Food Wars, My Dishes Don't Just Shine

When faced with Alice Nakiri's saying that it's better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish, Keiko Kitagawa replied forcefully, giving her a grateful smile.

Clearly, she understood this principle well.

Although she didn't think she could learn anything in a week, she would learn as much as she could, at least to make dishes that wouldn't be disliked by others.

Even if the taste is just average, those guys probably won't smash the plates, and the money she earns can be used to treat her father's illness.

Do you have uniforms in the store?

"Yes! We used to have several servers, but because we needed to control costs, and the number of customers had decreased significantly..."

Kitagawa Keiko didn't say anything more, but both Nakiri Alice and Nakiri Erina already understood what was going on.

No wonder such a large store has no staff except for the store manager; if that's the case, then everything makes sense.

"It's okay, we can just hire two more waiters later, and the shop's business will improve."

As she spoke, Alice Nakiri walked into the store, then casually entered the room marked "Employee Changing Room" and changed her clothes there.

"You dared to sneak away!"

Watching Alice Nakiri enter the changing room, Erina Nakiri, who was a step behind her, stood at the door and cursed, her cheeks subtly puffing out.

"Aren't you all girls? Changing clothes together shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Keiko Kitagawa expressed her doubts about this.

Putting everything else aside, her staff changing room is quite large, easily accommodating more than a dozen people changing clothes at the same time, so why doesn't Erina go in?

"Forget it, I don't really like changing clothes with other people. During the break, could you let me take a look at the shop's menu and recipes?"

Changing clothes with Alice Nakiri?

For some reason, Erina Nakiri recalled that rainy day when they went to the amusement park together, the time when the two of them were in the hotel bathroom with Professor Shirabuchi...

She was too embarrassed to think about anything else, so she looked away and asked Kitagawa Keiko for the shop's menu, trying to distract herself.

"Okay, please wait a moment."

Although puzzled as to why Erina Nakiri reacted this way, Keiko Kitagawa still ran off to find a recipe for her.

She found all of these things in her old family home, and she has yet to tell her father that she has reopened the restaurant.

Otherwise, the other party will definitely be very angry...

"call..."

Seeing Kitagawa Keiko leave, Nakiri Erina let out a soft breath, her mood calming down slightly, and then she looked around the restaurant.

Because it was a very famous restaurant, at least it used to be, the restaurant occupies a large area and can accommodate more than one hundred customers at the same time.

A restaurant with this capacity could not possibly have only one chef.

The only possibility is that the restaurant had been closed for a period of time, and the chefs and waiters had all moved to other places. They couldn't find suitable staff temporarily, so the restaurant was left idle.

However, the fact that the boss's daughter had to personally intervene shows that the situation is more serious than imagined!

"Erina, it's your turn."

Just as Erina Nakiri was thinking of a solution, Alice Nakiri's voice rang out from in front of the staff changing room, sounding somewhat cheerful.

"Oh."

"Why don't you come out yet?"

Pushing open the door and walking in, Erina Nakiri, who had just taken out her staff uniform, couldn't help but scold Alice Nakiri, who was still standing in the changing room.

"It's nothing, it's just that you seem to have grown a bit bigger. Could it be thanks to Brother Bai Yuan?"

Slightly bending down, Alice Nakiri placed her gaze on Erina Nakiri's chest, while making a grasping motion with her hand, as if feeling its weight. Her voice carried a hint of teasing.

"What...what did you just say?!"

Hearing her extremely blunt words, Erina Nakiri's face visibly turned red. Doesn't this girl consider the occasion before speaking?!

They're here for practical training! Not a hot spring trip where they're about to have a hands-on experience with Professor Hakugen!

"It's okay, it's just the two of us here anyway, no one outside will know. Are you shy? Erina is so naive."

While speaking, she waved her hand and chuckled to herself. As if she had discovered a new continent, Alice Nakiri kept stealing glances at her changing expressions.

When he saw her face visibly turn red, a smug smile appeared on his lips.

"Alright, you should go now that you've changed your clothes!"

In response, Erina Nakiri gritted her teeth and pushed Alice Nakiri out, then slammed the door shut, ignoring all the knocking from the outside.

"Really, they actually locked people out!"

Seeing that no matter what she said, Erina Nakiri refused to open the door, Alice Nakiri had no choice but to give up, and then stomped her foot in slight annoyance.

This scene was witnessed by Keiko Kitagawa, who came over with the recipe.

"What happened? Why are you so angry? Is there anything I can help you with...?"

Looking at Alice Nakiri, who seemed a little angry at the locker room door, Keiko Kitagawa spoke cautiously.

Although they were the examiners for this course and had an obligation to help her, Keiko Kitagawa had an extremely clear understanding of her own situation.

Whether this restaurant can be revived depends on these two genius chefs from Totsuki!

If they quit because they're in a bad mood, and her shop goes out of business and has no customers, then where can she complain?

