I Got the Almighty Tongue - Chapter 136



Only Noblemtl

Episode 136: Experience Makes a Chef

After a 14-hour flight, I arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport. After completing immigration and entering, the automatic doors opened. Then, with a whoosh, the familiar smell of cheese wafted in.

“I missed that smell.”

Joohee takes a deep breath.

“Do you like New York?”

“No, I like freedom. In Korea, people are more cautious. If I do something wrong and get reported on, it’ll be a nuisance to my family and it won’t be good for my brother either.”

Her expression brightens as she feels liberated.

“Aren’t you tired of living with your parents?”

“That’s true. It’s been a few years since I’ve been living away from my mom and dad… At first, I felt a sense of stability and it was good, but it’s become more and more burdensome. Of course, I love my parents. But they worry too much even though I’m not even twenty years old.”

Joo-hee’s parents treated her with love and affection as if she were a precious piece of porcelain. It must have been frustrating for her.

“I also think that it would be better for both of us if we became independent as we got older. Then we would be happy to see each other every time we meet.”

“that’s right.”

Joohee giggles. It was past rush hour, but the traffic in downtown New York was still congested. The taxi kept stopping and starting, then stopped completely. Then the driver turned on the radio.

-The second season of the much-talked-about show Master Chef is about to begin. What has changed?

– There was a change in the judging panel in Master Chef Season 2. Chef Shin Je-hee, who had an absolute sense of taste and was very popular for her touching comments, announced that she wanted to focus on her main job and left the show. Many fans were disappointed by this news, but Graham Elliott, the owner chef of a New York Times 4-star restaurant, joined in his place.

-I heard that there were more contestants this season than in previous seasons. Is that true?

-That’s true. Gordon Ramsay, who is an investor and co-director of the show, said this season is even more… .

Graham Elliott joined the show as I had left. The Master Chef judgeship must have been a great opportunity for him. I felt sorry that he was hurt because of me, but I was relieved first.

“Brother. Don’t you regret it? If you had continued to appear on Master Chef, you would have become more popular.”

“I don’t hate being on TV. But I had one clear purpose in doing it. It had to help my restaurant. I didn’t go on TV to become a star.”

The term ‘cheftainer’ has been coined. But it is clear that this is not the path for me.

“I know, too. That’s why I like you. Your circumstances have changed a lot over the past 8 years, right? But you still have the dream you had back then, so I support you.”

My dream is not just this. I have just taken the first step, and I don’t know how much more effort I have to make to reach it, but I will never give up until that day comes.

When I got home, I unpacked and made dinner for her. These days, Joo-hee has a fickle appetite. Some days she wants Korean food, and sometimes she wants Southeast Asian or Italian food. Today, she wanted kalguksu, so I made some dough and let it sit, bought some clams and anchovies, and made kalguksu.

“It’s amazing how anything you order comes out. How can there be anything you can’t do?”

Joohee looks at me with curiosity, then picks up her spoon and tastes the soup.

“It’s delicious. It tastes really refreshing.”

That would be right. While I was in Korea recently, I consciously visited various restaurants and collected data. In my cooking notebook that I have been using for several years, I have detailed recipes for dishes that impressed me. The kalguksu I made today was made by combining several hints I got from there.

“I’m glad you found it delicious.”

After finishing her meal, Joo-hee fell asleep on the sofa listening to music because she was tired. I carefully lifted her up and carried her to the bedroom and headed to Segreto. What could have happened while I was away?

* * *

It was now 3 p.m. The chefs had finished their meal and were either taking a short break or busily preparing ingredients for dinner service. But when I opened the door and entered the restaurant, there was an inexplicable gloomy atmosphere.

“Kim! How many times have I told you that this isn’t right? It’s overcooked. The vegetables are all mushy and anyone who sees it will think you’re making pudding.”

“I’m sorry, Chef.”

Sam’s rough voice can be heard outside the kitchen.

‘This doesn’t seem like your usual Sam. What’s going on?’

Just as I was about to enter the kitchen, Jenny came around the corner and spotted me first. Her eyes widened and she smiled brightly with joy.

“jenny!”

“fizzle!”

She lifts her index finger to her lips and grabs my sleeve. I was skeptical, but I followed her lead and went up to the office.

phew.

Only after Jenny enters my office and closes the door does she exhale deeply.

“What the hell is going on?”

“I’m sorry. I have something to tell you before I meet the staff.”

Jenny says with an embarrassed expression as if she is ashamed.

“What’s going on?”

