New Menu Test (2)
The day of the new menu test.
Ayeon's head chef, Yang Geon-ung, hadn't been in a very good mood lately. It was partly because of his growing broadcast schedule, but more than that, the kitchen of his restaurant, Ayeon, was becoming less and less fun.
It was always the same. Before getting Michelin 2 stars, it had at least been fun, but after receiving the stars, everyone seemed to have lost their goal and kept making only safe choices instead of taking on challenges.
Today's new menu test in particular was the peak of that.
It was a test held once every three months, even skipping lunch service for it, but the results were disappointing. On the blind test table sat only predictable menus, every single one of them.
It was bad from the start. Steaks imitated with clumsy skill by the junior cooks. It was glaringly obvious they'd clumsily copied what they'd seen at Le Cordon Bleu or an American Michelin restaurant, at best. And while lavishly mixing in nothing but high-cost ingredients, at that.
He begrudged the top-grade truffles and sirloin sacrificed for crap steaks like these. On their plates, the truffles had lost their aroma, and the sirloin was nothing but tough.
That didn't mean the section cooks' menus were overwhelming either. Each of their skills could definitely be felt, but each was lacking something somewhere.
Then, another steak was placed on the table. At a glance, it was one Kim Jun-ho had grilled. Sirloin steak with pomegranate sauce.
“Did Kim Jun-ho grill this? The doneness is perfect.”
Ayeon's owner said so.
Yang Geon-ung agreed with that too. The feel of a perfect medium-rare the moment the knife cut into the meat. On top of that, the rich juices filling the mouth... the meat itself was flawless. It suggested just how precisely he'd kept every timing.
He definitely had skill. Yes, skill. That was also why he'd been forgiven once, despite serving a sloppily grilled steak to the VIP.
“But the sauce... why is it so sour, Chef?”
The owner asked Yang Geon-ung.
That was it. Kim Jun-ho's problem was the sauce.
Kim Jun-ho had completely failed to control the intense sourness unique to pomegranate. He'd tried to force down the sourness with sweetness, but it had instead created an unpleasant, tart taste. As the perfectly cooked sirloin steak met the tart pomegranate sauce, the well-grilled meat was rotting in real time.
Next, another steak went up on the table. Top blade steak with white sauce. This time, it was clearly the work of fish section's Lee Seong-min.
“Oh, this time the sauce is good.”
The owner, who'd dabbed at and tasted only the sauce first, said.
As he said, the sauce was truly perfect. The bright acidity unique to Sauvignon Blanc had been smoothed out through perfect emulsification with butter.
The subtle sweetness of onion and the deep umami of chicken stock that followed were an excellent dish on their own. Enough to make him want to dip another bite.
“But why is the meat's texture like this?”
This time, the problem was the reverse: the meat.
Fish section's Lee Seong-min had handled the top blade as if he were grilling sea bream. He should have cooked the top blade's surface over sufficiently high heat to draw out the Maillard reaction, but he'd grilled the meat like fish at a lower temperature than the standard.
It was a very minute temperature difference, but this was fine dining Michelin 2-star restaurant Ayeon. The result was disastrous. The top blade's surface flavor had completely vanished, and he'd failed to bring out the texture unique to top blade as well. The pairing of ordinarily grilled meat atop a perfectly made sauce was more horrible than expected.
“The menus are all... each lacking something.”
Famous food columnist Ahn Ye-won, who was participating as a guest judge, finally couldn't hold back and said something. Normally she'd have put effort into describing flavors, but today she seemed to have no motivation at all.
“Right. It seems everyone's missing something.”
The owner, too, glanced at Yang Geon-ung's mood and forced himself to mark scores on the score sheet.
The atmosphere sank more and more. Yang Geon-ung scanned the dishes on the table with sigh-filled eyes.
“At this rate, there'll be no new menu this time.”
Yang Geon-ung deliberately nailed it down firmly to the owner.
“Come now, Head Chef. It's our restaurant's tradition. Please add at least one.”
The owner said gently to Yang Geon-ung. But Yang Geon-ung's gaze was firm.
“No. Honestly, at this rate, I'd like to get rid of the new menu test itself.”
“Pardon?”
“If it's going to be crap menus like these, just leave new menus to me from now on. That's much more efficient. Isn't it?”
At Yang Geon-ung's words, the owner's face hardened. Ahn Ye-won also looked at him with a complicated expression.
Then.
“This is the last dish.”
The door opened, and the server came in carefully carrying a long plate. As always, he slowly set the plate down in the center of the table.
In that instant, the three people's gazes locked onto the plate at the same time.
“This is... what would this be?”
Ahn Ye-won asked with a puzzled expression.
“Could it be... a salad?”
The owner added, tilting his head. The two of them just stared blankly at Yang Geon-ung.
‘What?’
Yang Geon-ung was also a little surprised to see the plate. On the plate were carrot, radish, fatsia shoots, cucumber, cherry tomato, napa cabbage, and even aster greens... vegetables that were obviously common and cheap to anyone, with a total cost of no more than 5,000 won.
But the problem was their shape. The vegetables were each cut into irregular shapes.
Strange star shapes.
Rough wave shapes.
Crooked round shapes, and so on.
The inconsistent irregularity actually drew the eye.
“But... there are several sauces?”
As she said, seven vegetables were lined up lengthwise on the plate, and beneath them, seven sauces, each a different color and texture, had been drizzled one line apiece.
“I guess we're meant to dip each one?”
Ahn Ye-won asked, and the owner nodded and answered.
“Seems like it.”
The owner immediately picked up his chopsticks, grabbed a piece of carrot, and brought it to his mouth.
