Kōjiro was certain that with his no longer stagnant position, he would continue to progress his culinary skills. When he came back from Japan after the Tōtsuki training camp, he realized what he needed to do. His associates couldn't believe how much he's changed despite how minor they were. He was going to finish his last few remaining changes here in France and then open up his second restaurant back home in Japan and hopefully that would further fuel his ambition towards gaining the Michelin three star status.
"Chef, we just got three new incoming tables; one family, one couple, and one individual!"
"Alright then, start the preparations!"
"Oui chef!"
Kōjiro started the fire and worked his way through the cutting board, but a random thought occurred to him; he never really received individual parties coming in before. It was nothing to inflate his ego, but usually people came in with their friends and family because they knew it would be quite embarrassing to dine at such a high end restaurant by themselves. He was briefly curious on what the person would even order until one of his chefs called out the orders.
"Two Foie Gras, one Cassoulet, two Confit de Canard, and…a Café au Lait…"
Kōjiro nearly dropped his knife when he heard the last order. Of course the menu has many delicious dishes accompanied with fine wine and drinks, but not many have ever ordered just an espresso with hot milk. He had honestly added it in there as a filler and it was even a quick laugh to some of his kitchen mates. His amber eyes glanced at his sous chef who shrugged and went back to work.
When the orders were swiftly prepared and brought out to be served, they finally found themselves to have a small break before dirty dishes were brought in from the afternoon lunch rush.
The coral haired man still had an itch to scratch however.
He washed his hands and wiped it dry before pushing through the kitchen doors to stand behind the front counter. He pushed his glasses up before crossing his arms to scan the dining area. People were certainly enjoying their food with the indication of food groans and flushed cheeks. It wasn't until his hawk eyes landed on one specific person that his lips formed a tight thin line.
A fair skinned woman sat near the window with her chin resting on her hand. Black hair fell down her shoulders and curled near the ends below her bust. Her light blue sundress framed her petite figure while her legs crossed over each other to reveal her white low heel ankle strap shoes. She absentmindedly stirred her coffee and brought it to her lips as she stared outside the window. It wasn't until striking sapphire eyes met his that he immediately turned away and stormed back into the kitchen.
"Chef?" One of his cooks looked at him strangely as he came back in with his hands over his mouth in deep thought.
There was something about that girl. She had an aura of grace yet those eyes were almost as intimidating as his…it kind of made him feel nervous about something.
He hoped she never came back.
Nobody understood why their chef had an angry vein popping near his temple but perhaps they can take a guess at the contributing factor. The woman he hoped to never see again had actually came in another three consecutive days and would always order the same exact thing.
"One Café au Lait."
Kojiro at this point felt a little insulted that this woman only came back to just drink a coffee. Out of all places, she chooses to take up a table that could go to a better paying customer instead of going to an actual fancy coffee shop.
It's France for God's sake!
"Let me make that order."
"Chef?"
Kōjiro grounded the finest beans their restaurant had to offer; just because they didn't usually make coffee doesn't mean they wouldn't acquire the best of everything. He poured the coffee grounds into the French press and secured the filter over it. When the water he set aside was finished boiling, he poured it into the press. After that he lifted the plunger and stirred the grounds with the water to help extract the coffee into the boiling water. When allowed the perfect steeping time to pass, he pressed the plunger to separate the grinds from the water. Finally, after scalding whole milk in a saucepan for the richest taste, he simultaneously poured the milk and coffee into small porcelain cup.
"Who knew our chef was also a barista," chuckled one of his chefs.
"You should never put anything on the menu you cannot deliver as a fine chef." Kōjiro replied smugly as he placed the finished product on a saucer.
"Alright, I'll serve our guest this once again. I'm pretty sure she's remembered my name now." The waitress laughed.
"No, I'll be doing it this time."
"What? But why? You'll be wasting precious time prepping for our next meals."
"We still have plenty of time. It seems our guest knows when our downtime is, thus always coming in at this specific time to order something so extraneous."
"I suppose so…"
The coral haired chef almost glared at the simple cup of coffee as he took it out into the dining room. Some heads turned to gaze in awe at him while others were curious as to why he was holding a cup of coffee. He held his composure to not slam the cup down in front of the woman who always sat next to the window. She shifted her head towards him and raised an eyebrow; unfazed by what is happening at the moment, "Is there any special occasion that the head chef must bring me my coffee?"
He narrowed his eyes, "You know this isn't a café, right?"
"I am fully aware of that."
"Then why do you come here every day to my restaurant just to order coffee?"
"Even if I were to answer that question, is it not in your best interest to guarantee the satisfaction of every customer?"
"What?"
"Are you too much of an elitist that you pick and choose who gets to dine in here? I'm a paying customer, that's all that matters, no?"
