Chapter 198: The Courtship of 36 People (2)
Chapter 198: The Courtship of 36 People (2)
“Mr. Pabo.”
The unexpected voice snapped the PD, Pabo, back to reality. He looked around and found Rachel watching him.
“Yes?”
“They’ll be arriving soon.”
“Ah. Right. Yes, thank you very much.” Pabo immediately turned towards his crew. “Film team! Over here!”
As Pabo hurried out of the kitchen and motioned for his staff to follow, Jo Minjoon looked at Rachel in confusion.
“Arriving? Who’s coming?”
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
Rachel merely smiled and refused to elaborate.
Jo Minjoon wondered whether he could coax the answer out of her if he kept asking, but he had no desire to test that theory. Besides, he was not desperately curious. If Rachel had invited them, they were probably food critics or chefs, and whoever they were, they were bound to be fairly famous.
Knowing that much was enough.
Or so he thought.
The guests who arrived an hour later were completely beyond Jo Minjoon’s expectations.
More precisely, guests was the correct word.
There were thirty-six of them.
*
LAX.
As usual, the parking area outside Los Angeles International Airport was filled with buses. Rachel’s guests were gathered aboard one of them.
It was an ordinary charter bus with nothing particularly distinctive about it. There were no special decorations or luxuries, and at a glance, it looked like nothing more than a bus carrying a large group of tourists.
Naturally, not everyone was satisfied with the arrangement.
A woman with curly red hair sighed and shook her head.
“Grand Chef gives the chefs they invite an aeroplane.”
“Debra. That was Grand Chef. What they’re filming now is closer to a documentary. Besides, the chefs on that plane were Chef Rachel and Chef Sergei. Those two deserved something like that.”
The person answering her was Dave, head chef of the first three-Michelin-starred restaurant Jo Minjoon had ever visited, one of Rose Island’s branches.
Debra weakly knocked her forehead against the window. “I know. Obviously, we can’t compare ourselves to Teacher Rachel or Sergei, that eccentric old man, but…… think about how many stars all of us have put together. If so many people hadn’t opened restaurants outside the Michelin Guide’s coverage, we could probably have close to a hundred stars between us.”
“You think so? For thirty-six of us to have a hundred stars, nearly everyone would need three. You only have one yourself.”
“……That hurt.”
Debra scowled and turned away, unable to come up with a response.
Dave looked around the bus. It had room for a little over forty passengers, and slightly fewer than thirty people were currently aboard.
He stroked his chin and grunted.
“They’re late.”
“It would be stranger if everyone arrived at exactly the same time when they’re flying in from all over the world.”
“How long has it been since all of us gathered like this?”
“Not sure. All I know is it’s been at least ten years. Meeting the people based in the United States is one thing, but once everyone scattered around the world…… Teacher Rachel really was the centre holding us together.”
“Rose Island……” Dave murmured. “Just thinking about that name standing tall again makes my heart race.”
“I don’t care about anything else. I’m just happy Teacher is cooking again.”
A nostalgic expression crossed Debra’s face before she smiled.
At that moment, a deep yet somewhat weak voice joined their conversation.
“But did all of you hear the rumour?”
The speaker was a heavily built White man with a shaved head.
Dave turned around. “What rumour?”
“I heard Teacher plans to make that kid, Jo Minjoon, her successor.”
The entire bus fell silent.
It was an extremely sensitive subject.
Dave crossed his arms and groaned before answering quietly.
“Philip. That isn’t something for us to discuss.”
“Why not? We’re all Teacher’s students. We’re also soldiers of Rose Island. If we’re going to end up with a new general someday…… shouldn’t we at least be allowed to have an opinion?”
“I understand what you mean. But Teacher hasn’t said anything to us herself. If we start judging things based on rumours, she could easily misunderstand our intentions.”
“I don’t want her to misunderstand anything. But you can’t expect us not to be curious. Whether Teacher really is placing that much hope in that kid or not……” Philip looked towards Dave. “You’ve met him before. What was he like?”
At once, Debra and nearly every other chef listening to the conversation perked up.
Dave frowned under the pressure of their attention and thought for a moment.
“I’m not really sure. All he did was taste my food and immediately work out the recipe. What I can say for certain is that he genuinely has Absolute Taste. If any of you remember Teacher Daniel, then you already know how much a gifted palate can mean.”
“He really has Absolute Taste? It wasn’t fabricated or exaggerated for television?”
“If there were anything fake about it, there’s no way Teacher would have taken him under her wing.”
“I suppose that’s true.”
Debra nodded.
Absolute Taste.
And, although it was still only a rumour, a potential successor to Rachel Rose.
Jo Minjoon certainly carried some impressive titles.
The latter, in particular, held enormous significance for the chefs of Rose Island.
Philip crossed his arms, complicated emotions plain on his face.
“I don’t know whether I should feel nervous or excited. Normally, if I heard there was someone with Absolute Taste, I’d be excited and want to feed him my food. But if he might be my competition……”
“Competition? He’s still just a kid working as a demi chef. Is there really any need to worry that much?”
“You know there are monsters who accomplish in one year what takes other people ten. Jo Minjoon is a serious opponent. Sigh…… I already had enough of a headache competing with all of you.”
None of them normally said it aloud, but every head chef running a Rose Island branch had dreamed at least once of becoming Rachel Rose’s successor.
