“Given his style, isn’t he closer to Rachel than Daniel? Master Daniel stood out more in the culinary ideas than managing his assistants. On the other hand, Master Rachel was excellent at managing.”
“There’s an error in what you’re saying. We haven’t yet seen what kind of creativity and intuition he has in cooking.”
The other party was silenced at Davis’s critical remarks because he was so absorbed into Min-joon’s managing skills that he didn’t think as far as that.
Dave muttered in a low voice, “If he also has that intuition…”
He didn’t talk anymore. Everyone subconsciously thought of what he would have said.
They were all imagining the same thing—what if Min-joon had that intuition as well?
‘I don’t have to think about it even now.’
Dave calmed his troubled mind. Although Min-joon didn’t show any mistake as an ordinary demi chef now, Dave felt it was too early to make any hasty judgment, based on his error-free cooking.
Dave said, “Hey, Min-joon, Raphael told me you didn’t want to take on molecular gastronomy cooking at first.”
“Well, I was a bit reluctant to do it. I didn’t hate it.”
“I think that’s the same thing.”
“I don’t like molecular gastronomy itself. It’s fun. It’s fresh. I feel the same way back and now. But back then, I was wondering if I don’t have the basic skills to deal with it.”
“So, did you think your basic skills were not lacking when you tried it? Or, did you think your basics weren’t important?”
Min-joon did not look back at Dave. He replied in a calm and sincere voice, wiping the cream off the plate with a dishcloth.
“Well, my skills improved while I was doing molecular gastronomy. To be precise, I would say a sense of cooking. After all, it’s all connected.”
“Do you have any regrets? I think there are ingredients you like, in particular. For example, you might want to deal with fish, meat, or things like that.”
“What I like most is sauce. If there’s something I particularly like about sauces, it’s the part where I condense and extract the natural flavor of fruits.”
In fact, Min-joon had recently become more convinced what kind of sauce he would pursue in the days ahead. His goal was not pursuing naturalism, but he wanted to extract the pure taste of fruits.
Of course, it was not because he hated the sauce made from meat like demigrass sauce. It was fun and delicious to use soy sauce, red pepper paste or fish sauce, and vegetables and nuts. However, extracting the strange savory taste and sweetness that arose when fruits was served with other ingredients was also the most fun and fresh to Min-joon.
Dave asked as if he wanted to feel him out.
“Oh, you have decided on your own path. You know what? There are many people who don’t know what kind of style they should pursue until they become sous chefs. But don’t you think you have chosen your career too early?”
“I don’t think it’s not a problem.”
“You haven’t tasted all the dishes yet. Don’t you think if you make a judgment after gaining more experiences, won’t it be more accurate?”
“Just because I figured out what I want to do right now, it doesn’t mean that I don’t pay attention to anything else. I’ll look at everything. But I’m going to put my own color on it. When I have at least one specialized field of my own, I think it will be my weapon later.”
Instead of replying, Dave slightly turned up his mouth with a smile.
In fact, even Dave didn’t think it was bad for Min-joon to have his own cooking philosophy. He wanted to know if Min-joon pondered over his path long enough over time or if he wanted to pursue the path just out of his preference.
Now that he heard enough about Min-joon’s thoughts, Dave felt he didn’t need to analyze him anymore. When Dave went to the hall and sat down, Deborah, who just finished talking with Janet, came over to him.
Dave asked with a smile, “What do you make of the demi chefs you are assigned to?”
“Not bad.”
“Is that the best rating you could give them?”
“Honestly they are good. If I eat the course meal properly, I’ll find out more. As far as I’ve seen their dishes until now, they were excellent. I guess they are the best among the demi chefs. It’s the same for the cooks. It was pretty difficult for me to find fault with their flaws.”
Deborah shrugged proudly. But there was nothing new because Rose Island’s demi-chefs were always the best. Chefs with the best qualities gathered at Rose Island, the restaurant with the best reputation. And only some of those selected could stand in Rose Island’s kitchen. As they were highly competent even when they joined the kitchen, the dishes they served to customers were close to perfection. Given that the branches of Rose Island were famous for the best quality menu, it was needless to say how much better it would be at Rose Island HQ.
“I saw you talking to that female demi chef all the time,” Dave said.
“Well, I have no other choice. I’m a woman, too, and as a woman, when I see a female chef trying to survive in the kitchen, I just feel moved. I know how they have survived, and I know how hard they are.”
“Well, it’s hard for men, too.”
“I’m not saying that it’s not hard for men. Apart from the working condition, women are different from men. And it’s not that easy for a woman chef to find someone who can tell her how to solve her problems or coach her. Of course, they have Master Rachel here. Anyway, it looks like I am now making a big deal out of this.”
“Anyway, it’s good if you feel that way. In the past, you suffered because of the same problem, but now you are in a position to advise others.”
Dave laughed gently. It was the moment Deborah shrugged proudly.
