Page 43 of The Chef's Kiss
“Oh, you evil devil man, I can’t have caffeine right now.” I whimpered. “My headache really wants it, though.”
“Good thing I made tea then, isn’t it?” Hudson poured two cups of rich dark tea into mugs and reached for a carafe of milk he poured into a stainless steel cup to froth. “Sugar?” He poured the steamed milk into our cups.
“Tea still has caffeine.” How could he not know this?
He shot me an exasperated look. “Not herbal tea. I don’t want to see you hopped up on caffeine, thank you very much.”
The look I shot him was half-sneer and half-starving. “What are we eating?” My stomach growled.
Hudson set a ramekin in front of me, and I was ready to dive in with my fork.
“Now, wait a second. It’s not quite ready yet.” He sat down opposite me. “We have baked eggs with spinach, chanterelle mushrooms, herbs, and goat cheese with spicy chorizo.” He sprinkled fresh cracked pepper and salt on top. “You break the yolk and let it act as a sauce for all the other ingredients.”
“Yummy.” I did as I was told, not overly excited about the runny eggs or mushrooms, but I’d eat just about anything at this point. I got a bit of everything on my fork and shoveled it into my mouth. “Oh man, that goat cheese is amazing.”
“I’m kind of obsessed with it and the chanterelles.” Hudson grinned, taking a bite of his.
“I’ve noticed you like the fungus.” I nodded, stabbing one on my fork to give it my full attention.
“They bring a wonderful earthy flavor to the dish.”
“Tastes like … butter.” I stabbed another one and gathered up more goat cheese and chorizo. “I’m not a fan of mushrooms in general, but these are delicious.”
“It’s all in the way they’re prepared. They can be rubbery and tasteless, or they can be tender little sponges that soak up all the flavors they’re cooked in. The secret is to cook them slowly and in a large skillet so they aren’t crowded.”
“You should put this on the menu.” I paused to taste my tea. Also delicious.
“We aren’t serving breakfast.” Hudson shuddered. “I couldn’t handle it along with lunch and dinner.”
“What about a Sunday brunch menu?”
His brow wrinkled as he thought about it. “Is Superiore Bay the brunching type of place?”
“Oh, most definitely. And I’m not sure if any of the other restaurants in town do a regular brunch. It could be an underrepresented market. It would crush it in the tourist seasons.”
“Seasons? Plural?”
“We get tourists all year round here, but the peak seasons are summer and winter. Summer for the beach and winter for the shopping and festivals. And once the Orchard Hill Farm expansion is really rolling, people are going to flock here in the fall for apple picking and ice skating in the winter.”
“We should have a meeting with Selena this week about our opening. She wants to do a soft opening soon, and we need to get the town ready for it.”
“You leave that to me. And you just keep making amazing food.” I scraped the bottom of my bowl, wishing I had another. “What’s on the agenda today?”
“We need to finalize the menu, and I have some new and revised dishes for you to taste.”
“More food? Why did you feed me breakfast if you have other things for me to eat?”
“Because I don’t want you starving or full when you sample these dishes. That’s why you only got one egg. That way, you’re focused on the task, which is helping me make this menu work for this town. We’re also going to decide what local ingredients we need to incorporate along with the ones I already have.”
“And this food is ready? What time did you get here?” I took another sip of my tea, thinking I could get used to not having coffee if tea tasted this good.
“Five.”
I choked on my drink. “You’ve been here for nearly six hours already?”
“I have a lot of work to do and not a lot of time to do it.”
“Okay.” I shrugged out of my jacket and pushed up my sleeves. “Let’s get to work. What’s my first dish?”