It was not because they coveted her wealth or estate.
What mattered was the honour of becoming the representative of Rose Island.
After devoting their lives to the restaurant, that title meant far more to them than money ever could.
And now that the main branch was being revived, there was a strong possibility that its eventual head chef would naturally inherit that representative role.
No one had any objection while Rachel herself was in charge.
But if, someday, Jo Minjoon or someone else became head chef of the main branch without being clearly superior to the chefs already leading the branches……
There could be problems.
That was why all thirty-six branch head chefs had gathered today.
Not merely to celebrate the return of the main branch, but because they were deeply curious about Rose Island’s future.
Perhaps that was why their expressions remained serious even after they had all finally assembled and arrived at Rose Island.
Dave looked around the restaurant with nostalgic eyes.
He too had once worked at this location.
For ten years, seeing the place stand dark and empty had been painful.
Now, seeing the lights on again filled him with an emotion he could barely describe.
“……Who are all those people?”
“I recognise some of them. They’re chefs. Rose Island head chefs. Are all of them head chefs……?”
The television staff did not appear particularly surprised, but the servers, chefs, and other members of the restaurant family visibly tensed when so many people entered together.
Rachel stepped forwards with a bright smile.
“It’s been a long time, everyone. Well…… most of you. I did see some of you during the last ten years.”
“That wasn’t because we didn’t want to see you. Teacher, you were the one refusing to meet us. You hid yourself away like a princess in the middle of a forest.”
Debra shot back bitterly.
Rachel’s gaze softened.
“You’re right. I did hide for a while. But forget being a princess. It looks like you’ve become a queen in the meantime. Listen to all that sass in your voice.”
“You looked so gentle on television that I thought you’d finally grown old, but apparently you’re not completely useless yet.”
“Judging by the respect you show your teacher, I can understand why you’re still stuck at one star.”
“Damn it. That’s because the food critics who came that year scored however they pleased. Those bastards didn’t have the slightest professionalism.”
“So you’re telling me you’ve somehow encountered unprofessional food critics year after year? Enough. Excuses won’t get you anywhere, Debra.”
“Are you seriously going to treat your cute student like this after not seeing her for years?”
“Are you seriously going to speak to your supposedly respected teacher like this after so long?”
Debra glared at Rachel with tears gathering in her eyes.
Then she abruptly stepped forwards and hugged her tightly.
Rachel did not flinch. She merely smiled gently.
Debra whispered, her voice slightly tearful.
“I really missed you. Teacher…… you should’ve met with me. Really.”
“……I’m sorry.”
Seeing Debra like that, the other head chefs began inching forwards as well.
Rachel immediately raised one palm.
“Stop. All thirty-plus of you aren’t expecting me to hug you, are you? My whole body would ache afterwards. Absolutely not.”
“You’re still as sharp as a knife.”
“People my age need to take care of their bodies.”
Rachel smiled at Dave’s comment.
At that moment, the demi chefs came out into the dining room.
Jo Minjoon was walking beside them when he suddenly froze.
Every head chef’s gaze had shifted towards him.
Not towards the demi chefs in general.
Towards Jo Minjoon specifically.
He awkwardly opened his mouth.
“Nice to meet you……?”
“Minjoon, it’s been a while.”
“Ah, Dave. Good to see you.”
Jo Minjoon shook Dave’s hand before looking towards Rachel.
His expression was full of questions, clearly asking what exactly was going on.
Rachel answered calmly.
“The people gathered here are the head chefs of Rose Island’s branches around the world. Despite their busy schedules, they all came because I asked them to. Every one of them is an excellent chef.”
“You threatened us by saying anyone who didn’t come wouldn’t receive a bonus for the next year.”
“My, my. Jeave. You didn’t realise that was a joke? You’re still just as slow.”
The Black man named Jeave looked genuinely shocked.
Had it really been a joke?
Several people seemed to remember a similar incident in the past when Rachel had actually withheld bonuses for several months……
Rachel, naturally, did not continue that particular discussion.
Instead, she slowly looked around at the gathered chefs.
“There are two reasons I asked all of you to come here today. First, with Rose Island’s reopening so close, I wanted to share this moment with you before it happened. And second……” Rachel paused. “I wanted all of you to become the first customers to personally taste and evaluate the food from this kitchen. All of you knew Daniel well. You should still remember what his food tasted like.”
“Are you planning to…… recreate the flavours from the past?”
The person asking could not keep their voice from trembling.
How could they?
Every Rose Island branch had spent years trying to imitate, pursue, or somehow approach the taste of the old main branch.
Almost none had managed to reproduce more than one or two dishes properly.
No.
It might not even be an exaggeration to say that not a single branch had ever truly recreated it.
Just imagining themselves tasting those flavours again was enough to make them shiver with anticipation.
Whether they were trembling as chefs or simply as people who loved good food, none of them could tell.
Rachel answered.
“We will not be recreating the old flavours.”
“……Huh?”
“Even Daniel wouldn’t want me spending the rest of my life standing beside his grave and staring into the past.” Rachel’s expression became serious. “I’m going to show that troublesome man something instead. The main branch will go far beyond where it stood before. It will progress. It will evolve.”
Her voice rang with absolute conviction.
“I will make that happen.”