None of the customers there who heard Min-joon didn’t realize he just said something very provocative. With concern and expectation in her twinkling eyes, Delia looked at Min-joon and the man, Willard, sneakily. How would he react? Could he put up with it when he was insulted openly by Min-joon? She thought he would not. An exhibitionist like Willard would never ignore this kind of provocative action by somebody.
But Willard didn’t react as quickly as she expected. She waited in a tense mood for some time and concluded what she could not imagine.
‘Did he just ignore Min-joon’s provocative action?’
How could he think nothing of it when Min-joon insulted him in the presence of so many people here? As far as she knew, Willard was not the type of person who would give it a pass. But she was wrong because Willard was really upset.
‘Cho Min-joon.’
It was a name that anybody interested in cooking must have heard without any exception. Willard didn’t like that name. He felt bad about the envy and excitement in their voices when people called his name. Willard Greenwood was such a man. He could not stand people paying attention to somebody else, not him. No matter what, he was determined to make his name known to people, and even tried to make them recognize him when they didn’t.
In some respects, Willard was like June who didn’t totally devote herself to cooking. Willard was a chef, but he didn’t devote himself to cooking. Of course, that didn’t mean he was less competent in cooking. His cooking level was 8 in Min-joon’s eyes. But considering his career and talent, he should have had a better cooking score. But he stopped there.
Of course, he didn’t hit a wall. He didn’t feel he needed to improve his cooking skills. More precisely, he didn’t even think that his dishes were much different from other chefs’ dishes. He thought that after reaching a certain level, the taste of the dishes at high-end restaurants was more or less the same. After all, what mattered was the interior, image, and service of the restaurant, he thought.
And that was why he could not accept the different reality in the restaurant world. Michelin gave him only one star. He really couldn’t accept the reality. He thought it was the outcome of the cheap prejudices and subjective opinions of Michelin evaluators because somebody got three stars when he received only one star.
‘How dare a sous chef like him try to insult me?’
Willard narrowed his eyes. He did not recognize Min-joon. He didn’t think Min-joon was great. He thought that his victory at the Paris International Culinary Competition or his perfect palate was for his own images. In fact, people couldn’t easily determine which one was better if they were served some delicious dishes. In other words, their preferences for taste mattered.
Willard thought that if they couldn’t determine which dish tasted better, they were not qualified to evaluate anyway. He didn’t know it, but that was why he stopped growing as a chef. In Min-joon’s eyes, his gastronomic level was only 6. As a matter of fact, Willard could not introduce himself as a chef in any place at that level.
Was it because he wanted to be a cook to make a living, not because he liked cooking? Of course, that alone might not explain his arrogant behavior. What was certain though was that he had great self-esteem. In fact, he was thinking hard about how to get even with Min-joon rather than ignoring his insult. He was thinking of how to reverse the atmosphere without inviting others’ ridicule.
Now, he knew what he wanted to do about Min-joon after hard thinking.
“Did you target me when you said that? No?” he asked in a pretty polite tone.
Min-joon looked at him and quietly twisted the pasta on a fork and put it in his mouth.
So, Willard had to wait for him to chew his noodles and swallow them through his throat.
Willard didn’t expect such a reaction. He felt insulted again.
Conscious of people watching him closely, Min-joon slowly opened his mouth.
“I’m not sure what you’re talking about because we have talked a lot.”
“I’m talking about what you said a little while ago. You said if I didn’t like this pasta, it meant I didn’t know what the taste of food was like.
“Ah, did you feel offended by what I said? I’m sorry. I think I set the bar too high when I said that. Didn’t you like it?”
Min-joon responded in a polite and calm voice, but each of his words was quite provocative. He was apologetic, but he said that with the assumption that Willard was a man who didn’t know anything about a food’s taste.
At that moment, Willard found his anger was raging, but he put up with it. He was not stupid. He knew it would only invite others’ ridicule if he played into Min-joon’s hands in this situation.
“To be honest with you, this isn’t a luxurious dish, right? It’s just pasta. Just typical oil pasta with seafood. Nothing special here. I don’t think it’s easy to feel special about it. And are you Min-joon Cho? I know you are Kaya Reuters’ lover, the chef of this restaurant. I’m afraid you are supporting her dishes because of that.”
Willard was not trying to convince people around him that Min-joon was trying to exaggerate her dishes just because of his romantic relationship with Kaya. But that was what Min-joon expected.