What's this white sauce? Yang Geon-ung also felt a bit of curiosity. He picked up a piece of carrot, the first vegetable, dipped it in the white sauce, and tasted it.
And the moment he took a bite-
His brow furrowed slightly.
‘Is this guy a madman?’
A short, intense exclamation burst out of him. The carrot cut into a strange star shape. He'd naturally assumed it was failed knife work. But as soon as he put it in his mouth, he realized.
‘He cut it like this on purpose.’
It was a shape that drew out the carrot's sweetness as much as possible while also holding the most sauce. Everything, from the sauce to the shape it was served in, had been thoroughly calculated so the raw carrot could be eaten at its most delicious. To touch a salad this boldly. It was no ordinary skill.
And above all, the balance of flavor was perfect. It was a base sauce of butter perfectly emulsified into white wine. But it was subtly different from the white sauce fish section's Lee Seong-min had made. With orange glaze mixed in, it drew out the carrot's sweetness as much as possible without losing the sauce's own freshness.
Seriously... he really is a madman, isn't he?
At that moment, Ahn Ye-won, who'd kept her composure, suddenly began to go wild. While Yang Geon-ung was chewing a piece of fatsia shoot, the third vegetable, Ahn Ye-won was already putting the last vegetable, the aster greens, into her mouth.
“Wow.... This is a really fun dish!”
Ahn Ye-won said, munching away on the vegetables.
“I mean, the salads we normally eat are actually really weird, right? Every vegetable that goes into a salad has a different texture, taste, and nature, but we always just pour one sauce over it... But being able to separate them all and pair each vegetable with a sauce that suits it is so great. As expected of Ayeon... This is why it's Michelin 2-star.”
Ahn Ye-won's praise was sincere.
“Right. And the balance of flavor is considerable, too.”
The owner, also impressed, continued.
“First off, the completeness of each individual sauce is excellent. From the white sauce to the lemon truffle sauce, the blue cheese cream sauce, and finally the sauce with cognac in it. Each one is in perfect balance with its vegetable. This... so this is possible.”
“Right! Every one of these sauces goes so well with the vegetables. And these shapes, they must've cut them all weird like this on purpose, right?”
At Ahn Ye-won's question, Yang Geon-ung looked at the plate instead of answering. He nodded very slightly.
“I didn't know a new menu test could be this fun. Please invite me again next time.”
Ahn Ye-won said that with a bright smile.
And so, the new menu test judging came to an end.
“Then, everyone agrees on first place, right?”
At the owner's question, Ahn Ye-won and Yang Geon-ung nodded at the same time.
“Then I'll reveal each plate's name tag.”
The owner flipped over, one by one, the small name tags attached to each plate on the table. From Kim Jun-ho to Lee Seong-min, every plate had the cook's name written on it, just as Yang Geon-ung had predicted.
Except for just one. When Yang Geon-ung saw the name tag attached to the last salad plate, he found it a little amusing.
-Do Eun-seong
That name kept appearing before Yang Geon-ung's eyes.
***
Two p.m., after the new menu test had completely ended. Ayeon's cooks all gathered in the kitchen and ate a late lunch.
“Who do you think'll get first this time?”
“Won't Senior Lee Seong-min get it? His sauce was insane.”
“No. I think Senior Kim Jun-ho will get it this time. I secretly tried it, and it's no joke. The meat texture's totally different.”
The cooks evaluated each other's new menus.
“The juniors did well too.”
“Who?”
“Le Cordon and America.”
“Ah. They were pretty good. They used truffle well.”
“Who knows, first place might come from the juniors.”
“Nah. No way. That hasn't happened even once in this kitchen in five years.”
Then the server shouted.
“The new menu test results are posted!”
We all headed to the hallway. And.......
“...What.”
“Hey.... The assistant's first......?”
In that instant, all the noise that had filled the hallway stopped.
“......”
I was first.
The eyes of not only the junior cooks but even the experienced seniors wavered.
“That's impossible.... No, how are some crappy vegetable scraps first?”
Kim Jun-ho said.
“I know... I mean, is this really the right announcement?”
“Didn't someone make a mistake?”
“How could a kitchen assistant be first.......”
Then.
“Surprised?”
Head Chef Yang Geon-ung walked over slowly.
At his appearance, all eyes were drawn to him.
“Yes.... Chef.”
The seniors answered.
“Do Eun-seong.”
And Yang Geon-ung slowly looked at me.
“Yes, Chef.”
“Why did you make this kind of dish?”
He asked, looking me straight in the eye.
“Well......”
I hesitated, then said the answer I'd prepared.
“I wanted to make a salad to bring out the flavor of seasonal vegetables as much as possible.”
“It's not that you chose it because you couldn't compete with your seniors using any other skill?”
The man was a ghost. Truly, a ghost.
“Yes. That's true as well.”
I admitted it. Yang Geon-ung let out a snort of laughter at my quick admission.
“Then, per the rules, I'll promote Do Eun-seong.”
He said it with deliberate emphasis.
“As of today, Do Eun-seong is no longer the kitchen's assistant, but an official cook of our kitchen.”
The silence continued.
At Yang Geon-ung's firm words, the senior cooks couldn't say a thing.
“Chef, which section is Do Eun-seong in?”
Then Lee Seong-min asked the chef.
Yang Geon-ung thought for a moment, then answered.
“Cold section. From now on, you're in charge of your salad.”
“Pardon? My salad?”
I asked back in surprise.
“Yes. Your salad. Because starting next month, Do Eun-seong's salad will be officially included in our restaurant's lunch course.”
“......!”
This was insane.
I'd definitely been on the verge of getting fired from this place, but suddenly I'd become an official cook, and on top of that, my menu was going to be part of a Michelin 2-star restaurant's course.......
This was truly insane.