Although Ronda had told Stephanie that she would wait in the restaurant while she went to fetch Daniel, she had instead decided to walk through to the kitchen and meet the mysterious award winning chef who was apparently totally unable to cook to anything even close to a satisfactory standard. Walking into the kitchen, she saw Bayley working on applying the finishing touches to what surprisingly looked like a very nice cheesecake with strawberry topping. Standing beside her there was a tall, well built man with long blonde hair tied in a pony tail. The most noticeable feature about him was his almost comically enormous nose. Another even taller man with a shaven head was standing further back in the kitchen, scraping the burnt remains of something off a grill.
Bayley looked at the man beside her with a nervous looking smile on her face. "Does that look okay?"
"Not too bad," the man conceded reluctantly. "She'll probably reject it though. If she didn't like my food, there's no chance she'll like yours, let's be honest." It was only at that moment that he noticed Ronda standing in the doorway. She walked over to him as he asked, "Can I help you with something?" His tone clearly indicated that he objected to her presence in the kitchen.
Before he introduced himself, Ronda knew that this had to be Hunter, the Head Chef. Remaining polite and professional, she held out her hand and said, "Ronda Rousey. I'm here to inspect the hotel. You're Hunter, right?"
"That's right." Albeit it reluctantly, he accepted the handshake and introduced the other chef, who walked slowly over to them. "This is my sous chef, Kane."
"Good to meet you," Ronda said, holding out her hand again.
Kane accepted the handshake without saying anything, nearly crushing her small hand in the process.
"Fucking hell," Ronda muttered to herself, shaking her hand to try and relieve the pain. "You cooked my New York Strip, Kane, yes?"
"Yes. Did you enjoy it?"
Ronda shot a quizzical glance at the nearby camera, wondering if the question was a serious one. "I asked for medium rare, so what do you think? Did you serve me a medium rare steak?"
"Might have been done a bit more than medium rare," Kane conceded with a shrug.
"A bit more?" Ronda asked incredulously. "It was a shriveled up black mess. It looked like you'd set it on fire and left it for half an hour. I've never seen a piece of meat over-cooked anything like as badly as that." Her attention shifted to Hunter. "You're the Head Chef, how did you let that steak go out like that? I'd have thrown it back at him and made him start over."
Hunter just shrugged. "I didn't see it. I was busy. I can't cook and supervise what everyone else is doing."
"You were busy?" Ronda made a point of looking around the kitchen. "There's nothing going on! It's lunch time and there's not a single meal being cooked. And unless I'm very much mistaken, I think you microwaved the lasagna you served me?"
Being spoken to like that was obviously not something that Hunter was used to. "What the hell do you want me to do with a frozen lasagna?" he demanded, voice raised in the first sign of anger.
It only made Ronda bark back at him even more harshly. "I don't want you to serve a frozen lasagna! You're a chef, supposedly! Why don't you make your food fresh?"
"That's what I keep saying," Bayley muttered quietly.
Like a bull seeing a red rag, Hunter turned on Bayley and yelled at her, "No one asked for your opinion! You've already been told to shut your mouth!"
Rather than cowering away, Bayley found some courage from somewhere and raised her voice right back at him. "All I ever get told is shut up, get out, do the cleaning, wash the dishes! No one ever listens to me! I have some good ideas that we could use to make this restaurant a success, but no one cares! You just want to be lazy and serve the same old crap day after day until this place closes down and we're all out of a job! I'm sick and tired of being the only one who gives a damn about this place!" Her voice had broken as she shrieked the last sentence at him and her eyes had filled with tears.
Hunter looked embarrassed by the outburst, especially in front of Ronda and the TV cameras, and seemed to have no idea how to reply to it or even where to put himself. Ronda walked over to Bayley and put a comforting arm around her. "That's the most sense I've heard in this place all day." Glaring at Hunter, she demanded, "Who the fuck do you think you are, talking to her like that? Especially when she's frustrated that you don't listen to her when she's trying to put over ideas."
At that moment Daniel and Stephanie walked in. "What's going on?" Daniel asked nervously, wringing his hands together. "We heard shouting."
A small man who was almost buried under his own hair certainly wasn't how Ronda had pictured Daniel. The guy looked like a nervous wreck, aside from the fact that he needed to smarten himself up if he wanted to look fit for the part of a hotel owner. Wearing a flannel shirt and well worn jeans wasn't what she considered appropriate, even for a three star hotel like Brianna's.
"You must be Daniel?" He nodded, not that Ronda waited for the acknowledgement. "What's going on is I'm trying to figure out how you've let your kitchen staff get so out of control. Actually, your entire staff is out of control. Your receptionist is the least professional I've ever seen, your housekeeping is terrible beyond belief. Pointing over at Stephanie, who was standing in the doorway, she added, "Your Head Waitress has an attitude problem with both customers and staff, your sous chef is a fucking clown, and your Head Chef is an arrogant prick who can't cook! Honestly, I'm already having to try hard to stop myself from leaving."
