Chapter 250: 250
If you are reading from a pirate or aggregator site, please read from the translator’s site: yado-inn (dot) com I have to put the link like this or else the bots will remove it, sorry 🙁
“How greedy . ”
Deborah clicked her tongue in shock . Minjoon scratched the back of his head embarrassed .
“You know . Do I really have to give up on one thing to get the other?”
“I’m not telling you to give up . I’m telling you to focus . ”
It sounded weird in his head, but he got the gist of it . Coming up with a specialty was different from giving up .
It made him think of Rachel . She must’ve experienced something similar to this at one point . Thinking about it just made him feel more conflicted .
“What do you feel like you’re most talented in? You must have something, right? Soup, pasta, molecular gastronomy, plating, knife work, fire, etc . ”
“Mm… I’m bad at plating for sure . ”
“Well, I don’t know about that . I think you’re actually pretty great at plating . ”
“What?”
Minjoon turned to Deborah with an astonished face . His decor level was just 6 . Sure, decent plating didn’t require anything monstrous like a carrot sculpture, but that didn’t mean he was good .
Deborah didn’t seem to be joking, though . She opened his mouth when Minjoon just stared incredulously .
“What do you think plating’s about?”
“I don’t know…?”
“It’s all about looking good in front of the customer . There’s nothing more subjective than ‘looking good’, though . To some, an ugly kid might be a lover, or even their lovely child . ”
“That’s because the relationship exists between those people . ”
“You think a relationship between a person and the plate doesn’t exist?”
Minjoon just stared . Deborah sighed .
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“Sorry . I keep saying weird stuff, don’t I? I’ll be direct . I don’t think a dish is just ‘food’ after it’s been plated . I also think that it’s just wrong to try to compete purely with flavor . ”
“…Why not?”
“People always think before eating . Who made the dish, how the dish was made, how it was plated… It all matters . Do you think a person would find a dish made by a killer tasty?”
“They wouldn’t even be able to eat it . ”
“That’s exactly it . Your customers would think about you first before eating anything . No matter how good you are, that’s just inevitable . You yourself becomes a part of decor for the food . ”
Minjoon felt a little complicated about that .
“Anyone can get that fame if you work hard, though . That’s not really talent or anything, is it?”
“Are you serious? If you are, can I hit you?”
“…Let’s call it a joke . I don’t really want to get hit . ”
“Okay . If I were to respond seriously to that joke, I’d like to tell you to think about your position a little more . No matter how good a chef is, not many people can incite excitement from the audience on television . But look at you . You’ve gotten the attention of the entire world in just a single year . The entire world practically knows who Minjoon is . ”
Deborah wondered for a second . Did the man really know how jealous everyone was of him? Even she was jealous of him as a head chef of a michelin-starred restaurant .
That was just how shockingly abrupt Minjoon’s rise to fame was . People never took their eyes off of him . He just became a demi chef, and immediately became a star chef .
“…Man you’re making me jealous of your life again . Do you want to switch lives with me?”
“You’ll have to marry Kaya if you do . Are you alright with that?”
“I’ll just get a divorce . ”
“Then it’s a no . ”
“Hah, you sound like you’d have said yes if I told you I’d keep her . ”
Deborah smiled . Unfortunately, it didn’t last long . She leaned against the wall with a saddened face .
“Honestly, despite talking like this… I still haven’t found what I want to focus on . It’s annoying . ”
“…Aren’t you a michelin one star? Should you be talking about that?”
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“Right . I’m a one star . Not two stars or three stars, just one . Just an owner of a restaurant who keeps worrying if her stars would disappear . ”
She sounded incredibly tired and defeated . Minjoon thought for a second before opening his mouth again .
“Is there something wrong with the restaurant?”
“That’s the problem . I don’t even know . ”
“Could you cook for me?”
“…For you?”
“If you need my advice, that is . I should at least be able to think about it with you . Wasn’t that the reason why you came here?”
“…Right, Rachel’s not even here anyway . Then… What to do . Do you like a cuisine in particular?”
“Just give me something you came up with recently . I’d like to see where you are in the restaurant right now . ”
Deborah looked away awkwardly . When Minjoon looked at her confusedly, she opened her mouth with some hesitation .
