made him suffer.
Im Taehyung suddenly even felt sorry for Lee Duho. He looked quietly at Lee Duho. Right at the end of having said what he had said, Lee Duho looked to want to say something more but simply looked down flatly at his plate as if deflated.
It was at that time Hong Mangil opened his mouth to speak.
“The world is sometimes unfair.”
Lee Duho looked at Hong Mangil.
“Between having talent and relying on effort, you’re supposed to only be able to pick one of those, but there are many people who received neither of them from the world, and sometimes there are people who received both of them. Those young chefs fall into that latter category.”
“…”
“But, what can we do? If you don’t want to fall behind, you need to run with whatever you have on-hand. It’s not like you can stop running just because there’s someone ahead of you.”
“Yes, I know, sunsengnim,” Lee Duho quietly replied.
Hong Mangil smiled brightly and looked at Lee Duho. It was a smile one would have found difficult to find on his face otherwise. Lee Duho looked to be on the verge of crying while seeing this.
Hong Mangil said in a soft voice, “While it’s good to receive motivation as a chef, as a customer it’s not all that bad either. If you look at those two in the eyes of a customer, you can feel that having chefs like them exist in the world is like a present from the heavens.”
Lee Duho laughed bitterly. Those words also were right. If you were to look at Lotus Bridge right now, those two could not be considered the world’s best yet.
However, if you considered their age, “the world’s best” would not be far-fetched. They could become maestros who command the attention of the entire gourmet world in as fast as 10 years.
The next dish had come out. It was a wasabi croquette. It was a croquette accompanied on the side by a turmeric and jasmine scent-flavored yogurt. Looking at how it was covered in turmeric powder instead of bean powder, it looked a lot like Injeolmi1. Lee Duho placed the croquette in his mouth. Underlying the scent of turmeric, the wasabi’s characteristic sinus-clearing, refreshing taste spread throughout his mouth.
It was delicious.
The dessert that was placed before them was Jo Reggiano2. As a result of Im Taehyung asking to be able to see the famous Jo Reggiano, rather than replace the planned dessert, Jo Minjoon and Kaya agreed to add it at the very end.
When they saw that Jo Reggiano in front of them, they understood the reason Jo Minjoon did not wish to send this out as the dessert for the course. They could tell that Jo Reggiano would not quite go well with the overall taste of the course they just had.
“It’s not easy to acquire such a vision of the overall course. So fascinating,” Park Shiwoo murmured quietly.
Lee Duho opened his mouth to speak, “You saw Rose Island yesterday. If you started cooking by having to cook in such a restaurant every day, being able to have such a vision is entirely possible. On that point, I hear that Chef Rachel Rose managed that as a priority.”
“Ah, I’m jealous. When I was young, I imagined often what it would be like to have something like an absolute sense of taste. But honestly, imagining that was too childish, so I stopped, but… here I find that childish imagination of mine had been made into reality.”
Lee Duho did not say much else. He wanted to say that it was not just because Jo Minjoon had succeeded in having an absolute sense of taste. However, Park Shiwoo already knew that. Among the dishes Jo Minjoon had shown, it was evident that there were more dishes where the contribution of his efforts had exceeded that of his talent.
And if you wished to find a dish in which you could get a glimpse at his talent, then this Jo Reggiano dish could be one.
“Jo Reggiano enables someone to taste the difference in the aging process of parmigiano reggiano. If you taste this dish, you will understand that meaning,” Simon explained Jo Reggiano.
However, Lee Duho and Park Shiwoo had already known about Jo Reggiano from long ago. They had never attempted to make it themselves, but it was rather prominent news for Korean chefs that Jo Minjoon had made it a trend in the entire United States.
The reason that that made sense was because having one’s recipe become practically a national dish was one of every chef’s fantasies. Naturally, for Jo Reggiano to become so famous, various coincidences and luck had to fall into place, but there was no denying that the concept itself was appealing.
Air and foam, sauce and galette, and demi-soufflé. Lee Duho put a little bit of each of those five types of cheese dishes into his mouth to taste. He soon let out a forced laugh.
‘So this is this man’s talent.’
It was a viewpoint of an unbelievable level of analysis. Even though he understood because he had eaten it, the difference in level made it nigh impossible for him to think of himself. It was similar to how people can feel the difference in temperature between a warm day and a cold day, but they would have difficulty expressing that difference.
