Audition I

As they were talking, they heard a knock on the door and later four people entered the kitchen.

They looked nervous as they looked around the kitchen and noticed three people looking at them.

"Hello and welcome! My name is Theodore Gray, but you can call me Theo, I am the prime chef of the restaurant. This is Ayia, who I believe you already know, she is the second chef of the restaurant. And this Shizuka-san, she will only be observing the test." Theo greeted them while pointing at Ayia and Shizuka.

Ayia waved happily at them, and they waved too but with stiff movements as they were nervous.

"Why don't you introduce yourselves to start the test?" Theo said.

They nodded and one of the girls said

"Nice to meet you, Theo. My name is Chiba Kimiko and I am a graduate student at Garden Cooking College, and this is my resume." Kimiko said while giving a paper.

After she said that, the rest of them introduced themselves and handed their resumes.

These resumes specified which cooking techniques they knew and their proficiency in it according to their college standards. And specified the classes they took in college.

Theo studied the resumes for a while. He was pleased with what he saw. Then he passed the resumes to Ayia, for her to look at and analyze it as his second chef.

"Your test will consist of 2 phases. The first one, each one will cook alone a dish of my choice. You all will cook the same dish and I will evaluate your techniques, posture as a cook, presentation, and taste of the dish. One will cook here while the other three will wait outside"

"If I and Ayia approve your work. You will pass to the next and last phase, the cooks who pass the first test will cook together a dish of my choice. I want to see how you work together to finalize a dish."

Theo explained the test.

"Any doubts?" he asked.

Seeing that they didn't have any, he asked who would like to go first. They all raised their hands.

Theo was pleased with their eagerness to cook.

"Kimiko-san, why don't you start then? Theo said while looking at the green-haired lady.

"Yes, I am okay with it" she said with seriousness as she knew she was about to cook, and she wanted to be perfect.

"Okay, Kimiko-san will start and the rest of you can go outside, please." Theo motioned them.

After they left, Theo said to Kimiko.

"The dish is a cooked chicken with white wine. Colored rice and pumpkin chips to add a crunch. The ingredients are on the counter. You have 40 minutes to cook and present a dish that I could serve in my restaurant." Theo explained the dish.

The dish had a medium-high difficulty but for someone who knew how to cook and studied, they would be able to complete it.

Kimiko started by taking the chicken.

Theo bought four whole chickens that needed to be cleaned and taken out the bones. He wanted to see how they would deal with the animal. If they would leave any dirty spot or leave a bone that should have been taken out or if they would waste any part of the chicken.

She started a little bit nervous as she could feel three pairs of eyes observing her. But after a while, she forgot that they were there and she put her whole self into cooking a great dish.

When the 40 minutes were up, she stopped cooking and took the dish for them to evaluate.

Theo and Ayia observed the presentation. The dish looked okay. They didn't think it was the best presentation, but it wasn't bad either.

They took a spoon and took a bite at the same time. They took another bite, and both fell into thought. They looked at each other and nodded.

"Thank you, Kimiko-san, for your dish. You can wait by the side and when all four of you finish cooking, we will comment on each of your dishes." Theo said with a smile.

Kimiko was a little disappointed that she would have to wait but agreed, nonetheless.

While this was happening, the three people outside were beyond nervous.

"Do you think Kimiko is doing well?" Max asked nervously with worry

"What a question! Of course, she is. Did you forget that you lost countless times when you battled her in college?" Lauren barked with annoyance, but it could be seen from her eyes that she was worried and nervous too.

"I didn't think the prime chef would be so young. I hope he is good." Shoko said in a sweet voice.

"I think he is. Don't forget he somehow got Ayia-san to be his second chef and she is a genius in the kitchen. And you guys know she is super rich so it is presumable that she wouldn't work in a restaurant that wasn't good." Lauren said with a pensive face.

While they were talking, they saw the door for the kitchen opening and Theo at the door.

"Who is next?" he asked.

"Me!" Shoko jumped and ran towards the door before Max and Lauren could react.

Inside the kitchen, which Kimiko cleaned after using it, Theo explained the dish and the time of the test.

Theo thought Shoko would have difficulties in cleaning the chicken as she had skinny arms and looked like a delicate girl. But surprisingly she finished with mastery.

'She is very experienced at this' Theo observed her.

What he didn't know was that her family owned a butcher shop and since young she observed her father and brothers cleaning and boning all types of animals. Consequently, she had tons of experience.

Shoko cooked with mastery and presented her dish.

Theo and Ayia looked at the plate admiring it. The presentation looked very classy and beautiful. They totally could imagine this dish being served in a classy restaurant.

They tasted it and it wasn't as tasty as Kimiko but it was delicious too.

"Thank you for your dish, Shoko-san" Ayia said.

"You can wait by the side and when the other two finish cooking, we will comment on each of your dishes." Theo said with a smile.

And like that a while later, Lauren and Max cooked and presented their dishes too.

Theo and Ayia went to the side to talk about their dishes and arrive at a decision.

While they were talking. The four aspiring cooks were observing them by the side wanting to listen to what they were talking.

The four of them were looking better. They put all their hearts in their dishes with all their skill and effort and now it was time to see if it worked out.