“To be honest, the dish was made around 5 months ago now . I’ll just tell you that now . ”
“Five… months, huh . ”
She tried to sound normal about it, but her voice trembled a little at the end . She couldn’t help it . Nothing in her restaurant really advanced after 5 months .
She looked down nervously .
“Yeah . Insane, isn’t it . ”
“…Why couldn’t you make anything for five months?”
“Who knows? At the very least… I don’t have that inspiration anymore . It’s like a writer’s block . I’ve forgotten how to cook . I’ve forgotten how I cooked . ”
Deborah smiled . It almost looked like the very definition of a bitter smile right then .
“That’s why I ran . With the excuse of a renovation . I was hoping I’d get something out of Rachel . ”
“How did you lose inspiration?”
“Dunno . I think I might’ve… Thought a little too much? Too shallow?”
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“What do you mean by shallow?”
“I’m going to blame someone else for that . It’s Michelin . You’ve always seen me walk around victoriously, right?”
“Can’t really say always . I haven’t seen you many times . ”
“Alright, fine . Actually, that’s pretty funny . Can’t believe I’m talking about this to someone I barely know . ”
Minjoon smiled lightly . Deborah wasn’t the only person who talked about their life story to him . Pretty much everyone, ranging from Justin, Anderson, and even some of the customers had told him about their life stories at least once .
Minjoon didn’t dislike it . Kaya made fun of him for it, but he thought different . Not many people would talk about their lives to a person that hated his .
The people who talked to Minjoon about their life stories, then, would have acknowledged that Minjoon lived a life worth living . Minjoon didn’t hate that at all .
“You can stop if you don’t want to talk about it . ”
“No . Consider this payment for your advice . It’s a simple story . I was just thinking about Michelin too much . ”
“That sounds normal for anyone that wants a star . ”
“Yeah . But I went too far with it . I kept dishes the critics raved about on the menu, and I just cut off dishes that didn’t get decent reviews right away . I always did that . In the end… My menu didn’t become ‘my’ menu . It became Michelin’s menu . ”
“…That’s a sad story . ”
“You ever get dead skin on your arm?”
Minjoon nodded . Deborah looked at her arm with a smirk . Her arm was beautifully clean, but it looked like it was covered in white bits .
“It starts off small . But as you keep trying to get rid of it, it just gets bigger and bigger . That’s what happened for me . I tried to fit myself according to their tastes a little… And then I ended up becoming their slave . You know what’s funny about this, actually?”
“…I don’t think it’ll sound funny, but go on . ”
“You’re right about that . It’s not funny at all . Dave, who didn’t care about a thing, unlike me, only ended up doing better than me . He has three stars now!”
“Nothing feels worse than falling behind . ”
“You know that feeling? You look like a total winner, not gonna lie . ”
“Things are going well now, but I haven’t succeeded all the time . ”
“If you say so . ”
“Could you cook for me now? I think I get the situation . ”
“…Alright . Mind if I use the stove here?”
“Of course . ”
She spoke as if she would finish fast, but the actual cooking took a full hour . She finished about when break time was almost over .
“Here . This one got raving reviews . Try it . ”
“It looks… Interesting . ”
Minjoon was astonished for sure . Deborah had arranged pork belly like noodles and served it with some yellow cream, black sauce, and honeyed ginger sauce . Deborah spoke as she dolloped some ice cream on the meat .
“This is an ice cream I made with ginger and beer . I braised pork in Indian spices and wine, and the cream was made with ginger and potato . The black sauce is made with beans and soy sauce . Try it . ”
“…Sounds exciting . ”
Minjoon put the dish in his mouth with a smile . Deborah looked at him excitedly . He was the most famous demi chef in the world after all . She couldn’t wait to hear what he thought .
“It’s tasty . ”
That was the only thing Minjoon managed to say after the bite . Deborah smiled, but it faded as she realized that Minjoon was frowning .
“What’s up with the face, then?”
“Well…”
“Just tell me . I’m ready to hear anything . ”
“If everything on the menu is like this…”
Minjoon swallowed a sigh . He had to say it though .
“I don’t think I’d want to be a regular in your restaurant . ”
If you are reading from a pirate or aggregator site, please read from the translator’s site: yado-inn (dot) com I have to put the link like this or else the bots will remove it, sorry 🙁
End .