Everyone in the room seemed a little taken aback by that outburst. "I can cook," Hunter said sullenly after a moment.
"But you are an arrogant prick," Ronda said, pleased to see that it drew a grin from Bayley, although she tried to hide it. In Ronda's estimation, if there was one hope for Brianna's so far, it was Bayley. "The way you just spoke to Bayley was way out of line, and I don't give a damn if you're the Head Chef. Is it true what you said, Bayley, that you are always spoken to and ordered around like that?"
"Yes," Bayley admitted reluctantly, wondering what kind of consequences she would face from Hunter and Stephanie at a later date.
Ronda turned back to Daniel and shook her head. "You allow bullying from your staff?"
"I... uh..." Daniel stammered. "I've told them to... uh..."
Ronda knew that she had a big job on her hands to turn either Daniel or Brie into a real hotel manager, or Brianna's was done for. All of the problems that she'd found so far could be traced back to weak management. The only thing for it was to show them how it was done. "Stephanie, could you please go find Brie and ask her to join us."
The request had been made so politely that Stephanie couldn't object, much as she wanted to, especially when Ronda had just called her out for being bitchy to people. With no other choice, she headed off to find Brie without saying anything.
While they waited for Brie and Stephanie to return, Ronda walked over to Bayley's cheesecake and looked it over. "This looks good," she decided, nodding appreciatively. "Bayley, get me a fork. I'd like to try it."
"Sure," Bayley replied excitedly and hurried across the kitchen to get a fork.
"Thank you," Ronda said when Bayley handed the fork to her. She used it to take a sizable chunk out of the cheesecake, which she then ate slowly, savoring the taste of the dessert. Hunter seemed as interested in the verdict as Bayley, whereas Kane just stood there looking like not all of his dogs were barking. "Bayley, that is fantastic," Ronda announced. "One of the best cheesecakes I've had for some time, and I do like me some cheesecake."
Bayley looked like she wanted to jump around the room in excitement at getting praise for her work for once, but she restricted herself to a broad smile. For his part, Hunter looked like he had just been forced to drink a cup of warm piss. Having his own cooking criticized was bad enough, but then to have someone who he viewed as nothing more than a waitress and a pot washer praised for her efforts was too much to take. "This is stupid," he complained angrily. "You come into my kitchen and start throwing insults around like you know what you're talking about. I am an award winning chef, Rousey. Do you know what that means? It means I can cook better than you, better than Kane and certainly better than Bayley."
"Okay, prove it," Ronda replied simply. "Hunter, Kane, Bayley, I want all three of you to cook me an omelette. We'll see who can cook and who can't."
"Fine," Hunter growled aggressively and stormed over the walk-in refrigerator to get some ingredients. Bayley followed close behind, with Kane wandering after them at a much slower pace.
At that moment, Stephanie reappeared with Brie by her side. "You wanted me, Ronda?" the hotel's beleaguered owner asked.
"Yes, Brie, I did," Ronda said, turning to the new arrival. "It's apparent to me already that the biggest problem with your business is that neither you or Daniel are managing effectively. You both seem like nice people to me, and don't get me wrong, that's a great quality to have in the hotel business, but you need to be a lot firmer with your staff. You have no discipline in this place, and you employ people who simply aren't cut out for the jobs they're doing. Either that or they simply don't give a fuck about you or your business. Changes need to be made, and we're going to start right here and now." Daniel and Brie shared a nervous glance, but neither of them were prepared to interrupt. "If what I was served is anything to go by, the food you're serving here is a disgrace," Ronda continued. "No effort is being put into it and there is no quality control whatsoever. It's pathetic."
"Now wait a minute," Stephanie cut in indignantly.
"No, you wait a minute," Ronda barked back at her, walking over and almost getting in her face. "I wasn't talking to you, I was talking to Daniel and Brie. Contrary to what you seem to think, they run this fucking place, not you. Do I make myself clear?"
"Don't speak to me like that!" Stephanie screamed back at her, totally losing her cool.
Daniel and Brie looked like they wanted to flee rather than get involved in the confrontation, further strengthening Ronda's belief that they needed some serious lessons in management. The first lesson was how to deal with an employee with an attitude problem.
"Getting pissed off, are you?" Ronda screamed back at Stephanie, then her voice raised even louder and she leaned in so close to Stephanie's face that their noses almost touched. "Not as pissed off as I am! Your attitude to other people and to your work is a fucking disgrace! Get out!" The hotel inspector pointed towards the open doorway.
"You can't tell me to get out!" Stephanie thundered back at her, not showing any intimidation. "You don't run this hotel, they do." She pointed a finger in the direction of Daniel and Brie.
"That's right," Ronda said, now at a more controlled volume as she took a step back. "Daniel, Brie, you're the owners. You should be dealing with your staff, not standing there watching me do it. Do you want this place to succeed or not?"
