God of Cooking

Chapter 66: Chapter 66: End of Vacation (2)

The time of leisure came to an end. Before it was 9, all contestants had to gather in front of their food trucks. They didn’t even have time to greet each other. As soon as they put mics on their clothes, the judges arrived. It had almost been a week since the last time they saw each other. Joseph spoke with a calm look on his face, “Did you have a good week?”

The contestants showed bitter faces. Their faces said it all. Joseph smiled as if he understood.

“It must’ve been hard. You didn’t sleep enough and your necks must hurt, but chefs can’t even grumble when they see the smiles on customers’ faces. Your lives will become like that. You could say the week you just had is a look into your next 70 years.

They might have felt at ease because they were food trucks, but they weren’t just food trucks; those were for the purpose of a mission. The upside to restaurants was that they didn’t have to travel, but it still wasn’t easy with all things considered.

Allan opened his mouth.

“You’ll endure even more stress later on. It depends on who you work under, but as most of you know, most head chefs and sous chefs have horrible personalities. I’m not saying they’re at fault. They don’t have a choice. You never know what could happen in a kitchen, and you have to be careful what you put on a plate. Also…”

Allan glanced at Emily.

“Once you see all the shitty comments food critics leave on the internet, it could make you question yourselves, but many of them are written by people who don’t even know the basics of cooking.”

“… Well, food critics like that make me sigh, and I feel like all of you met all sorts of fake food critics while managing your food trucks.”

Emily wasn’t referring to those who weren’t satisfied with their cooking. They had their rights to their opinions, but there were some who made up nonsense just to attract attention. They talked about how ingredients that weren’t even there made the food taste too strong and left reviews when they didn’t even try the food.

“Min Joon, Hugo, and Chloe. Since you were the team leaders, you probably had to endure a lot more. How do you feel?”

Cho Min Joon glanced back at Hugo. He pretended to be calm, but he didn’t look so good. It was understandable. Unless his predictions were wrong, Hugo’s team was going to be in the last place, and Hugo wasn’t the type to lie about this kind of thing. He wasn’t the kind of man who didn’t feel responsible for bad outcomes.

It was Chloe who answered first. She seemed relieved. Her voice sounded light.

“It was hard, but considering what we’ll have to face in the future, I think it was a good experience.”

“Sounds reasonable. What about you, Min Joon?”

“Responsibility turned out to be scarier than I thought. I thought I was assigned as the team leader as a reward for winning the risotto mission, but it felt like I was being tested.”

He didn’t mean to complain, but it came out that way. Allan smirked.

“Think of it as a valuable experience. At your level, experience as a leader is hard to come by.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Hugo. What about you? You look the most nervous out of the three.”

Hugo smiled awkwardly. He hesitated before opening his mouth.

“I feel sorry for my team members. I should’ve led them better. I’m a team leader that lacks in a lot of ways.”

“… I’m not sure about that. I heard you did a good job. No need to put yourself down.”

“It’s not that… I’m sorry. I must be really nervous.”

“Cheer up.”

Emily spoke in a friendly voice. After that was Joseph. He pointed at the clock hanging on the wall.

“Today’s business hours will go on until 4:30. Also, the profits by that time will determine your ranks. The winning team today was supposed to get to have dinner at ‘Coconut Prime’, which is a Michelin 1-star restaurant… But the plans changed due to the appearance of a sponsor. The place where you will have dinner tonight is…”

At that moment, Allan looked at Cho Min Joon. Before he could wonder about the meaning of it, Allan continued, “The Chicago branch of Rose Island. It’s a Michelin 3-star restaurant.”

In response, everyone’s jaws dropped. That was when Cho Min Joon felt competitive. Michelin 3-star. That meant a lot. It was possible that…

‘… Maybe there’s a 10-point dish there.’

His heart pounded. The difference between his team and Chloe’s was only 50 dollars. If he focused, he could turn things around. Considering the fact that his profits improved after the word of his perfect palate got out, he could yield good results today as well.

“Please do your very best. Not all of you can win, but you can satisfy all customers. I hope you do that.”

Hugo’s face stiffened in response. He might have made a decision in his head. Cho Min Joon calmed down his greed and thought. The first part was the customers. He had to make food that would satisfy customers. He couldn’t forget that part.

Joseph spoke, “You may go. Your customers are waiting.”

***

It didn’t take very long to buy ingredients at the market anymore. They gained experience, and they had been through the Chicago market before.

The cooking always began with making rice. He had done this many times before, but it was the most important and the most difficult. It was hard to perfectly cook rice. Korean cooks made rice every day, but it was always cooked differently. Sometimes it was well-cooked; sometimes it was sticky.

It was thanks to electric rice cookers that rice was more consistent. Without it, it would have been unpredictable. Despite eating it every day, making perfect rice was not easy.

“How many will we sell today?”

Cho Min Joon shrugged. They were all in Chicago, but they were only 2 kilometers away from where they sold Norimaki last time. He didn’t think they would get repeat customers, and even if they did, they would probably try their Norimaki again.

A perfect palate was not to be underestimated. When it came to selling speed, there was no way they would lose out on customers. The problem was them. It depended on how fast they could make the Norimakis. The other teams were likely to give it all today.

“It ends at 4:30. Should we try making 1500 by then?”

“… That’s crazy. Will they sell? If they don’t, we’ll just lose money on materials.”

“We have to do it as we go, but I think we’ll get more customers this time. One Grand Chef truck is different from three Grand Chef trucks.”

Anderson nodded in agreement. Some wouldn’t get out of the house for one truck, but they were more likely to do so for three.

Whether they made 1000 or 2000, the most they could make at once was 300. They always made this much, but Cho Min Joon felt comfortable. It might have been because of what he heard from Hugo. It was most definitely because of that. After all, he was able to get a good night’s sleep for once.

