I Got the Almighty Tongue - Chapter 81



Only Noblemtl

traps

Ella takes out her phone and checks the time.

“It’s only nine o’clock. It’s not too late.”

Ella lives in New Jersey, which is connected to Manhattan by subway. Thanks to this, it was easy to get there. After getting off at the World Trade Center, I took a bus to Greenwich Village.

The forest of buildings in New York, so close but so rarely visited, felt unfamiliar. Ella straightened her hunched shoulders and straightened her back.

‘I’m a chef now. Let’s be confident.’

After winning MasterChef, Ella received a lot of offers. Most of them were offers to open a restaurant with investment. There were also offers to do a TV show together. However, Ella politely declined all the offers.

The $250,000 prize money was used to pay off the mortgage on the house he currently lives in.

“I’ve never worked in a restaurant before, so what do I have to say about being an owner-chef? What does broadcasting mean for my personality?”

She was a rational person. She quickly got out of the flower garden and returned to reality.

After getting off the bus, I walked down the street and checked the address written on the note.

“This is definitely it.”

Ella looked up and looked at the restaurant.

“Segreto.. it looks like an old European building.”

Ella stared blankly at the building.

I think I’ve seen this building in a movie. It was a movie about medieval knights. The door of that building was also an arched wooden door.

Ella, who was overwhelmed by the appearance and stood there blankly for a moment, shook her head and came to her senses.

After a slap on the cheek, I open the black wooden door and go inside. After passing the old-fashioned reception, I enter the lobby. There was a sign telling me to go up to the second floor. I walk up the black wooden stairs and come to a large hall. And there, many chefs who want to work here are sitting on chairs and waiting for their turn.

‘There are many.’

At first glance, there seemed to be more than 20 people. It wasn’t even ten o’clock yet, so there would be more as time went on. As Ella was looking around to see if there was a place to sit, a familiar-looking man with a beanie pulled down on his head came up the stairs.

“Dominic?”

“Ella?”

The two looked at each other and paused for a moment.

“Do you want to work here too?”

Ella asks Dominic.

“Yes. I need to train anyway, so the fastest way would be to do it under Chef Shin.”

Dominic says, looking away in embarrassment and scratching his cheek with his finger.

“Me too. It’s nice to see you again. Please take care of me in the future.”

Ella extends her hand for a handshake.

“It’s not even decided yet.”

Dominic awkwardly takes her hand.

“Are you two also aspiring to be chefs?”

Ella and Dominic turned around in surprise at the voice coming from behind them.

An Asian woman, obviously younger than them and wearing a chef’s uniform, blinks at the two.

“Yes. I came after seeing the job posting.”

Dominic answers, pointing to his phone.

“Wow! It’s Ella and Dominic!”

The woman looks at the faces of the two men and starts to fuss.

“fizzle!”

Dominic puts his index finger to his lips with a troubled expression and gestures for silence.

“Ah. Sorry. It was nice to meet you.”

“Do you work here? I thought it wasn’t even open yet.”

Ella asks curiously.

“Me? I’m Chef Shin’s number one scout. We’ll be together for the rest of our lives.”

She speaks with an arrogant expression and a haughty voice.

“Scout? For life?”

Ella tilts her head.

“Chef Shin is my senior, my teacher, my employer, and the person I can rely on for my future.”

“Ah..yes..”

The two people’s minds became confused by the unknown explanation. Then Dominic suddenly saw her name tag.

“But here, I heard they have nicknames engraved on their name tags? When you were young, was it ‘So-oh Young’?”

Dominic muttered softly, but loud enough for Soyoung to hear.

“This is my real name! My name is So-young. Not ‘So-young’, but So-young! Repeat after me.”

“So-o-young.”

The two men followed her instructions without even knowing her true identity.

“Yes. Please pay attention to your pronunciation. Follow me.”

It seemed as if a storm had passed. With bewitched expressions, the two moved according to her guidance.

* * *

“Hasan, that’s a great resume. Are you sure you want to work here?”

After looking at the resume, I looked at the man again and asked him a question. He had worked as a CDP at a famous restaurant in Paris and then as a sous chef at a two-star restaurant in New York. Then he moved to Italy and studied again while working at several restaurants before returning.

“Yes. I wanted to work with Chef Shin Je-hee once.”

An Arab man in his late 30s sits with his legs crossed and answers in a confident voice.

“But most of you only worked for a year?”

