God of Cooking

“I know you like spicy food.”

“It’s not spicy. My tongue was numb!”

“Wow, she kicked your butt! I’m afraid you might be on a very short leash when you get married.”

“Let’s stop it because I feel depressed.”

Min-joon lowered his head with a sullen look.

Maya was giggling at him when Havier approached him with a serious expression.

He said, “Hey, guys, did you see that?”

“What are you talking about? How do we know when you ask like that?”

“There was a gourmet blog post about Rose Island. But I hear the review is not good.”

Given his expression, who always tried to be positive and happy, it seemed that the review was really bad.

Min-joon asked him sharply, “Can you show me that blog?”

“Well, if you haven’t seen it yet, you had better not see it. It’s Christmas.”

“Show it to me.”

Havier hesitated but eventually showed Min-joon his smartphone.

Min-joon silently looked at the title and article of the blog.

<h1>Rose Island, not all the recipes are Rachel Rose’s original idea</h1>

<When anything in the world is common, its price also drops. If diamonds are scattered like stones wherever they go, can people really value them? Well, I don’t think so.

In that sense, I would like to give a short tribute to Rose Island.

Rose Island, even today, when Rose Island has dozens of branches, people consider it special.

Perhaps, the reason they regard it as special is that Chef Rachel Rose has devoted herself to producing her students because all of Rose Island’s head chefs grew up in Rachel Rose’s kitchen. She is wonderful as a chef, but at the same time, she is wonderful as a teacher. No one can deny it.>

“It sounds okay, doesn’t it?” Said Min-joon.

“Keep reading. Then you’ll find out,” Havier replied, shrugging.

Min-joon continued to read the article. The writer explained about various cuisines before mentioning what Havier pointed out.

<The reason why I didn’t say all recipes of Rose Island are Rachel Rose’s original invention is simple. Yesterday, on Christmas Eve, I went to enjoy dinner at Rose Island. And the server told me that three dishes out of the course were cooked with recipes by the demi chefs.

To be honest, the dishes were perfect. Maybe if the server didn’t tip me off about it, I would think the dishes were Rachel Rose’s and nodded with appreciation of her efforts.

I am grateful to the server for stopping me from being an idiot, but at the same time, I felt sorry. If the server hadn’t tipped me off at all, the memories of that day would have remained perfect in my mind. When I ate the dishes made by the demi chefs, I had to enjoy them with suspicion, which was not a very pleasant memory. Someone might tell me, ‘It’s because you’re too stubborn.’ But isn’t it inevitable that you are seeing stubborn people like me in this world?

I don’t intend to argue which is right or wrong because it’s going to end up being an endless unnecessary quarrel.

I just want to ask Chef Rachel. If you had really cared about your customers’ feelings, don’t you think you should have come up with all the menus with your own recipes? What your customers want is not your students’ dishes, but your original recipes.>

“Well, I don’t know what to say,” said Min-joon.

Min-joon frowned. If he had cursed him, he would not have been so annoyed.

The gourmet was venting his anger at Rachel, not the demi chefs. Min-joon felt upset about the way the gourmet tried to give the impression that Chef Rachel was irresponsible.

There were numerous comments by the blog readers on his provocative criticism of Rachel.

└ Pixie Goulding: I just wonder how come this guy Jasper is a gourmet. How can people like him with years of dining experience say this? Where in this world will you find a restaurant where the head chef alone makes all the menus? If they do that, sous chefs as well as demi chefs will have lots of complaints.

└ Abraham Dunkin: What’s wrong with that? Aside from general restaurants, customers going to Rose Island are naturally curious about Rachel’s dishes, aren’t they?

└ Pixie Goulding: @Abraham Dunkin Do you mean that just because the customers are expecting Rachel’s dishes, should they ignore the established practices of the restaurant? That’s a very anachronistic idea.

└ Abraham Dunkin: @Pixie Goulding They should not forget they are serving customers with the dishes they like, not vice versa.

└ Daniel Hornes: @Abraham Dunkin Restaurants are like a country. The head chef is the king. Rather than going out on the battlefield directly, the king’s job is to bring out the skills of a good general as much as possible. The king doesn’t have to plan all the tactics by himself.

└ Joseph Moodie: Looks like this blogger attacked Rose Island to become famous because his article will draw lots of attention.

└ Oberyn Martell: I think so. Honestly, all the menus at the old Rose Island were not necessarily Rachel’s, but this blogger’s criticism went too far.

“Dang it. They are hotly exchanging comments like that in the chatroom,” said Havier.

