“Hey, can’t you first stop the hamburger game before you say you’re busy?”
“This game is also cooking to me!”
Chloe replied, laughing like a child. He couldn’t say anything serious at the moment.
So, he changed the topic, saying, “Janet and Havier seem to team up well, to my surprise.”
“You mean they weren’t a good match in the past?”
“Well, not necessarily. As you know, Janet has a violent temper, but Havier is an easy-going guy. So, I have the impression that he always tries to satisfy her demands. When I watched them this time, they seemed to team up well on the surface, but not deep down in their minds. If she is domineering while working with him in this contest, I think she is going to go nowhere at the end of the day.”
However, Havier was unexpectedly not pushed by Janet in this contest. When she tried to have her way, he questioned it for logical reasons. Even if he couldn’t overwhelm and lead her, it was good that he could at least manage to talk with her about their cooking method.
“Maybe Janet will have to change her attitude to be qualified for the sous chef position of Rose Island.”
At that moment, somebody cut in, sounding nasally as if the bee was humming. He was Dobby. Squatting on his knees, he was grinning behind the couch they were sitting on.
Anderson said, frowning, “She has to change it?”
“I don’t think stubbornness is one’s bad personality. In fact, there are numerous cooks who are stubborn. But I can understand she is stubborn as the head chef, but as a sous chef, she would not play the role of a bridge between the head chef and the demi chefs smoothly. If she wants to be successful as a sous chef, she has to be prepared to be a bridge between the head chef and other chefs.”
“How about you, Dobby? Are you a good sous chef?”
“Yeah, I think so, but if I can get good results in this competition…”
Dobby giggled, covering his mouth with his hand as if he was in a good mood only by thinking about it. Anderson found it frustrating to see him laughing cheerfully, so he turned his head with an uneasy expression.
Smiling awkwardly at Dobby, Chloe said, “You said that if you have good results in the competition, you will be allowed to open your own branch, right?”
“Hahaha, if I do, Chef June can be proud enough to make the demands to Chef Rachel for it on my behalf.”
“Are you confident you can win?”
Dobby smiled at Chloe’s words. It was the same smile as before, but somehow it was somewhat serious.
“Who do you think will win this competition, Chloe?”
“Well, don’t you think the chef with the best skills will be the winner?”
“I don’t think skills matter.”
“Pardon?” At that moment, Chloe’s eyes were wide open at Dobby’s words.
He replied slowly, “If this is a restaurant, it’s a different story. A restaurant is a place where the chef’s skills are more important than inspiration. Most people just want something delicious rather than something new. But this competition is different. You have to make an original dish delicious, and in a short time at that. The power of repetitive learning doesn’t work here because this is not a competition that shows only what you can do well.”
“Then, what is important?”
“You already know the answer, Chloe.”
Dobby smiled at her. Honestly, he understood that Chloe would not answer because she might find the answer cruel. So, she probably didn’t want to admit it directly. But he didn’t mention it by himself. When he was watching her, she turned her eyes from him.
After all, it was Anderson who gave her the answer.
“Are you talking about cooking talent?”
“Correct! Cooking competitions are all about talent, after all. If you have reached a certain cooking level, your skills don’t make that big difference. The only thing that can make the difference is your talent.”
“I think I can understand your point to some extent.”
“You will not only understand it but also agree with it later.”
“So, do you think you’re talented, Chef Dobby?”
“Well, as for talent, everyone here has it. I’m in my 30s, but you passed the qualifying round in your 20s, beating even those chefs who have decades of more experience than you.”
“Then, who do you think is the most talented?”
When he asked that, Dobby couldn’t give an answer immediately. With no smile on his face anymore, he was lost in thought for a moment then nodded.
“That’s definitely a good question. I’ve never thought about it seriously. But even if I think about it, it’s hard for me to get an answer because we have to compete first here. But I’m going to win, and if I win…”
Dobby raised both palms and said with a smile, “If I win, I’ll be free!”
Chloe burst into laughter at his unexpected joke. Anderson looked back at Chloe as if to wonder how she could laugh at his joke. She scratched her cheek with an embarrassed expression.
At that moment, Min-joon approached them and said, “Chef June will be lonely.”
“Hey, Min-joon.”
“What were you talking about? You guys seem to be in a cheerful mood.”
“Sort of. What’s up?”
“Since you don’t want to reply, I guess you are talking about me behind my back, right?”
“I guess we might have praised you, but I’m not sure.”
