NOVGO.NET Chapter 2406: Spreading Aftermath ⑦
After my conversation with Akane-san had reached a certain conclusion and things had settled down, Kaori-san stood up from her chair with a smile.
[Is the talk over? Then, how about it, since it’s a rare opportunity, why don’t both of you have a little something to eat? There’s a dish I was thinking of putting on the limited-time menu, and I’d like to hear your thoughts on it.]
[Huh? If it’s okay with you, Kaori, I’m a bit hungry, so I’d like to eat…… but I feel kind of bad about it. You’re letting us use your place and even treating us, if it’s too much trouble, I can pay for the meal.]
[Kaori-san’s cooking is delicious, and it’s a kind offer but…… just like Akane-san said, we’ll pay, okay?]
While I appreciated Kaori-san offering to serve us her cooking, I felt a bit guilty. She had let us use her shop as a place for our discussion, served us tea, and now was even treating us to a meal, even though it had little to do with the conversation between Akane-san and me.
Still, Kaori-san smiled as if to say “Don’t worry about it”.
[I haven’t even set a price for it as a menu item yet, and since this is a tasting…… I can’t accept money for it as a professional.]
[Ahaha, now that you put it that way, I can’t argue. Then, I’ll gratefully accept your treat. Kaito, that’s fine with you too, right?]
[Yes. I’ll find another opportunity to properly thank Kaori-san……]
[……Just within normal courtesy, please…… w- well, anyway, I’ll get it ready right away. Oh, it’s stew. You can choose between beef stew and white stew, both are already prepared and in the magic box, so it doesn’t take extra effort to get either one ready.]With a wry smile, Kaori-san wrapped a triangular headscarf around her head, put on an apron, and headed into the kitchen, asking Akane-san and me which stew we preferred.
[Kaito, which one do you want? I like both, so why don’t we order different ones for the occasion? You can choose first.]
[I like both as well…… then, I’ll go with the white stew.]
[Then I’ll take the beef stew.]
[Alright. I’ll have it ready right away, so just wait a moment~~]
After hearing our responses, Kaori-san pulled two large pots from her magic box into the back of the kitchen and began preparing the tableware and other items.
[But as a set meal, it’s a bit of an unusual menu, isn’t it?]
[Yeah. I usually make set meals to go with rice, but in this world, rice isn’t that common. So I thought it would be nice to have some bread-based options too, so customers have a choice. I’m still figuring out the exact menu, though it’ll start with limited-time dishes and adjust based on customer reactions.]
[Houu~~ you’ve put a lot of thought into it. Kaori’s shop must be popular, hasn’t it been featured in magazines and such?]
[It was introduced in travel magazines as a place where you can eat authentic Otherworld Cuisine. Whether my set meals are truly authentic is another matter, but with Olivia-sama being a regular, it’s become quite prosperous. It’s often fully booked at night.]
I remembered seeing an article about Kaori-san’s shop too. It was about two pages long and seemed like a fairly thorough feature. Olivia-san being a regular probably contributed a lot, but the novelty of rice-centered otherworldly cuisine must also be a factor.
In the Friendship City Hikari, a place with lots of tourists, that novelty brought in plenty of customers.
[But that must make it hard for just Kaori-san to run the shop alone, right?]
[No, not really. I actually have a lot more leeway than before. Having that leeway is why I can make these limited-time dishes and experiment from time to time.]
[Even though the shop is doing well, you have more leeway than before?]
I shared the same puzzled look as Akane-san. Logically, a busier shop should mean less free time, yet Kaori-san said she had more leeway than before, and she didn’t seem to be lying.
[My shop was originally set up with just enough seats for me to manage alone, so running out of hands isn’t really an issue. That reason’s part of it, but more than anything…… for a restaurant, having a large-capacity magic box really makes you realize it’s a godsend.]
[Ah, I see. You just make it and put it in there, huh.]
[Unn. Cooking, like stew and such, is more efficient if you make a certain amount all at once. But if you make too much, then if it doesn’t sell, you have to throw it away. You have to consider how many orders each dish will get and make accordingly. Even if you prep some things in advance, there are lots of dishes you still have to cook after receiving an order, so I couldn’t really increase the number of menu items. The more you try to increase it, the harder it is to predict sales, and leftovers pile up.]
Indeed, when I first came to Kaori-san’s shop, the menu had about half as many items and no limited-time offerings. The fact that the menu had grown meant she had gained enough leeway to expand it, and the magic box seemed to be a key factor in that.
[But with a large-capacity magic box, I can make a batch, put it in, and just plate it when needed, it’s super easy. And since it’s stored in a freshly cooked state, there’s no need to reheat it. Any limited-time items that don’t sell, I can just eat for dinner, so food waste is almost nonexistent. It’s easier, more profitable, and really convenient. Thanks to that, I can come up with all sorts of new menu ideas, which is fun. That’s why I’m grateful to Raz-sama for giving me the magic box and to Kaito-kun for introducing her to me.]
Kaori-san said this with a beaming smile, clearly enjoying herself, and it was clear that she simply loved cooking itself. Seeing that smile, I couldn’t help smiling as well.
<Afterword>
Serious-senpai : [That’s true, if you can prevent food from spoiling, keep dishes in a freshly cooked state, and have a capacity equivalent to an entire mansion, then for a restaurant handling ingredients, it really is a godsend…… But according to Shigenobu, a black magic box easily costs over a hundred million, so for an ordinary restaurant, installing a large-capacity magic box would be far too expensive……]