"That's not the point…" Kōjiro questioned himself on how the tables have turned on him. Was this really a debate he was having? He just wanted a simple answer to his question. If this now irritating girl would just answer it reasonably, he would've just left it alone.
But his dominant male ego did not allow him to lose this unexpected passive aggressive argument.
"Just answer my fucking question or you can get the hell out of my restaurant." He calmly pushed his glasses up, as if getting a bit more aggressive won this battle for him.
His amber eyes met her sapphire ones and they had a brief staring contest. He had to admit…the woman was pretty; in fact maybe the term 'beautiful' fit her better. Today she wore her long black hair in a side braid and a white blouse accompanied the long red skirt she wore. To him, she looked a little ambiguous up close as he couldn't really decipher her ethnicity. But nonetheless, his clouded judgment told him she was just utterly annoying.
She broke eye contact with him and smirked before closing her eyes calmly to sip on her cup of coffee right in front of him. There was definitely some tension in the air when heads were turned their way as he gathered attention from just standing there out in the open.
"Well?"
"It's best you sit down, chef."
"I'm not taking orders from you."
"Oh really? Because you came out with my coffee just now."
A fist formed at his side, "It's either you come here to at least order the food that my staff and I spent a lot of time putting together or you can find yourself a real coffee shop. I don't want some girl taking up seats when there are people out there that can't even find the time to put in a reservation here."
"Are you threatening to kick me out?"
"If that's what it takes."
A frown formed her pink lips as she looked at him with disappointment. A look he wasn't expecting at all.
"What a shame, it's the only thing I can actually taste."
A question mark formed over his head from that remark but it was quickly disregarded when she left 50 euros on the table, "Keep the change, I don't plan on coming back again." She smiled as she got up; her height only to his shoulders, "Just remember Chef Shinomiya, every customer counts no matter what they order on the menu…"
And with that she left, leaving him confused as to what she was babbling about.
"Annoying girl…" He mumbled to himself as he entered back into his kitchen.
"Chef!"
He crossed his arms as his hostess came running in, "What is it?"
"I just got off the phone with a former World Class Organization examiner!"
His eyes widened at the mention of that name. When he declared that he wanted the Michelin 3 stars, the WGO would be his toughest enemy to overcome. So when his hostess was flailing her arms at him, he wondered why in the world did a former examiner want to contact his restaurant?!
"And?! What did he say?!"
"His name was Akira Hasegawa; he was one of the toughest examiners in the WGO before retiring."
Kōjiro recognized that name. It was the name of the man that was nicknamed the 'Texture Fiend' as this man not only judged food based on its flavor, appearance, and aroma, but put a lot of emphasis on the texture of the food. There were many cases in the past where chef's dishes were delicious but because it was incompatibly paired with 'lumpiness' or 'sliminess' that it never passed good judgment from him.
"What did he want?"
She scratched the back of her head as if being confused herself, "Actually, he stated that he had a reservation with his daughter today but just now cancelled last minute."
"What?"
"Yeah, apparently he said she wasn't treated properly as a customer and that no restaurant should deserve recognition if the chef is bias towards who orders what from the menu. He sounded very upset since apparently his daughter is taking his position as a WGO examiner next. But how did this happen, chef?"
He had never felt so much fear in his life as he ran towards the front desk to check on the reservation list. There it was…the most important reservation in his life and he had screwed it up by letting his ego parade his mind.
Elicia Hasegawa: Saturday 7:00pm
He looked at the clock and it read 6:55pm. She had come early today to wait for her father for their dinner reservation and it just so happens that she ordered another coffee. If only he waited another day or even 10 more minutes from his confrontation and this wouldn't have happened! What now? What if she discusses how she was treated with the organization? The one rule of a restaurant is to always treat every customer with the best service and respect and he fucked up! They'll never take a second glance his way again and his dream of the 3 stars will be crushed!
He had to hunt down this girl named Elicia Hasegawa and make things right.
Hello all! Welcome to another new story of mine! If you guys haven't guessed already, this story takes place right after Kōjiro returns to France after the Tōtsuki training camp in Japan. I know there are a few other Kōjiro x OC stories out there and honestly, I'm not surprised as he's an easy favorite of mine as well (a lot of character development from him compared to the rest of the 79th-80th academy alumni). Hopefully I keep things in character.
Anyway, I hope this first chapter caught your interest, if not, then sorry. :(
Excuse my crappy French throughout the story by the way, I'm trying!
P.S. About the coffee: Although many would say "then why would he have coffee on the menu in the first place?" just remember that restaurants serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner. So what usually comes with a nice french toast or omelette in the morning? :) This is just assuming Shino's would serve all dining hours. It's just strange to him that one would only order coffee by itself, that's all. Hope that makes sense. x)