Kikuchi Sonoka's face was flushed, her lovely face filled with apprehension. She bowed to Fabre and said weakly, "I'm sorry, Fabre, please temporarily serve as Satou's assistant starting today."
Satou watched from the side, feeling quite speechless. As expected, this senpai's personality was too indecisive and too weak. She was actually not suitable to be the owner of a restaurant.
Because this not only required extraordinary cooking skills but also the decisiveness and charisma to lead the kitchen.
As the second seat of the previous generation, Kikuchi Sonoka undoubtedly possessed astonishing talent. Even as a newcomer, establishing herself in the high-end culinary world should not have been difficult, yet she was being bullied by her own chef due to her weak personality.
In terms of personality, Kikuchi Sonoka was somewhat similar to Tadokoro Megumi, but although Tadokoro Megumi was weak, her heart was actually very strong, and she would still be decisive when needed.
"You're telling me to be the assistant of a brat like him? What are you talking about?"
Fabre's face was gloomy, and he shouted loudly.
There were other chefs in the restaurant, but they were all assistant chefs. They usually had a good relationship with Fabre, and hearing Kikuchi Sonoka's decision, they also felt greatly dissatisfied.
"The manager actually chose to let an intern take on the role of sous chef? Did I hear that wrong?"
"Yeah, how can a brat like him compare to the experienced Fabre?"
"Exactly."
"Forget it. As expected, she's just a newly graduated chef who doesn't understand anything. No wonder the restaurant has always been unpopular." Fabre said indifferently, "Let's just forget about this time. I'll pretend I didn't hear it."
"I... I'm sorry."
Kikuchi Sonoka's cheeks were flushed, and she lowered her head, "But Satou is really amazing."
She had tasted Satou's cooking at Kirinoya and believed that his strength was not inferior to hers.
"How amazing can a brat like him be?"
Fabre said with a look of disdain.
The others looked at Satou with disdain as well.
Satou didn't speak but looked at the dish Fabre was making and asked, "Is this sweet potato bisque your work?"
Then he picked up a spoon, scooped a spoonful, and began to taste it.
"Hey, you brat."
Fabre frowned and was about to scold him when he suddenly heard Satou say indifferently, "You didn't process the sweet potatoes properly when stir-frying, which resulted in a strange aftertaste. And to cover it up, you added too much salt and deliberately added more cream, but that only made the taste even more muddled. This level is only equivalent to an ordinary third-year student at Far Moon."
"You... you brat."
Fabre's face was ashen, and a hint of fear entered his gaze as he looked at Satou. He never expected that with just a casual taste, the other party would accurately pinpoint all the flaws in his dish, as if he had personally witnessed him preparing it.
The other chefs in the kitchen were also completely stunned, staring at Satou, speechless.
How could this new intern be so formidable?
"In that case, I'll temporarily serve as your assistant."
Fabre was silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled and said, "But don't blame me if the customers aren't satisfied."
"Why wouldn't the customers be satisfied? Don't you know the reason yourself?"
Satou suddenly said indifferently.
"I don't understand what you're saying."
Fabre frowned, displeased.
"Isn't the reason this restaurant is doing poorly because you frequently alter Kuguchi-senpai's recipes without permission, making the flavors unstable and causing customers to leave?"
Satou said coldly.
"What do you know? I just wanted to make the dishes more authentic. It's normal for customers in Neon to not be used to them," Fabre said with a smile, explaining.
"You deliberately made the dishes taste worse, didn't you?"
Satou suddenly said.
"You… what are you saying? How could I do such a thing?"
Fabre's expression immediately changed.
"You're jealous of Kuguchi-senpai's talent, aren't you? I heard from her before that your restaurant closed due to poor management. Seeing Kuguchi-senpai, so young, yet making dishes so popular with customers, and on the verge of becoming a rising star in the culinary world, you became jealous, didn't you?"
Satou looked at him coldly and said, if it weren't for the lack of help and his acceptable skill level, he would have long since suggested to Kikuchi Sonoka that she fire him…
Fabre's face instantly turned very ugly, and he gritted his teeth, saying, "I don't understand what you're talking about."
"Is… is that true, Mr. Fabre?"
Kikuchi Sonoka was also greatly surprised. The naive her had previously thought that Fabre simply wanted to improve the dishes.
"I won't settle this matter with you for now. Just be a good kitchen assistant under me. But I'm not as easily deceived as Kuguchi-senpai, you know."
Satou said indifferently.
After leaving the kitchen, Kikuchi Sonoka still couldn't quite believe it. "I can't believe Mr. Fabre is that kind of person."
She sighed.
The naive her had thought that the restaurant's poor performance was simply because she was new and lacked experience, believing that with time, the restaurant would slowly improve.
Satou couldn't help but feel a bit speechless. Sure enough, Kikuchi Sonoka was still too naive. Besides her personality, it was probably also because she had just graduated and lacked experience.
"Oh, by the way, Kuguchi-senpai, may I taste your cooking?"
Satou suddenly asked.
"Hmm? You want to taste my cooking? Of course, no problem."
Kikuchi Sonoka's face showed a gentle smile.
Afterward, she made a Western-style vegetable beef soup and invited Satou to taste it.
"It's delicious!"
As soon as Satou tasted it, a hint of pleasant surprise flashed in his eyes.
"Really? Please eat more."
Kikuchi Sonoka smiled slightly, very happy to receive Satou's praise.
Although she was older than Satou, interacting with him made her feel more like a younger sister.
"Hmm. If only Kuguchi-senpai could be a bit tougher."
Satou nodded, reaffirming in his heart that the restaurant's poor reputation wasn't due to Kikuchi Sonoka's skill level. If her personality could be more assertive and decisive, and she wasn't led by the nose by the chefs in the restaurant, her skill level alone would surely allow the restaurant to improve.
It just needed time to change.
-------------------------------
I've already uploaded 70 chapters of this story on Patreon!
If you enjoy it, come check out the latest chapters in advance.
Here's the link:
[patreon.com/Greyhounds]
Thank you so much for your support!!
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"