What really annoyed Kaya and Chloe was what Min-joon said was right. They could not refute him. What they felt upset about the most was that they became complacent about the way they cooked and managed the kitchen staff.
Kaya and Chloe were strict with themselves at least until they were trying to come up with a new recipe. In fact, they spent every moment of the day thinking about cooking to make the recipe even a little better. However, when they applied it to actual cooking, they began to be lenient with themselves. That was the case when they managed the part-timers. Honestly, they felt a little anxious when they watched the part-timers working . The part-timers asked the same thing many times and often got confused about the simple task of boiling pasta.
Nonetheless, Kaya and Chloe naively thought the part-timers would get accustomed and more skillful over time. But they were wrong.
“How did you hire the part-timers?” Min-joon asked.
“Well, we hired those who had some experiences working in places like fast food stores,” Kaya replied.
“I now understand why you are in trouble,” he said coldly.
With Kaya wriggling her toes in a sullen mood, Chloe opened her mouth.
“But you can’t expect too much from the part-timers. If you want more, you have to hire cooks. If we hire cooks, our original concept of restaurant management is meaningless. What can we do?”
“You can hire those who are good at cooking but are not necessarily cooks. For example, they may cook as a hobby or they may be homemakers.”
When he said that, Chloe groaned as if she realized something. She had never considered hiring homemakers.
Looking at them, he said, “Unless you are looking for a sous chef or demi-chef, it won’t be difficult to find cooking assistants. By the way, how about tips?”
“Well, we receive tips, generally speaking. We are not a fast-food restaurant.”
“That’s good. Then, try to have the servers and the kitchen staff divide the tips. If you do, ordinary homemakers will be anxious to work for you.”
Min-joon’s advice brought out the heart of the problem. Was it because he watched how June managed the kitchen staff? Or was he smart in that area?
Kaya instantly felt alienated at that moment. She felt not only Min-joon but also Chloe was more talented in managing a restaurant than her. Although she first suggested how to operate the restaurant, she felt bitter after realizing that she didn’t have any workable action plan.
At that moment Chloe said, “Well, we want to do one more thing.”
“What is it?”
“We want people to know why we are trying to save costs in the kitchen. We also want them to know what kind of change our efforts will bring about in the kitchen. When we can persuade them, I think we can be called chefs who really care about our customers, not those blinded by money.”
When she said that, he looked at her curiously. He was not sure if she really changed a lot while she was working as a celebrity in Hollywood, or if it was part of her character that he had never noticed before. So, he felt a bit strange to hear that from her.
‘She speaks like June…’
But he shook off such idle thoughts because it was just ridiculous to compare her with June.
He felt good about her business sense, though.
“Good idea, yeah very good. But…” he said coldly. “Let’s close the restaurant temporarily first.”
If he had had more time, he could have more actively shared Chloe and Kaya’s concerns, but he couldn’t at the moment. Right now, he was so busy adapting to his new life as the sous chef of June’s restaurant. Dobby hadn’t left the restaurant yet, but it had been a while since he stopped working as the sous chef in the kitchen.
Since Min-joon alone carried out his duty as the sous chef, he was often faced with a difficult situation. Of course, he had experience working as a sous chef or head chef, but he didn’t spend time in that role all day long. The more he tried, the more he made the judgment with inertia, and as a result, he almost made a mistake several times.
“Man, there is nothing easy in the world, but I didn’t know how difficult my work was.”
Dobby chuckled at his complaint. He felt Min-joon was getting by without any difficulty, but when Min-joon complained like that, he felt he was not different from other chefs.
So, Dobby asked, “It’s harder for you because of Kaya and Chloe, right?”
“Well, not necessarily. They know what they’re doing.”
“Aren’t you worried?”
“I trust them more than I’m worried. I believe they are going to succeed.”
Dobby seemed surprised at his reply. As far as he knew, Min-joon was the type who always counted the number of cases one by one, so he never expected Min-joon would have such unconditional trust in them.
At that moment, Downey said in a sullen voice, “But their restaurant concept is vague. I’m not sure if they want to run a fast-food store or a restaurant.”
“Just think of it as a restaurant with an efficient mix of people. Actually, it is.”
In fact, most Korean food restaurants in Korea had a similar staff in the kitchen. There were many more housewives in the kitchen than professional chefs. Nonetheless, their dishes were delicious because not only were they competent but also such restaurants had their recipes organized systematically.
Actually, Kaya felt the same way. As long as she could lead the kitchen staff to be fully familiar with the recipe and work sincerely, she felt she could make her dishes as perfect as those served at Korean food restaurants.
“I hear Kaya and Chloe’s restaurant is temporarily closed, right?”
“Yes, that’s true. If they run the restaurant as it is, I think they will do injustice to the customers. So, I asked them to double-check everything about the restaurant before reopening. I think when they reopen, you will see lots of change in the restaurant.”
