Chapter 21: Stagiaire Two: Day Four

The Legume Magician

'Shino's Tokyo'.

Upon realising where he was, Sōma thanked the Shinto for allowing him the opportunity to learn and work in an environment of such a high ranked Tōtsuki alumni.

"Chef Kojirō Shinomiya!" Sōma grinned as he set foot inside the smallish restaurant and immediately saw the smirking face of the man he had challenged at the 'examination from hell'.

"I'm so glad you picked me to intern here at your restaurant", the redhead boy exclaimed, completely missing the annoyed glare being sent his way by Kojirō's Head Chef.

"Hey there Sōma", Chef Kojirō replied. "When I told Tōtsuki that I would accept a stagiaire student, I did not think that they would send you". Jokingly, the older chef slapped Sōma on the back before introducing him to the three other people in the room: two women, one black haired and the other teal. Also standing amongst them was a tall blonde haired man.

"These fine people are the only staff that decided to come back to Japan with me. My sous chef in Paris, now head chef here in Tokyo, Abel Blondin". Kojirō gestured towards the blonde haired man, before moving towards the two women. "This is Gao Wei, she is the service manger for the next couple of days. And lastly, this is Lucie Hugo, she is the meat chef".

Before Sōma could begin to properly introduce himself, a set of chef's whites was thrown at him followed by an order. "Go get changed", Kojirō uttered, "and then you can help us begin to set this little branch restaurant up for our soft opening".

"Oui, chef", Sōma exclaimed hurrying off towards the back to change into his chefs attire, once again, completely missing the stunned expression from Abel. When he reemerged, dressed in his chef's whites, Sōma was immediately put to work assisting with the interior setup of the dining room. Up a ladder, and screwing in light bulbs was not something he had expected to do, but Sōma refused to let his chance of learning from a former council of ten Tōtsuki alumni go by the wayside.

"Hey kid", head chef Abel called over to him, "once you're done with the lighting, you can go help Lucie prep the vegetables and stocks for tonight".

Sighing, the redhead nodded his head in recognition in the direction of chef Abel. "Yes chef", he responded. As he continued his job, he couldn't help but think about where his friends were... they were all no doubt enduring roughly the same amount of work that he was. Albeit, in different areas of areas of the public sector with connections to Tōtsuki academy.

Sending up a silent prayer for them all, and an extra special one for Megumi, Sōma retuned his focus to being as much help as possible for Chef Kojirō.

'I will not loose anymore...' he mused, 'I will learn all I can from master Shinomiya, and then take the first seat of the Council of Ten!'

After affixing the last bulb into the final handing light fitting, Sōma descended the ladder and made his way towards the kitchen but he was interrupted from by the voice of Gao Wei. "Hey, Sōma..." turning his head he saw the dark haired woman was busy setting the tables with tablecloths, crockery, an assortment of varying eating utensils and wine glasses. "Before you go and assist Lucie in the kitchen, could you help me set the rest of the tables?"

As it turned out, setting tables was more complicated than he had first imagined. First there was an underlining of cloth put down first in an irregular way. The underlining was laid so that instead of an equal amount of overhang on the four table sides, there was instead a triangle of cloth hanging downwards on the two longest side of the table. Then the final tablecloth was then laid on top, in the regular rectangular fashion both cloths were held in place by metal clips fastened to the four table sides.

"Very good", Wei praised, observing Sōma from across the room from where she was setting her own table. "Although, try to keep a sense of uniformity with each set table. Here watch me".

Placing the last clip on his table, Sōma looked up and towards Wei who began to layout another table. Underlining... check, tablecloth... check. Two sets of each cutlery: a knife and fork for staters and main meals set on the left and right of the rolled up napkin, set inside a stainless steel napkin ring.

On the surface, Wei seemed to possess a work ethic that combined effortlessness with an ironclad resolve but from watching this woman for mere minutes, Sōma saw there was something more to Wei's personality. There was a fire burning within her eyes, not anything malicious but he could tell that the woman had something to prove within Shino's 'Tokyo Branch' restaurant.