The two owners of Brianna's looked at each other again. Ronda thought for a moment that they were still not going to do anything, but then Brie found some courage from somewhere and rounded on Stephanie. "She's right, damn it. You act like you own this place, but you don't. We do, and you need to show some respect for us and for our hotel. Get out, and go and think about your actions." It was hardly the explosion of the century, in fact Brie's voice had cracked when she had mentioned the lack of respect that Stephanie had for the hotel.
"You're telling me to get out?" Stephanie demanded incredulously.
"Yes," Brie said as firmly as she could manage.
"I've heard enough of this," Hunter said, walking around the hot plate to get involved in the confrontation himself. "Don't talk to my wife like that, damn it."
This seemed to finally ignite something inside Daniel. "No, you don't speak to my wife like that," he told Hunter. "Go back round there and cook, that's your job. Stephanie, get out, and don't come back until you've sorted your attitude out."
Stephanie turned and stormed out, muttering something about bullshit. Seeing no other real choice, especially with Bayley and Kane both cooking their omelettes, Hunter went back to work. He couldn't lose face in this impromptu battle of the chefs, least of all with Bayley involved.
Ronda gave Brie's shoulder a reassuring squeeze and nodded some newfound respect to Daniel. All was not lost.
"Well, I think the results are quite obvious here," Ronda said. Three omelettes sat on the hot plate in front of her. Daniel, Brie and the three chefs responsible for the food were all gathered around. Looking at the hotel's owners, Ronda announced, "We're going to try all three of them."
"Do we have to?" Brie said warily, looking at one plate in particular.
"Yes. This is the kind of food you could be serving to guests. We'll start with this one." Ronda slid one of the plates away from the others. The omelette in question was very well presented and looked incredibly appetising.
Ronda, Daniel and Brie picked up the cutlery that had been lying nearby and each tasted a mouthful of the omelette. "That's really, really nice," Daniel opined after swallowing.
"Mmmm, delicious," Brie agreed.
"You can't cook an omelette much better than that," Ronda said, nodding her appreciation. Looking at the three chefs, she asked, "Whose is this one?"
"That's mine," Bayley replied, timidly raising her hand.
"Excellent, Bayley," Ronda smiled. "Okay, next." She picked up another plate and set it next to Bayley's.
"Looks nice," Daniel said while they each took a small portion to taste.
"That was really nice, too," Brie said a moment later. "I'd pay money to eat that."
"Me too," Daniel said.
"That's mine," Hunter announced, desperately trying to get the limelight back on himself.
"What this proves," Ronda said, "Is that you can cook when you put the effort in. The problem is that you've been being lazy, taking advantage of these guys. That's not on. You are paid to produce your best for every order, yes?"
"Yes," Hunter agreed, rather reluctantly.
"We'll talk later," Ronda told him, then moved on to the final omelette. "Kane, your omelette. Or should I say, you're pile of incinerated shit. I mean, what the hell happened here?"
"I cooked it," Kane mumbled defensively.
"I'm not eating that," Brie said, regarding the charred mess in front of her with distaste.
"Kane, that's awful," Daniel added.
To emphasise their comments, Ronda picked up the plate and dropped it in the trash. "Kane, you can't cook. That much is obvious. Daniel, Brie, you have this guy working on your line while Bayley is out there waiting tables. I mean, are we on the right planet here?"
Taking in a deep breath for courage, Daniel said, "No, you're right. Kane, your cooking is terrible. I'm afraid we're going to have to let you go."
Shaking his head with resignation, Kane shuffled towards the kitchen's back door to go fetch his belongings. As he went, he muttered, "Stupid. I can get a job as a chef anywhere I like."
"Maybe at a crematorium," Ronda conceded with a grin. Everyone remaining in the kitchen laughed, apart from Hunter who still looked annoyed by the whole process.
"That was my sous chef," he complained. "Now what am I supposed to do?"
"Your sous chef is standing next to you," Brie said, smiling at Bayley. "Ronda is right, Bayley, you are a very talented chef. We'd like you to work in the kitchen from now on."
"Thank you," Bayley replied humbly. "I'd love to work as a chef, but..." she looked nervously at Hunter. The implication was clear: she was afraid that she might face a life of misery thanks to the Head Chef and his wife.
"And Hunter will make sure that you are treated with respect and not bullied," Ronda assured her, before looking pointedly at Hunter and demanding, "Won't you?"
With all eyes on him, Hunter was again left with no choice. "Yes," he agreed sullenly.
Ronda knew that there was a lot of reluctance on his part, and there would be more on Stephanie's, but they had taken some considerable steps in the right direction. "Good," she said, with a satisfied clap of her hands. "Because the pressure will be on tonight. Our researchers have got Brianna's restaurant fully booked for dinner tonight. The pressure is going to be on, and I'm going to be watching to see how you go."
"That sounds great," Daniel said, clearly thinking quite the opposite. Brianna's had never been close to fully booked for a dinner service before. What could possibly go wrong?