Chapter 728 – [A Dream That Didn’t Bloom]

When I asked why I named the store Shion, there was something that I could only say was simple.

To be honest, I felt like I was going to have a good time for a restaurant name, but I didn’t want to use a name other than this.

While writing this name, I felt an emptiness as if a big hole had been pierced in one side of my heart… But nothing came to mind even after thinking about it for a long time.

I guess it’s just a feeling

“Welcome……Ah”

A pair of men and women with a neat impression. She wants to be a couple, but the male side is older. She is between middle and old age.

The woman feels like a sophisticated white-collar woman. A company president and a female secretary……. No, it’s a bit different. The atmosphere isn’t there.

Yes, it feels like seniors and juniors at work. I want to know if I can notice it, but somehow I felt like I knew it instinctively.

And the most important of all. They were two foreigners.

“I made a reservation for two under the name of Robert Jefferson.”

“Ah, you speak Korean fluently.”

Haha, I travel a lot for work.”

“Let’s sit down. The weather in Korea is so cold and hot that it’s cold even though it’s autumn.”

I first checked the name of Robert Jefferson on the reservation list. Please note that this is a cell phone app. With this, you can check and modify it in conjunction with our store site.

This is what Ana made. Thanks to this, managing reservation guests has become very convenient.

I sat the two of them down and brought out a towel to wipe their hands with.

For reference, the wet towel provided is a warm wet towel. It can disinfect and warm your hands in cold weather.

“I heard from an acquaintance that this restaurant changes the menu every day.”

“Ah, yes. Hairtail is the main thing today. Fall is the season when hairtail is delicious.”

“Galchi…?”

“You don’t seem to be familiar with nouns, but in English it’s cutlass fish.”

Cutlassfish is a fish that resembles a knife to the extent that it was originally called Kalchi. Everyone can’t help but think of a knife when they see the freshly caught elongated hairtail shining silver.

In the English-speaking countries, it is cutlass fish, in Japan it is tachi (attitude) uo, and in Portugal it is paise espada.

“Ah, cutlass fish. It’s fish… So is it sushi?”

“No, hairtail is not good for sushi.”

Hairtail is a fish with a quick temper, so it dies shortly after catching it. Even if it’s not that, there are a lot of parasites, so it’s a bit like eating sashimi.

Fresh hairtail fish is eaten as raw, but……. Still, it is served at the store, but for hygiene reasons, they can serve it like that.

So my menu is grilled or stewed. But it seemed that I couldn’t bring that to the two of them now.

“Other times, we serve course dishes, but today we have one table. We will prepare two servings right away, so please wait for a while.”

“Yes, I understand”

The other person is a guest who knows how to speak Korean, but is not familiar with Korea. I can use chopsticks to a certain extent, but that doesn’t mean I won’t be able to use them to eat thin cutlassfish.

Cutlassfish is an oily and very tasty fish, but it has a lot of thorns if there is one downside.

You can eat it much more easily if you know how to scoop it out, but you can’t do that if you are not good at chopsticks.

So change the menu. First, take out the cutlassfish pieces that were set aside for grilling, cut them in half, and remove the thorns.

And when you are going to boil, take out the ingredients you were going to use, mix them well, and mix them. That’s how I made the seasoning.

“Ah, it looks like eel rice bowl.”

“Originally, I was going to serve it grilled or stewed, but I thought something easier to eat would be better.”

Our shop is an open kitchen. It feels like an izakaya with seats near the kitchen, so you can see the cooking in front of your eyes.

It was also my taste of wanting to narrow the distance with customers. Besides, it’s good to cook while talking.

If you’re a chef, you might dream of having a bunch of chefs in a big restaurant, but I love small restaurants like this. A restaurant where I can cover by myself and have lively conversations with customers.

Chii profit!

The savory smell of cooking oil spreads as you hear the sound of cooking hairtail on the grill. Apply seasoning sauce here and bake while turning well.

For reference, note the soot. The soot that rises when the oil touches the fire gives it a bitter taste.

Soon after, I removed the grill and put the golden-brown cutlass fish on top of the hot rice.

Side dishes include kimchi, which is indispensable for Koreans, and a few vegetables. It wasn’t flashy, but it was a side dish that was faithful to the basics.

It’s not a hanjeongsik, and even if it’s prepared to the point where you’ll break your upper leg, you won’t be able to eat it all anyway. I’d rather make a few delicious ones.

Even this simple side dish boasts the best taste I’ve made with great care. If you eat bibimbap, you’ll die.

“Now, there are two servings of cutlassfish rice bowl. All the spines are removed, so all you have to do is eat it with a spoon.”

“Oh, that sounds delicious. Then I’ll eat well.”

The woman didn’t talk to me about not being able to speak Korean. I spoke English with the male customer, but… You shouldn’t overhear the customer’s conversation.

It is the bartender’s job, not the chef’s, to listen to the customer’s story. A chef is only good at cooking.

The cutlassfish, grilled after removing all the thorns, is so soft that it can be cut as it is when poked with a spoon. It’s like tofu.

It looks like eating eel rice bowl, but eel and hairtail are different. No, rather, since the method of making them is similar, you will be able to clearly see the difference.

“Umm, unlike the eel rice bowl, the marinade is slightly spicy. And this taste permeates……. Did you cut a little bit when you trimmed it so that the seasoning is well absorbed?”

“Yes, those little details are easy to do, but they are also the ones that influence the taste.”

Cutlassfish is oily, so if you just season it and grill it, the taste won’t permeate properly.

So, I intentionally made a small sheath to allow the seasoning to permeate. Little things like this make cooking even more delicious.

The two of them talked about this and that and then finished their meal before they knew it. Looking at his expression, he seemed to have had a satisfying meal.