"Thank you Wei, I didn't know how complex front of house duties could be. I have learnt a lot from you", Sōma stated bowing to the woman not noticing the flushed embarrassment on her face as she took in his words. "Y-Y-you make me sound like an old woman teaching primary school children..." she stammered in response. "Now hurry off with you. Lucie will be waiting, and time is of the essence until the Soft Opening is upon us".

Leaving the dining area to be finished by Abel and Wei, Sōma walked into the kitchen pushing open the double doors as he did so. "And where have you been?" The stern voice of Chef Kojirō asked. "Wei asked me to help her set the rest of the tables", the boy replied, sweating slightly, before seeing a slight smirk on the older man's face.

"Lucie", Kojirō spoke, "can you show Sōma the recette that he will need to shadow you for tonight?"

"Oui chef!" Lucie responded firmly. Turning her head, so that her teal coloured hair caught was accented by spotlight directly above her, the meat chef directed Sōma to "julienne some carrots and celery" for the mirepoix and then prepare the chicken for the Dutch oven.

Turning towards the recipe taped to the wall above his workstation, Sōma began to familiarise himself with the recette. 'Fricassée de Poulet a L'Anceinne'.

Grinning to himself, the boy immediately threw himself head first into prep work, to the amazement and bemusement of Lucie. "He's certainly spirited", she whispered in her boss's ear. "No wonder you approve of him..." She cut herself off upon seeing a sharp pointed scowl that suddenly skittered across chef Shinomiya's face. "Don't you have work to do..." Kojirō stated bluntly.

From his workstation, Sōma finished preparing the mirepoix and moved on to seasoning the chicken and setting the Dutch oven over a medium heat. "Lucie", he called out, "I have finished the mirepoix and have nearly finished the preparation of the chicken".

Beaming at him, the teal haired woman was about to offer up a new task for the student to do but was then stopped by Kojirō. "Sōma, go tell Abel and Wei that we have done as much of the prep work that can be done for now, and that I'll be making lunch for us all".

Both Sōma and Lucie were blindsided by this new direction, and stared at the older chef in disbelief. "You're..." Lucie stuttered looking as if some one had just shone a light in her eyes. "You're actually going to cook for us! That is extremely unlike you Kojirō".

Before he could stop her, Lucie had bolted from the room, usurping Sōma's job, to tell Abel and Wei instead. And if the sound of a bottle breaking on the ground was any indication of their surprise, then Kojirō didn't have to long to wait, for moments later Abel burst into the kitchen with tears of joy running down his face and holding a bottle of red wine.

"Oh Chef Kojirō! I picked out a perfect accompanying wine to go with the splendiferous meal you will no doubt cook!" However, he was immediately struck down by Kojirō. "This wine won't do! Malbec won't go with what I'm preparing for us, go bring me a Tempranillo Rioja".

Thirty minutes later, and after having to put up with such a delicious aroma emanating from the oven, Kojirō Shinomiya brought out to the awaiting staff the cooked lunch. "Quiche Lorraine de Legume Oubliés", the magician exclaimed smiling and pouring himself a glass of Rioja, as Sōma watched in amazed anticipation as the quiche was divided up between himself and the others.

The aroma of gruyère cheese permeated his nostrils and created a vision of a quiet little homestead in the French countryside. And yet, the moment he took a bite he was stunned by the explosion of taste from the tangy cheese and smoked bacon. Contrastingly, there was a crunchiness from burdock root, an earthiness of parsnip and swede and a slight sweetness from caramelised onions and leeks.

Staring in shock towards chef Kojirō, utterly amazed by this man's skilful matching of the flavour profiles of each ingredient, Sōma was in total awe. Then to Sōma's surprise the chef owner sighed and looked down argh is one plate of food.

"Hmm... its still not there yet".

'How can he say that...' the redhead thought, mouth agape. 'This is delicious... if the former first seat of the Ten still thinks that a dish of this calibre and still thinks it's unfinished... then what does that mean exactly for me?'