He replied calmly, “If you knew me well, I thought you would know this too. I don’t compromise as far as cooking is concerned. If a dish doesn’t taste good, I say it honestly. As a matter of fact, the dishes that Kaya served 15 days ago were just terrible. I didn’t want to come here to have such food. But her dishes are different now. I can guarantee that. And…”
He paused for a moment and continued, “Since you’ve come here, Iet me give you some explanation to express my gratitude. This pasta may look typical, but it’s not. All the ingredients except for white fish, squid, and shrimp are very hard for chefs to trim because they smell very fishy among seafood. In particular, white fish doesn’t have tension in the flesh, so its flesh is easy to crush when you fry it with pasta, which makes the sauce rather dull. But look at this! It’s intact, isn’t it?”
Having said that, Min-joon looked into the pasta. At that moment, those who were eating the pasta began to check out their own noodles and uttered exclamations after confirming it.
The oil was incredibly transparent. Shrimp and white fish could have been crushed a lot, but they didn’t.
While listening to him, Willard’s expression turned even harder because he felt like he was a student attending a cooking lecture. He felt resentment against Min-joon because of how Min-joon acted, pretending not to know he was a chef.
“And if you try this oil now, you will feel the rich taste of seafood in it. Besides, you can also feel the subtle harmony through the combination of squid, shrimp, and cod. If you eat it while feeling it, I think you can taste it quite differently from what you did a little while ago.”
“Sorry, but I don’t think I have to because I’m a chef. I know that.”
“Oh, really? Then, I don’t have to tell you more. Why did you complain then? I don’t think it’s hard for you to find fault with this dish unless it’s not your type of food.”
Willard gnashed his teeth, looking at him. He thought Min-joon was immature because he was a young chef, but he found himself on the spot in an instant. Unless he made excuses that it was not his type of dish, he would be ridiculed as an idiot who didn’t even understand the structure of the dish.
Eventually, he opened his mouth in anger. The reason he conceded was because he wanted to get even with him in the future.
“Yeah, you’re right. This isn’t my type.”
<hr />
David Owell: Hey, Min-joon was involved in a quarrel again? I heard he had a nasty quarrel with a very famous chef in New York. Was his name Willard?
└ Martin Li: How come that guy likes to quarrel so much? He looks gentle, but when I see him getting around, he’s more short-tempered than a martial arts fighter.
└ David Owell: @Martin Li But this time, I could understand why he got in a quarrel. I heard he messed up with Min-joon at the restaurant Kaya newly opened.
└ Martin Li: @David Owell? How?
└ David Owell: @Martin Li Well, I don’t want to exaggerate it, but I heard that Willard openly said the pasta didn’t taste delicious. You know Min-joon’s temper, right? He didn’t sit idle. He immediately talked back. He was kind enough to explain to Willard why that pasta tasted delicious as if he dealt with a child.
└ Martin Li: @David Owell Man, I don’t like Min-joon’s attitude either. By the way, why did Min-joon go to New York and make a fuss like that? He should stay in Los Angeles where he was.
└ Paul Casper: Well, I heard he went there to have experience at the New York branch of Rose Island. Although there are many branches, their menu and cooking style are different, depending on the chefs there. So, some of the chefs are trying to tour all the branches of Rose Island. Well, trying to learn more at his age isn’t bad at all.
Ceci Lopez: But what about the restaurant Kaya has opened? Is it good? People who visited the restaurant say the food there is incredibly better than before.
└ Mohammad Shaheen: Yeah, it’s really good. I clearly felt that she has really changed this time. I was afraid I might be disappointed again, but I wasn’t. It’s good I visited there and confirmed it.
Ruzanna Petoyan: Well, isn’t that Willard actually helped Kaya and Chloe? Even if he had stayed silent, this would have been forgotten, but actually, he made an issue out of it and ended up advertising the restaurant, after all.
└ Federico Barrios: I agree. Right now, lots of people clearly recognize that Kaya and Chloe’s new attempt is very good. I’m very supportive of their efforts, too. Their new approach to a restaurant sounds like a great idea for a chain restaurant. I’m even thinking of buying stocks if their restaurant chains are listed on the stock market.
└ Doug Feick: @Ruzanna Petoyan By the way, Willard was very much upset this time, You guys might know this, but I heard that he had a quarrel with Min-joon one more time after that.
└ Ruzanna Petoyan: @Doug Feick Really?
└ Doug Feick: @Ruzanna Petoyan Yes, they did. It seems Willard bears a big grudge against him. After he was insulted, Willard decided to counterattack after fully preparing.
└ Ruzanna Petoyan: @Doug Feick So what happened?
└ Doug Feick: @Ruzanna Petoyan Wait a moment. I will explain by posting a new thread.
Doug Feick: As many of you have not heard about it, let me explain from now on. Do you know how scary Min-joon is? Are you ready to listen to me?
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