“You don’t know about it?” Deborah asked with a confused expression.
Demi chefs and cooks looked at her curiously.
She said, breathing out shortly, “The Michelin Guide Inspectors don’t come and go just once. When they come, there are some rules. Min-joon might not know it, but you guys had experience working at a restaurant before, so I thought you knew it. You really didn’t know it?”
“Well, I don’t think they have come to my restaurant. Or they might not have given any star to my restaurant.”
“Okay, I can understand, Havier. Anderson, and Janet? You know the Michelin rule, right?”
“Well, I’ve never really been interested in how many times they will come.”
“Like Janet, I’ve never thought about it.”
Deborah sighed and shook her head at their tepid reaction for it was their reaction that surprised her. They thought the Michelin Guide Inspectors would come only once.
‘Rachel must be very mischievous.’
Surely Rachel must have known her staff wrongly understood the Michelin rule, but she never tried to correct them. In other words, she wanted to make fun of these innocent chefs under her wing. If they thought the Michelin Guide Inspectors would visit a target restaurant only once and leave a review, the restaurant staff would desperately make their best to get a good review.
‘I wish I hadn’t tipped them off on this…’
But the dice was already thrown.
Deborah sighed and opened his mouth.
“Under the premise that it’s their first visit to the target restaurant, the Michelin Guide Inspectors visit the restaurant three times, sometimes even more, so they can make the correct judgment. Evaluating a restaurant with just a one-time visit can be seen as rude to its chefs and food.”
“It’s amazing to think that the Michelin people who respect food don’t cook themselves.”
“It’s a personality difference. There are people who like to serve food while some prefer to eat. Instead of answering, they rolled their eyes. Deborah laughed at them because she knew they could probably reply to her question.
“Honestly, eating is more fun sometimes. Sometimes, I feel jealous about those gourmets who go around the world and eat everything they want to eat.”
“Oh really? You might think it’s very regrettable. You said that you also received a gourmet proposal.”
“But I don’t regret it. Cooking isn’t as fun as eating, and sometimes, it’s hard. The reason why eating is fun for me is because it gives me happiness when I think what kind of food I can make with this.”
“Yes. That’s how the cook is supposed to think. We are cooks anyway.”
“So, what else is there we have to pay attention to with respect to the Michelin review?”
“Well…”
When Janet asked, Deborah briefly put her hand on her chin. Then she quickly opened her mouth as if she hit upon something.
“Maybe there aren’t many Michelin evaluators who want to come to Rose Island?”
“What?”
When Deborah replied like that, Min-joon opened his eyes wide.
It was Rose Island and its main store at that. It was a restaurant that any gourmet wanted to visit.
In fact, it was one of the best fine dining restaurants in the United States.
Deborah said, shrugging, “In fact, Michelin gourmets don’t want to review popular restaurants. By now, they must be engaged in fighting over their reviews of some popular restaurants.”
“Well, is it because people blame them when they leave a bad review about popular restaurants?”
“That’s part of the reason, but the biggest reason is not that one.”
Having said that, she opened three fingers.
When they were thinking hard over her gesture, she gave them the answer.
“If any gourmet visits a restaurant as a Michelin inspector, you can’t go to the restaurant for three years.”
“Oh, I see…”
Everyone nodded as if they understood. Rose Island was loved by gourmets because about half of the customers were gourmets. Of course, Rose Island was also popular among the ordinary customers, so the fact that gourmets reserve so many seats meant that there were so many gourmets eying to review Rose Island.
One of the gourmets once said that the dishes served at Rose Island reminded him of the meals he used to enjoy before he became a gourmet. He also commented that he just tended to focus on eating, forgetting to review the restaurant.
Forgetting the criticism and saying that one could just enjoy the moment.
Rose Island was not bound by an old-fashioned dinner, nor did it pursue the ambiguous and difficult taste of modern dinners. A stable yet aggressive diet that was precisely balanced. If a gourmet who served as a Michelin inspector was told not to enjoy Rose Island’s fantastic dishes for three years, there would be few gourmets who would take the job.
“How many of you have put your recipe on the menu?”
The demi-chefs silently avoided her glance.
She smiled at them and said, shrugging, “If you want to make any good memories, you better hurry up to make it come true as early as possible. Michelin Guide Inspectors always pop up suddenly like thieves.”
***
“Now we have only a few days to shoot the scenes of you,” the cameraman said in a calm voice.
Min-joon looked at the cameraman with a smile and said, “Thanks a million. I hope I won’t look strange on air. You know I heard them calling me a geek so many times when you filmed me for the Hunger Trip last time.”