………Yes? But no matter how much I look at the face, I can’t read the expression, so what is it? Is it because of the mood?

“I had a good meal. I was introduced to this place by an acquaintance and it was very good. We will visit again next time”

“I’m glad you enjoyed your meal.”

Send a team like that. And dozens of teams remained.

I’m busy today, but I had a hunch that I’d have fun.

*        *    *

When I finish the store, I always have the same mind.

It was fun, but for some reason I felt empty. I wondered if she was like that because she didn’t have Ana, but she always did when she got home, even when Ana was around.

It used to be okay, but these days, it’s to the point where I frown on my own. What is it… Is it because you don’t want to close the store?

After cleaning up the store and preparing to open the store tomorrow, I return home again.

There was a person who came in first after school. It seems that Shinji has gone out.

“What about God? Are you out?”

“Shin-i hyung went out to play with his friends”

“You should drink in moderation.”

“Oh, I heard you took out alcohol from the wine cellar.”

“No!!!!! There was something to sell in it?!?!?!”

Brewing is also a hobby, so I make it and serve it to regulars, so it’s popular, so there are some things I make with reservations.

If it’s what the younger brothers drink, they don’t particularly spare 10-year-old alcohol, but the alcohol was already owned by the owner after receiving an advance payment.

I hurriedly went to the wine cellar, and luckily I had only what I could take with me. Come to think of it, I asked for it separately.

“Hey, you were surprised.”

“Ah! I want to drink too!!!!”

“Underage drink after becoming an adult!!!!”

Even though I grew up early, my younger siblings grew up without parents.

Fortunately, I grew up without a corner, but it wasn’t that I didn’t have discipline while raising my kids.

On a rainy day, when Shin-i contacted me because he had hidden soju on a high school field trip, he would have dusted it off.

Alcohol is bad for the liver of young children of prime age. You can drink or smoke, but at least that’s a matter for you to decide after you become an adult.

You can do it if you want to have fun. However, along with that pleasure, responsibility lies with oneself.

“Hyung treats you very well, but sometimes you see him being ruthless.”

“Make sure it’s clear.”

“It’s a family, but where is Gong and Sa?”

“If you get a job at our store, you’ll be there from then on.”

“Ah!!!! Are you giving me a job?”

“If you get a license to cook Korean, Western, and Chinese food without difficulty”

“Oh what!!!!”

No, what did I say to follow the license of an industrial engineer? I was following the technician. If you study hard for a few months, you should be able to get a technician.

First of all, the housework is shared with the kids, but when Shini went out and came back after drinking, Mei and Myeongi had to do the laundry today.

Actually, that’s not a big deal. Talking about this and that with Myeong, folding and drying the laundry is just right.

“Huh? What, I ate dinner, what else are you going to do?”

“If God becomes his servant and comes in, you won’t have to hang up. Make some soup.”

“It’s very sincere. Shin-hyung isn’t even a kid anymore.”

“In my eyes, they’re all kids”

“If you’re like me, I’ll give you a can of dawn.”

“That’s expensive, man.”

At least, if you look at Dawn 808, not Hengae, you can see the personality of Myeong.

Around the time I was in the kitchen preparing bean sprouts and ingredients for the hangover soup, a call rang on my cell phone.

Adriana was written on the screen. The international call fee is expensive…….. Is there a schedule change for coming next week?

If you ask me why I saved it as my wife’s name, it’s just because I think it should be the case. It’s because it’s strange that I don’t feel it when I say it’s my wife.

– It’s too late to receive it. Are you busy?

“My younger brother is coming in from drinking, and I’m going to make him some hangover soup. What’s going on? I think I’ll be disappointed if you call me next week because you can’t come.”

– There is no change in schedule. I will go to Korea as it is next week.

His tone is hard, but his tone is soft. Besides, Adriana was conversing in Korean, not Italian. That’s proof that you care about me.

“I’ll prepare a lot of delicious food”

-I’m looking forward to that……Of course there will be alcohol, right?

“Of course. What’s left for my wife every week without alcohol?”

-You will stay.

“Uh”

Isn’t this a complete change of roles between men and women? I do housework at home, and my wife goes out to work. Well, I do work too.

-Ah, come to think of it, that’s the original purpose. Haven’t there been any foreign customers in the store lately?

“Foreign guests? Come to think of it, I came today.”

-I heard that the Michelin Guide sent an evaluation team to your store.

“Somehow, I felt like a gourmet.”

Rather than simply eating delicious food, the feeling of savoring it was strong. Besides, even if I pretended not to, there was a sign of looking around the store.

……..What? When did you see it all? I was quick-witted, but was I that fast?

-I’ve visited a few times, so maybe the results will come out. Yes, any store run by my husband deserves at least one Michelin star.

“Well, the store is small, so at most two. I don’t want three.”

-Your dream is small.

“I have to grow the store to get that much. But I don’t have the confidence to run a store like that by myself. No, but how did you know about the news from Michelin? Normally, you would keep it a secret?”

-………..

“You didn’t do anything strange?! Right?!”

By the way, because it’s Michelin star… I guess our reputation has grown to such an extent that customers like that come to our restaurant as well.

It’s great to be able to be recognized worldwide for my skills. Even if the result is bad, it is meaningful even if I was able to rise to the candidate.

“By the way, did you change the name of the branch in Korea so it was not Michelin instead of Michelin? And I know that they come and judge five or six times over a period of about a year, but even if that’s the case today, why don’t I remember seeing people like that before?”

– It’s the first time I’ve heard of it. Maybe you don’t remember because you weren’t accepted as a reservation guest back then?

“Uh……Do I misunderstand? Or sorry.”

It feels like some information is conflicting. I don’t even know why it’s like this these days.

I hope it wasn’t a bad sign.