While everyone was having fun conversing with one another as they eat their very late dinner. Michel, Allan, and Gino were just standing as they watch them all eat. They talk about the new restaurant that Gino had no idea where it is, they also talk about Gino's wife who is currently pregnant.
"How is Vanessa doing these days?" asked Michel to Gino
"good, she's been craving a lot of different food nowadays and her mood swings are getting worse. She easily got angry at me when I didn't tell her about the new restaurant, which is the fault of your dear wife here who called Nessa about it" Gino pointed at Allan who called Vanessa, Gino's pregnant wife' a few weeks ago about the soft opening of the new restaurant.
"by the way, since the restaurant would be opening soon, what is the name of it? I never got to help with the whole process of it since I manage almost all the kitchen of 'LOIS' while you train your staff, Michel." They have a total number of four branches of 'LOIS', two of them were located within city S. While the other two were located at in the nearby beachside of city S. there is the distance in every branch so that it would not go against each other when it comes to customers wanting to eat their food. Gino originally handles the ones that are located within city S while Michel handles the other branches of the restaurant. The beachside was not that far from them, it is only a 45-minute drive from the main branch of 'LOIS'.
"We have decided to call it 'FUSIE', it's the Dutch term for fusion. Since we wanted to let our guests taste a great fine dining cuisine of different countries. Plus, there are recipes that we have tried to do some fusion cuisine." answered Michel.
"I see, It's a nice name, I like it also. I assume the renovation is over right? since the soft opening would be in two weeks" Gino let the husband and wife take care of the new restaurant even though the two still wanted him to be part of the business contract. They told him that 'FUSIE' is still part of 'LOIS' only the name and menu change but it is still part of the businesses the three of them establish. Gino agreed to it after Allan and Michel talk to him together with his wife Vanessa. The two knew that only Vanessa would be able to talk some senses to her husband.
"Yes, we are only waiting for the name sign that would be placed outside but other than that everything is almost ready. Jerry was there to train all of the new servers while Michel trains the ones that are in the kitchen," said Allan. Jerry is the general manager of the main branch, he is the very first general manager that 'LOIS' had ever since it started. Currently, he supervises all the training of all the servers up until they got promoted. The current managers and supervisors of each branch were originally the same staff or servers who first work in the main branch the same year as Jerry but due to their excellent work that they got promoted.
"I see"
"by the way Gino, you got two new staff right? From country P" It was the main branch of 'LOIS' where Mari is working. This is due to them having the first time accepting trainees from another country.
"That is right Mari and Elena, also they are trainees Michel. Why do you ask?"
"well, how is it so far?" Michel wanted to be the one to handle them but due to his busy schedule of establishing the new restaurant that they have decided to let Gino handle them.
"so far they are both doing well in their work but If I may say so I want to test their abilities. Elena arrived two weeks before Mari came, she started working in Pastry station and then after a month she is now working in Soup station and her next station would be in the Hot station. Meanwhile, Mari started in Cold station, next week would be her last week in that station. She would then go to the Pastry station to train for a month." Gino assigned Lucas to look after the two trainees whenever he is not around. Elena also came from the same country as Mari, country P. She arrived in country A three weeks before Mari did, she started working in 'LOIS' two weeks before Mari.
"Hmm, how about you asked them to make a dish according to their specialty or in accordance to the station that they are currently in. After that all of us would judge who has the best dish, the best dish would be your special menu for the month. What do you think?"
"hmm…I think that's a good idea but I want to make this a little bit more than that. We could all taste it and also I want our guest to make a vote as well. By the end of the month whatever dish has the most vote would be part of the daily menu for this year. What do you think of that?" out of the three, Gino enjoys the competition between his staff more. And one of the known competitions to everyone was the yearly sous-chef competition. Wherein anyone can participate as long as they are a staff of the main branch. Gino was the one who started it since he couldn't decide who will be his sous-chef thus he made it a yearly competition to let anyone had the opportunity to become a sous-chef.
"You really enjoy making your staff suffer huh, anyway for me, I like the idea of letting our guest join the fun as long as we taste the dishes first." Allan always cares about the guest and the satisfaction of the guest.
"I like that too. I want to witness the end of this so don't forget to invite me here when the results are out" Michel got excited about the competition of the two trainees, that competition would bring out their talent and abilities to prove themselves.
"Alright, Lucas! Come here for a second" Gino called out Lucas who was talking to Mari at that moment. When Lucas heard Gino, he excuses himself from everyone at the table so that he could go in the direction of Gino and the others.
