By Vivaan P.

“The chef that cooked their hearts out tonight, the chef that had what it takes to win it all in this extremely difficult competition is…” 

It was going to be a tough competition, Travis thought. He had arrived at a very famous hotel in Greece called “Olympia. ” It was revered as one of the most high-tier and influential hotels in all of Greece. However, that didn’t interest Travis. Not at all and while the hotel would be nice, he preferred the allure of the hotel’s restaurant known as “The Conqueror’s Cafe”. The cafe was a superstar of restaurants all around the world. 

As a young child, he had dreamed of one day coming to this prestigious restaurant, and maybe becoming the head chef in charge. That’s why an invitation from the current head chef of “The Conqueror’s Cafe,” Niko Apollo, to have him come down to the hotel’s restaurant and compete with 14 other chefs to take over the restaurant, when chef Niko would be retiring, after the competition… how could Travis say no? He immediately scheduled a flight to Greece and prepared for the cooking challenge of his life. 

During the flight, his brain was scattered and strewn with its thoughts of multiple recipes each fluttering as the thoughts on his mind were confused and anxious as to what would impress the prestigious Chef Niko and convince him that he would be the next successor to the world famous restaurant. Travis had never had so much on the line here, and he was going to be up against the best of the best from all around the world. He had to figure out how to get victorious. 

The first thing Travis wanted to do was learn more about his competition, each chef’s strengths and weaknesses, in order to stay ahead in this challenge. After all there were 14 other chefs competing with him for the extremely coveted prizes of one of the world’s finest restaurants. He had to come up with a plan soon, as the competition was going to begin in 2 days, which was barely enough time to get the job done. 

His initial thought was to go to the hotel and inquire around with the kitchen staff but he thought better of it, lest anyone guess his plans and implement them themselves. So, he decided to build upon the facts he knew which was what had been told to him in his official letter.

 It started like this,

Gazing over the letter, Travis knew that this was the most important competition in his life. However he also knew there were 4 other chefs from his continent of Asia, and there were a lot of cuisines there. So, he decided to focus on the ones he knew, and to do it fast, because in less than one day he would be reporting for the competition at the hotel’s gates. 

He stood contemplating well into the evening and then with frustration he could figure out no more and took an early night’s rest in order to be well refreshed for the next day. 

In the morning, he put his apron in his bag, dressed in his casual clothing for the cooking might be messy, and started off on a 5 minute walk to the hotel. 

When he reached the gate at which he was to meet everyone else, he saw two others, but what he was really fixed on was the magnificent gate. Looking as impressive as it might have been in the mythological stories.

  After a few minutes he gathered his thoughts and stood with the other 5 chefs and waited.

Before long, the other chefs were all there and it was 5 minutes away from 9 am when this contest of a lifetime would start and he felt the pressure was on. 

“Welcome Chefs!” spoke Chef Niko. “Today we will be embarking on a rigorous competition in which we intend for all your skills to be put to the test. As I am sure you all know that the grand prize is to be the head chef at this grand restaurant and the winner will win an additional 50 thousand euros as is used in Greece. Well with all this said chefs let me get into the rules of this competition. First and foremost, there are fifteen of you. After extensive deliberation with the organizers of the competition we have come to the agreement that 3 of you will be eliminated per round.” 

“3!” thought Travis, that would make this challenge so much harder, because you couldn’t really escape if you had done poorly. As he glanced around him he also saw that a few of the other chefs’ faces looked visibly worried, and some of the chefs’ faces to his astonishment were smiling!

His thoughts being interrupted as Chef Niko spoke again, “ These competitions will center around themes that I will assign you as a whole and of course be based upon your performance at the ordeal. Well with all that said, follow me inside for the first challenge!”

Travis walked nervously because the news about the elimination format shocked him.

 Finally, they came to a large and imposing table overlooking a huge freezer and what seemed to be a minimarket stuffed full of all the ingredients any chef needed for a lifetime. Then the chef pointed out the large cubicles which had tons of every kitchen appliance all for them, with a little name card at their designated station. They all found their stations and walked there and awaited their first challenge. Chef Niko explained that he would be the sole judge and he would give the prize away to who he thought was the worthy chef. 

Slowly Travis’s nervousness transformed into a sort of blind confidence and he felt ready to take on the world. 

“Your first challenge, said Chef Niko, is to cook your signature dish and above all don’t really focus on presentation, but rather on flavor. I will give you all 90 minutes. 90 minutes to cook as you have never cooked before. So, good luck to all of you, and let the competition begin!” 

As soon as he heard those words Travis ran for the grocery cart, grabbed a basket and sped into the cold section and came out 5 minutes later with a large selection of spices, a crab, and some white rice. He was from Singapore and was going to make black pepper crab with crab rice for the judge. 

As he was putting the final touches on his crab he noticed that 3 men in suits were talking to Chef Niko and they seemed to be having some sort of disagreement, because Chef Niko’s face seemed to be getting more red and his expressions looked like he was about to explode. However, just as he finished the dish and the timer rang to declare hands off he noticed the gentlemen had left and Chef Niko standing on the podium above them. 

He announced,” Good job all of you, I will be tasting the dishes one by one, but before that I have an announcement to make concerning the amount of eliminations being made and it is my unfortunate duty to inform you that 14 eliminations will be made.” However each of you will be sent off with at least 30,000 US dollars depending on your ranking. Well with that, bring up your dishes!” 

One by one the chefs entered up the stairs onto the podium and received praise and criticism by Chef Niko, until all of them had gone and now the verdict had to be delivered. 

“The chef that cooked their hearts out tonight, the chef that had what it takes to win it all in this extremely difficult competition is Chef Travis. Your crab was very exquisitely cooked and your use of spices was brilliant. Congratulations young man! The Conqueror’s Cafe is now yours!” 

Travis could hardly believe it, he thought it was a dream for some time until he heard the congratulations of his fellow chef’s around him and realized the age old message, that if you believe in yourself, you too can achieve your dreams.

The End

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