Spread-out Wings (6)

It did not end with just Kang Byungyoon tasting the Cod That Swallowed Tomatoes. Jill, Gwen, the rest of the kitchen staff, and of course, the servers all tried the dish.

All of them had a look on their faces as if they had been struck by something.

‘…This is for real.’

Jill nervously scratched her head. Being by Jo Minjoon and Kaya’s side brought many days of both happiness and annoyance into her life. The culinary world kept growing broader and broader than what she had thought of it as.

Of course, that was not a bad thing. But, neither could she say it was a welcome turn of events. If she had been simply a gourmand instead of a chef, she would have been purely delighted. However, whenever she could feel distinctly that the world of cuisine that she had yet to learn was as broad as this, or that she had yet to experience half of that world, she felt dispirited.

The situation for the other chefs would, on the contrary, be far better. While Jill had been thinking she had almost finished walking her path, others would have known they had far to go, still. Their viewpoints were completely different from the start.

“Is the first ‘concept’ to come from our restaurant?”

“No, it’s not,” Jill shook her head.

It was not like she had never tried a dish based on a similar concept before. Actually, the idea of enhancing the taste of the cod itself was not novel.

However, its depth was different. The taste of code they had been able to express until now would pale in comparison to the taste of this one. If, let’s say, 1 in every 10 taste bud had experienced the taste before, the tomato broth in this dish would force every single taste bud to fully experience its flavor.

“There are too many things to learn,” Jill said dryly.

This was the biggest reason she never considered leaving Lotus Bridge. At first, she had thought of Lotus Bridge as just either work experience or a stepping stone. She had been thinking she could potentially open her own restaurant within 3 years, optimistically.

However, she no longer thought like that these days. Jill was, in fact, not lacking in any way. Because it was Lotus Bridge she was at, being sous chef there was sufficient. At any other restaurant, it would not be that difficult for someone with her skills to be head chef.

However, Jill was now seriously considering she may need to stay at Lotus Bridge for the next 5 years. Thoughts that she might somehow fail if she became head chef never even crossed her mind. Honestly, Jill’s cooking was not that bad. Rather, it was excellent. If she wanted to be able to snag a Michelin star, she would have to struggle for a few years, but she was the type of person who would ultimately succeed.

However, her standards have been raised too high.

“I want to establish a restaurant like this one,” she said during her interview with Kang Byungyoon, as if she was confessing.

Kang Byungyoon quietly concentrated on Jill’s voice. It seemed Jill was hesitating, but then she quietly opened her mouth to speak.

“Actually, I had no other thought than to just be successful before. If you are asking whether or not I want to become the best, that question is honestly a bit vague. Since I’m in the culinary world, I used to wonder if such a thing as ‘the best’ even exists.”

“However, do you now think it exists?”

“I still don’t really know the answer to that. However, I came to realize that I could even learn something from all those chefs I once thought were the same.”

If you were to look at Jo Minjoon and Kaya right now, the same could be said for them. They could not be compared to others. At first, when she saw them, Jill thought that the two of them looked perfect enough in her eyes as chefs. Their skills had influenced Jill from the beginning to the point she thought she would have nothing to worry about if she at least became like them.

However, that was not enough for them. The two of them underwent endless deliberations. It may look like they already had everything they could possibly get in the eyes of normal people, but the two of them were still hungry. However, their hunger was not necessarily a negative thing. Rather than avarice, it was a manageable amount of greed. Whenever they satisfied their greed, the two of them became more beautiful by the day. Also, Jill had to acknowledge that a summit exists in this world.

And the fact that she thought the people around that peak being the same as one another was simply because she had set her standards too low.

“To me, Lotus Bridge is like the stars in the night sky. The more you look at them, slowly, the more beautiful they look. I had wondered what it would be like to be able to reach them. But, what can I do?

I already found out, but I don’t have the confidence to lower my standards once again, so all I can do is rise to these standards.”

Jill looked a bit tired even as she smiled while saying that. However, Kang Byungyoon thought that fatigue looked beautiful, for some reason.

‘…I’ll have to figure out a good way to express this somehow.’

The charm of Jo Minjoon’s, rather, his and Kaya’s, was not simply being geniuses at cooking. They knew how to properly leverage their abilities. If the two of them were simply people who could cook well, the people next to them would not even think to follow after them. They would have simply said the two were impressive but in a world of their own, and they would have moved on.

However, the two of them were people who focused so much on their effort that ordinary people could not even begin to imagine it. It would be awkward to express that as just effort. Every aspect of their lives incorporated cooking. Even while they drove, even while they showered, everything that existed in their worlds provided inspiration for their cooking.

‘Will I be able to express this?’

His tightly clenched fists were covered in sweat. It was not just the chefs who could feel the sense of challenge from this situation. Kang Byungyoon also felt it. Although he differed on whether he would be able to make such a dish, he was wondering if he would be able to express the greatness of such a dish.

But, express it he must. Even if he had to lose sleep for a few weeks to edit it, he had to convey the feelings felt here through the screen without loss of intensity. Kang Byungyoon felt that it was now his mission to show the viewers the true value of Jo Minjoon and Kaya.

“The Cod That Swallowed Tomatoes… exactly what is appealing about it?”

“…Did you perhaps not find it appealing?”

Jill was looking at Kang Byungyoon with a look of disbelief at his question. Kang Byungyoon hurriedly shook his head.

