Critics

            by Jing Yen

 

The incessant, vigorous beat of the drums and the rhythmic tune of the piano entertained the massive crowd waiting in line for their Cheeseboard pizza. Mozzarella, yellow onion, fresh domestic mushrooms, parsley, green bell peppers and a sprinkle of garlic olive oil permeated the whole block. Jealous eyes were fixed on people squeezing through to leave the restaurant, hugging their shiny square white boxes and biting into a sample of hot cheesy heaven. “Maam…maam…please, whatever you can without hurting yourself.” A lady smiled politely and walked away. Signs in the grassy middle of the street, the small piece of land free from high-speed cars, had been somewhat destroyed. The once “Keep off median” signs now read “Keep off media.” Adults grabbed their kids’ tiny hands, looking both ways before running across the street right in front of the “No Crossing” road sign.

Meanwhile, the other side of the street was dark except for construction workers inside the new restaurant Kirala. The two workers in their white tees were walking around a table on the second floor, examining Cheeseboard customers, but whenever they felt the attention was on them, they looked back down at the wooden table. Downstairs near the entrance was a cavernous hole with bright yellow caution tape around it. The wind allowed the flimsy ribbon-like tape to dance gracefully back and forth, as she stood there watching. Everything.       

*

You have been selected to sample gourmet Japanese cuisine before our grand opening at Kirala. Please arrive Friday night at eight o’ clock sharp. The critic with the best advice will receive a certificate of recognition, $1000 worth of Kirala dining (partnership with San Francisco Culinary Academy) and his/her picture will be posted in the restaurant and featured in Gourmet Magazine. Benjamin smiled at the gold-trimmed invitation and put it back in the envelope that was sealed with a blue ribbon. As a first year at the San Francisco Culinary Academy, it was a great opportunity for him and hopefully a stepping stone to becoming a food critic. Benjamin stared at his wall of achievement, packed with awards from various events and felt a rush of excitement. This certificate of recognition was going to be an addition to his already crowded wall, he just knew it.

*

            “Honey I just got a message saying that our little girl is going to be a respected critic!”

            “And they say that our Chloe is stupid and spoiled, look at her accomplishment! Oh and if she wins, her picture will be in the restaurant for all our friends and relatives to see!” A girl with ten shopping bags entered the house, her heels clicking. She took off her sunglasses and gave her mom a doubtful look. “Why are you smiling at me like that?”

            “Someone is going to be famous!” said her dad, lying on the coach with his beer belly sticking out. Chloe grabbed the shining card from her dad’s hand.

            “Pssh! Only $1000 worth of sushi? That’s nothing! I’m not going.”

            “Sweetheart, we want to prove to others how intelligent you truly are,” said her blonde mom who was adjusting the crystal button on her Chanel knit cardigan.

            “How about this? A new car of your choice if you are selected,” her dad stared at Chloe waiting for an answer.

            “Okay.” Chloe walked off giggling, her shopping bags hitting her legs. The man smiled at his wife.

*

            Friday night arrived and the store owner waited outside for the culinary students, chosen at random. She knew that not all of them would attend but she wanted this to seem like a grand event, so she waited to greet them, along with her chefs. Staring at the slanted, weak and bare tree in front of Kirala, the owner hoped that her restaurant would not be as fragile. A young man with puffy cheeks and an enormous figure came up to her.

“Hi, I’m Dennis Champion and I’m here to sample your sushi.” The owner looked him up and down and wondered if he came just for the free food.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Celine, the owner. Please have a seat while we wait for the others.” Celine’s feet were getting sore but she took a deep breath. An old man looking through the trash across the street, picked out a pizza crust and started nibbling on it. Celine shivered and moved her focus back on the arriving students. A petite young lady wearing a volunteer nurse outfit came up to her. She still had her name tag on, Abby. They shook hands and Celine showed her a seat inside.  Ten minutes later, her watch read 8:00, and her nose twitched for she could not tolerate tardiness. Two students ran to Celine, one girl by the name of Chloe who was still chewing gum and a guy with his head shot up in the air named Benjamin. Celine’s smile faded a bit. He handed her the invitation with the red ribbon envelope.

Celine closed the doors to prevent the cold February air from coming in. “As you all know, you have been chosen to sample our finest Japanese dishes. I will pass out forms for you to fill out. But in the meantime, I hope that you saved room for lots of food,” she laughed, trying to make things a little less awkward. But the only person that smiled at her was Dennis.

“I am going to ask the chef to prepare the dishes, why don’t you make yourselves comfortable, get to know each other a bit?” she walked away.  

            “Ben, what a surprise. How was Valentine’s this year, did you break anyone’s heart yet?”

            “Abby, what is your problem?” Benjamin tried to sound calm, but his anger was displayed by the tone of his voice. The rest of the people sat there, confused.

            Abby snapped, “Why are you here is my question. Oh right…you want to win all the awards on this planet and that’s why we broke up too, because I wasn’t nearly as important as winning the Top Meadow Farms Brass Ring Rising Chefs Challenge.”

 “I value my achievements and sometimes…”Benjamin’s voice got cut off.

“The first plate is our lion king roll, crab, avocado, filet of fresh salmon then baked with a touch of tobiko sauce,” Celine spoke in a vociferous voice, trying to break the argument.

“Umm…do you expect me to eat this without wasabi, like that is so not cool,” Chloe folded her arms.

Abby got up and said, “I’ll ask to see if they have some in the kitchen.” A minute later, she was back with a little plate of wasabi. Chloe dipped her finger in the thick wasabi with one hand and she had the sushi in the other aiming the inside of her mouth. She made an Mmmm sound.