“Yes. Because learning is the most important. The restaurant is important, but I think personal development is the most important.”

“Okay, I’ll contact you.”

I shook his hand and sent him out. Then I put his resume in the box where the rejected candidates were. I don’t need someone who will only work for a year. I need someone who will work dedicatedly until the restaurant is established.

What makes people committed?

It’s simple. You just have to give him the treatment he can’t get anywhere else. The moment he decides that he absolutely cannot be cut here, he becomes a dedicated employee. But even so, there is a type of talent I want.

“Let the next person in.”

“yes.”

Soyoung answers vigorously from outside. As soon as the restaurant was completed, I called Soyoung first. Soyoung, who had already graduated from school, came running that day, volunteering to be a helper and helping with the interview. I gave her the chef’s uniform and name tag I had prepared in advance as proof of her employment. I also contacted Benjamin. He will be joining soon.

“Ella?”

“Hello, Chef.”

Ella sits down, smiling awkwardly.

“How did you find out about this place?”

“I came after seeing Instagram.”

The power of Instagram. It’s probably a company that’s only been around for a few months, but I don’t know what kind of magic this app has that draws people in like this.

“I bet you’ve had a lot of good offers, but are you sure you’re okay with working here? I’ll start as a chef.”

“That’s what I wanted. I want to start from the bottom. Right now, I’m just a name, but I don’t know how to do anything. I don’t even know how a fine dining kitchen works. Please, chef.”

Ella suddenly gets up and bows her head in the Korean style and doesn’t raise her head.

“What’s wrong, Ella! Lift your head. Okay. Let’s do that. I’m the one who appreciates it.”

“Really? Thank you!”

Ella lets out a deep breath, as if a worry has been relieved.

“Then let’s first write up a contract. Read it and sign it.”

I handed her the contract. Ella took it and started reading it.

“Contract period: 3 years, 50 hours a week, annual salary: $50,000. Overtime pay separate, quarterly performance-based bonuses, and if a dish you develop is put on the menu, you get 3% of the sales for that dish.”

Ella’s eyes grow wide as she reads the contract.

“Is it okay to sign a contract like this? I’ve heard countless times that the fine dining industry has poor working conditions.”

Ella’s eyes widen as she speaks. She probably came here determined to endure the harsh conditions.

“Of course it would be. I worked in that kind of environment too. But that’s why chefs can’t stay in one place for a long time.

If a restaurant is surviving by exploiting its employees, it would be better for society if it went out of business quickly. I don’t need sick chickens working 14 hours a day. Just work hard for ten hours a day. I’m confident I’ll make a profit.”

“But is this really sustainable? I have to leave early to prepare lunch. Dinner is over at 9, but it will be past 10 by the time I clean up.”

“Of course, it’s impossible to run it that way. The last order in the kitchen is at 8 o’clock. The chefs can leave work then. The trainees will clean up. The trainees will use it in the morning and afternoon.”

It is an operation that is not cost-effective. But I cannot compromise.

Chefs who go to work at 8 a.m. and leave at 10 p.m. have no life. They have to work 14 hours a day, but they earn little money. They have no time to play, no time to date, and no time to spend with their families. After working like that for several years, there comes a moment when you suddenly realize the truth of life. You should have quit this kind of job a long time ago.

I want to gain their commitment by offering them their dream job, so please don’t think about becoming independent and just quietly become the cornerstone of a Michelin three-star restaurant in my restaurant.

Ella signs and leaves with a blank expression.

Dominic, who came in next, also signed the contract with an expression of disbelief.

“I guess I can get a room in Brooklyn. I was wondering if I should get a place in East Harlem.”

Dominic sighs in relief. East Harlem is one of the most crime-ridden areas. He’ll have to worry about his wallet being stolen every time he leaves work.

“What are you talking about? Our restaurant has a staff dormitory.”

“yes?”

“Do you know how much it costs to rent a room in Manhattan? Even the smallest room you can fit in here costs $1,500 a month. If you earn $50,000 a year, you’ll get about $37,000 after taxes. That means you’re earning $3,000 a month and spending more than half of that on rent for a room you can’t even lie down in. People shouldn’t live like that.”

“This is Manhattan. There’s nothing we can do about it.”

“Be thankful that your employer is rich. He prepared accommodations for you because he hates seeing you like that.”

After I finished the restaurant, I started to think about how I could run it well. People are the problem. They always are. So I decided to set a trap. One that you can never escape.

