Kit had not explained what was happening to Milka and Blue with this group of people, he had just sent the interviewees their way. He was happy to see that his employees had understood what these people were here for.
Milka and Blue had split the group in two, each group had around six people. Blue was currently quizzing her group on prices, the price board was to the back of the group so they couldn’t cheat.
Milka had Mars pretending to be a difficult customer, she was then asking the group to answer how they would deal with this situation. Kit was pleasantly surprised that the girls had the serving side of the interviews under control.
With one less worry he turned back to his own group. As the time ticked closer to opening the stall Kit became a bit anxious. He needed the interviews to finish so he could start cooking for the waiting customers.
Kit glanced outside at the waiting crowd and sighed. This was his own fault for not giving the applicants a timeline to have the meals completed. As he was about to stop the group from continuing, he saw that most of them were plating their meals.
The only one who was still immersed in cooking was the redhaired youth. Kit decided to let the youth continue cooking, he could assess the other meals in the meantime. Kit eagerly watched as four people brought over their creations for him to try.
“Bree, can you help me taste the dishes as well, I would like your opinion.” Bree was the one who would have to work with the newly hired chefs, so he wanted her to have a say in who was hired. If she wasn’t satisfied with any of these chefs, they could continue to recruit.
Kit had already concluded he wasn’t leaving Fairweather town in a rush. He needed to be completely satisfied the market stall would run well without him here.
Bree nodded her head in agreement to Kit’s request. Kit pulled a fork from his inventory and stepped up to the first plate. A woman with brown hair pulled into a tight bun stood behind the plate.
“What is your name and what is the name of the meal you have made?” Kit met the woman’s eyes as he spoke.
“My name is Adelost and the meal I made is a simple potato salad with creamy mayonnaise.” Adelost folded her hands in front of herself as she spoke.
Kit and Bree each pierced their fork into the food then brought the contents to their waiting mouth. A rich creamy flavour filled his mouth, crisp bacon made a nice contrast to the soft potato.
This was a pass for Kit, he turned to Bree and saw that she also seemed to like the potato salad. Kit smiled at Adelost then moved onto the next plate.
A small timid voice greeted Kit and Bree. “Hello, I’m Derby and the meal I made is a stuffed pepper.” Derby looked like she wanted to melt into the floor, Kit felt sorry for the girl so quickly cut a portion of the stuffed pepper so he could try it, Bree followed his example.
Kit was not sure what was inside the pepper at first because the top was covered with cheese. When he spilt open the pepper, he was delighted to see that she had filled the inside with beef and rice. The melted cheese on top was gooey and when he pulled his portion towards his mouth the cheese turned into strings.
Perfect melted cheese with a savoury twist tantalised his taste buds, this was another pass for Kit. A chuckle left Kit’s mouth when he saw Bree dip her fork into the pepper for another bite. Kit moved on and to his delight the next two plates were a pass as well.
Kit looked into the kitchen area to see how the red haired man was fairing. There was food on a plate and the man was currently making juice with a handheld squeezer. Kit felt it was painful watching the slow process.
He walked into the kitchen to have a look at what was presented on the plate. A pink fish fillet was nestled on the plate next to a fresh salad. Coating the top of the fish was a soft white cheese.
The fork in Kit’s hand broke apart a section of the fish, before he knew what he was doing it was in his mouth. A sharp tang followed by a strong smooth fishy taste burst on his tongue. The silky smooth flesh broke apart in his mouth.
“This is amazing!” Kit could not help exclaiming. Now he was curious about what else this man would offer him to taste. “What is the juice you are making?” Kit peered into the cup that was a quarter full.
An orange liquid sat in the glass, Kit didn’t wait to ask if it was ready. He picked up the glass and tilted it towards his lips. A mix of sweet and sour with a zesty finish filled his mouth, he unconsciously finished the glass then pouted when there was no more.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
Twinkling eyes turned towards the red haired youth. “What is your name?” Kit changed his plans to send one of the candidates home as soon as he tasted what this man showcased. He now wanted to take this man back to his restaurant in Spartan Fire. He hoped that the man wouldn’t be averse to moving.
“My name is Finn, Chef Kit.” Finn was blushing from head to toe, his cheeks matched his fiery red hair. “Was everything ok?” Finn was avoiding direct eye contact with Kit as he spoke.
“Ok, everything was perfect!” Kit had no qualms about giving praise when it was due. He ran greedy eyes over Finn, he hoped that the man’s chef level was not low. Then again even if it was Kit was sure it would rise fast if the man was working in the kitchen every day.
