Chapter 17: Stagiaire One - Day One

Western Cuisine Mitamura

Yōshoku no Mitamura.

The name of their assigned restaurant internship was written on the awning above the entranceway, as the car dropped them off. "You'll be here for one week", the driver told them, "and remember you'll only pass if you leave a visible mark on the establishment. And then you'll move on to the individual internship. Good luck".

No sooner than the driver had finished speaking, the window was wound back up and the the car drove off leaving Sōma and Hisako standing outside the restaurant, clutching their rucksacks looking bewildered and curious.

"I suppose we should venture inside and find out what sort of place this is", Sōma exclaimed tiredly. "But judging from the name, it's obvious that they specialise in western cuisine". Smiling fondly, Hisako nodded her head and slowly pushed open the doors. "Erm hello, anyone here..." she spoke before she and Sōma had to jump out of the way to avoid being flattened by a large crowd of people emerging from the restaurant huffing in both frustration and annoyance.

"I can't wait this long, I have a train to catch!"

"Some people have no time management skills!"

"Such a waste of time!"

"It looked really appealing too".

Frowning at the grim realisation of what the restaurant was going to be like, Sōma stepped into the restaurant. Trying to complete meals for paying costumers, who were also waiting upon train timetables was always going to be a tall order. He was about to point this out to Hisako but stopped when he saw her fix her gaze upon a middle aged brown haired man dressed in black trousers, a white shirt and man apron, bowing to the exiting customers.

"I'm sorry... so very sorry. Please come by again", the man spoke leaning over slightly with his hands clasped in front of him. As the last person left the doorway, the man then looked towards the two teenagers in chefs apparel standing before him holding rucksacks. Then a sudden and unexpected joyful shout erupted from the man's mouth as he realised whom these two were, and why they were here.

"They actually agreed! Tōtsuki Academy actually sent students here to my restaurant! This is huge! We're gonna be so popular now!"

Sōma and Hisako barely had time to react as they were suddenly swarmed by the six restaurant staff, including the owner, welcoming them into the restaurant. Warmly and eager for some extra help, as well as looking forwards to the chance to witness and learn the techniques from such a famous culinary school.

"Please", the restaurant owner stated, moving forwards through his staff. "My name is Mitamura, and I'm the head chef and proprietor. I'm truly grateful for your choosing here for your internships". Hisako smiled as she brushed a few stands of her rose coloured hair out of her eyes, and returned a bow of gratitude to the host restaurant owner and his staff. Noticing that Sōma hadn't followed her example, she elbowed him in the leg and gestured him to bow, which he did. Promptly.

Mitamura and his staff chuckled at the two youngsters polite awkwardness. "Please there is no need for you to be so formal. We are just so honoured to host two brilliant students of Tōtsuki". Hisako stood tall again, and re-straightened her apron over her blouse and trousers before introducing herself and Sōma. "I am Hisako Arato, and this is Sōma Yukihira. We look forward to helping you as much as possible and learning as from our experiences here".

Bounding forwards, the staff; made up of two women, Mitamura himself and three other men began shaking the students hands.

"I'm the deputy head chef, Shizuno", a middle aged grey haired man wearing a white shirt and black trousers with a green sash around his waist spoke as he shook the two Tōtsuki students hands in a polite greeting. "Mitamura, as he already stated, is our Head Chef but he flitters between the kitchen and front of house".

Shizuno then gestured to a tall brunette woman with a blue streak in her hair, to his left. "This is sous chef Mira Kawasaki", Mira also bowed her head also showing a polite greeting.

It was then that Hisako became aware of a youngish purple haired teenage boy in chefs attire staring at her from behind chef Kawasaki, his eyes were wide and a blush adorned his cheeks. "And this young scallywag", Shizuno spoke grabbing the boy and pulling him out from behind the sous chef. "Is our resident apprentice chef-de-partie, Renzō Mani. He may be young but he is a great up and coming chef".

Before either Sōma or Hisako could properly meet the kitchen staff, the restaurant doors swung open again another large throng of customers flooded in. "Here we go again", Renzō muttered, as he allowed himself one last look towards Hisako, and then quickly followed his two older chefs into the kitchen. Leaving Mister Mitamura and the two other adult waiting staff to dart towards the new customers, seeing them to tables.

Turning her head towards Sōma, Hisako frowned at the way Mitamura and the two women waiters appeared to be overwhelmed. "You see it too..." Sōma responded, "they seriously need to rethink how many customers that they can sensibly manage at any given time". Hisako nodded her head, before she and Sōma quickly made their way over the bar counter and pacing their rucksacks in the under storage. Then after putting on aprons, with the restaurants name written across them, they both moved to join daily service.

"Hey, Sōma and Hisako", one of the waitresses called out, "could you two handle tables 4 through 8? It would help us divide up tables between us all". Responding with their affirmations, the two students moved off to them first of their customers. 'Stay cool', the redheaded boy murmured to himself as he approached a young family.

"Hello, welcome to restaurant Mitamura..." he asked smiling, " Are your ready to order?" Sōma resisted the urge to chuckle at the exhaustion on the parents faces. "Thank you", the father replied, smiling tiredly. "Could we have two kids meals and today's special for two adults, please".

Nodding his head as he wrote down the order, Sōma smiled before he moved off towards the service window, and out of the corner of his eye he noticed that the other two waitresses were noticeable less flustered than they had been, when he and Hisako Ahmad arrived. Tearing off the order slip from the notebook the redhead boy hung the paper slip in the lineup of new orders before ringing a bell on the counter top, alerting Mira and Shizuno to the new order request.

Sōma watched in amazement as Shizuno appeared and placed two plates and one bowl of soup on the counter. "Sōma, take these to table 6", Shizuno remarked. "One mackerel burger, one tomato and burdock soup and one lentil and spinach curry". Nodding his head, Sōma piled up the tray of food and moved towards the appropriate table. "Keep calm and carry on", he murmured as he passed a slightly red faced Hisako.

After nine hours of front of house work, in which they served food to nearly one hundred customers, arriving at or departing from the nearby railway station, mister Mitamura closed the restaurant for the day. "Well done everyone! And thank you to our visiting Tōtsuki interns for lending a hand during service". Mitamura exclaimed, as his staff cheered behind him.

Hisako smiled as she let the cheers of thanks, from their temporary co-workers, wash over her. However, the frown on Sōma's face drew her back to the point that she had noted beforehand. 'Time management'. Holding up her hand, and walking over to Sōma, she began to address mister Mitamura with a single straight or the point question.

"What kind of restaurant do you want Mitamura's to be?"

Silence filled the room as all the staff questioned the meaning of the boys query. "Me and Sōma can tell that you all love working here, and even though we have just started interning here, we can see that the weight and responsibilities upon you all for so many customers is too much for you all", the girl continued.

"Which is why..." Sōma interjected. "We think that you need to limit the number of customers you choose to serve. At the moment most the customers that visit Mitamura's come from the railway, as either long distance passengers or Tokyo commuters", he continued.

"You simply don't have the time to cook for all these customers", Hisako weighed in. Trying to ease the discomfort that Sōma's words might have induced. "Trying to cook within the time tables of the bullet trains arrivals and departure is nearly impossible".

"So we suggest you change from open service to by reservation only", both Sōma and Hisako proposed.