Shakhi TS Oui, Chef

Part One | B |

Shaurya walked in and clapped his hands gaining everyone's attention. He was fully dressed in his chef suit with aprons and hats on. Anokhi hid the smile that threatened to escape her lips as she wiped her wet hands with towel. He looked amazing. Her eyes fell on her fellow chefs who stood stiff.

'Yeh log aese kyun khade hain?' Anokhi wondered to herself and then looked at Shaurya dreamily, 'Unhe toh dekho! Hayee Matharani! He looks amazing! Hayee such a handsome!'

"Guys, hope we cleared everything when I got here. Do stick with my rules and kitchen will run smoothly. Mujhe har cheez mein perfection chahiyeh. I believe in giving best. Service table mein if I get food that's less than my standard then I'll discard it. You have to do it again from the start. Yaad rakhna. I have given list to Parthiv. Follow and stick to it" Shaurya said as he placed both his hands on the service counter and leaned on it.

"Yes Chef!" Everyone yelled in unison.

Shaurya's eyes fell on Anokhi who stood with her breath hitched before he averted his gaze.

"Kitchen mein dhyaan se rehna hai. Be attentive. Don't make mistakes" Shaurya said, "I have a burning temper once I'm in my kitchen and I don't go easy on those who make mistake. Hope sab yeh baat yaad rakenge"

"Yes Chef!"

"Hmmm, start working" Shaurya nodded at Parthiv and walked inside head chef's room.

Anokhi released the breath she didn't even realize she was holding. Phew! He was scary when he used that stern voice. She had to give him that. They weren't joking. But remembering his warm base voice, a smile crept on her lips automatically.

'Lagta hai yeh sirf kitchen mein aese hain. Head Chef hai toh aese hi rehna hota hai unko' Anokhi thought and convinced herself.

Shaking her head, Anokhi quickly gathered the ingredients she needed and spread it over her work space. She peeled garlic and chopped it finely before working on other ingredients for the sauce.

Anokhi was too lazy to walk into the freezer to get few ingredients and so, she walked over to Yash's counter and stole what she needed. She didn't get caught thanks to Yash who was eyeing at Kanchan.

For the day, Anokhi has to prepare base sauces for pasta. She was done with most of it quickly like base tomato sauce, pesto, agio olio base and started to prepare white sauce.

As she started to prepare white sauce, Anokhi's mobile buzzed continuously. Worry itched her face when she got constant calls from home. She was adding seasoning at that time. She added seasonings with a calculation that's standard and switched off the stove.

Anokhi walked inside the chef locker room as she conversed. When she hangs up, she groaned and buried her face into her hand. Couple of seconds later, heaving a deep sigh, she stood up and opened the chef locker room door to go out but halted on her tracks to see Shaurya on the other side, his hand half raised in air, indicating that he was about to open the door.

'Hayee ram! Aaj toh bhaar bhaar lottery lagi hai!' Anokhi's subconscious laughed at her.

The annoyance on Anokhi's face replaced with a smile as she saw Shaurya who greeted her back with a small smile before stepping aside leaving way for her to go out. Her shoulder brushed against his arm unintentionally as she walked and her heart raced with excitement.

Dazed, Anokhi came back to her work space. Thinking about him, she took garlic powder and onion powder in hand and added it to the sauce before giving it a stir. Her smile turned into worry when her mobile rang again. She groaned and picked the call as she walked out again.

~ * ~

Shaurya Sabharwal who previously worked at an Italian restaurant in Mumbai took up the job offer at Chandigarh on the insistence of his mother to come back home and to honour the word he gave to the previous head cook Karleen whom he fondly calls as Karleen didi. To top it off his friend Rakshan works as manager here. So, this was a solid deal.

Ever since he came back, Shaurya's mother kept bugging Shaurya to get married. He's thirty-three and she wants to see him settle with a family. He never showed much interest in any girl but he also wanted to settle with a family and so, he agreed to meet the girl his mother chooses.

One of Shaurya's major conditions is that the girl should be flexible with his work timings. His mother was so eager to get him married that she wanted him to meet the girl on the very day he joined his new job and that's why he's meeting her tonight in an all-night café that's attached to a club.

Shaurya was actually looking forward for the night until a girl bumped into him knocking him off his senses. She was short compared to his 5'11. She was cute and beautiful at the same time.

Thinking of her, Shaurya couldn't wipe the smile that touched his lips. He was sitting at his office and staring at the CCTV footage of his kitchen. The way she stole Yash's ingredients, if it were someone else, he would have scolded but her cute expressions made him let loose and enjoy for once.

Shaurya's mobile buzzed with his mother's call. Groaning he attended the call. His mother told him about the girl and he was partially listening to her. She then asked him about his card details and when he searched for his wallet, he realized that he left it inside chef's locker.

So, Shaurya hanged up the call and went towards the chef locker room. There he met her again and gave a small smile before getting his wallet. He sent his mother the detail she wanted and went back to his work.