Kit’s own level rose from just making meals, granted it was slower that creating a stats dish. “What is your chef level Finn?”
“Oh, well I’m only a Novice chef at level 25.” Finn’s face crumpled as he answered.
Kit didn’t think 25 was a bad level, he himself had only just reached level 49. As to Finn being a Novice chef, this was to be expected if he had not created any stats meals or learnt one. “Not bad, you can slowly raise your level in the kitchen.”
Finn head lifted and his eyes widened. “Chef Kit are you saying I can work in the market stall?”
Kit started to shake his head, Finn misinterpreted his gesture as rejection. The red head dropped his chin to his chest and a slight trembling could be seen in his hands hanging at his side.
“Ah Finn I’m not saying you’re not hired. It’s just I want you to come and work in my restaurant in Spartan Fire, not at the market stall.” Kit felt like poor Finn’s head was like a yoyo it sprang back up at an astonishing speed.
Bright round shining eyes bored into Kit. “Ok! I will follow you anywhere, if I can work as a chef!” Kit liked the fire in the red head’s eyes, he had a feeling Finn was going to be a great addition to his kitchen.
“Great! Welcome to the family.” With Finn’s employment settled he turned back to the rest of the group. Every single one of the interviewees were fidgeting as they waited for his verdict. Kit made a motion for Bree to follow him.
Once they were in a spot that they could talk without being overheard, Kit consulted Bree about her thoughts. “Do you think you can work with any of them?”
“They all seemed competent in their cooking skills and the food they prepared was satisfying. I won’t know how they will cope in the market stall until they do a trial run though.” Kit agreed with Bree’s assessment.
The only thing was he didn’t want to do a trial because working in the stall would mean they would have to learn his stats recipes.
Kit ran a frustrated hand through his hair. He looked over at the waiting group and made a decision. He was going to give them a chance, they could start out learning the lower stats meals first, then move to the higher ones if they could keep up pace in the kitchen.
Five parchments appeared in Kit’s hand as he walked towards the group. He set the contract down in front of each of them. “Have a read of the terms and if you agree sign down the bottom.”
Finn was the first to sign, the man didn’t even read the contract. It didn’t take long for the rest of the group to put quill to paper. Kit smiled at the five new employees. “Welcome to the family!”
Kit left Bree to organise the group, she was the one who would oversee them after he was gone. He felt it was better if they got used to Bree giving them instructions from the start.
Milka walked over to Kit as he was about to go over to the serving group. “Can I have a quick word, Kit.” Milka walked over to the only quiet spot in the shop.
Kit followed with a frown. “What is it, Milka?”
A sigh left her lips. “Kit, most of the people that turned up are not suitable to work in the market stall. Out of the 12 people only four of them could pass the basic test Blue and I gave them.”
This surprised Kit, he thought with so many people turning up for the position he could fill the server spots straight away. If only four of them passed the interview that meant that there was still one spot left.
He wanted three chefs and three servers on each shift. “Thanks for letting me know Milka, I will post another recruitment advertisement for a server. Can you let the ones that passed the basic test stay behind with Blue.”
Kit watched as Milka skilfully sent the unsuitable applicants away. When he walked over to who was left, Kit pulled another four parchments from his pouch. “Congratulations on passing the interview. These are the contracts, read them over then hand them to Blue if you wish to be employed.”
Blue received four contracts from the smiling group, she sent the new servers to work then brought the contracts over to Kit. “Why did you have them bring them over to me?” Blue had a brow raised as she spoke.
“You will be in charge of the servers in the market stall.” Like the other newly hired staff it was better to get them used to following direction from the people that would be working in the stall. So, handing the contracts to Blue let the new employees know who they would go to in the future with any questions.
“Ah, me?” Blues brow had shot up to her hair line, Kit just nodded in reply. On the trip to Fairweather town he had gotten to know Blue’s personality, she was great at communication, so he had no concerns leaving her in charge of the new people.
“Thanks Kit, I won’t let you down!” Blue almost blinded Kit with her bright smile. Kit couldn’t help returning a smile of his own.
Blue left to go and take charge of the new employees and Kit went to open the front door. It was time for the market stall to open.
The next few days went by in a blur. Kit was busy teaching the new staff recipes and sorting out a few problems that cropped up.
The most blaring problem was that Kit forgot to buy a magic multiplier plate for the market stall. He couldn’t leave the one in his possession there because it was faulty. He remedied the situation with gritted teeth, he had to use some of his own money to purchase the plate, they were damn expensive!
The final server was employed four days after the opening of the stall. With this position filled Kit felt that he could now head back to Spartan Fire with confidence that the market stall would run well.