“Fortunately, there are many more comments that blamed the blogger’s unreasonable comment,” said Min-joon, “Of course, his article is ridiculous. When Chef Rachel put the demi chefs’ recipes on the menu, it’s because she felt they were flawless as Rose Island’s menu. We all know she did help us so much until we made our dishes perfect, right? I really can’t stand it anymore. Can I post a comment, too?”

“Are you going to post a comment under your name?” Asked Havier.

Min-joon did not answer. However, looking at his sharp gaze, it looked like he was going to post a strong comment. After all, he was stubborn as far as this kind of issue was concerned. He didn’t want to hide behind an anonymous name.

But Havier said with a sigh, grabbing his shoulder, “Be patient. You might make the issue bigger by posting it. So, just give it a pass.”

“Well, base on my experience, this kind of thing will make matters worse when you don’t take any action.”

“If you really want to do something about it, get Rachel’s approval first. Don’t forget you’re a member of this restaurant now.”

Havier was right. Min-joon handed the smartphone back to him and squatted down hysterically. When Havier let out a sigh, Min-joon also sighed and leaned back into the chair.

“Man, you’re going to break the chair, sitting like that. What’s wrong with you?”

“Oh, Janet. Are you here?”

Havier hardened his expression the moment he said hi to Janet.

Casting a quick glance at her, Min-joon frowned, “Did you drink?”

“Yes, just a little bit at dawn.”

“You seemed to have drunk a lot. I can smell it even here.”

“It’s because I get easily drunk. I only drank some beer. I’m completely sober. I guess the smell will go away within a few hours. Oh, Anderson. Thank you last night.”

Janet gently greeted them then headed to the changing room.

Min-joon and Havier turned their heads to Anderson immediately.

Min-joon asked with a trembling voice, “Anderson, you went out to meet her last night…”

“Man, when did you start drinking last night?”

“Shut up! Don’t think like that.” Anderson frowned.

As if he was astonished, Min-joon mumbled feebly, “When me and Kaya told you the same thing, you must have felt bad.”

“Well, I had a call from the bartender that Janet was drunk last night, asking me to take her home if I am her friend.”

“Why did the bartender call you?”

“You know, my name starts with A. Maybe it was at the top of her contact list.”

Although Min-joon was in doubt, his excuse was plausible.

As if he wanted to pursue more, Min-joon asked again, “Then why didn’t you tell me who you met?”

“Because I knew you guys would react like this. Got it? Stop asking me and start preparing dinner.”

“Alright.”

Min-joon shrugged and headed to his kitchen table. Thanks to Anderson’s episode, Min-joon could forget for a moment the displeasure he got from the blogger’s critical comment on Rachel.

He murmured, “That gourmet… I thought he was my friend.”

All the gourmets Min-joon met so far have been favorable to him. They had no reason to pick a fight with someone like him with a perfect palate. But this gourmet was an exception. Of course, he was not critical of Min-joon, but this was the first time he heard such a critical comment indirectly from the gastronomic world.

‘… I might be a burden to my teacher.’

<hr />

“Chef Min-joon looks full of spite.”

Antonio muttered as if he was astonished by Min-joon’s rough attitude.

Anderson glanced at Min-joon quickly. Looking at his fierce eyes, Anderson felt like Min-joon was a soldier facing an upcoming war.

Anderson frowned, taking the bacon out of the oven.

“Who boiled it so much?”

“Really? I think it’s just right.”

“Who told you to make bacon chips like this? If I eat this with potato chips, I can’t even tell potato from meat. Make it again.”

“What about this?”

“You eat it all. If you throw it away, I’ll kill you. That’s your meal for today.”

Antonio moved the overcooked bacon to another plate with a sullen expression.

The moment Anderson sighed and turned his head, he was startled because Rachel was watching him, grinning at him.

“Now you look like an official chef.”

“Are you telling me not to be angry by saying so?”

“No, you know I’m not that tricky as a person. I’m serious. The better a chef, the more harsh his temper is.”

“I can’t really agree with it because you have such a nice personality.”

“Hahaha, it looks like you are good at flattering me. By the way…”

She glanced at Min-joon quickly.

She asked Anderson in a slightly puzzled voice, “What happened last night? Min-joon doesn’t look good.”

“It wasn’t last night, it happened a moment ago. A gourmet made a critical comment on Rose Island. You know. Min-joon is used to somebody’s compliments rather than somebody’s swearing.”

Among other Grand Chef performers, Min-joon was the least harassed by online haters. Of course, he was harassed by some racists, but he could comfortably dismiss their comments without feeling offended at all.

So, he must have been hurt by the blogger’s criticism because he could not find any single gourmet who was not favorable to him until now. How much shocked would he be when he learned that his allies began to show their true colors and attack him?