Chapter 323: Check and Competition (2)

As with all things, easier said than done. This kind of pudding was by no means easy to make. To put it another way, if one took pomegranate juice in his or her hand and eat it with tuna, that alone might look like a good match, but basically, fruit juice itself would be difficult to bring out such a taste.

‘Oh, I wish the cooking score was about 8 points.’

Unfortunately, the chef’s amuse-bouche cooking score was 9. Min-joon understood it.

Given the chef’s excellence in checking the sugar content of the fruit as well as her devotion, even 10 was not enough.

“Man, if June’s cooking score for this pudding is 9, what about the score for her main dish?’

While he was toying with such an idle thought, the next dish came out.

“It’s tartare made from deer meat. The tops are beets and capers, and the yolks are topped after it was whipped beforehand.”

Was it because the server trusted June so strongly? The server explained the dish before Rachel or Raphael without any hesitation. In some respects, it was natural that the server showed such a confident attitude to customers.

Min-joon removed the wheat flower garnish and stuck a fork into the tartare and put it in his mouth. Personally, he didn’t like steak tartare much, especially tartare served at fine-dining.

When served as an appetizer before the main course in a typical restaurant, tartare was often very salty and sour, which was natural. Otherwise, tartare alone could make one feel full and lose appetite because of its fat.

“Man, this tastes good, too…’

Min-joon muttered gently. It was delicious. This restaurant run by June was so popular that even Rachel recognized it. But what surprised him was not just its delicious food.

‘How can she bring out the taste of ingredients so wonderfully like this?’

In a way, June looked like the chef who brought out the best taste of food, which Rachel always emphasized. And that alone wasn’t her strength. Although it was stamped with a frame, the tartare decorated on the bowl in vivid lighting was almost perfect, except for the part he just stuck with a fork.

Just looking at the plate, Min-joon felt that June was a perfectionist because the personality of a chef was always best revealed on his dish. At that moment, he looked back at the sous chef of June’s restaurant and said, “You put vanilla essence as well as herbs in the tartare.”

“Oh, you noticed it! I’ve put only a little bit to dilute it.”

“Well, that one drop removes all the fishy taste of the yolk and the smell that raw meat can give out.”

“Well, there are almost none who noticed that the vanilla essence was in it. To put it precisely, nobody did notice it. Of course, there were some who guessed that something similar was in it. You must be Chef Min-joon, right? The rumors are right…”

“Wow, I’ve never thought you added vanilla essence to tartare. It’s a new combination to me…”

“Sometimes, I feel like our head chef is a researcher rather than a chef. She likes to experiment with combinations that ordinary chefs wouldn’t even think about. In fact, the money she spends experimenting with new recipes every day is as much as the sales of a typical restaurant.”

Min-joon gulped as if he was deeply impressed by June’s approach to cooking.

Obviously, he felt envious rather than surprised. While the sous chef was smiling delightedly, he put the remaining tartare in his mouth little by little. It wasn’t too salty or sour. He could clearly enjoy the savory taste of venison seasoned with tartare.

When he ate the rye bread served together with tartare, he thought that the check for the meal was worth it. But this was only the beginning of the chef’s tasting menu.

What was served next was king crabs. Its name was King Crab and Rhubarb. There were tongs, neither small nor too large, along with butter made of Nutmeg. Behind the tongs was the flesh removed from crab legs, wrapped around the rhubarb.

He felt like he saw a small dragon with a claw-shaped head. The butter looked like cintamani, and the crab meat and rhubarb looked like a crab’s body and tail.

The moment he put it in his mouth, he slightly closed it and smiled.

“It tastes like a dragon.”

“Dragon? I think I know what you mean.”

“I think I know what it means when Rachel said June was as good as Dave.”

Fortunately, the cooking score for this dish was 8. Min-joon remembered the recipes that came to his mind. He wanted to try this kind of recipe someday.

As if it was preserved in wine vinegar, the rhubarb full of sour and astringent taste got mixed with the moist taste of crabs and the oily taste of butter, creating a wonderful flavor. At first glance, it looked like a simple combination, but it looked luxurious thanks to nice plating, which reminded him of Rachel’s table.

And at the same time, Min-joon became more convinced that June was suffering from obsession. It wasn’t because he felt like he was seeing modern art on the plates because that was common in any high-end restaurant.

June’s cooking was consistent. Most of her dishes came out in pairs. Tuna and pomegranate, king crab and rhubarb, and subsequent dishes were all paired. Foie gras and blackberries, red sea bream and green tomatoes, sweet bread and parsley, sirloin chanterelle mushrooms, goat cheese, and plumcot, etc.

And what impressed Min-joon the most was the dessert served last. When the dessert was served, June came out in person and explained to them, which suggested that she felt greatly attached to the dessert.

“The name of this dessert is Arctic Bird’s Nest.”

It deserved such a name. Three eggs were raised above the brown nest, and beside it was Turkish snacks made of sesame and honey, powder made of halva and crushed chocolate, and blueberries and flowers. As if it had snowed, white ice powder was scattered over it.