Min-joon smiled bitterly and shook his head. Anderson stole a quick look at him.
What Dobby had just said was ringing in his ears. Dobby said only a talented chef could win the competition this time.
Based on that criteria, Min-joon and Kaya were the most likely to win this contest. Without proper cooking training, Min-joon and Kaya survived until the very last moment of the Grand Chef competition. Besides, Kaya even won the contest.
To be honest, it wasn’t just this contest alone where the chefs’ talent determined their outcomes. If that had been the case, Anderson would not have fallen behind Min-joon like this. Of course, Min-joon might not agree with him. In fact, it was Anderson who beat Min-joon more often in various small contests.
Perhaps Anderson’s cooking skills were better than Min-joon’s. In a way, it was natural because Anderson spent more time in the kitchen, but he didn’t make his original dish, something that could shake the world like Min-joon’s Cho Reggiano.
‘Can I make something like Cho Reggiano someday?’
Anderson thought he was confident of beating him in other areas, but he didn’t dare to surpass Cho Reggiano. Actually, Min-joon’s dessert—Cho Reggiano—was on the menu of all the cafeterias in America. Even Rachel hadn’t created such a menu yet.
If Anderson told other chefs about his concern like this, they would tell him it was just useless. Cho Reggiano was definitely a great dish. It was a perfect cuisine with both commercial success and creativity. However, the level of a chef was not determined by a single recipe.
The best chef should be able to bring out the same taste of a dish whenever the customer wanted it, and at the time, he should be able to modify the dish over time. As a result, being obsessed with making something like Cho Reggiano would make the chef fill his or her greed for vanity.
“Man, I haven’t known I’m full of desire to be like you, which is total vanity…”
Anderson sighed deep down. Min-joon is his friend, but he felt like that at some point.
Maybe it was because he was like Min-joon in many ways. He might have a different personality than Min-joon, but he shared a lot of similarities with Min-joon in terms of the cooking environment or thoughts about cooking
In fact, it wasn’t that easy to find someone like Anderson who was so good at cooking at his age. No matter how wide the world was, he couldn’t know everyone in the world. As he had been accustomed to working in the restaurant kitchen since he was a child, he felt rather empty about the word ‘friend’.
So, he came to meet Min-joon at the Grand Chef competition, who was born and raised in a world quite different from his. Min-joon was from a different country. He grew in a different environment than Anderson, and Min-joon’s cooking skills were also different from his. And his sense of urgency was also different from Min-joon’s. Anderson was dissatisfied with being treated as a child all the time by his parents, so he participated in the Grand Chef competition to refute it. But Min-joon participated in the contest to prove his worth as a chef. Anderson could not help but feel a lot when he discovered that Min-joon was happy just because he could cook.
So, he thought he would help Min-joon. When Min-joon seemed to get a bit distracted from his path, Anderson would give him advice, and he felt good when he fixed it. So, he naturally thought it might be good to make friends with someone like Min-joon.
Then, when did he begin to get nervous because of Min-joon? Was it when he discovered Min-joon had a perfect palate? Or was it when Rose Island’s Rachel started showing interest only in Min-joon?
Anderson clenched his fist and muttered, “I’ve got to win this time.”
He could not be called Min-joon’s rival if he lost all the time. He also didn’t want to see French chef Theo replace him as Min-joon’s rival. Just like Dobby said, he wanted to prove he could beat Min-joon in this contest. By winning the contest, he wanted to refute Dobby’s remarks that the chef’s cooking talent, not skills, would determine the results of the contest.
“Where have you been?”
While Anderson was lost in thought, Dobby asked Min-joon and Kaya, with his eyes sparkling with curiosity.
Kaya opened her mouth, dropping cheese on the table in front of them.
“I bought some cheese. I think the French cheese here will taste very special.”
“Wow, you have bought a lot. Brie cheese, Comte cheese, and even Camembert.”
“Don’t you think if you want to satisfy the taste of the French, you have to learn the taste of their cheese first?”
Dobby smiled at that. Cheese was often called the essence of French cuisine. Dobby found it quite impressive that she had such a typical prejudice.
“It’s true that cheese is an indispensable part of the French diet, but you might have to find somewhere else the real taste of French cuisine that you need to know first.”
“Really? What is it?”
“You know it well. What kind of French cuisine is famous in America?”
“It is famous for being expensive and difficult. Oh, are you referring to that?”
Dobby replied in a meaningful voice, “Realize the taste of blank because it will be the most helpful to your survival here.”