As a matter of fact, Kaya had been in a depressed mood because of that. Min-joon’s vitriolic comments were also partly responsible for her depression because he had hardly criticized her so harshly before. But he felt it was fortunate that she got humbled. Actually, she was on a roll without any difficulty these days. Given that, he felt it was good that she was bright down like that.
‘The thing is whether she can overcome it well.’
If Kaya couldn’t get through this situation wisely, he was determined to raise her up by all means. It was good to get used to falling, but he could not allow her to get used to it and give up.
“Don’t worry too much. They are trying to run their restaurant in a smart way.”
At that moment, somebody said that from behind him. It was June.
She said with a satisfactory expression, “To run a restaurant, you need to do some politicking basically. Well, I would call it some sort of politics that you guys have used the favor of that woman named Delia. Now, the thing is how to change people’s perceptions. But if you say something about them, Min-joon, they will change anyway. Besides, it seems that you are not the only card they have now. But you have to be careful about this…”
She continued with a serious look this time.
“They have to make sure that you cook right. Even if they want to use the media to publicize their restaurant in a clumsy way, they will end up showing only their ugly side. So, when they want to reopen, they should really make sure everything is alright.”
“I think they will.”
“You will find it out soon.”
“What?” he asked curiously.
She looked at him with a bitter expression and said, “You will soon see how many shallow guys are running restaurants in this world.”
***
“Great!”
It took two weeks and two days for Kaya and Chloe to hear that praise from Min-joon.
They did a major overhaul of their operation. They hired new part-timers and spent lots of time having them familiarize with the recipes.
And it was after another week after Min-joon praised them that they decided to open the restaurant. They sent invitations to all kinds of gourmets and chefs. Among them were those who heaped lots of criticism on them last time.
‘I should make my enemies my friends from now on,’ Chloe thought to herself.
But Kaya didn’t want to see them again, but she also admitted Chloe was right.
With an anxious look, she said to Chloe, “Can we make it, Chloe?”
“Hey, how come you are so nervous, Kaya? Of course, we can make it. Min-joon has also recognized that our dishes are completely different from before.”
Unless unexpected variables arose, Chloe was confident she would not make any mistake.
“Ah, Min-joon has come!” Chloe muttered.
He was entering at the entrance of the restaurant at the moment.
At that moment, they received the first order.
Kaya quickly checked the order and shouted, “One signature burger plus bolognese pasta! Natalia, boil the spaghetti right now and bake chopped onions.”
It didn’t take long for the kitchen staff to get busy with the orders piling.
Looking into the kitchen, a white man with a neat beard opened his mouth, raising the glasses with a horn rim.
“It’s a very disorganized kitchen.”
“Is that so? It looked like a normal kitchen.”
“Well, as an experienced gourmet I notice things you guys don’t. It’s only natural that the kitchen is disorganized when you bring in unskilled people like that. You don’t have to shout to them if they are skilled cooks. Do you see that?”
Since his voice was so loud, Min-joon, who was sitting at another table, could hear it clearly.
Min-joon frowned as if he was embarrassed.
Delia, sitting next to him, looked at his face slowly and opened her mouth.
“Don’t worry too much. That chef is notorious for being arrogant.”
“How can he talk like that when he is not a gourmet?”
“Well, a guy who worked at my hotel in the past was his sous chef. He said that the chef was quiet in the kitchen. But when a cook made a mistake, he was given a severe scolding later.”
Min-joon stared at him as if he didn’t like that chef, then ordered the same menu as he did.
Since this was a restaurant where cooks worked through a division of labor, their cooking time was very fast. But that chef didn’t even like it.
“How come they give me the main even before I’m done with the salad?”.
“Oh, the server asked you whether you wanted the food coming in order or have your food altogether.”
“It just doesn’t make any sense to ask the customer about it. Are you sure this is a hotel restaurant?”
Having said that, he put spaghetti in his mouth. It was an oil pasta made of crushed cod, shrimp, and squid fried in olive oil and fried with pasta. It was the same menu that Min-joon ordered.
After trying it once, he said, frowning at her, “It’s so bland. The sauce has been made too bland. It’s not spicy at all. I feel like I am on a fool’s errand today.”
While listening to his complaint, Min-joon put the same pasta in his mouth. Then he made a ridiculous expression because what he said was not true. Actually, that chef should have felt the harmony of the unique flavors of seafood first when he chewed it.
“It’s delicious,” said Min-joon loudly.
The chef in question looked back at Min-joon, then narrowed his eyes because Min-joon evaluated the same dish differently.
Min-joon continued, “If you mix various kinds of seafood, it’s difficult to cook them properly, and at the same time, it’s hard to stop mixing the various flavors. But you’ve got the oil on it really well. I’m not sure if the oil itself has been seasoned or the seafood itself is salty, but the taste of the oil is deeper because you have washed away the salty taste of the oil properly. Besides, it is sweet because of the chopped onions. This is really…”
In a way, this dish was a big challenge for Kaya and Chloe, too.
Min-joon quipped, “Unless you don’t know the taste of this dish, how can’t you appreciate its taste?”
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