Chapter 87 – [Raccoon Man Beginning]

Next we went to the facility one level below here. There was a glass tunnel facility on the lower floor, just like the Amazon Tunnel. It was not particularly Amazonian creatures, but a place where you could see sea creatures, so not only fish but also creatures such as stingrays stood out.

“Ah, it’s a caricature. Come to think of it, the walls of our house are desolate. Should I draw one and hang it up?”

“I don’t think that would be too bad either.”

In my house, most of the photos we took were stored in albums, so we didn’t even have one or two picture frame hangers in the house. It’s also convenient to put it on your phone to show it to others.

So I thought it would be good to draw a picture and hang it up.

We stood in line to draw caricatures. There were fewer people than we thought, so we didn’t have to wait except for the person in front of us.

There were two people, a man and a woman, but I stood on the man’s side and Zion on the woman’s side. When it was our turn, the face of the female artist who would draw Shion stiffened.

“Uh, hey… It’s a bit difficult for me to draw.

“Okay. Please draw as much as you can.”

“Yes, yes…”

Shion’s face was too beautiful overall to be drawn as a caricature. Maybe I’ll eat some kids?

It’s me who has dirty eyes, so if you hold on to that and draw it, it’ll be pretty easy. The man knew that too and started playing with her hand… Hey, what you’re drawing isn’t Naji Shion.

Look at this (JoJo style)!!

It didn’t take long for me to come up with a rough shape, but Shion was still drawing.

I sneaked back and saw that I was drawing a portrait, not a caricature. Like the Mona Lisa, she was drawing Shion’s face with her hands together politely and smiling faintly like a work of art.

Despite the air-conditioning in the room, the female artist who paints was sweating profusely.

I thought it would take a long time to even color it, so I deliberately decided to draw only with a pencil, but I do my best with a business card of a pencil.

And after a while The woman, barely removing her hand from her pencil, let out a sigh of her relief and drooped.

“It burned white…”

“Sister! Wait, sister?!”

As she stumbles, her colleague, a male painter, supports her. We received her picture she drew. It’s not a caricature, it’s a portrait, but what….. We asked for money to draw it, so you can take it, right?

I deliberately paid more because my conscience was pricked. About two yellow ones. It was worth it because I liked the subject.

I thought it would get wrinkled or torn if I just carried it, so I bought a frame and put it there. The unexpected harvest made me feel pretty good.

“It’s getting late. Even if the summer sun is long, I think the sun will have set by now.”

“Restaurant time is almost done.”

“Okay?”

What I ate for lunch was digested long ago. It’s time to go eat lunch soon.

We left the aquarium and moved to the tower.

It’s time to end the day well.

*        *    *

The tallest building I know of in Korea was the 63 Building, but these days it seems to have changed to a tower. Back then, there were many rumors about the building being so tall that there was an air defense unit on the roof, and that the first Subway store opened underground.

But there was such a high atmosphere. The view from the elevator was amazing.

“Hey, look at that shiny thing over there. It’s pretty.”

“That too is the product of someone’s overtime work.”

“Ahhhhh. Can you stop being too realistic here? You don’t have any dreams or hopes.”

The place we reserved is the hotel restaurant located on the 81st floor of the tower. It seems that the upper and lower floors are used as a hotel, and the entire 81st floor is used as a restaurant.

My ears tingle as I ride the hotel-only elevator all the way up. The speed is no joke because you don’t stand on the other floors, so you need to go up quickly. In an instant, the people on the ground seemed the size of a finger.

Eventually, when we arrived on the 81st floor, what greeted us was the word STAY written on a white signboard decorated with wavy patterns. Probably the name of the restaurant here.

Beneath it was the name of the chef. What did you read… Yannick, Alleno? It’s an odd name.

“I’m a French chef. I won’t disappoint you because I’m a famous chef with 6 Michelin stars.”

“6 stars? Isn’t the maximum of 3 stars in the Michelin Guide?”

“There are two 3-star restaurants, so it’s a 6-star”

“That’s pretty cool.”

I also had a Michelin star a long time ago. Of course, I didn’t get three at that time, but one.

It would have been difficult to get a score higher than that, as my favorite way to run a restaurant is to serve a lot of delicious food rather than a high-end restaurant.

The Michelin stars and their mouths say it’s good as long as it’s delicious, but if you see that I gave my restaurant one star, I’m sure they’ll pick up on the atmosphere and hygiene of the restaurant. The atmosphere will be noisy, and even if you are confident that the inside of the store is clean, it’s a bit like the hygiene of the neighborhood.

“This place also has one Michelin star”

“So, is it Alleno or not that Chef 7 Star?”

“Maybe it’s because this isn’t his restaurant.”

Hagisa, if it’s a hotel restaurant in a tower like this, there’s a good chance it’s hired. I must have spent quite a bit of money.

I walked down the hallway and entered the lobby. The restaurant staff reacted startled when they saw Shion’s face, but they didn’t hesitate. He smiled and asked if I had a reservation.

“It will be reserved under the name Choi Si-on.”

“I’ll check…Yes, I’ll guide you inside.”