As soon as he made the Norikimakis, Cho Min Joon made more rice. This time, Anderson opened the door. As soon as he opened the back door, he was horrified by the number of people. The whole square wasn’t packed… But there were so many people they couldn’t see any ground ahead. There had to be at least a few hundred. He came back into the truck and said, “… We might be able to sell 1000. There are so many people.”

“Right?”

The first team to start its business was Chloe’s. After all, they made the bread beforehand, and they just had to sell skewers. The customers had 3 choices to choose from. Type of bread, type of meat, and type of sauce. It was simple, but they made a lot of difference.

The prices varied from 4 to 6 dollars. Considering the fact that there were no vegetables, it wasn’t cheap, but the customers were quiet due to the amount of meat inside.

It wasn’t as fast as Norimakis, but it was relatively quick. Joanne spoke in an impatient voice, “How are they so fast? Kaya’s making some good meat over there. I can’t believe she’s not overcooking any of them at that pace.”

“She grew up in a market. She probably has experience.”

“Phew… I’m scared. Let’s get moving.”

Chloe’s team woke them right up, but Hugo’s team was different. Their line didn’t get any shorter either, but compared to Cho Min Joon and Chloe’s teams, theirs were much shorter. It was inevitable. Coffee and cake. It was a menu that appealed to mostly women. Most of the people in line were women. There were almost no men.

The fact that there were no men wasn’t the only downfall of their menu. It was the fact that it was a dessert menu. Cake definitely filled a belly, but it was more about quality than quantity. The price was expensive while the amount was little. Marco’s quality was definitely remarkable… But no one knew that before eating it. Customers were bound to see the menu and step away.

Cho Min Joon sighed inside his head. It was unfortunate, but he had no time to worry about them. Cho Min Joon said, “Don’t worry about Kaya’s team… I mean, Chloe’s team. They’re probably feeling pressured because of us. They have no time to rest. Oh, hello. What would you like?”

“Two pork barbecue and one salmon. I enjoyed the show. I got shivers when you got all 20 ingredients right.”

“Thank you.”

He heard that many times before, but he had to smile with how excited the customers were. He heard many congratulations, said many thank yous, and laughed the same way every time. What was surprising was the fact that repeating a conversation in such a way was not so easy. Since their faces showed their love for Cho Min Joon, he couldn’t bring himself to hate them.

After busily making Norimakis and selling them, it was 4:30 in no time. What comforted him was the fact that they didn’t take a break until 4:30. The line for Hugo’s team started disappearing, and Kaya’s team slowed down… Which meant…

‘No, I shouldn’t get my hopes up yet.’

But he couldn’t help the smile on his face, and the cameraman made sure to zoom in on it, but that face was probably going to be conveyed as the happiness of a chef toward his customers.

As people began to leave, the differences between lines became evident. The longest line was outside Cho Min Joon’s truck, but it probably wasn’t because they wanted to eat Norimaki. Most of the customers mentioned his perfect palate, which meant that the show made him into his own brand. Martin stroked his chin as he thought, ‘Min Joon is taking off despite winning or losing.’

People would probably praise him even if he offered average food. Of course, the food critics would probably be more critical, but if they were aware of Cho Min Joon’s perfect palate, they would probably go easy.

And Cho Min Joon’s cooking skills weren’t bad. On top of that, he was only 23 years old. Martin couldn’t imagine how far he would go in the future.

By 4:30 there was a little bit of Norimakis left. It was just a little. Cho Min Joon handed them out for free to the customers. He couldn’t accept payment. After all, the profits at 4:30 determined the results.

The number of Kimbaps they made and sold was 1100. It was a very high number. They normally sold that much over lunch and dinner, so they really hit it off.

‘With gas and ingredients excluded… We made over 1000 dollars.’

If all businesses went that way, all chefs would want food trucks.

The contestants went back into the Grand Chef House. They couldn’t reveal the results in front of customers and viewers. Of course, the food trucks revealed a spoiler about the survivor, but that was inevitable for the mission. They had no reason to reveal the process if it wasn’t that kind of situation.

In the lobby. They all waited for the judges to arrive. Allan spoke first, “We have the total profits of each team, so we have the winner and the loser. What’s funny is the difference between 1st and 2nd place. How many dollars do you think it is? Chloe, please guess.”

“… I’m not sure. Hm, 10 dollars?”

“Divide that by half. That’s the difference between 1st and 2nd place.”

Everyone mumbled in surprise. Cho Min Joon felt impatient. Who was the winner? Was it him or Chloe?

Allan opened his mouth.

“But before we reveal 1st place, we have to reveal the disqualified team first. It’s uncomfortable but unavoidable. I won’t drag it on. The losing team earned 5643 dollars. It was Hugo’s team.”

Hugo dropped his head. Allan didn’t try to comfort him. He spoke in a calm voice, “Your café food truck idea was a miss. First of all, you couldn’t make good coffee. I don’t know why you didn’t consider that. Second, you should’ve considered the scale of your truck. All you made in a 15-person food truck was cake and coffee? It would have been better if you made breads instead. It seems as though you were closed-minded after the café truck idea. Hugo, what do you think?”

“… It’s all my fault. I have nothing to say.”

Marco patted Hugo on the back. Joseph watched by before he said, “You must consider many things when you open a restaurant. It’s not all about a good item and cooking. Those are just the basics. In that sense, the other two teams did a good job. You had a good grasp of your locations and created your menus strategically.”

Joseph took a breath before he continued, “1st place earned 6771 dollars. Yes, that’s right.”

Silence followed. As soon as Cho Min Joon heard 6771 dollars, he knew. He saw Michelin stars in front of his eyes.

“Congratulations, Min Joon. Your team won.”