“Has Chef June asked you to select me and Kaya as the judges?”
“No, she hasn’t, but she confirmed that you guys are qualified. In fact, I’ve considered you and Kaya as potential judges for a long time, but I could not offer the position because I was not so sure. Of course, having you guys as the judges is a good choice in terms of marketing and broadcasting the Grand Chef competition. But I wondered whether lots of chefs around the world could support my decision to have you as their judge when it came to cooking alone. I wondered if my decision could bring about unnecessary friction.”
“Well, if you had me and Kaya as judges, there would definitely be some who would oppose your decision,” said Min-joon without hesitation, as if he knew the answer already.
Like he said, it was inevitable that some would oppose the two chefs’ being appointed as the judges of the Grand Chef competition.
However, Martin shook his head with a smile, watching Min-joon.
“At first, I thought many chefs would not agree with my decision, but June told me they would not be able to say anything to you and Kaya. She said there were some chefs who would feel jealous of you and Kaya, but those who really knew you guys would feel such complaints as unwarranted. Above all, both of you have already earned international recognition for your excellent performance and recipes several times.”
“Do you think our track record is enough?”
“Isn’t it time for you to realize what’s the most important in this field? Even if you have made as many achievements as you have done until now, I would still consider you as a judge of the Grand Chef competition because people’s fantasies about you have always been much bigger than most good chefs.”
Min-joon did not deny Martin’s words. That was true. More precisely, most of the people believed so. People who had nothing to do with cooking easily misunderstood his talent as an absolute one, so some of them even vaguely believed that he would be the best chef in the world.
But the chefs were different because they knew the reality. A chef’s talent influenced a lot, but his or her experience was also important. When it came to the special case of somebody who overcame the wall of experience, they were not very familiar with it. So, they treated Min-joon as a chef with great potential.
That was true until Min-joon announced his signature dessert, Cho Reggiano, he won the Paris International Culinary Competition, and he publicized his gastronomic knowledge through Choters Guide.
So, he was different from what he was.
“Is Joseph also going to serve as a judge?”
“Well, Joseph was thinking about quitting, but I was lucky enough to hold him. And Joseph is looking forward to serving as a judge with you and Kaya.”
“Well, the composition of the judges is really interesting. A chef like me who was once the subject of their evaluation has come back to the Grand Chef competition as a judge in a few years, right?”
“Have you seen the Grand Chef competition since Season 3?”
“I can’t say that I’ve seen them all, but I watched some of them.”
“Then, you may know that there are a lot of participants who regard you or Kaya as their role models.”
“Well, yeah I know it to some extent,” replied Min-joon with an embarrassed expression. In fact, even Min-joon would have envied and respected such a chef. Compared with Kaya, Min-joon’s success was surprisingly fast and certain.
But Min-joon was not sure whether they admired his cooking or simply his success alone.
In some respects, either one was important to them anyway. Aside from their motivations, it was true that they were dreaming of cooking as their career. And it was also true that they had a very good opinion of him.
Martin looked at him with a smile and said, “So, wouldn’t it be okay for you to show them at the Grand Chef competition? I mean those who are admiring you.”
“But the problem is that this is not a one-time event. You don’t want a one-year contract with me on this, right?”
“That’s correct. I hope you can serve as a judge for at least two years.”
“Yeah, I think that’s good for you and us, too.”
At that moment, a woman suddenly cut in, interrupting their conversation. It was June.
She was looking at Min-joon with a casual look.
So, he asked in an anxious voice, “But will it be okay if I am away from the restaurant?”
“Joseph and Alan were away from their restaurants even though they were head chefs there. Compared with the head chef, it’s not that easy to find a replacement for a sound chef. When you become famous, it will be beneficial to our restaurant. By the way, you have forgotten one thing.”
June raised her finger and said, “Have you forgotten which event is due at the end of this year?”
“You mean the selection of the head chef of the Rose Island main store?”
“Yeah, that’s right. Regardless of whether I or Dave or somebody else wins, things will probably be quite different from now. I’m not so sure if you can continue to serve as the sous chef until then. You’re getting my point, right?”
Min-joon roughly understood her point. If she took over as the executive manager of Rose Island, things would be really different at her restaurant in New York. He was not sure if she would continue to stay in New York. In fact, she didn’t want to have him as sous chef for long because he was too good to be used as her sous chef alone.
If June didn’t become the executive manager, she might leave the restaurant in New York because she had no more reason to stay there. Maybe, she might live a broken life for some time.
Anyway, it was certain that lots of things would be much different next year.
“So, you want to accept Martin’s offer?” Kaya asked, opening her eyes wide.
Min-joon replied with a nod, “I don’t think we have to reject the offer. Of course, we can reject it, but we have more reasons to accept it. What do you think?”
“Well, because of the way Irregular Lab operates, it’s hard to find a replacement for me if I’m away from the restaurant.”
“Oh, I see. That makes sense. As things stand now, Irregular Lab will collapse without you and Chloe.”
And that was one of the reasons why Irregular Lab’s franchise plan didn’t work out well as planned. Since the main chef was mainly responsible for everything, it was hard to find such chefs who would work for such a restaurant because what they would make would be almost the same. In that respect, it was much better for them to work at ordinary restaurants instead of
sticking to instant recipes that Kaya and Chloe insisted on.
“I think you can serve as a judge,” Chloe said.
Kaya momentarily looked at her with amazement. In fact, the biggest reason Kaya didn’t readily accept the offer was because of Chloe. Anyway, the two ran the restaurant together.
“Are you sure, Chloe?”
“Well, it’s not a matter of whether it’s okay or not. Actually, I’ve been feeling it lately. It seems that both of us have hit the limit. Isn’t it clear if we look at it under our eyes?
Then Chloe pointed at the part under her eyes. She had some bags under her eyes, which were clearly visible as if to show they overworked themselves these days.
As if she understood her feelings, Kaya nodded and let out a sigh.
Chloe said, shrugging, “So, just go and take a good break at the Grand Chef competition. Of course, you’re going to go there some time later, so I think we need to cut down on our working days from now on. Due to the nature of the hotel business, we can’t take a break during the weekend, so I think we can take two days off from our normal weekdays. Or we can think of hiring some excellent chefs who can sub for us.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
“We still have a lot of time to prepare. If we hire them, they can get used to the work here. Oh, congratulations to you for being a Grand Chef judge! It’s pretty meaningful to us in many ways, right?” Chloe said, smiling at her.
As a matter of fact, she would be lying if she didn’t feel envious of Kaya at that moment. But it would be just pointless for her to feel jealous because being invited as a Grand Chef judge was not something she could have as she wished. Then, it would be better for her to just congratulate Kaya without any reservations.
Of course, how to get Chloe’s approval was not Kaya’s only concern. It took three days for Kaya to tell Min-joon that she would also accept the offer to be a judge.
After all, the list of the judges of the upcoming Grand Chef competition was confirmed.