Upon entering, the softly lit interior greeted us. The first thing that catches your eye is the foreground. The outside view was visible through the glass wall. And the golden beads hanging from the ceiling created a matching atmosphere rather than a flashy one.

Once the interior is OK.

We were shown to a small round table by the window. I think it’s a good seat because the view is good and it’s not on the aisle side.

The menu was already on the table. You take a seat, open the menu, and choose a menu.

“I think it would be better to choose something like today’s menu. Because there is little chance of winning.”

“Is there anything wrong with this?”

“Isn’t a dish that has been made at least 100 times more complete than a dish that has been made 10 times?”

“It is.”

Cooking is a combination of practice and experience. There is no guarantee that a dish that has not been made a few times will be delicious, even if it is a dish made at a high-end restaurant.

If it received one star in the Michelin Guide, the taste would be guaranteed, but it would be better to eat something more delicious.

“This is Amuse Bouche”

The waitress brought out the Amuse Bouche.

Amuse Bouche is a simple appetizing dish eaten before a meal. In a way, it may look similar to an appetizer, but if there is a difference, the appetizer is a dish included in a full-fledged course, and you can choose according to the type, but the Amuse Bouche comes out at the discretion of the chef, so the same thing comes out no matter who comes.

It’s just that Amuse Bouche is free. It’s free, so let’s eat it.

There were a total of 3 types of Amuse Bouche.

In one, black beans are placed on a flat wooden bowl with square grooves, and something green is chopped on top and wrapped with something like crackers, potato chips in a transparent glass tea tray, and tuna tataki and sauce on top. . Lastly, it was round fries placed on a small spoon.

First of all, I thought I’d have a quick bite before choosing a menu, so I pointed out something like a green cracker snack first.

If you ask why I chose this first, it’s because the green color on top of a wooden bowl decorated with black beans draws attention and stimulates my appetite. Just looking at it draws attention, but it is natural to want to taste it. This is why plating is so important.

If you look closely, you can’t guess what the contents are like finger-sized spring rolls made by mincing something green to make dough and wrapping the contents in something like a crispy cracker.

As soon as I put it in my mouth, what I felt was the scent of fresh lime.

When chewed, the crackle portion crumbled, and the taste of the paste inside was savory and rich in fat.

“It’s a pistachio.”

“Is that so? I thought it was an avocado”

“No, avocado is okay. There’s no way I could make this with just pistachios.”

Pistachios are nuts. If you crush and crush it, it will only become powder. Avocado, on the other hand, is a fruit, and a fruit with a lot of fat. If you mash it, it turns into porridge.

Mixing the two properly creates a paste that can be shaped and fixed like this. If it’s just nuts and avocado, it might be greasy due to the large amount of fat, but the lime juice mixed with it neutralizes it and gives a more harmonious taste.

“Next… Shall we eat with this?”

The second thing I touched was that it was placed on a glass tea tray. Tuna tataki on something like potato chips and the sauce on top. It’s a combination I can’t imagine at first glance, but I decided to put it in my mouth first.

Potato chips were not just made by slicing potatoes, but it looked like they were ground and mixed with something more. You can see something black in the potato chips here and there.

“Is this… Kim?”

I put it in my mouth and smelled it first. As I focused more on the scent of tuna tataki and the smell of the sauce, I could tell that the black thing was seaweed.

The crispy potato chips, the savory and greasy taste of the tuna, and the sauce on top have a subtle sweetness based on yuzu. The odd combination of potatoes and tuna was balanced by the seaweed that went into it.

This is good too

“Oh, you eat this”

“…No matter how much I am, I’m not greedy enough to steal all the two you give me.”

“I just don’t want to put something greasy in my mouth already. You can eat it.”

The last thing left was a fried dish that was put on a small spoon…Something was rolled into a ball. You have to try it to know what the contents are, but I’ve eaten something similar to this in the past.

Shion refused, but decided to eat it only after knowing that I was really giving in. He lifted it up with a spoon, opened his small red lips, and put the tempura into his mouth.

Shion, who was chewing and tasting it, exclaimed, “Oh.”

“This is cheese.

“Ricotta cheese?”

“Yes, that’s it”

First of all, ricotta cheese is not strictly classified as cheese. To compare it, it’s like the bean curd that comes out of making tofu. Of course, it doesn’t matter because the bean curd is delicious, but anyway, fried ricotta cheese is a fraudulent combination.

Fried shoes with a little exaggeration are said to be delicious even fried shoes, let alone fried dairy products, the game is over.

Shion quickly swallowed one and immediately ate the portion I had conceded.

“Should I order soon…”

I looked at the menu again. On the first page, three recommended menu courses of the day were written, and after that, a la carte menus were written.

The recommended menu is divided into appetizers, mains, and desserts, and each course has two to choose from, a total of six, and the other courses totaling 18 menus.

Surprisingly, you could also eat each course. For example, eat an appetizer and main menu and omit the dessert, or eat the main menu and finish with dessert. I’ve been thinking about saving some money.

Of course, since we’re both gluttons, we could have eaten the whole menu. To be honest, it’s all good, but it’s a bit like it comes out little by little after too long.

……No, just me and Shion eating a lot? Anyway.

Everything looks delicious. After thinking about what to eat, I finally decided.

“I…….”