“I made ice powder with yogurt. Everything that looks like leaves and branches is chocolate. The nest looks like pasta, but it’s a honey tulle dressing.”

Min-joon exclaimed, “Ah” at her explanation. Actually, he was wondering what the nest was made of. At first glance, the nest, which looked like a variety of noodles, was like a work of art.

“The eggs on it, the skin, and the whites were made from goat cheese parfaits, and the yolk part was replaced with a curd made from birch berry.”

While explaining, June seemed so passionate and excited as to make him forget about her cold impression.

Min-joon carefully asked, “How could you think of making something like this?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, take it as my compliment. I’m really curious about how you came up with such a beautiful combination. I guess you might have gotten some inspiration.”

“As far as I know, you must have developed a very famous dessert. You already know the answer, right?”

“Well, I don’t get that inspiration when I need it.”

“Same with me. This came to my mind when I visited my hometown. Even in summer, there was a place where it snowed, and I saw a nest there. A nest in the snow, with summer grass, leaves, and berries. At that moment, I got some inspiration. What I had to do next were trial and error. You know that experience, right?”

Min-joon nodded. Then he carefully took one egg with a fork and put it in his mouth. The yogurt snow melted, and the goat cheese parfaits melted in his mouth, too. When the berry curd of the birch tree touched his tongue, its sour taste soothed his tongue, which was tired of tasting all kinds of flavors.

What he tried next was the nest. When he bit the honey tulle dressing and chewed it, he felt happiness beyond words.

Looking at Min-joon and others’ happy expressions, June said with a smile, “Every menu will change over time. But if there’s only one that won’t change until I die, that’s probably this menu. Lots of restaurants tend not to emphasize desserts, but I personally think the most important thing is dessert. Depending on how you feel when you’re done eating the dessert, you decide whether to visit the restaurant again or not.”

“I want to come back to this restaurant,” said Janet.

June smiled after making eye contact with Janet.

June replied with a cold and sharp smile, as always, “You’re going to pay for this dish next time.”

After they were done, Min-joon and others turned to June’s kitchen. They wanted to see clearly with their own eyes how she was managing her staff. They couldn’t see it because this was not business hours. But they could examine the structure of the kitchen in more detail. And they could not help but admire how the kitchen was arranged.

“It’s the definite feature of a modern kitchen.”

“I don’t save money when it comes to decorating the kitchen,” June answered calmly.

There was no air of conceit in her voice as if she said it was only natural.

June’s kitchen was the most glamorous of the ones that they had ever seen. Every fryer and griddle plate was equipped with a temperature meter, as well as dozens of buttons whose use was not clear. Molecular cooking utensils with high price tags were also scattered here and there, which could never be found in ordinary restaurants. The most salient feature was the small TV installed on the wall. It showed the details of the orders they received and the specifics.

When everyone was checking the kitchen in amazement, Janet turned to June and gently opened her mouth.

“Thank you.”

“For the food?”

“No, thanks for showing that as a woman chef, you have been successful as much as this.”

“Rachel has shown it to you already, right?”

“Yes, she showed it. But you feel sometimes one is not enough. And…” Janet blurred.

But June could see what she wanted to say.

June muttered in a low voice, “Well, Rachel is so different from us. You wanted to say that, right?”

“…”

“There’s nothing to be ashamed of. I was like you. Do you want my advice?”

“Please.”

“Well, not really, except for something we all know. Oh, yes, I’ve got one.”

June looked at Raphael repeating ‘Wow!’ with the demi chefs in the kitchen.

“I heard that man is quitting his sous chef position.”

“Yeah.”

“Take over that position by all means!”

June’s eyes shone coldly.

She continued, “That position will make you perfect.”

The moment June said that, Janet had a strange feeling. Sous Chef, in fact, was a position that she could take any time if she wanted at ordinary restaurants. But it was different when it came to the Rose Island sous chef.

To put it precisely, her confidence level was different. Janet couldn’t answer confidently.

She felt something skeptical at first. ‘Can I do it?’

And what followed that thinking of hers was her awful self-hate. Biting her lips, she looked at June.

Watching her for a minute, June gradually tilted her head and said, “Are you not confident?”

“If I say I’m confident now, I’m not sure if it means I’m confident or arrogant.”

“What do you think arrogance is?”

“Well, I think it’s overconfidence in oneself.”

“Well. I’ve never been less confident than I am now, but that doesn’t mean I have been as excellent as I’m now at every moment. But I believed I was the best without any basis. But I just believed that. That’s not arrogance. Wait a minute. Your name is…”

“Janet. Janet Fay.”

“Good, Ms. Fay. You seem to think overconfidence is harmful, but you don’t have to think so.

Just like the seat is changing the person, the self-esteem that you get from your confidence will also change you. Well, it’s up to you to accept my advice or not. But this is one thing I want to say to you.”

Janet looked at June.

June said calmly, “There’s no dog that has won with her tail down unless it’s a really fierce fight.”

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