But Joseph couldn’t say what was on his mind because Min-joon was no longer a participant in the Grand Chef competition, who came here as a guest. It was not in his element to be rude to this great guest who even responded to the interview without receiving any fee.
Martin quickly changed the question because he felt this kind of question would only reconfirm Min-joon and Kaya’s great romantic chemistry. In fact, viewers usually wanted to see a fraction of their relationship more than anything else at this moment.
“What if Min-joon participates? Do you think you can win or Kaya can beat you?”
As if his question was ridiculous, Min-joon just stared at Martin, who felt a sort of strange delight to see him embarrassed at the question although he felt a bit guilty.
‘… I have nothing to say anymore even after they call me a pervert.’
Min-joon looked at Martin with an unpleasant expression then said, “I’ll do my best, and Kaya will do so. I think one of us who can do better will win.”
“Wow, you’re an eloquent speaker!”
“Well, I’ve come to learn how to beat around the bush thanks to somebody.”
“Oh, sorry… this is my job anyway.”
“Can I stop here and come in? I want to see how they are doing now.”
“Sure.”
Martin seemed reluctant to let him go, but Min-joon didn’t have to be generous to him anymore. In fact, Min-joon thought what he had shown since he got here, such as cooking and interviewing, paid back whatever he owed to Martin.
When Min-joon opened the kitchen door again and entered the kitchen, he was pleasantly surprised to see inside.
‘Man, she is cool as the head chef at the moment.’
The cooking had not started yet. So, Kaya, with her arms folded, was shouting at her team members coldly. Although he could not hear clearly, the microphone hanging from her collar was showing what she was telling them.
“I know well you guys are hopeless cooks. I also know you can imitate a chef, but you can’t cook well,” she told them.
Min-joon muttered in an embarrassed voice, “Gee, why is she being so tough like that?”
Cho Min-joon muttered, a little confused. It had already been a year since he spent time with her. He knew what kind of personality she had by experiencing it enough. However, it had been a while since he heard her speaking to somebody sharply.
This time, she said in a calm voice, “I was a pseudo cook too, and maybe I’m still one. But I’m probably the best pseudo chef here. So, just shut up today and listen to me if you don’t want to lose. Got it?”
The participants were still hesitant, unable to answer. It seemed they were overwhelmed by her straightforward advice rather than they were trying to resist. In fact, they tried to take the Grand Chef competition lightly, but she couldn’t accept their happy-go-lucky attitude. She lived in the marketplace in New York. She once lived in Harlem. Since she had no house, she even lived in a tent next to the homeless people on the road.
The fact that she survived such an extreme environment meant she was a woman of strong determination and steely heart. And she was now showing them how touched she was.
She said in a cold voice, “I know what you guys are thinking of. You might think you can settle for something less perfect because you’re amateurs. You may flatter yourself by giving credit to what you have done. And I’m sure you might forget yourself for not doing your best.”
“How do you know? Kaya, did you ever think so before?”
“Nope, I didn’t. But I often saw guys who thought so. Back then, I did my best. And I’m going to do my best today. So, do your best. I’m not going to let you fall behind. So, just follow me, then I can promise you one thing,” she said in a firm voice. “You can’t lose.”
Min-joon was not sure how much her reassurances like that affected them, but he could clearly confirm that they were looking up to her for leadership.
‘I guess she is a good team leader.’
Others might not think like that, but Min-joon was convinced she was. In fact, he had seen so many head chefs until now. In particular, while following Rachel on a food truck and stopping by various restaurants, he met all sorts of head chefs who reached their position. And he knew what they had in common.
‘The basic virtue of head chefs is simple, namely making their cooks obey them. I think she is very good at that.’
It was an interesting irony. Min-joon was just amazed that Kaya, who once clawed her way to the bottom of the bottom-feeders, had such leadership talent. So, he was a bit choked up at the moment and convinced that she would reach the top head position someday.
Just like him, the team members, too, clearly realized that she was a good leader.
‘Was Kaya also good at managing her staff from the beginning?’
They felt somewhat strange about her. In fact, they tried cooking with Kaya almost ten times until now, so they knew exactly how she managed them. She was good at managing them, but not exceptional. They had the impression that she was a good chef.
In fact, Kaya worked as a head chef at a restaurant, but she was not fully functioning because she lacked the skills in managing her staff. But the way she managed her team members here was so good as to remind them of Min-joon who impressed them a lot with his excellent managing style. Even she became aware of it.
