God of Cooking

“It’s been a while! Min-joon.”

“Ah, Deborah! Have you been doing well?”

“Well, I have not. I can’t sleep and I’m pretty tired coming all the way here,” she said, chuckling bitterly. “But I feel good most of the time, and your advice was pretty useful. So I think I can get two Michelin stars without any problem this time.”

“Two stars?”

“Yes, it’s all thanks to you. Thank you.”

Other chefs began to whisper at her words. Was it because they didn’t hear about Deborah or were they surprised that he could give her such advice? They didn’t have to feel curious about it for long, because the real star of today’s event was approaching them. It was Rachel.

While walking through them quietly, she quietly opened her mouth.

“I want to call your names one by one and hug each of you, but I don’t think you won’t have much time like me. So, let me cut to the chase. I’m looking for someone who can take my place.”

“Taking over your place means your successor takes over all of Rose Island?”

“Yeah. I’m going to let my successor take over everything I have.”

“Even branches?” someone asked with a bit of regret.

It was natural because some head chefs of local branches expected they would be guaranteed some form of independent running. Of course, even now, they were largely independent from the head office of Rose Island. Nonetheless, they wanted to run their own branches largely independent from the head office, and nobody could blame them.

“Rose Island’s name must remain forever. So, all of it must be in the hands of one person forever, so it won’t be fragmented and disappear. That’s my greed as an old woman. I’m sorry I have to seek your generous understanding of this matter, but my greed won’t change just like my dream won’t change. So, I won’t accept your dissent as far as this matter is concerned.”

Having said so, Rachel looked back at everyone. At that moment, Min-joon felt like he met her eyes. But she turned around casually and opened her mouth.

“And I’m going to decide on that person before the end of the year. There are many criteria for me to grade the candidates. But I’m not going to judge you by the number of your Michelin stars because they don’t take into account your cooking skills only. I’m going to take into account cooking magazines’ evaluation, customers’ responses, my own feedback on your dishes, and your own cooking philosophy. In other words, I’m going to take in all the factors about you.”

“Is that all?”

“No, I’ve got several more. Before the end of the year, you’ll have to show me the best full course you can. And the judges are several, including me.”

“Judges? Who else?” Someone asked.

But she didn’t hide the answer. At that moment, Min-joon felt like his eyes met hers again. But this time, it was real because she didn’t take her eyes off of him.

Naturally, other chefs began to turn their heads to him one by one, watching him carefully. Obviously, he was confused.

Rachel said, “As far as I know, this guy has the most beautiful tongue.”

It was the moment when she gave the most honorable tag to him.

‘Gosh, she’s driving me crazy.’

Dave muttered to himself with a bitter smile. He never expected to hear this from her.

Even though he regarded Min-joon as a rival in the future, he never thought Min-joon could be their judge.

However, in some respects, there was no more appropriate judge than him. As far as his gastronomic level was concerned, nobody could doubt it, for he had a perfect palate. Besides, he was well aware of Rachel’s cuisine, not to mention a delicate and detailed sensitivity peculiar to a young man.

Besides, he was even from Rose Island’s main restaurant. It would be a little bit strange for an outsider to choose the head of Ross Island.

In conclusion, Min-joon was a perfect judge for this position. And Dave knew to some extent what type of person he was. Min-joon wasn’t the type of person who would be swayed by his personal feelings or acquaintance with somebody in selecting Rachel’s successor.

“Any objection?” Rachel asked, quietly looking back at the chefs.

Of course, not everyone would be satisfied with the fact that Min-joon would judge them.

No matter how great he was as a chef, he was many years their junior. As a result, they could not accept her decision gladly because of their pride.

But even if they raised objections to her decision, it was obvious she would rebuff them. Although she was much more mellow than before, she was not the type of woman who liked to converse with her staff on matters like this. In other words, she was determined to carry out her decision once she made it. Nobody could make her change her stubborn temper overnight, though they could curb it a bit.

At that moment, Min-joon asked in an embarrassed voice, “Do you want me to be a judge?”

Everybody heard his voice, and Rachel smiled at him.

