The Secret Ingredient by KD Fisher

Author:KD Fisher
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Carina Press
Published: 2020-09-01T18:13:46+00:00

* * *

“Alright, chef, that’s the last of it. Have a good week now.” Martin, my favorite of our produce suppliers, tipped the last crate of apples off his dolly and gave me a jaunty wave. With the help of Mac and our prep cook Sam, I hauled the order into the walk-in and started picking through the greens, winter squash, and a big bushel of Gala apples. A smile twitched my lips up as I noticed the bruises and bumps on a few of them, remembering how Beth had cradled each apple she’d picked like a newborn baby. We’d spent the drive home talking through recipe concepts and I’d come up with the idea for a new menu item: apple and root vegetable tagine to pair with the mackerel we’d been getting in for the past few weeks.

My mind was a million miles away...well, maybe fifteen miles at a certain farm-to-table restaurant, firmly fixed on a certain redheaded restauranteur. I must have been pretty dang distracted thinking about Beth, because I completely missed Sean coming into the walk-in. But when I looked up, there he was, arms folded over his chest, irritation clear as a bell on his face. My heartbeat picked up and I hated myself for it. There was no reason this man should make me nervous. No reason his showing up in the walk-in should remind me of the reverend coming into the kitchen through the screen door ready to yell at the first person he stumbled upon.

“Can I talk to you for a minute, Adah?”

“Sure.” I didn’t stop pulling containers of lobster stock that hadn’t been labeled with a date off the shelf. Whatever nonsense Sean wanted to talk to me about could wait. I needed to talk to Mac about starting up a better system for keeping the pantry organized and making sure we dated every single item. We’d been wasting more food than I liked, and I wanted the kitchen staff to find a solution that would work for everyone.

“In my office.” Sean turned to leave, assuming I would follow.

“We can talk here. Got a lot to do.” My eyes stayed fixed on the neatly organized jars of preserved lemons and roasted red peppers.

“Maybe you need to manage your time better. If you don’t have time to talk about the kitchen you run are you sure you have time for that little competition you entered?” His anger cracked through his usual smarmy professionalism. I almost liked him better angry. At least angry he was honest. Sean cleared his throat loudly. “Have you even taken a look at last week’s numbers?”

He knew I reviewed the numbers every night. Trying not to sigh, I looked up from the work I actually needed to do. “Yup. I saw that things have been slowing up a bit. A lot less tourists coming through. That’s why I entered the contest. Good exposure for the restaurant with people who might come in more than one time. I was thinking

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