Mommy, Where's Daddy? The Forsaken Daughter's Return

Chapter 52: Well Deserved!

Samantha was okay with having Matteo not aid her in the dinner preparations, but what irked her was how he had formed followers in the kitchen amongst the senior staff.

One sous chef named Deana, ten station chefs, and four junior chefs joined him in his move to test Samantha's ability to manage the kitchen. All three reasoned that they believe Matteo should be the executive chef and not Samantha.

Inside Samantha's head, she thought, 'The nerve! They aren't even afraid that I am Ethan's wife.'

"Well, I don't know about you but I'm afraid to lose my job!" Said one station chef, named Jane. "I'm staying."

"I'm staying too! I have two kids!" Said one of the junior chefs.

"I guess I'm doing overtime," said one sous chef named Anthony. He was meant to be off, having started worked since breakfast, but given the situation, he decided to stay.

Most of the lower ranks chefs and the kitchen staff lingered, especially since they were afraid of getting fired.

Thankfully, none of the pastry chefs objected to Samantha's arrival and that part of the kitchen was still fully operational.

While Samantha thought the ones that remained were being sensible, she did not like the idea of them being forced to support her because of fear. She wanted to earn their respect, and she could only do that by showing them how she worked.

After looking everyone in the eye, Samantha announced, "Well, one sous chef, six station chefs, and ten junior chefs are more than enough help for me. For as long as the rest of the kitchen staff

are here, I can... temporarily reassign you to support the assigned station chefs with an added incentive."

Samantha practically heard the scoff coming from Matteo and the others who chose to merely observe that evening's dinner preparation. One of the sous chef named Deana was particularly rolling her eyes.

As for those who stayed, she saw them gasped, worried for their long and worrisome afternoon and evening.

"Jane, right? Can you give me an update on the preparations for tonight's dinner?" Samantha asked, knowing that one of their conference rooms was booked for a special dinner.

Jane and Samantha settled in one corner of the kitchen, discussing the preparations needed to be accomplished.

It would seem to Samantha that the buffet was already set. At three in the afternoon, half of the main courses were already cooked. The sushis and the sashimis will have to be produced at the onset of the dinner opening.

For now, what she needed to worry about was the special dinner at the two-carat conference room, as well as the dining restaurant.

She gathered everyone, who remained to participate in the preparations and told, "I would like to announce that I am making some slight modifications on our set menus for the evening, including the orders from our special dinners."

Samantha clearly saw the shaking of heads and sighs of dismay, but she did not stop there. She told, "I've always meant to implement these changes, regardless of the help of our dearest colleagues."

"From day one, I meant to make an impression and I will do it, despite the conditions we are in. Worry not, however, because the changes I want to make are minor and are for the better. We will all receive praises after the dinner service. That! I can guarantee!" Samantha added.

"To start with, our baked Salmon would not be topped with brown butter and garnished with pesto herbs. Let's add crunchy garlic and bread crumbs to our baked sea scallops - "

"But, we have always served our main Salmon dish with honey garlic," objected one non- participating sous chef, Deana, raising her brow.

Samantha just turned to the follower of Matteo and smiled. She said, "You see... that's the problem. I noticed how the hotel has been serving the same kind of flavor for over two months since its soft opening. It's high time we let them have a different taste."

She resumed giving instructions on how most of the dishes will be cooked and prepared. She received objections now and then, but Samantha maintained to impose the changes, regardless of the lacking in manpower.

"Lastly, to ensure that we will not be late for our dinner service, I take away all your breaks. Pee breaks are only allowed," told Samantha. "But don't worry, I'll pay you overtime for each break time consumed in the kitchen."

"Team, thank you for staying with me, and... let's resume our preparations. Please follow your newly assigned stations," Samantha closed before she herself rushed in to aid in the arrangements.

Fortunately for Samantha, there were not that many reservations at The Pearl Diamond Restaurant. What mostly kept them busy were the pre-ordered meals for the special event.

It was ten minutes before six in the evening that they were finally done with the appetizers and the salads, and they were now ready to cook the prepped main dishes.

When the guests to the two-carat conference room became filled, canapes were out of the kitchen at exactly six-thirty in the evening. Salads came out ten minutes after.

So far, they were on time.

From the kitchen, Samantha kept reminding everyone how good they were doing, despite the incoming orders from the fine dining restaurants and the demands for refills, coming from the buffet restaurant.

Samantha was only supposed to oversee the cooking, but given that they were understaffed, she had to occasionally take a station, especially the grill and the oven.

There were mistakes along the way, leading to some setbacks on the main dishes being served out, but Samantha asked the restaurant servers to update the tables should there be any delay.

To make up for some of the lags, Samantha ordered out some cheese platters, which were compliments coming from the kitchen. Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.

Samantha did not care. She knew her husband could afford a house of cheese and a few hours of overtime pay! Even if she would pay for the additional expenses for that evening, she knew her husband would take care of her children.

At exactly nine in the evening, the orders for the two-carat conference concluded with their desserts, and Samantha was left to worry about the fine dining restaurant that still had six tables, occupied.

As soon as the last set of plates came out, she sighed in relief, resting her arms against one of the tabletops.

Jane was the first to smile at Samantha and caressed her back. She said, "Chef Sam! You did great and I love the changes to the menu!" She had her hands up and declared, "It tasted awesome!"

"Yes, we tried it too. It was a great shift!" Echoed some of the station chefs!

Anthony, the participating sous chef, gave Samantha a thumbs up. He said, "Well deserved!"

Gratified with her team's approval, Samantha smiled in delight.

She turned to Matteo and the others and proposed, "Chefs, we will still make main dishes for The Pearl Diamond customers, please feel free to give the new changes a try." She smiled and encouraged, "I hope you will like it."

As Samantha resumed to aid in the rest of the orders for that evening, the hotel's food and beverage manager came inside the kitchen and told, "Chef Sam. The clients who booked the two- carat conference room were so happy with the dinner service, they wanted to meet you in person!"

The manager leaned over and added, "Apparently, they have a food critic as one of their guests!"

"Oh, is that so? Well, let me freshen up before then. We do need a good critique! Who are the clients that I need to meet?" Samantha probed while wiping her hands with her towel.

"It's Mr. Clayton Brown and his fiance, Annie Davis," told the F&B manager. "It's their engagement party."

Hearing the names, blood easily drained from Samantha's face. She then remembered how Clayton was scouting for a place for their engagement party and she utterly forgot about it.

She did not have her phone with her and she assumed, her grandmother Matilda had tried to reach her. She sighed and cursed inwardly, 'Fuck! How am I supposed to meet them now?'