"what is it Chef?" asked Lucas who just came forward.
"I want you to call Mari and Elena here, I need to tell them something very important," said Gino, he had noticed the behavior of Lucas ever since Mari came. He will always find time even in the middle of his shift to go to Mari and his attitude was completely different when Elena first came. It was not only Lucas but everybody inside the kitchen and some of the servers as well. Aside from Mari being beautiful, she is also friendly to almost everyone in the restaurant. They all treat her like their little sister which is very different from how they treat Elena. In the eyes of other people, the look of Elena is just like an ordinary lady even so she is also very friendly to everyone. But unlike Mari, they treat Elena like a friend or more of a colleague than something else.
"Chef, did you call us?" asked Mari who came together with Elena and Lucas
"ah, yes, Mari and Elena do you know him?" Gino knew that Michel and the two girls haven't met yet so he wanted to introduce them to each other.
"He is Chef Michel" answered Mari which made everyone shock. Michel laughs out loud when he heard that Mari knew him. His laughter even attracted the attention of everyone in the hall.
"How do you know my name? As far as I know, we haven't met yet" Michel calm down and asked Mari the question that everyone was thinking.
"that…When our agency told me that I would have an interview with your restaurant, I did my research about the whole restaurant and the cuisine that was being served here. Thus, I got to know the names of the owners of the restaurant that I will be working in. ah! But I am just guessing since I didn't know what you look like chef." Mari got a bit flustered when she saw that everyone was now looking at her while she explains.
"guess? why? Hey honey don't we have a picture on our website?" asked Michel to Allan who is beside him.
"No honey, but our names were written there so I assume that since Mari already knew me and Chef Gino that she had thought you might be Chef Michel, am I right Mari?" Allan is the most intelligent out of the three of them that he already guest how Mari was able to guess the name of his husband.
"that is right Mr. Allan, I saw everyone's name there and since I already knew Chef Gino then the only Chef that I haven't met yet was Chef Michel so I thought that he might be him. Am I wrong Mr. Allan, If I am then I am so sorry Chef!" Mari immediately apologizes to Michel ignoring the fact that he already hinted that he is indeed the Chef Michel that she is talking about.
"HAHA!!! No Mari, He is indeed Chef Michel Wilson, the husband of Allan Wilson here. Anyway, I wanted to introduce the two of you to Michel since he is also the head chef of 'LOIS' so you two better remember that, ok?" said Gino to both Mari and Elena while Michel offered his hand for a handshake as he officially introduces himself.
"Yes, Chef! Nice to meet you Chef Michel" said Elena, she wanted to be the first one to say it before Mari say something. For some reason, Elena is starting to feel that Mari is being ahead of her already. She is starting to feel somewhat inferior and she doesn't like the feeling of being defeated by a newcomer like Mari.
Mari and Elena were called by chef Gino and chef Michel to let them know what will happen to the contest that chef Gino wanted to create. Lucas was beside Mari when the three owners were talking to the two. Elena was enthusiastic to let the chefs notice her since she knew to herself that Mari was able to get noticed even in her simple action. She wanted Mari to know that she is much more superior to her just because she started earlier than Mari, although the two of them have equal standing in terms of chef Gino's sight."Elena, you still have two weeks in the Hot or Meat station right?" asked chef Gino"Yes chef," Elena likes the Hot or Meat station, throughout her experience from her past jobs, she was always working as a line cook of the meat station. Which became her biggest advantage when she was assigned to that station. But aside from being a line cook she got very minimal to no experience to other stations
Michel finally arrives at the main branch of 'LOIS' where the competition that was arranged by Gino is being held. The arrival of Michel was the sign for both Mari and Elena to cook or plate their main entrée. They will need to serve it after 30 minutes, which is why Gino already told them that they could have the proteins pre-cooked ahead of time. Mari's chosen protein is beef while Elena's chosen protein is fish particularly salmon. "Alright, once the two of you are done plating your entrée bring it to the dining area for us to taste. The rest of you can go home or go in the dining area if you want to watch everything that will happen." Said Gino who let the two trainees know that they could start cooking their entrees and side dishes. As well as let the rest of his staff what they can do since their shift is already over. "yes, chef!" replied both Mari and Elena who are now cooking their dish. They would need to have three plated entrées for each of the judges whi