She said, “Well, even though you are used to being judged by somebody else, you are not familiar with judging others. But you won’t feel that way after this event. As a matter of fact, the chefs you are supposed to judge are your judges normally.”

“Of course, they are! They are the head chefs of Rose Island. I wonder if I can really judge them…”

“Yes, because I approved. Fortunately, none of the head chefs here are opposed to my decision, right?”

Who could dare raise an objection, looking at her frightening expression? When they made a bitter smile, Rachel approached him and said with a smile, “Follow me. There are quite a few things you might be curious about while you have been away.”

“Wait a minute, Chef Rachel! Haven’t you seen us longer than him? Aren’t you curious about us?” one of the head chefs shouted with regret.

Rachel looked back at him and said scornfully, “Are you kidding? I’ve got nothing curious about you! Stop complaining and just stay here. I’m going to talk with him for a minute and be back.”

Having said that, she took Min-joon, who looked embarrassed, into her office.

Watching her, the chef who shouted to her a moment ago, muttered in an embarrassed voice,

“Gosh, it’s a junior, not a senior like me, who is loved most…”

“Don’t worry. She has been taking care of him for a long time. It’s nothing new. Like you said, he is only a junior chef.”

Having said that, Deborah took some bread placed for decoration in front of the kitchen and put it in her mouth. Daisy, who was about to stop her, shook her head.

“What are we supposed to do here? Doing nothing like this?”

“If you’re bored, try grilling some fish. I’m hungry.”

“Hey, you are so mean. Don’t ask me to cook something when it’s not my business hours.”

“Don’t you think Michelin has reduced your stars because you have such a mindset?”

“Hey! What does it have to do with this?”

While Deborah was quarreling with Daisy, somebody gently approached Dave. It was June. With the other chefs stepping back and watching them, June said, “Hi, Dave.”

“Uh? Oh, June, what’s up?”

Obviously, he was looking askance at her sneakily, so she felt his reaction was very ridiculous because he pretended not to pay attention to her.

Nonetheless, she opened her mouth in a relaxed voice.

“What are you talking about? Didn’t you hear what Rachel told us a moment ago? I’m afraid this is going to be a fight between us.”

“Hey, June. Why do you think like that?”

It was Nathan who suddenly cut in their conversation.

As the head chef running Rose Island’s Tokyo branch, he already earned three Michelin stars for his fusion cuisine, for which he was quite famous among the branch chefs.

But June didn’t feel wary of him because she didn’t have to.

“Well, that’s what I feel,” she said casually.

“Don’t be too confident. After all, it all depends on what we do this year in terms of the reputation of our branches and full course. There is no guarantee that you will score the highest in all of that.”

“Yeah, I admit there is no guarantee. But I haven’t walked the guaranteed path so far. I’ve never walked the path that was already trodden by somebody. I’ve always made a new path and polished it to make the best. I’m not talking about you, and I’m not talking about me. I’m just talking about the difference between your path and mine. That’s why I’m convinced that I’m going to beat you.”

Even if she was saying the truth, it was the best of her grits that she was so arrogant in facing him down like that. Right at that moment, he was about to flare up in anger, but he refrained himself.

He would feel more shabby if he tried to argue with her.

Right at that moment, somebody took side with him unexpectedly. It was Dave.

“Don’t get on your high horse, June.”

She looked at him, growing, and said, “Why are you cutting in? I didn’t even say anything bad about you.”

“Because the way you behave is disgusting. As you know, cooking scores can vary, depending on the taste of the customers. Just because you are in the mainstream of this field now thanks to your social status or something like that, it doesn’t mean you are the best among us.”

“Then, who is the best?” she asked in a quiet voice.

Dave hesitated for a moment.

She asked with ridicule, “Shut up if you want to say there is no best among us. We’re not industrial products. Even industrial products are a little bit different when you open the package. We are humans, Dave. So, we can’t be the same, nor can we be equal. There’s a better way, there’s a worse way. I’m just telling the truth. I’m running faster than anyone else without any break. That’s why I can tell you I’m confident.”

Deborah thought June was so rude. Although most of the head chefs here were aware of her rude personality, she noticed some were about to lose their temper. She wondered how June could get along with people with such an arrogant attitude. She even thought June might be a double-faced person.