A loud engine sound rang as if a truck arrived outside. When she turned her head through the window, a yellow kindergarten bus was coming to a stop.
Deborah asked in a slightly confused voice, “Is there a kindergarten next to this place?”
“I see only one getting off, so it looks like it’s not a kindergarten, but her house is near here.”
“… She is walking toward us.”
Ella, a brown-haired girl wearing a polka dot dress, was toddling toward them.
Shortly afterward, she opened the door with her little hand. When Ella saw 36 unfamiliar faces crowding the hall and kitchen, she suddenly breathed in then started hiccups.
“Uh? Is this the right place?”
Perhaps surprised by the sudden situation, Ella stepped back, about to cry, then looked at the building and looked inside again. The building was still the same, but the people inside it were different. Ella bit her lips. She was scared, but she didn’t want to cry. However, she couldn’t help it when her eyes were being welled.
“Ella, come on in. What are you doing there?”
“Uncle!”
Ella was hugged by Min-joon, who was smiling at her brightly.
Dave asked him, who was patting her on the back gently, as if he couldn’t understand the situation, “What the heck is this? Who is that child?”
“Oh, she is my patissier’s daughter. She is a princess here at the HQ. She sometimes stops by.”
Min-joon smiled and soothed her. He picked up the tissue from the table and put it on Ella’s nose.
“Now, blow it.”
Ella blew her nose as hard as she could. Then she looked at him with tearful eyes and asked, “I thought I got lost because there are so many people here.”
“What did I tell you when you got lost?”
“Um… I have to call my mom.”
“What if you can’t remember the number?”
“I have to call 911!”
“Yes, good. You’re smart.”
When he praised her, she smiled immediately as if she forgot she was scared.
Deborah admired him and clapped quietly.
“Wow, I want to learn it. As a matter of fact, I really don’t know what to do when my nephew starts crying.”
“It shows how well you are at managing people, just like you managed your assistant well in the kitchen.”
“I appreciate your compliment,” Min-joon replied with a smile.
Deborah looked behind Min-joon slightly. The moment he left the kitchen, about a third of the head chefs in the kitchen immediately followed him. Were they so concerned about him who Rachel was determined to train?
‘If so, let me quench their curiosity.’
Dave opened his mouth, “Min-joon, I heard that the HQ changes the menu every 15 days like before.”
“Yes, that’s true. To be precise, the ingredients change rather than the menu. The ingredients are always different, depending on the season. Of course, the head chefs know better than me.”
“When the ingredients change, you have to pay a little more attention. Are you confident that you will always get used to the change? Well, you may say that you have confidence. How are you going to get adjusted to such changes? Am I pestering you with too many questions?”
“No. You said that HQ is the pride of the head chefs, right? As we share your pride in some respect, it’s only natural that you have such a curiosity.”
But what they were really curious about was this man named Min-joon. He had a perfect palate, the first such in cooking history. He was a talented cook that Rachel scouted in person with great interest. So, they were curious about what kind of potential he had, and what kind of project Rachel was trying to embody though him.
‘… Doesn’t he pretend not to know Rachel’s intentions on purpose?’
While smiling warmly, Dave kept checking Min-joon’s expression. Obviously, Min-joon didn’t pretend to put out an air of innocence. If so, it was certain that he really had no idea that they were talking about him or what the future held for him.
‘Alan once said he didn’t regard himself as a genius.’
Was it because Min-joon was humble? Or didn’t he yet grasp the situation accurately?
At least in Dave’s eyes, Min-joon had tremendous talent, so much so that he could not believe his eyes. Not just his perfect palate, but his great ability to manage his assistants.
‘He said his favorite was the sauce.’
In fact, the person who was in charge of the kitchen was almost entirely judged by his ability to make sauces. For example, if someone who was interested in grilling steaks or cooking pasta could cook all of them perfectly to the point of a master chef, he would eventually interfere with his assistant if he became a head chef. So, no matter how good his cooking skills were, if he became a head chef and led a fine dining restaurant, there were quite a few cases where the quality of the dishes served to the customers was so poor.
But the sauce was not the issue in that situation because the head chef specializing in sauce put the priority on the sauce itself rather than roasting meat or making the pasta al dente. As for the sauce, it couldn’t make a big difference no matter who made it as long as the recipe was right.
‘He’s made a wise judgment.’
So, if anybody wants to become the head chef of a fine dining restaurant, many people would say they have to pay the most attention to making sauces. But in fact, it wasn’t easy to do so as a demi chef. Whether it was pasta, appetizer, or main, it was really hard for a demi chef to pay all his attention to making sauce alone.
In that sense, it was a great opportunity for Min-joon to specialize in molecular gastronomy, for it was probably related to the sauce, or the sauce itself was often cooked. While he was at it, he would learn what kind of results the combination of different ingredients would bring about, and what kind of taste it would be when various molecular cooking techniques and ingredients were mixed.