[BONUS CHAPTER]
Sunday, October 25th
One day before the start of the Flame Festival.
Theo and the kitchen staff were in the kitchen discussing what special dishes they would cook for the autumn week.
"How about we adapt the Red Menu to have an even more brilliant red color?" Shoko said with a thoughtful face.
"We can use local autumn ingredients and produce a Red Menu - Elffire Autumn Version." Ayia said.
"But which ingredients are we going to change?" Kimiko asked.
"We could use the leaves from some vegetables that grow here in the city that is similar to the flame leaves from the sakura trees." Theo said after a while.
"But and the lasagna? It is already red. How can we make it even brighter?" Lauren asked hesitantly.
They were silent for a while as they thought about an answer.
"I got it!" Theo suddenly exclaimed with excited eyes.
"How about we make a Ravioli Lasagna?" Theo told them his idea.
"A ravioli lasagna? How would that work?" Shizuka asked puzzled.
"That's the catch! We will fill the ravioli with the things that go inside the lasagna. We make the whole preparation as a normal lasagna. Just changing that we will make tiny lasagnas inside the ravioli, and bake the ravioli with the lasagna sauce in the oven." Theo explained.
They were all impressed with Theo's idea, and a little intimidated too.
The difficulty of the Ravioli Lasagna seemed to be much harder than the normal lasagna.
"We can assemble the ravioli as the flame leaves. It will be the perfect autumn dish." Theo said with a determined tone of voice.
"But, chef, isn't the difficulty of it much harder?" Max asked with hesitation.
Theo heard his question and frowned.
Max was right, it would be difficult for them to finish the dish on time.
And Ayia and Shizuka were leaving them for a while next Thursday, so their difficulty would increase after they left.
"Hmm, there is no other option then. We will not put in the service the Vegetarian and Ocean Menu this week. We will serve only the Red Autumn Menu." Theo came with an answer.
The rest of them digested Theo's words.
It seemed that was the only solution.
They would be able to make the Ravioli Lasagna and take care of the workload of the service, even after Ayia and Shizuka left.
"Yeah. I agree. That seems to be the only solution, chef." Kimiko said.
"Shoko and Max will be responsible for the presentation. I want to see the flame sakura trees on the plate. Do you understand?" Theo gave the two of them a task.
Shoko and Max had their hearts constricted for a while. It was the first time they were responsible for such an important plate presentation in the restaurant.
All the normal plates there were in the service had Theo and Ayia's presentation.
Shoko and Max only helped them finish.
But now they would not have Theo or Ayia's help to do it.
And it was such an important dish!
Even though they were a little intimidated, they were even more excited about it!
They loved cooking, and having such a big task was a challenge they received with pleasure.
"All of you know that Ayia and Shizuka will travel for a while. So, Kimiko, you will be my Second Chef meanwhile Ayia is away."
"Lauren, you will take care of Kimiko's workload."
"Gwen and Kin, you two will have to give your all." Theo relocated their positions in the kitchen when Ayia and Shizuka were away.
Kimiko failed to breathe when she heard that she would be the second chef.
That was a huge responsibility!
She was afraid and at the same time excited with the opportunity.
She saw how amazing Theo and Ayia were when cooking.
Kimiko knew she wasn't on their level yet, but she was pursuing their level with all her heart.
So, she valued the opportunity. She wanted to improve and be a better cook.
Theo was satisfied as he looked at his employees.
He knew that he was giving them difficult tasks but after working with them for more than one month, he wanted to see them grow as cooks.
"Congratulations, guys!" Ayia celebrated with them excitedly.
She was truly happy that her friends earned such opportunities.
"Thank you, Chef!" They all thanked Theo with smiles.
"Sure, you earned it." Theo smiled at them.
"How about we practice this dish together? The service is only later anyways." Theo asked them as he looked at the clock.
It was still 1 pm on a Sunday, and they only had to start the preparations for the night's service at 4 pm.
"Yes, that's a great idea!" Ayia said with enthusiasm.
"Hmm, I have an idea." Shizuka suddenly said.
"Tell us, Shizu-chan" Ayia said with curious eyes.
"We should all cook a ravioli lasagna. And afterward, we can compare to the other's versions of the dish. We can see multiple possibilities for the dish." Shizuka said with her usual serious voice.
Their eyes lit up as they heard that, their fighting spirit was ignited.
"That's an awesome idea, Shizu-chan!" Ayia exclaimed as she jumped around in excitement.
"Yeah. I agree. Let's do it." Theo smiled with enthusiasm.
They all nodded and proceeded to take the ingredients to start cooking.
Theo, Ayia, and Shizuka were not even nervous about it.
Theo and Ayia were especially confident about their cooking and they were not afraid of compassions.
Shizuka was just going with the flow.
But to the rest of them, this was a chance to impress their bosses.
Kimiko wanted to cook a tasty dish.
Max and Shoko wanted to present a beautiful dish.
Lauren was hoping to impress the chef.
And Gwen and Kin were just hoping to cook something good. They knew they were new in the kitchen and were not as good as everyone else. But they wanted to improve!
And that was the first step towards greatness.
The 'competition' started in the kitchen.
It was a relief that the kitchen was enormous and it was possible to house 9 people cooking different dishes at the same time.
All types of dishes could be seen being made.
And when the agreed time to cook ended, nine different dishes could be seen on the table.
They all had the same principle, ravioli lasagna, but the way it was made was different from each one of them.
"Let's taste!" Theo smiled and started tasting his employee's dishes.
He was pleasantly surprised when he tasted them.
They all tasted the dishes and enjoyed it.
After all the dishes were tasted, they sat down to discuss.
"Well, it is not a surprise that Theo and Ayia's dishes were the best of them." Shoko said with a laugh.
All of them laughed, it was indeed not a surprise.
Theo and Ayia's dishes were in a completely different level of execution.
"But I liked how Max and Shoko presented their dishes. It was close to what I was expecting. I think if you work together, you two will do a great job." Theo smiled.
Max and Shoko were a little proud as they heard their boss complimenting them.
"I liked what Kimiko and Lauren did with their dishes. Kimiko, you placed something in the dish that made it taste so delicious! It was that exotic pepper that we received recently, wasn't it?" Ayia said with a smile of appreciation.
"Yes, chef!" Kimiko was happy that her dish was good.
"And Lauren! Such a perfect technique! If you were a little bolder with the ingredients you could get a dish close to mine and Theo's" Ayia completed with a playful smile.
They all took a deep breath when they heard that, that was a big statement.
Lauren was a little awed when she heard that.
"I do my best to be bolder, chef!" Lauren said after a while with determination.
"I agree with everything that Ayia said, but my biggest surprise was you, Gwen, Kin!" Theo exclaimed.
"You two did not produce the best dishes but the way you assembled the ravioli was a masterpiece and gave me multiple inspirations!" Theo complimented them.
Gwen and Kin were a little emotional when they heard the chef complimenting their dishes. It was a first for them.
Ayia and Theo did not comment on Shizuka's dish because it was indeed better than the rest of them, with exception of Ayia and Theo.
They spent the rest of the afternoon talking about how to make the dish as they compared it to the dishes they just made.
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