She was actually imitating him now, for she was conscious of how he checked the condition of the kitchen, or when and what he pointed out to her team members while cooking with them.
“Chop the green onions and soak them in water.”
“Reduce the heat. The oil is too hot!”
“If you roast the meat more, it’s not searing anymore. It’s going to be burned.”
Whenever she directed, they naturally recalled the way Min-joon directed them. Although her personality was cold and relatively sharp, the way she managed them was certainly similar to Min-joon’s managing style, which they had already experienced.
And it was Min-joon himself who realized it more than anyone else. He was surprised, but at the same time, he took it calmly. He knew nobody could imitate his managing style because he could show an organic and efficient leadership thanks to the system window.
To his surprise, however, she was imitating him now. Of course, there were some differences, but it had nothing to do with her shortcomings. As head chef here at the Grand Chef competition, she was carrying out her job perfectly. At least for now, she was doing her job so well. So much so that nobody could hardly find fault with her.
‘Yeah, that’s what I have always expected of you, Kaya. You’re doing great…’
He smiled at her with mixed feelings for the moment. He didn’t feel it strange that she succeeded in imitating him. Of course, she didn’t have the same system window as him, but she had an excellent intuition, which was her treasure that nobody could ever covet, something as good as his own system window.
So, even if she made up for her lack of the system window with her intuition, there was nothing strange about it. A smile was on his mouth again. And at that moment, the judges looked quite embarrassed. Embarrassed a bit, Takeshi muttered in a calm voice, “Well, the way Kaya is managing her staff in the kitchen is not strange to me…”
“There’s nothing strange. It’s a replica of Min-joon’s managing style.”
“Min-joon’s style?”
Emily, who wasn’t a chef unlike other judges, didn’t understand what they were saying. Takeshi and Joseph looked at her, embarrassed, but they found it hard to explain to her because she was not a chef.
“She copied the way Min-joon directed his kitchen staff, such as when and what they should do or how they should point out. She also helped them cook at the right timing, so they could not veer off what they had been cooking. Compared with Min-joon, she was still lacking in many things, but given she succeeded in imitating Min-joon, I guess she would be a terrific head chef with excellent managing skills.”
“Oh, this kind of managing style is so important?” Emily asked.
“Yup. Look at the other two chefs.”
Like Joseph said, Emily turned to Laura and Brian. She moaned for a moment, confirming such a contrast between Kaya and them. Brian was noisy while Laura was quiet. To put it precisely, Brian constantly shouted to his team members while Laura said almost nothing to her team members rather than yelling.
“Are they wrong?”
“Well, you can find their managing style even in world-class head chefs. So, their managing style itself isn’t a problem. But if you find the difference between Brian and a professional head chef like him, that’s his yelling.”
“Yelling?”
“The thing is whether his yelling is worthwhile or not. If the head chef yells, each of the kitchen chefs is supposed to stay alert. In other words, the head chef points out every little thing to make everything perfect. But Brian’s yelling isn’t effective. He is even questioning and pointing out something that’s not a problem at all. Naturally, the chefs who got yelled at could not fix it. That kind of yelling doesn’t make the junior chefs follow their leader, but confuses them.”
“I see. Then, how about Laura’s managing style? Is it good?”
“Well, there are many good chefs with few words. Laura is one of them. Generally speaking, those head chefs who don’t speak much open their mouths only when they have to. Basically, that kind of managing style is possible when the head chef has an absolute trust in his junior chefs. As for Laura, I think we have to wait and see if she overly trusts her team members or not.”
Having said that, Joseph looked at Kaya, so did Emily. She could now realize how well Kaya was managing her kitchen staff. She felt it was amazing to see her checking the condition of every dish with an instinctive sense that even touched world-class chefs—Joseph and Takeshi.
“When I heard that Min-joon and Kaya were dating, I thought they were a good match. But I have to think twice about it. The two are not just a good match. They absorb each other’s strengths in order to enhance their worth. Yes, there are a lot of great chefs, but if you ask me if I can find any chefs who have a more perfect chemistry, I’m afraid I can’t.”
As if Joseph was sick and tired of admiring them, he shook his head and muttered.
Takeshi also nodded as he agreed, and said, “I wish they could run a restaurant together. If that day comes…” He paused for a moment then shrugged. “Well, they may put aside the legendary match of Rachel and Daniel as an old memory.”