However, when limiting it to be just about taste, Jo Minjoon’s senses were so transcendent that there were absolutely no problems there. Honestly, at his level, one could understand why Jo Minjoon had made so much effort. Even if his efforts bear the same fruit, Jo Minjoon could feel the difference in the value of that fruit greater. He could feel the happiness from the taste of an excellent recipe far better than anyone else. He was the type of person who could only live the life of a chef.
He was the type of person who could feel the satisfaction from the life of a chef more than anyone else can.
Lee Duho turned his head to look at Jo Minjoon. The look on his face was filled with happiness as he and Kaya went around the tables. He was shining every moment of every day.
Hong Mangil was similarly looking at Jo Minjoon. He had heard countless pieces of advice from Jo Minjoon up until now. He knew that Jo Minjoon’s culinary world was far deeper and more meticulous than was expected for his age.
Actually, even Hong Mangil did not fully understand Jo Minjoon. Hong Mangil understood Jo Minjoon’s passion and talent. He thought he had understood it. However, at the very least, he could not fully understand the full depths of Jo Minjoon’s passion.
One could clearly see poured into each and every one of Jo Minjoon’s dishes the immense painstaking efforts he had undergone to make them. Normal people would not be able to feel it, but any chef could not fail to feel it when looking at the traces of it. Hong Mangil had to self-reflect. Even such a young chef was running passionately down his path, yet there he was, idle, hiding behind the name of a slump.
“This kid does not take it easy when cooking,” Hong Mangil said in a mildly admiring voice.
He did not go easy on himself when making dishes. While Im Taehyung did not really understand that statement and cocked his head, Lee Duho and Park Shiwoo were different.
One could see this in Jo Reggiano. Actually, whether or not he made such a complicated dish or a normal-tasting cheese dish, it did not make much of a difference to the feeling his customers felt.
However, despite this, Jo Minjoon had chosen to walk the path of making a difficult and complicated dish. For what reason could he have done so? For simply his own satisfaction?
Even if it was for his own satisfaction, it did not make it easy. Even if he were the type of person to be happy when making an incredibly difficult dish, until he can actually achieve the creation of the dish, the stress he feels is no different from what anyone else feels. However, Jo Minjoon bore all of that and made this dish. He could have chosen to walk an easier path but did not.
Because he found it hard to turn away from the problem just because the dish was difficult and tiring to make. He wanted there to be no dish in the world he couldn’t make. And so if inspiration touches upon him just once, no matter how difficult the subject matter that inspiration imparts onto him is, he would ultimately attempt it.
Hong Mangil lifted a spoon and ate every last bit of the Jo Reggiano. His stomach was already overly full from the long course, but he could not bear to leave any of this excellent dish on the plate.
It took Jo Minjoon and Kaya a lot longer to get to their table than they had thought. Each guest in the restaurant had wanted to speak with them just a little bit longer, if at all possible. Actually, not even to speak with them, just to compliment them.
It was not because Jo Minjoon and Kaya were famous among the public. Everyone in the filming crew could instinctively feel that the customers were talking so much was solely due to this restaurant’s food. The looks on their faces were not simply those of someone who had met someone famous. They were looks of thankfulness like someone who had been gifted an unbelievable item or like someone who was looking upon their benefactor.
‘Have my own customers told me how thankful they are to me?’ Park Shiwoo thought for a moment.
They had not. The one who said thank you every time was himself and not the guest. He looked at Jo Minjoon and Kaya standing before him. Jo Minjoon was gently smiling.
“Was the food to your liking?”
“You wicked man,” Hong Mangil grumbled.
“After providing us such dishes, you know very well no fool would say it was not to their liking, yet you ask such a question.”
“Please understand. There are always variables that could affect it.”
Jo Minjoon laughed embarrassed. Hong Mangil gave Jo Minjoon a sidelong glance and coyly said, “You’ve fostered a restaurant far grander than I thought.”
“It is because everyone works hard. Especially my wife.”
“Indeed. Looks like you landed yourself a treasure as a wife.”
Hong Mangil looked at Kaya with a delighted expression. Kaya laughed awkwardly. She had heard she should have a respectful attitude toward the elderly in Korea, but since she couldn’t quite tell what was courteous and what wasn’t, she was put in a tough spot.
“You worked hard,” Hong Mangil said.
There was no question as to what they had worked hard on. Jo Minjoon smiled brightly.
“Thank you.”
It took 3 weeks for the program on Lotus Bridge to be aired in Korea.
Starting 3 weeks later, the servers began receiving phone calls from people speaking awkward English.
Korea had come to know of Jo Minjoon.
CREDITS:
Original author: 양치기자리
Translator: Comic Seoul
Proofreader: Potato