“No, I did. How could I fail to find it appealing? Despite how little about cooking I know, if I think about it even a little bit, I can’t help but admire it. It’s just… I couldn’t quite put my finger on why I’m feeling this way.”

“Ah, is that what you meant? That’s only natural. There are many people even in our kitchen who can’t really explain the reason for it, either.”

That was something one could not feel unless one knew how to cook well enough. Jill laughed bitterly.

“That is what drives me crazy. If you make a highly difficult dish, the people who eat it will feel moved but not understand exactly why. Before astronomy was developed as a field, perhaps this was how people from a long time ago felt when looking up at the skies. You feel something majestic about it, but you cannot really explain what it is. And that is why we give more and more various meanings to the night sky.

“Who knows if people will try to ascribe meaning to this dish as well?”

“What do you think? Does it look like you didn’t attach meaning to it?”

Kang Byungyoon kept his mouth shut at Jill’s question. He honestly could not even tell that much. The dish was like a riddle. What was more amusing is that Jo Minjoon and Kaya did not intend to make a riddle when making this dish. Just as when Einstein was formulating the Theory of Relativity, he had not thought that scientists would have a difficult time understanding it even after having studied it. They too, had not thought about it.

“They’re cut from a different cloth,” Jill mumbled.

It was not a matter of whether their skills were good or not. Their innate nature was different from the start. Whether it was falling short or surpassing others, their dishes were always different in some form. They were transcendent.

“So transcendent it’s hard to even comprehend them.”

---

“Is Minjoon still shooting for that show these days?”

“Yes. Looks like he’s pretty popular in Korea lately. So popular, he’s been busy just turning down all the producers reaching out.”

“Hm, is that so…”

Rachel stroked her chin and was momentarily lost in thought. Janet looked at Rachel and then switched her attention to the island. She had recently been invited, together with Rachel, by Kaya. So they had dropped by and had tried their Cod That Swallowed Tomatoes.

‘Those two are way too fast.’

When their cooking skills had already been at a level that could not be shadowed by anyone, after having founded their restaurant, it felt like their skills had been improving at an incomparable rate.

However, Janet was not anxious. They were improving their skills over there. And she was improving her skills here. The part of Rachel’s essence Jo Minjoon had failed to absorb, she would absorb herself, leaving no drop behind.

“Janet, I want to ask something.”

“Yes, Chef.”

“Does it seem like my skills are improving lately to you?”

Janet looked at Rachel as if that had been a rather unexpected question. This was the first time Rachel had tossed such a question at her. Rachel, having read the expression on Jill’s face, said with a slightly embarrassed look on her face, “I know. I realize it’s unfair to toss this type of question at you at this point in my career. However, I’m not able to judge for myself properly, whether I’m progressing forward properly or not.”

“At the very least, you can be sure that you are not regressing.”

“The gourmands are praising me, of course, that I’ve broken out of my shell. That I’m transforming into a more versatile chef. However… saying Daniel was a very versatile chef would be awkward. He was just a great chef… I know. I said I would stop talking about Daniel. However, given that he’s the only one among chefs I know who was the greatest, I can’t help but compare myself to him.”

Janet had been shooting cold, piercing glares at her when she began talking about Daniel and so had begun to make excuses. At some point, Janet had begun making Rachel a bit afraid. Whenever Janet shot her a look like that these days, most of the time Rachel would flinch.

“Honestly, it’s not easy to judge that. For now, as to the aspect of leading a kitchen, I have nothing to say because you’re already perfect in that aspect, Chef Rachel.”

“I was better at Daniel in that.”

“Well, what’s left would be recipes… The recipes you’ve been coming up with these days have all been getting good reviews, no? The reviews have been far better than in the past, so I would think you could consider it a success.”

“Perhaps so.”

Rachel had a bit of a despondent expression on her face. She could not quite put her finger on the problem. Her goal had been to be a chef who would be no inferior to Daniel, but these days she had been wondering what kind of chef Daniel had been. There had been times when the recipes she came up with were better than Daniel’s. However, could she call that proof that she had surpassed Daniel? Rachel could not be convinced of that.

“How about you stop thinking about whether Daniel was better or not, for now? Ah, I know. I know that you’ve been less conscious of that these days and that you’ve been focused more on just making great food. However, even in moments like this, toss thoughts like those aside. You’re progressing forward pretty well.”

“I suppose.”

Rachel let out a soft laugh. Her shoulders appeared to be far too narrow. When Janet looked at Rachel lately, she would always be surprised to see how small a person Rachel was. Even though she was such an intimidating and grand person, once Janet could squash her nervousness, she could see all of Rachel’s weaknesses.

She thought perhaps Jo Minjoon was better than Rachel in that aspect. He did not hesitate at all. He always believed that he would be the best no matter what happened. Although that could just be youthfulness speaking…

“I guess they will put the Cod That Swallowed Tomatoes on their menu in two days.”

“Ah, it does look like it.”

“It’s going to get crazy, won’t it?”

It was a question Janet had just tossed out there. Rachel nodded her head as if it was obvious.

“It’s going to get crazy.”

Their prediction was spot on.

The Cod That Swallowed Tomatoes had now swallowed the United States, as well.

CREDITS:
Original author: 양치기자리
Translator: Comic Seoul
Proofreader: Potato