CH 24

“ — Stop with it! That’s not right!”

“But this is an important time for the shop to be thriving! Fujisaki-san, please understand!”

“No! You don’t understand! Yamamoto is my valued employee!”

When I came to La Forge, the French restaurant where I work part-time at, somewhat earlier than the opening time, I heard Fujisaki-san arguing with someone.

Apparently, she was in the manager’s office with the consultant.

Fujisaki-san spotted me through the door and gave me an awkward look.

“Anyway, I’m not going to accept this nonsense. You’ll have to leave for today.”

“… Please calm down and think again. Now then…”

The consultant said this and packed the materials on the table into their bags and left.

“… Fujisaki-san, could it be that I’m the cause?”

My name was mentioned in the conversation I overheard, so I couldn’t help but ask.

I was going to discuss the clinical trial in the U.S. after work today.

Fujisaki-san let out a sigh, looking like she doesn’t want to continue the conversation.

“Yamamoto, do you know what people say about this shop?”

“Well, ‘The Young Genius Chef’s One-Star French Restaurant…’ right?”

Fujisaki shook her head and bit her lower lip in frustration.

“To be precise, it’s ‘A One-star French Restaurant Run By A Young Genius Chef Who Is Too Beautiful’. As you can see, it seems that people don’t appreciate a chef as good as me on the basis of my cuisine alone.”

“ —But, it’s because of your solid culinary skills that you got the one Michelin star! That’s why this restaurant is thriving!”

Fujisaki-san laughed with a weak expression while thanking me for my follow-up.

“Thank you. There’s still time for the store to open, so let’s talk before your shift starts.”

Saying that, Fujisaki-san suggested that I sit down.

“… At first I started the restaurant by myself. There were not many customers, but after putting my heart and soul into cooking every day, I was awarded a Michelin star within a few months. I was very happy.”

I listened quietly, thinking that with Fujisaki’s skill, she could’ve gotten at least 2 stars.

“Then, some pompous gourmets and critics started coming to the restaurant. They were happy with the food, but as soon as they found out that I was a woman, they became reluctant to evaluate my cooking. It’s a difficult world to live in, as I experienced during my apprenticeship.”

Fujisaki-san smiled wryly.

Probably, Fujisaki-san’s beautiful appearance was so far away from the critics’ image of a chef that their pride would not allow them to give a high rating.

Fujisaki-san is more serious about cooking than anyone else, and still…

I was so frustrated that I clenched my fists as I listened to her.

“Because of this, the restaurant’s reputation was ruined. Only the regulars remained. However, without prosperity, management was difficult. But, I had a goal of growing my restaurant too. So I decided to hire a management consultant to give me some advice.”

The restaurant was already thriving when I was hired, so I didn’t know about it.

Indeed, management requires a different set of skills.

“And the consultant’s advice was to put Chef Fujisaki in the media as the ‘Owner Chef’, A Lady too beautiful to be true’! I assumed it wouldn’t work if it’s like that, but… the results were… unexpectedly very profitable… Soon I was able to hire part-timers.”

The consultant’s strategy was great advice.

Fujisaki-san herself isn’t really aware of it, but she’s really beautiful.

Enough to be an actress.

“There are many pretty girls working part-time at our restaurant, right? That’s because the consultant handpicked all of them so as not to ruin the image of the ‘beautiful chef’.”

“Eh? T-then why did he hire a guy like me, who was rejected in every part-time job because of his appearance…?”

“I took you, Yamamoto, on my own accord. When I shook your hand, I knew it was the hand of someone who always cooks. Of course, he was very opposed to the idea, but I pushed through.”

“S-so that’s what happened. Thank you, I was really at a loss finding a place to work at…”

“That’s not the only reason I wanted to hire you. When you said in the interview, ‘I want to make people smile with my cooking,’ I saw the seriousness in your eyes and it made me remember my passion that I had almost lost. If it had stayed that way I would have rotted away because it would have been ridiculous to take cooking seriously in that state. I’m the one who should be thanking you.”

Fujisaki-san bowed her head, and I hurriedly bowed more deeply to return her thanks.

“So… Yamamoto. Back to what I was arguing with the consultant about earlier.”

She’s finally going to get down to business.

Fujisaki-san let out another big sigh.

“This is really stupid. To be honest, I don’t even want Yamamoto to see this. But I’m sure you’ll hear about it from somewhere eventually…”

So, Fujisaki-san showed me a certain weekly magazine that was on sale this week.

On the cover of the book was a picture of me coming out of the back door of the store, along with the following words in huge letters.

[An ugly man whose whole body is swollen can be seen in the back of the kitchen! Is the ‘Beautiful Chef’ a decoration! Perhaps the use of extremely unhealthy seasonings can make you look like this! What else is behind the exquisite one-star cuisine!]

— Because of me, the things that Fujisaki-san had built up were in danger.