I Got the Almighty Tongue - Chapter 86



Only Noblemtl

The Melancholy of Genius

“How was the meal?”

As Jennifer and Jimmy were finishing their meal, I stopped by their table to say hello. They had finished their meal and were drinking coffee. Judging from the empty plates that had come into the kitchen, they must have enjoyed their meal.

“Welcome, Jaehee. Thank you for the wonderful meal today.”

Jennifer greets me with a bright smile.

“I’m not used to this kind of dining, but I was really satisfied today. The food was delicious.”

I never expected Jimmy to come.

“The live broadcast is in two and a half hours. What are you doing here?”

“Don’t worry. I’ve already finished preparing everything, so as long as you get back an hour early, there won’t be any problems.”

Jimmy waves his hand as if to tell her not to worry.

“There were so many amazing dishes today.”

Jennifer seems to have a lot to ask about dinner today.

“I cooked today with one theme. And I am still continuing to research this theme.”

The direction of the cooking I want to do has changed as my career has progressed. But I didn’t hate it. Because I feel that as I become more serious about cooking, new doors are gradually opening up. And I will happily open those doors.

“I think I know what it is!”

Jimmy snaps his fingers and tells me.

“Is it aroma?”

Jimmy certainly has insight.

“That’s right. The Tonight Show appearance and meeting Dr. Miller had quite an impact on me. I used to think of flavor as a secondary element in cooking, but now I see it as one of the most important elements.”

What is the characteristic that sets me apart from other chefs? I seek the unexpected in cooking. No matter how well-made the food is, it is difficult to impress with a predictable taste. In that sense, his research on the process of human taste perception was a great inspiration to me.

“Haha. I’m glad I could be of help in some way.”

Jimmy smiles contentedly as he lifts his coffee cup.

“Smell has as much influence on taste as the tongue, if not more so. But the tongue and nose do not necessarily perceive the same taste. We have found that even if the taste we predict through smell and sight is not actually felt on the tongue, it still has an influence.”

“Ah! So that’s why those kinds of dishes came out. Now I understand.”

Jennifer says.

“The various types of caviar (a general term for fish roe-shaped ingredients) were really fresh. Jehee.”

“We see different types of caviar through the transparent film, and we predict the taste. But what if it tastes like tomato and parsley, contrary to our expectations? And since it contains real caviar and salmon roe, it creates a synergy that is different from our expectations. After many experiments, we found the right ingredients and ratio. It is a combination that can bring out the individual tastes of the four ingredients.”

Tomatoes add savory flavor and parsley pesto adds refreshing flavor. Caviar and salmon roe burst, leaving behind a unique texture and distinctive rich flavor.

“It was really fresh. Can you tell me about the steak? It was chewy and tender, and had a smoky flavor.”

Jennifer asks me curiously.

“When you dry-age meat, the meat shrinks. The fibers become tighter. We put it in an oven and smoke it at a low temperature with oak and apple wood.

The porcini mushrooms on the outside react with the apple tree flavor to give off a wild aroma. Then it’s finished off with butter and thyme in a pan.

You could say it’s an advanced form of reverse searing. You can first feel the smoke and wildness of mushrooms through your nose, and then enjoy the perfect medium-rare ribeye that has become soft and mature through your mouth.”

“Somehow. It was really special. It was a steak like no other.”

Jennifer nods.

“What happened to that dessert?”

Jimmy finally asks the question he’s been holding back.

“We named the dessert Snowy Hill. It visually evokes a snowy hill. And we actually added earth and wood notes to it.”

I commissioned a company that makes laboratory equipment to create a special cooking device for extracting aromas.

This device boils the material from which you want to extract the fragrance in a flask and connects it to the machine, which separates the fragrance by boiling the material at a high temperature of 280 degrees. It then stores it in another container in the form of steam. It is safe from bacteria because it is sterilized at high temperatures, and can extract fragrance from almost any material.

“That’s amazing. You actually added fragrance to it.”

Jimmy looks surprised, as if he never expected it.

“We eat desserts with visual and olfactory senses, imagining the eyes, the earth, and the trees. I used pine syrup in the cream. It was to connect that imagination with the dessert. I wanted to create a dish that stimulates all the senses, including sight, smell, and taste.”

I wanted to convey a nostalgic taste to some, and a refreshing taste of nature to others.

“I really enjoyed the meal today.”

Jennifer’s compliments are always nice because she is honest when it comes to eating something delicious.

“Thank you for making me have a great time today. I don’t really enjoy dining out, but I would come here often. The atmosphere of the restaurant is also great. It feels like I’m a nobleman from the Middle Ages.”

“That’s exactly how we want to treat our guests.”

“Oh! What happened to the tip?”

He asks as if a thought suddenly occurred to him.

“It’s a survival strategy of its own. The more Michelin stars you get in fine dining, the higher the prices become. It’s an inevitable result because the quality of ingredients gets better and more people are hired.

“Later, it could easily be over $300, but a tip of close to $100 for a meal is excessive. Eventually, only a few wealthy customers will visit the restaurant. That’s why I don’t want that, and I have a no-tipping policy. It’s not a great belief. And I hate seeing customers calculate how much they should tip after they have enjoyed their meal.”

“Haha. That’s right. Do you mind if we feature this restaurant on TV? Tipping culture in New York, no, America, is out of whack. Someone needs to fix it.”

Jimmy asks for my consent with a stern face.

“I don’t think it’s something that can be done by one person, even if he’s the president of the United States. But if I can help even a little, I won’t refuse. However, I won’t make any direct contributions.”

“Oh. That’s too bad.”

“Because I have something to say.”