Looking at her expression, it didn’t seem like a good thing. I was frustrated that she had difficulty speaking, but I waited patiently for her to begin her story.

“I told you not to worry because there would be no problems here while you were in Seoul.”

Jenny begins to speak, as if she has gathered all her thoughts.

“however?”

“At first, there were really no problems. But after a month? The customers started complaining that the food wasn’t the same as before. Maybe they realized you were gone?”

Jenny continues speaking calmly.

“How was the food actually?”

“You know Sam? He was perfect as always. The problem is that he was shaken. It’s not unreasonable. I was shaken too.”

“Tell me more.”

“At first, one or two customers complained about it. We took it seriously, and all the chefs got together to make a menu and taste it. I can assure you that there was absolutely no problem with the food.

But as that kind of feedback started to increase, I started to doubt myself. ‘Am I really tasting it properly?’, ‘Aren’t the customers actually right?’ Once I started to think like that, I couldn’t stop doubting myself.”

I felt like I had been hit in the back of the head. Regardless of Sam’s abilities, being in charge of the kitchen comes with more stress and pressure than you can imagine. And it was probably something he had never experienced before.

“From then on, the kitchen lost its direction. Each staff member worked with the mindset of perfecting every dish, but they started to have a lot of distracting thoughts. These days, even I can feel that the taste has changed. As a result, even the quiet customers started to speak up, and a vicious cycle began.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Sam wanted to solve it himself. I agreed. Talking about it would only cause you, who is on the other side of the world, to worry. Since a fundamental solution is impossible unless you come anyway. All I could think about was how to hold out until you came back.”

What would I have done if I were in Sam’s situation? I think Sam would be in a very psychologically depressed state by now.

“What’s the reservation rate?”

If customers feel that the taste of the restaurant has declined, they will quickly stop coming.

“It’s okay for now because it’s a recent problem. And there are a lot of new customers coming in.”

Fortunately, it didn’t seem to have developed into a serious situation. I didn’t want to blame them. Rather, it was my fault for not anticipating this situation.

The chefs must have felt like members of an orchestra who had to play a symphony without a conductor. Members who practiced for a long time under a competent conductor would be able to play among themselves without any problems for a certain period of time.

However, after the performance, if you hear the audience’s feedback once or twice, your performance will change little by little without you knowing it. And the overall harmony of the team will break down. The more you try to fix it, the more the song will be ruined.

First, it’s important to understand the objective current situation. I went down to the kitchen with Jenny.

“Chef!”

Dominic, who is known for his mild emotional ups and downs, welcomes me more warmly than usual.

“You’re finally here.”

Ella also seems to have had a hard time. Her face is filled with fatigue.

“Chef. I am…”

Sam’s eyes waver. He had told her to trust him, but now that the situation has come to this, he must be embarrassed. But this is not Sam’s fault.

“I heard the gist of the story. Thank you for your hard work.”

Sam bites his lip when I pat him on the shoulder instead of scolding him.

I called all the chefs together and started cooking. I lit the stove and tasted the sauce that Soyoung had made, and it was a little bland.

When does the liver become insufficient? When confidence is lost. When the liver is excessive, it is almost impossible to correct. Such mistakes paradoxically occur when confidence is excessive. However, the opposite is not the case. Soyoung herself acknowledged that the sauce she was making was imperfect and was ready to correct it at any time.

One dish is finished. I plated the finished dish and placed it on the table. At first, I thought I would taste the dish they served and then point out the problem, but what the crying child needs is not reprimand, but courage and confidence.

“Taste it. And remember this for sure. No one knows this dish better than you. If you think it’s perfect, then it is.”

When a kitchen is not functioning properly, this space quickly turns into hell. In a limited space, nervous chefs have to be in contact with each other all day long without any leeway. The more nervous they are, the more mistakes they make, and negative emotions are easily transmitted to those around them. First, this needs to be stopped. Mentality is important not only in exercise but also in cooking.

“Yes! Chef!”

Their voices came back to life.

I started making the next dish. All the chefs were watching me cook. And one by one, the finished dishes were placed on the table. They closed their eyes and concentrated as much as possible, and tasted the food. I could feel their determination not to forget this taste again.

My absence left us with a task that no one could have predicted. However, I am convinced that this experience will actually help the chefs grow. Sam will never waver in similar situations in the future. The same goes for other chefs. Experience makes a chef grow. There is no lie in this saying.

By the time all the cooking was finished and dinner service time was approaching, everyone’s eyes had changed.