“I bought a few 3-bedroom condos (condos* privately owned apartments) about 5 minutes away. Men and women will use them as separate accommodations, so you can unpack there. We might have to share a room later, but for now, we can use separate rooms. Also, I’ll divide the utility and management fees by the number of people living there, so I understand that.”

“Thank you, Chef.”

Dominic’s eyes, which had always looked cold, became moist. It was the look in his eyes of a man who had never been kind to anyone in his life.

If you buy a condo in New York now, you can make money by investing and winning the hearts of your employees, so it’s a profitable business for me.

Recruitment is almost complete.

There are eight trainees, four in the morning and four in the afternoon, seven chefs including me, two pastry chefs, and six hall staff. We haven’t picked a sommelier or maid yet. It’s because I didn’t like the applicants.

Sommeliers must receive training from various institutions before working and prove their abilities through exams and competitions. The CIA also offers a sommelier course.

The qualification examination is held by the UK’s CMS (The Court of Master Sommeliers), which is the most credible institution. However, none of the applicants who came today had proper qualifications.

While I was thinking about it, Soyoung came in.

“Chef, the sommelier is here, but he doesn’t have a resume. He says he knows you, so can I let him in?”

“Of course. Let me in.”

The only sommeliers I know are those who worked at Luce de Sole, so who could be coming?

The person who opened the door and came in was a slender beauty with black hair. I knew her well, too.

“Jenny. How much is this?”

Jenny, one of my classmates from my CIA days, came in.

Jenny was constantly courted by boys because of her gorgeous looks. She dated and broke up with some of them, and had a tumultuous school life, and sometimes hung out with us. Now, she is approaching her thirties and looks much more mature than she did then.

“It’s been five years since I last saw you after graduation. I used to see you on TV a lot.

I still sometimes think back to the day I took the kids to Manhattan to play in your pickup truck. It was embarrassing at the time, but looking back, it’s a good memory. I didn’t thank you back then. Thank you.”

Jenny laughs heartily.

“By the way, you’re a sommelier? Aren’t you a chef?”

“Ah. That?”

Jenny unbuttons her wrist and rolls up her left sleeve. A prominent surgical scar is visible on her elbow.

“I had a car accident. It was not long after I graduated, and my left elbow was crushed.”

“So there was no contact?”

I heard that Anna and Jenny were quite close, but they haven’t been in contact. Jenny didn’t show up at the class reunions either.

“Yeah. I was so depressed at the time. I was just starting out in the industry, and all the hard work and time I put in just disappeared like a mirage. You guys can’t understand that feeling of loss. So I went to my parents’ house in Kentucky for a while.”

“That’s right. You’re from Kentucky.”

“Don’t mention fried chicken. Kentuckians hate that joke.”

“You’re still quick-witted.”

“After recovering for about half a year, I was able to go about my daily life. But I couldn’t hold a pan. Even after cooking for just an hour, I couldn’t feel the strength in my hands.”

Although she speaks calmly, I can’t even imagine the frustration she must have felt.

“Then the idea of ​​becoming a sommelier came to mind. I also happen to like wine. I immediately re-enrolled in the CIA. And after graduating, I started working in California.”

“It’s the home of American wine.”

“That’s right. It’s helpful to learn because the vineyard is nearby. And I just got my ‘Certified Sommelier’ designation last month.”

There are four levels to the CMS exam. She achieved level 2 qualification in just a few years.

Taking it one step further, you become an Advanced Sommelier, which is widely recognized everywhere, and at the end of all this process, there is a Master Sommelier (MS).

Master Sommelier is a qualification that only less than 500 people in the world currently have, and they have to pass a rigorous exam that only allows one person to pass each year. If she is someone like her, you can trust her enough to entrust the wine of your restaurant.

“Isn’t that great?

“Is it okay for me to work here?”

“Is your elbow okay?”

I’m worried that I’ll get into trouble again while working.

“No problem. I worked twelve hours a day at my previous job.”

“Let’s just do this for ten hours.”

I smiled and handed her the contract. I also explained about the dormitory, and Jenny took out a pen, signed it in one breath, and hugged me.

“I’m glad you have good motivation. I’ll be counting on you in the future.”

“It’s me.”

I finally found someone I like.

A pleasing appearance can provide visual pleasure to customers and increase service satisfaction. A sommelier who is both pretty and talented should be brought in even from hell.