"It's nothing, it's just that my little sister is being a bit temperamental. She'll be fine once he comes out and talks it out."

Upon hearing Keiko Kitagawa's voice, Alice Nakiri quickly regained her composure and smiled at her, a change so swift it was astonishing. As she spoke, her gaze fell upon the recipe in Kitagawa's hand.

"Is this your menu? Let me see. Oh, I see. It's a vegetarian menu mainly featuring mushrooms, and also uses ingredients with a good texture like tofu and mung bean jelly, which are then prepared to taste like meat..."

Looking at the recipe, Alice Nakiri suddenly fell silent.

If you can make vegetables taste like meat, then what's the point of having meat?

Apart from a small number of customers who are allergic to meat or are on a diet, the demand for this type of restaurant is not very high.

In other words, people don't really care about the taste; as long as it helps with weight loss, that's enough.

But a weight loss restaurant doesn't seem like the kind of place that can last for a hundred years. People in the past couldn't even get enough to eat, so how could they have the concept of weight loss?

People come to vegetarian restaurants because of their taste and unique features; in other words, the menu in front of you is not complete.

Taking the menu opposite the recipe, Alice Nakiri's idea was confirmed; it contained recipes for many dishes not listed in the original recipe.

"Is this the complete recipe?"

Although she knew that Kitagawa Keiko probably wouldn't have any more recipes, Alice Nakiri still asked just in case.

"Actually, there are some more, but those are all in my father's head. Only Chef Kitagawa Sai can learn them. What you see are just the basic dishes."

"This is the problem with family-run businesses. No wonder when we came out earlier, the customers were complaining that many dishes were missing from the menu."

Upon hearing Kitagawa Keiko's explanation, Nakiri Alice seemed to realize something and exclaimed in sudden understanding.

These family-run restaurants usually keep their signature dishes secret, only teaching them to future heirs to avoid creating enemies.

Other chefs hired are given recipes for basic dishes, while the head chef creates the restaurant's signature dishes to ensure its uniqueness.

This business model is very popular in Japan and even the world.

The only drawback is that if something happens to the head chef, the lineage will be broken.

Kitagawa Sai is experiencing something like that right now.

"It's hard to tell how the dishes are made from their names. If you want to replicate them, you'll probably have to ask your father."

The menu has such fancy names: "Red Beauty Stewed with Snowy Delicacies," "Amber Light Served in a Crystal Cup," "Coral Tree Under the Azure Sea and Clouds," etc...

No chef could possibly guess what kind of dish it is just by looking at the name!

Unless their brain circuits are abnormal.

Alice Nakiri put down the menu in her hand and then spoke earnestly to Keiko Kitagawa.

"No, I can't let Father know that I've reopened Kitagawa-zai and made it like this. That wouldn't be good for his condition."

Upon hearing Alice Nakiri's request, Keiko Kitagawa waved her hands several times to express her reluctance.

If she could ask her father, she would have done so long ago. If the man who loved cooking all his life and valued the restaurant's reputation above all else knew all this, his condition would probably worsen rapidly.

This is a pain she absolutely cannot bear!

Have you ever tried any of these signature dishes?

Just then, the door to the staff changing room was pushed open, and Erina Nakiri walked out. Looking at the two people staring at each other, she asked...

"I ate it often when I was little, but I don't like vegetarian food as much now, so I eat it less often, though I still eat it a few times a month."

Since my father was hospitalized, I haven't had a proper vegetarian meal in six months.

When she said those words, Keiko Kitagawa was clearly a little embarrassed.

A vegetarian restaurant run by someone who doesn't like vegetarian food seems a bit strange, doesn't it?

The vegetarian meals we had a few times a month were mostly prepared by my family in ways that made her think they were meat dishes, so I don't really remember them very well.

"It's okay. Describe a few vegetarian dishes that left a deep impression on you. Time is tight, and we need a few signature dishes to make up for it."

As she spoke, Erina Nakiri had already headed towards the kitchen.

The air was still filled with a faint aroma of food, clearly a trace of Kitagawa Keiko's previous cooking, though the quality was obviously average.

"it is good."

Keiko Kitagawa naturally wouldn't refuse.

Although she thought it was a bit far-fetched to describe the taste of a dish, she had no choice but to believe it now.

Perhaps a genius from Totsuki Academy could actually do that.

"There is one signature dish that I remember very well because my father would make it every year."

The main ingredients are dried bean curd sticks, wood ear mushrooms, carrots, shiitake mushrooms, and king oyster mushrooms, along with a crunchy green bean pod and, most importantly, glass noodles!

Looking at Erina Nakiri standing in front of the kitchen counter, her gaze fixed on her, Keiko Kitagawa slowly closed her eyes and began to savor the moment.

"What kind of side dish is this? I need to know what it tastes like to determine the cooking method."

Upon hearing the side dish mentioned by Keiko Kitagawa, Erina Nakiri nodded slightly, then inquired about its specific flavor, preparing to use this cooking method.