An hour later, Shaurya was checking with the ingredients, soups and sauces prepared for the night. Just as he was about to taste sauce section, a waiter called him aside informing that Rakshan called to meet him.

Clapping his hands, Shaurya gathered the chefs.

"Its opening time. Get to your stations. I'll be back in ten. Parthiv (sous chef), take my position" Shaurya instructed Parthiv before he removed his chef hat and walked out of the kitchen, "I'll be back ASAP. I'll prepare the first order"

Shaurya walked outside the kitchen and walked inside Rakshan's cabin.

"Shaurya, sorry yaar. Delhi se flight delay hogaya. Isliye aane mein dher ho gaya. Tum yehan pe teek se settle hogaya na"

"Voh toh mein sab manage karliya yaar. Jis work se tum ne gaya, voh teek tak hua na?" Shaurya quickly greeted his friend with a hug.

"Haan, voh sab toh accha gaya. Mein toh kudh kitchen aane wala tha par opening ka time hai na. Isliyeh tujhe wish karne ke liye bulaya tha" Rakshan said breaking the hug.

"Teek hai. Ab toh wish karliya na. Mein jao? Kaam hai" Shaurya asked adjusting his chef coat.

"Teek hai yaar. Tu ja. Kitchen mein sab humhare log hai. Zyada chilana math" Rakshan requested.

"Try karunga" Shaurya waved off.

When Shaurya came back everyone were working. He threw a quick glance at everyone before taking over from Parthiv. He saw the first order. It was mushroom pasta, one of his specialities.

"Alright everyone, Parthiv will assign your orders. I'll make the first one" Shaurya said.

"Yes Chef!" They all yelled in unison.

Shaurya walked over to his work station. He closed his eyes and prayed to his god before staring the work. He started preparing mushroom pasta. As he was preparing, he added white sauce to his pan and added freshly chopped capsicum and mushrooms.

As Shaurya stirred the veggies along with the sauce, he added little cream before adding boiled pasta to it. He stirred the pasta along with sauce. He tasted the sauce so that he can add seasoning to it. Just as the sauce touched his tongue, his taste buds caught the distaste feeling making his face cringe.

The pleasant look on Shaurya's face changed when he walked over the white sauce pan and he tasted the white sauce. His face twisted when he tasted the white sauce and anger started bubbling inside him. When it comes to food in his kitchen, everything takes a step back in his mind.

Pouring the white sauce in a soup bowl, Shaurya walked over to the service counter and placed the soup bowl down before removing his chef hat. Parthiv moved aside giving him space.

"White sauce ka in charge koun hai?" Shaurya yelled banging his hand on the service counter making everyone jerk.

Anokhi's breath hitched when she realized she was the one in charge of sauces. Her heart beating rapidly on seeing Shaurya's glare. Gone were the warm eyes and gentleness that she thought she saw. Gulping, she raised her hand and came front. She kept her face straight as she faced an angry Shaurya.

"Taste this!" Shaurya said sternly.

"Sir?"

"Mein ne kaha taste this!" Shaurya yelled making Anokhi jerk.

Anokhi composed herself as she looked around before staring at an angry Shaurya. She stepped forward and tasted the white sauce. Her face twisted in distaste as the sauce touched her taste buds.

"Sorry, sir, I ju-" Anokhi stepped back and tried to apologize but Shaurya cut her off in middle.

"Kitne saal se Italian bana rahi ho?!" Shaurya glared at Anokhi; his tone harsh.

"Three" Anokhi said curtly as she fisted her chef coat while kept staring at Shaurya.

"Ek sauce teek se banane nahi aati kya?!" Shaurya spat.

"Si-"

"The key to any good pasta dish lies in the perfect balance of pasta and sauce. Both are equally important. FIKA ke liye ek reputation hai for our authentic Italian dishes. Yeh sauce ko serve kiya hota toh log hasenge!!"

Anokhi tried to calm the anger that bubbled inside her as she breathed through her nose deeply, trying not to react.

"Theen saal Italian cook kar ke kya ukada tum ne! Agar yeh sauce ko costumer ko serve kiya toh voh log kis se sunayenge, tujhe ya mujhe?!!" Shaurya said banging his hand on the service table.

"Chef!" Anokhi gritted her teeth.

"Remove your coat!" Shaurya said harshly, "You're not cooking in my kitchen tonight!"

Anokhi wanted to voice out how unfair that is. But heaving a deep sigh, she removed her coat buttons as she glared at him who glared back at her. Removing her coat, she stormed out of the kitchen towards chef's room, opened her locker, shoved her chef's coat inside, grabbed her coat and stormed out of the restaurant.

"Yehan picture dikha rahe kya? Get back to your work station! We have orders to finish!" Shaurya banged the service counter before yelling the next order.

~ * ~

Thank you for reading,

Nan ~