A not so pleasant surprise!

“Hurry up, you lot,’said Oscar, the maitre d’ hotel to the chef and his assistants. “Monsieur Jaques will be here in two shakes of a lamb’s tail and you are not ready.”

“Do not worry monsieur. The chicken roulade you ordered is ready. So is the salad and the mousse,”reassured the chef, “I will make the sauce for the roulade once the guest is seated. If I do it beforehand it won’t taste so good.”

Oscar was worried. As part-owner of the restaurant he was afraid that it was no longer as popular as it was when it first opened its doors six months ago. He paced up and down, wiping the perspiration from his brow as he waited for the gourmand to arrive. Monsieur Jaques wrote a weekly food column that was syndicated in five national newspapers. It was very important to come up to scratch and make a good impression on him.

Monsieur Jaques arrived in a flurry of activity and impatience. “Quickly ! Quickly ! I am running late for a reception. Bring me the dishes you want me to sample.”

Oscar communicated the guest’s frenzy to the kitchen staff. He all but snatched the tray from the chef who was decorating the salad with cubes of cheese and slivers of smoked salmon. “Let the garnish be,”said Oscar, “Monsieur will only be interested in how the food tastes. He is not going to photograph it like some giggly girl taking food selfies.”

This outburst greatly annoyed the chef who launched his own tirade: “I am not a cook; I am an artist. You do not snatch dishes from me, these are my works of art.”

After this altercation, the entrees that went before Monsieur Jaques could not be garnished to perfection. Oscar did not mind because he knew they would taste nice. Imagine his surprise when Monsieur refused to take even a single bite saying,” I am still full up with the late but delicious lunch I had. I cannot eat another morsel. But never mind, I will rate your dishes on presentation.”

Written for:

RDP Thursday–scratch

FOWC with Fandango–gourmand

Daily Addictions–cube

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