Chapter 25

*Yawn* 'Ugh 7AM already?' I look at the alarm clock sat beside my bed and complain.

I get out of bed for the routine morning workout before heading to the restaurant for the morning shift.

"Ayato. Alfred has most likely already told you but I'll be late coming out today. I'll call you when I'm finished" I smile at him through the rear-view mirror as we make our way to the restaurant.

'Sofia said that she wanted to tutor me a bit more on Italian food after the restaurant closes'

'Roberto's assistant should be back tomorrow, so I guess this will be my last day working under him'

By the time I walk in to the restaurant, it is 9:15AM.

"Good morning Jenna" I greet one of the trainees that I had got familiar with whilst working at the restaurant.

"Good morning Rin" Jenna greets me with a smile. "I was told to tell you that Roberto will be late coming in today so you can take over for the first hour seen as it's not usually busy."

This was a common occurrence over the past few weeks, as Roberto's wife is pregnant, meaning that he often had to go to doctor's appointments with her.

Thanks to my memory I had analysed most of the menu for the restaurant, so it wasn't too hard for me to fill in for Roberto. I had figured out most of the roles in the kitchen whilst working, as well as the dynamics between the staff during different parts of the day.

'It seems Emma will take control in the morning again' I found that Sofia handles the kitchen during the busiest times whilst she gives Emma more responsibilities in the morning and early afternoon shift.

'*sigh* The restaurant has got a lot busier because of the increased tourism in July' I sigh whilst walking to the changing room to change into the restaurant's cooking attire.

'Roberto's assistant is going to have a hard time when he comes back. I hope his body can handle it after the injury.' I can't help but feel for his assistant because of the workload increase that he'll be experiencing.

After changing, I prepare everything needed for Roberto's cooking area ready for the opening of the restaurant at 10AM.

"Hey Rin. I guess Roberto's left you with a lot of work again" I hear Emma's voice from behind me.

"Oh, Hi Emma. It'll only be for an hour at maximum so it's not a problem that I can't handle" I turn to the Sous chef and smile.

I talk briefly with Emma before the shift starts and then get to work. The morning shifts were less busy and the menu variation for it was quite small, making it less demanding physically to make the meals.

Before I know it, an hour goes past and I hear Roberto's voice as he enters the kitchen. "Haha it's going to be a boy!! My kid is going to be a boy!" the old man shouts to the kitchen staff.

"Congrats Roberto!" Various voices congratulate the old man upon hearing his shouts.

"Roberto! Will you make me work all day? You may as well be my assistant at this rate" I i comment cheekily as the old man talks to some of the staff.

"Oi kid don't get cheeky" He comes over and rubs my head.

The rest of the day went smoothly, but Roberto was in a better mood than usual and gave me more pointers when it came to my preparation skills.

"Hey kid, it's been a pleasure to be your mentor. You've really helped me out over the past few weeks" After the evening shift ends Roberto turns to me and smiles.

"No problem Roberto. I've learnt a lot from you, I should thank you" I return the smile to the old man.

We talk shortly before I hear Sofia's voice, "Hey Rin. Roberto" she walks over and greets us both.

"Rin, after cleaning I'll teach you some more about Italian food and cooking methods" Sofia says and then walks away to talk to Emma.

"She must be pushing you hard" Roberto says to me as she walks away.

"No, not really. Everything I've learnt so far has been useful, so I have no complaints with her teaching methods."

"True. You learn so quickly, so I doubt her methods are troubling you too much."

*sigh* "Brandon seems like he's struggling to even keep up with half the workload you handle" Sofia says whilst gazing at the Japanese teen talking to the rest of the trainees.

'That could have been me if my memory wasn't a cheat' I look at Brandon and see clear exhaustion clear by the dark bags under his eyes from what could be a lack of sleep.

I finish cleaning with the other kitchen staff and say goodbye as they walk out of the restaurant, then walk towards Sofia's office.

*knock* *knock* "Sofia, It's me. Can I come in?" I knock on the door and wait for permission to walk in.

"Ah Rin, yes come in." I walk in to her office and see the brunette working through some paperwork.

"I hope you don't mind, but I have to finish up some paperwork. You can wait in the kitchen; I'll only be 10 minutes. Oh, and prepare 6 saucepans ready to use" Upon my entrance she looks up and speaks to me as a tinge of exhaustion can be heard in her voice.

"Okay, take as much time as you need" I smile at her and take my leave.

'She's clearly overloaded with work, yet she still teaches me. I need to pay her back one day' I become appreciate of the middle-aged woman whilst I walk back towards the kitchen.

After waiting around 15 minutes, I hear the door open and see Sofia enter the kitchen.

"Sorry for the wait Rin"

"That's no problem, don't worry about it" I say in response.

"Well, how well do you remember the last teachings I taught you?"

"I feel confident in using the techniques you taught me regarding the different types of pasta. I've also been experimenting more with Italian herbs recently" I say in response.

She nods and says, "I think I have taught you everything I know regarding the herbs generally used in Italian food. Although I could teach you more general knowledge about others, I think it's better that you experiment more with them yourself"

"Rin, boil the water, I want to test you" As I get the pans, Sofia walks to another storage cupboard and grabs a variety of pasta strands.

"Okay tell me about these types of pasta" she says as she places 8 different pasta types.

"This one is tagliatelle. Optimal cooking time is 3 minutes and 30 seconds, this typically goes well with..."

The lesson with Sofia covered the different concepts of using pasta together, whilst she tested me by trying to get me to think outside of the box by coming up with my own dish concepts.

After around 90 minutes, I call Ayato and tell him to pick me up. After arriving at the condo, I sit down and contemplate on today's lesson.

"New concepts are hard to come up with."

'Wait... concept. That word was used in the updated analyse function'

'Amara, do you think there is a way for me to check the rating of a concept before cooking the meal?' After thinking for a few minutes, I decide to ask Amara.

[I'm not exactly sure. Maybe... but we don't know what to analyse in order to get a rating. As far as I know, the system could only analyse food and people.]

[But it's possible seen as it is related to cooking.]

[Rin, organise your thoughts to make some sort of recipe. It needs to be in detail, so don't forget ingredients or the cooking methods used.]

I follow her advice and organise a recipe, 'Okay, so what now' I ask Amara.

[Hmm... there should be some sort of keyword that will enable the function if there is one]

[Rin.. try System concept]

'System concept' I telepathically say as i attempt to activate the system.

...

'Seems like it's not that command. Or maybe the function doesn't exist' I say to Amara after waiting a few seconds.

[Hmm... wait try saying "system concept analyse". The word analyse has been a keyword for the system functions so far.

'System concept analyse'

___________________________

> Dish - Mushroom Risotto

> Concept rating - 5/10

___________________________

"This system keeps getting better and better" The system interface appears in front of my eyes with the concept rating of my dish.

'This is going to be a lot more efficient than trial and error in making the food' I cannot help but get excited by the new function.

The rest of the night I stayed awake trying to create new dish concepts....