Generation Chef by Karen Stabiner

Generation Chef by Karen Stabiner

Author:Karen Stabiner
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2016-08-19T13:14:27+00:00


11

ANXIETY

Olivia, who had been a host at Huertas for a week, was making calls to confirm reservations for the last Friday in September. About halfway through the list, she got to a table of two.

A man picked up the phone.

“I’m confirming Friday at seven for two,” she said.

He asked her to remind him of the name the reservation was under.

Bianco, she said.

He mentioned that his dining companion had a shellfish allergy, and Olivia reassured him that the chef would create an alternate dish for the scallop course.

Olivia might be new, but she had quickly become as alert for possible clues as everyone else. Had Mr. Bianco asked what name the reservation was under because she had interrupted him in the middle of something important—or because for a moment he’d forgotten which fake name he used when he booked the table?

As soon as she hung up she looked at the e-mail address he provided when he made the reservation, a weird and seemingly random assortment of letters. Huertas’s reservation software allowed her to search contact information to see if a customer had been there before. She stared at the screen. Mr. Bianco had in fact been there before. He was the party of four in the dining room, seven days earlier. He was Pete Wells, and he had just confirmed that he would be back tomorrow. And she, with her brand-new review antenna, had picked up on it from a moment’s hesitation on his part, just long enough for her to wonder, Doesn’t this guy know his own name?

She ran back to the kitchen to tell Jonah and Nate.

That night Jonah and Nate sat down again to plan Wells’s next—and almost surely final—meal. Everyone said he showed up a maximum of three times, and even though the first time had been a fluke, this had to be it. Jonah strove for the right balance, down to the smallest detail: The smoked octopus pintxo was a hit, but he’d recently served it balanced on a tiny spoon, which might scream “look at me” and might be more self-conscious than he wanted it to be. He’d perch it on a chip with aioli instead. Still great, but not so precious.

Ideas tumbled out as he imagined the meal, each choice narrowing the options for the course that followed it. He’d revamp a classic Basque stew of tuna, peppers, tomatoes, and onions; make it lighter; substitute scallops; and turn the rest into a jammy sauce. Migas with a slow-poached egg, charred broccoli, and anchovies. Duck, but a different preparation than the one he’d served to Ed Levine. This time he’d do duck with turnips, carrots, and a carrot and duck jus.

But it wasn’t a Spanish preparation, and he didn’t want to get too far offtrack. “Maybe turnips are a talking point,” he said, as much to himself as to Nate. “Maybe like grelos, a Basque green, usually served with smoked pork, so that’s like turnips with duck. We’ll make that point.” He resolved to tutor the servers before service, so that they could explain the connection.



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