“What should I do? You’re really a geek!”
“Well, as you say so, I don’t think it’s going to be different this time.”
Min-joon laughed with an embarrassing expression.
Looking at Min-joon in the lens, he said, “Do you want to say anything to our viewers?”
“To the viewers? Well, I want to ask them not to hate me. Not only me, but also Kaya since she just wants to make delicious food, and we’re working hard for it. Other than that, we’re just ordinary people.”
“Well, I don’t think there are many who think you are ordinary.”
The cameraman spoke in a very serious voice. At least, he had such impressions of Min-joon.
It was not just about his cooking talent. He had the best of human qualities. He watched something for a long time that other people would easily pass, and he tried to perfect even the slightest flaws that others would just pass.
“If you watch all the interviews you have done so far, you will feel it’s very interesting. Lots of people commented about you.”
“I’m very anxious. I don’t want to see it.”
“Oh, please watch it. I’ve worked very hard to film it.”
Taking his eyes off the lens, the cameraman laughed playfully.
Min-joon said, shrugging, “Sure. But it’s a pity that you could not shoot the scene of the Michelin inspectors coming here before you’re done shooting.”
“Well, if they can’t come in time for this shooting, I don’t really have a choice. By the way, I think the demi chefs should work hard to get their recipes on the menu before they come.”
“Of course, that’s the best, but if they can’t do it, they still have to work harder.”
“You don’t look anxious, Min-joon.”
“Well, I don’t have any reason to feel nervous,” Min-joon answered with a calm voice.
He turned to the kitchen. He seemed to have a lot on his mind when he glanced at the other demi chefs there.
At that moment, Janet approached him with a plate.
He said, looking up at her with a slightly anxious expression.
“Again?”
“You will be satisfied this time.”
“I think I eat seven or eight meals a day these days.”
“Well, it looks like you didn’t gain any weight.”
“I’m working hard, you know.”
“Then this is a perfect dish for you. If you don’t eat this, you are going to look more haggard. So, try it. It’s a lobster Bisque. I’ve mixed the Bisque with champagne and cloves, and as for the Ceviche underneath, I’ve mixed the lobster’s body, bell pepper, and onion. Finally, I put some sauteed zucchini pumpkin.”
“It must be quite sweet.”
Mumbling like that, he lifted the spoon. The lobster sashimi mixed with vegetables tasted quite different from what he thought. Unlike its typical look of the 1980s, the taste was quite modern. He enjoyed the subtle taste of champagne mixed with the Bisque sauce, along with the aroma of lime and vinegar created in making the lobster into Ceviche and other vegetables.
But he responded somewhat negatively.
“No, this isn’t enough, Janet.”
“Why?”
“Well, I like its rich texture. The tender lobster flesh and the crispy green peppers and onions are all good. The taste is moderately controlled. The taste of Ceviche and Bisque doesn’t conflict that much. But that’s all. Anybody can expect this.”
“Whew! Then what should I do?”
“That’s what you have to think about.”
“You don’t want to give me any suggestions?”
“Well, I don’t think you can find the solution unless you improve the Bisque sauce or add something else. Why don’t you just give up using the Bisque sauce? It would be better if you add bell pepper puree or something like that. By the way, when did you begin to take my words seriously?”
He stopped talking and looked at her as if she was strange. In fact, Janet and other demi chefs admitted he had a perfect palate, but they were not humble enough to seek his direct counsel or advice on their recipes.
Janet hesitated for a moment and said reluctantly, “You know you pass Rachel’s test the most among us. Besides, you know how to meet her criteria.”
“Well, I’m not trying to meet her criteria.”
“Then, what’s your knowhow? It looks like you are not making your dish so easily.”
“Well, should I say it’s the pig’s protection?”
“What the heck are you talking about?”
“You don’t have to know. If you need inspiration, go to the gallery.”
Janet was about to open her mouth at the moment but shut up.
In fact, after she heard that he got inspiration at the gallery, she went to all kinds of galleries in Los Angeles. She didn’t want to confess to him now.
When she turned back to the kitchen with a sigh, Anderson asked, glancing at her, “Why? He says it’s not good enough?”
“Yeah, he says mine is too ordinary.”
“I felt the same way. You didn’t even pursue anything special, right? If you badly need any help, go and see Rachel. She might give you some good advice.”
“No thanks. If Min-joon says that my dish isn’t good enough, then there is no chance I can pass Rachel. As you know, he is better than any gourmets as far as food review is concerned.”
“He is better than us in cooking, right?”
“Hey, can’t you stop?” Janet snapped when Anderson said in a self-mocking tone.