“Haha. That’s hard to deny.”

“But is it really possible to maintain a restaurant at this price?”

Jennifer looks at the bill, then looks at me and asks,

“We need a lot of customers. Jenny is also working hard on the wine list to maximize profits. It’s the pride of our restaurant. Jenny and the wine.”

If Jenny wasn’t here, it would have been difficult to run the business. She’s so focused on cooking that she doesn’t have time to focus on anything else.

“Okay. Then today I will buy the most expensive bottle of wine.”

“I won’t turn down Jennifer’s offer. Thank you.”

“It’s a bargain if you think of it as the price you pay for an unforgettable meal.”

Two people left. I went around the table and greeted the guests.

It was a successful opening.

All the guests who made reservations on the first day left with satisfied expressions. I was surprised to hear that there were no tips, but seeing their faces brighten up made me think that I was right.

A week has passed. We are taking reservations on a weekly basis. The first week, many acquaintances and friends came to visit, but by the second week, fine dining enthusiasts started visiting our restaurant out of curiosity.

* * *

Segreto’s mornings are busy.

Dominic arrived at the restaurant two hours before his work time. He went to the changing room on the first floor and saw his chef uniform, which he had washed the day before, in front of his locker. Dominic straightened the ironing board in the corner of his locker and began to iron his chef uniform.

Jehee was sensitive to the staff’s attire. Chef’s uniforms are washed every day (this is done by the cleaning staff), dried in the dryer, and delivered to each locker before work time. Each chef must iron his or her own clothes and wear them neatly. Once you get used to it, it doesn’t take more than 5 minutes.

I change my clothes and look in the mirror. Before going into the kitchen, I wash my hands thoroughly with soap at the sink in the entrance. I thought I would be the first one there since I got to work early, but there were always people who came out earlier than me.

“Come on now, Dominic?”

Sam is one of them.

“You came in early again today. It makes your commuting hours seem pointless.”

Maybe it’s because of the hardships I’ve lived through, but my words come out sharply. But Sam doesn’t seem to care at all.

“I understand the chef’s ideal. He would like to give the staff working in the kitchen a little more rest.

But reality is a little different. Do you think the trainees alone can properly organize the ingredients? A few days ago, I came to the kitchen and saw the head chef organizing the ingredients with the trainees. The top chef in the kitchen shouldn’t do that kind of work. I’d rather do it myself.”

Sam begins to sort and prepare the ingredients that have just arrived. Today, Norwegian salmon has arrived. Sam deftly removes the head of the salmon and quickly dismembers it with a knife. Before he knows it, the cutting is complete.

“These bones are going to be used to make stock. Put them in there.”

“all right.”

Dominic comes to his senses and starts chopping vegetables. Today’s lunch menu is French lamb stew, anchovy pasta, and salmon steak. Dominic starts cutting lettuce and herbs for the salad. Then he ends up asking Sam a question that has been on his mind.

“Sam, you’ve been working with the head chef for a long time. How do you manage to work with him without getting discouraged?”

Dominic realized his rock bottom after seeing the course menu that Jehee had prepared on the first day of the restaurant’s opening. No matter how hard he tried, he felt as if the confidence he had in cooking was being uprooted when he saw someone in front of him who was beyond his reach.

Even though he was a kitchen assistant, he could cook better than any other chef in the restaurant he had worked at before. It was all self-taught and a talent. He thought he was special. In fact, he was not wrong, since he made it to the finals of Master Chef. However, when he saw real talent right before his eyes, Dominic realized that he was not really a great chef.

“Ah! Are we at that stage yet?”

Sam speaks as if it is no big deal.

“That step?”

“It’s a stage of the mind that people who work with Jehee experience. You’re currently at stage 1. The stage of shock and fear. You don’t think you can keep up even if you die. Everything you cook tastes like trash.”

Sam says with a smirk.

“You know very well.”

“Hey Kid. There are exceptions everywhere. Even in the IT industry, there are people like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. It’s the same in cooking. How many chefs do you think have been frustrated by Jehee so far? I heard it’s been like that since the CIA days.”

“I feel relieved. It’s not just me.”

“It was the same when I was at Luce de Sole. When a junior like that comes up from below, it’s especially hard for the people above to endure. The head chef has already changed the menu of the Michelin-starred restaurant several times since his demi days. Isn’t it overconfidence to compare yourself to someone like that?”

“Because I want to grow too.”

“I haven’t given up either. There are ways that only ordinary people can use. That’s one of the reasons why I’ve come to the restaurant so early. I’ll put in more time and effort so that I won’t be a burden to the head chef. I’ll become a sous chef that they can trust and rely on.”

Sam says as he finishes cutting the salmon with a knife.

“You’re strong, Sam.”

Dominic felt a little depressed by the fact that no one in this restaurant was inferior to him. Even the young-looking So-young was a very skilled chef.

“There must be a reason why you remain in this crazy, tough fine dining industry.

I get a thrill every time I see my customers licking my food clean, even the sauce. It feels like all the hard work is being rewarded.

“The faces of customers leaving with happy expressions after a satisfying meal are my badge of honor. I do this job because I want to keep seeing that. You should find your own reason, too. If you simply pursue success, you will be crushed in an instant when you meet true geniuses like Jehee.”

While Sam and Dominic were talking, the trainees and other chefs arrived one by one. Everyone started preparing lunch skillfully. They moved without hesitation because they had already practiced the menu before the opening.

“Ella, I’m going to hang in there and be a good chef.”

“What are you talking about?”

Ella listens to Dominic’s words indifferently and continues to prepare the meat.

“It’s just like that.”