Mari and Elena are both done plating their desserts and was about to go outside the kitchen to present their desserts in front of the three owners. Mari's dessert has an ice cream that is why she didn't include it yet on her plate but instead, she would scoop it once it is her turn."Since we started with Elena a while ago, we will start with Mari this time. So Mari please present to us your dish" said Gino who is now eyeing the desserts that are in his trainees' cart or trolley. Mari nodded when she heard Gino asking her to present her dish in which she did so. Mari scoop her ice cream and place it on the side of her dessert and after that, she places some nuts on top of the ice cream. She then gave each of the owners a plate of their own to taste."There you have a two-layered Burnt Basque Cheesecake, the one on the bottom is chocolate flavor while the top one is a classic vanilla bean flavor. Then on the side is
Three days had passed and both Elena and Mari are done teaching their partners that are working opposite their appointed station. Mari's partner is Paul from the meat station. Paul is said to be the rival of Lucas in terms of their cooking skills, he is also an all-rounder like Lucas but since Lucas is now the sous-chef of the kitchen that he asked to be assigned to the meat station.Elena's partner Lily is the second best chef in the pastry station since the pastry chef was the number one in terms of experience and skills. Lily is also good friends with Elena, she also likes being with Mari since they can talk about pastry all the time as they both love making desserts. She treats Elena as her friend but her treatment with Mari is completely different since they became much closer after Mari was assigned to the pastry station. At first, she treats Mari like her little sister but when she saw how much Mari can relate to h
Everyone arrived at the house of Paul and at the same time the food that he ordered also arrived. Some of them started playing Beer pong while the others just sit in one side and chat with whatever topic they could think of. When Lucas arrive, he found them all in the living room chatting and laughing as they talk about things unrelated to their work. None of them wanted to talk about anything related to cooking nor working inside the kitchen since they do it almost every day."So Mari, Do you have a boyfriend? Or is Lucas your boyfriend?" asked Elena, her question gain the attention of almost everyone and that includes Lucas who just arrived. Lucas was getting his food when he heard the question of Elena and there he thought that is the main question that everyone wanted to know."What? How did you get to that conclusion?" Mari laughs a little when she answers Elena with a question."Well, I notice that you would always ride Lucas's car whenever you
It was already the third week of the month and there is only one week left until the competition between Mari and Elena ended. The restaurant had been very busy ever since the contest started, a lot of the guests wanted to vote for their favorite dish. Some of them repeatedly came back not just to vote but also to eat with their friends and family whom they came with. The competition attracted a lot more guests than expected and that also gave the restaurant's popularity a boost. Because of this, there was never a day without any reservations, this even includes the branches of 'LOIS' although they don't serve the dishes of Mari and Elena the staff there were aware of the effect of the competition going on the main branch. ---- Somewhere in one of the big company building in the city was the Ro Enterprise, on top of the building was the CEO's office. Inside the office were two businessmen who are also best friends to each other, talking about the businesses they had
After the servers took the orders of Dennis, his sister, and the Davis siblings, they left them to give the order to the kitchen. While waiting for their order, one of the servers came back to give the catering menu. Dennis was the first one to browse the menu while his sister who was supposed to browse it was having a fun chat with her friend Lilian and her brother."Brother Liam, you still don't have a girlfriend right?" asked Shane to Liam"That's right, your brother and I are still very single, right Dennis?" Liam answer Shane whom he sees as a little sister too. Dennis only nodded to him while he continued to look at the menu."What is your type of woman?""Shane, I already know what my brother would answer to your question, want me to tell you?" said Lilian who was teasing her brother at the same time. Liam on the other hand just smiles and giggle in amusement at what his little sister is going to say."really! Tell me!""brother Liam
Everyone was looking at the door when they heard a sudden knock that distracted them from saying something to Elena who just introduced herself. As the person who knocks came inside the room, they saw a woman wearing a chef's uniform like Elena. Dennis and Liam seem to have their eyes lock on her and they were both curious to know who she is."Oh! Mari, are you done with the orders?" asked Chef Gino who asked Mari that just came inside the private room. He did ask the other to come to that room as soon as she is done with the order that she was doing at that time. Once done she can ask someone to take over for a little while."Yes chef, although I need to get back as soon as possible cause I have a lot of orders coming and Lucas was helping out as well since it is a little bit too much for one to handle," said Mari as she walks towards the direction of chef Gino and Elena."I see, very well. Everyone I would like to introduce to you all Mari Sanchez, the one who