            “I’m gonna go see if they need help inside the kitchen,” Ben headed towards the kitchen.  

“We know someone wants this REAL bad,” chuckled Abby. Benjamin came out with Celine, assisting her with the bowls of steaming soup. He placed them carefully in front of everyone. Chloe sipped the soup loudly while Benjamin glared at her. Suddenly she gagged and her face turned red, she slipped from her chair and fell on the ground. The owner waited for her to get up, but she didn’t budge.

            Benjamin put his fingers near Chloe’s nose, “She’s not breathing!” The owner, panicking, ran like the speed of light to make a call. Minutes later, the high pitch of the sirens sent a chill down Celine’s spine. The three students watched in horror as Chloe was carried away. There was a long moment of dead silence. No one dared to speak. Just as Celine was about to call the whole thing off, the ringing of the phone gave her hope. She picked it up and the woman from the hospital told her that Chloe suffered a little bit of food poisoning but she would be fine. Celine took a deep breath,

            “Well..umm…I just got a call saying that Chloe’s going to be alright.”

             “Great. Can we continue with the dishes, I’m really hungry,” Dennis had already finished his bowl of miso.

            “Well aren’t you a selfish pig!” yelled Abby. Celine’s eyebrows were pushed together and she could smell the next dish from the kitchen. She tried to force a smile.

“There are not many dishes left…so I hope that you will relax and enjoy them,” she walked off, her movements a little stiff. Celine came out with four trays of salmon teriyaki with shrimp tempura and veggie gyoza on the side. Dennis licked his lips.

“Can I have the extra one?” Dennis’s eyes expanded. Celine nodded and placed two large round plates in front of his matching shaped face. The owner observed the students, trying to see who was actually taking time to taste the delicacy of the food. Even though she was only 28, she had watched her parents and grandparents open their successful restaurants. They had also told her how valuable critique from various people was and she knew exactly what she was looking for. The advice had to be specific, not just simple stuff like the salmon tastes like a rock or there is not enough flavor, but more like cook it 10 minutes less at 375 degrees in the oven and add a hint of cumin. Celine scrutinized as Dennis quickly stuffed the piece of salmon in his mouth, the teriyaki sauce oozing down his chin. Soon, Abby got out her eye drops. The owner sighed, no one seem to deserve the recognition of her high class restaurant. Then she looked at Benjamin, he was cutting the salmon into little pieces. Benjamin sniffed the salmon before putting it inside his mouth and he also waited after each bite to separate the tastes of different parts of the fish. Celine nodded as she watched Benjamin. He was going to be the one. Benjamin asked Celine where the restroom was and he excused himself from the table. What good manners he has, thought Celine. When he returned to his seat, he was the only one with the unfinished plate.

“Umm…are you going to finish the fish?” Dennis’s eyes shined with hope and desire.

“Here, you can have the rest of it,” Benjamin gave him the medium chunk of salmon that was left.

“Thanks!” He quickly engulfed it. After swallowing without chewing, he rubbed his enormous stomach. Dennis burped and departed for the restroom. 10 minutes passed and then 20 and then 25, but Dennis did not return. Celine, worried, left her seat to knock on the restroom door, but there was no response. She grabbed a bathroom key from her pocket and opened the door. There was Dennis lying on the floor, his face as pale as snow with his eyes and mouth wide open. Celine’s heart was beating abnormally fast, her forehead sweating and she reached for her phone. Moments later, the two remaining students stood there, stunned, as Dennis was also taken away.

            Abby ran to Celine and grabbed her to a corner, “I am really freaked out right now. But I think I know who’s doing this. Don’t you get it? All Ben wants is the certificate, he’s a psycho! And I’m next on the list to be killed!” There was something about Abby that Celine felt was unreal, the dramatic expressions and the lack of sincerity. But on the other hand, Benjamin’s actions and character seem to make him somewhat guilty.

            “Are you listening to me? You should report Ben to the police now or else I am going to die.” Celine’s head ached; she had lost hope in her new restaurant. She gazed through the window at Cheeseboard and pictured the long lines of customers at her door but she knew that she could not make her parents proud with this mess.

            “I am going to send the chefs home and let the police take care of this.”

            The police arrived and one policeman questioned Abby who he seemed to know from volunteer events.

“Okay Abby, what happened?” She blurted out loads of information while Benjamin was sitting there in shock.

            “So first off, Ben’s invitation is different from everyone else’s, he had this red ribbon on his envelope while we had blue and he put food poisoning in Chloe and Dennis’ food…” The policeman nodded in approval and took notes.

            “You’re coming with me,” the policeman grabbed Benjamin.

            “But I didn’t do it!”

            “You’re not going to be the judge of that,” the police took off with Benjamin, his hands handcuffed behind his back like a criminal. Celine looked around her empty store. She could hear the police talking and investigating outside her restaurant. Abby’s white purse was sitting on the black chair but Abby was nowhere in sight. The owner needed to make sure, to verify that the police had the right person, she quickly snatched the purse and opened it but she could not believe her eyes. There were strands of red ribbon (the kind on Benjamin’s invitation), a little bottle of weird toxic substance (the thing that she thought were eye drops) and a picture of Ben with a sharp needle through the center of the picture, his heart. Celine shivered as she dropped the items on the cold hard floor.

            “I see that you helped yourself to my things.”

            Abby walked out from the swinging doors of the kitchen, her eyes fixed on Celine. She approached the owner with a smile and a gigantic, sharp sushi knife.