‘Pan-fried or the boil-in-a-bag one?’ I ask James, as if it will in any way at all affect my decision.
‘Has to be the sous-vide,’ Anis says.
‘The what?’ Roxy is as confused as I am.
‘The water bath,’ Anis says, ‘the proper term is sous-vide.’
‘Yeah, we should probably go with that; it will cut down prep time, and we’re already pan-frying the cutlets.’
‘Agreed,’ replies Anis.
‘Right, well, let’s match with this one,’ I say, pointing to the Gewürztraminer, because I’m still too nervous to attempt to say it out loud. ‘Nice one, Roxy.’
I’m about to lower myself down from the stool when Russell arrives. He’s wearing a khaki linen suit with a navy tie, and is reading something off his phone as he marches towards James. I watch as James’s easiness instantly disappears, his shoulders stiffen and his face darkens.
‘Is this it?’ Russell asks the room, and Anis nods, sliding both plates of salmon in front of him.
He picks one up and sniffs it, hesitant, like a mum might sniff a nappy to check for a poo, and then, with his fingers, shoves a chunk into his mouth. He moves the flesh around in it, a bit like he’s searching for bones, and then spits it into the sink.
‘No,’ he says.
‘We all agree,’ says James cautiously. ‘We went for the other.’
‘This one?’ He points to the other plate, and we all take a collective deep breath as Russell does his disgusting tasting-thing again.
‘Less salt,’ he says, ‘otherwise it’s passable. And the wine?’
‘We went with the German. Always best with Japanese.’ I hope the over-confidence hides the fact that I’m a sommelier who can’t pronounce wine names.
It works. He smiles at me and nods, before turning to James. ‘Where is the lamb? I saw a photo on Instagram that looked … rustic.’
He says ‘rustic’ in the same way someone might say ‘revolting’.
‘Yes, Chef,’ says James, and he hurries off to get it.
Now Russell turns to me.
‘Your leg is okay? I hear you were hurt in the woods?’
‘Yes, Chef,’ I say, wondering if sommeliers are supposed to call him that.
‘And Bill tells me you are familiarizing yourself with the wine list?’
‘Yes, Chef,’ I reply.
‘Good. Then we need to discuss the Wine Society concept,’ he says, smoothing his hair back.
‘Perhaps James and I can discuss it once I’m up and, er, running?’ I say, touching my foot to remind him that he needs to go easy on me because I’m injured.
‘Well, you need to let the Society know your idea in the next week or two. They have to do their marketing materials.’
‘Okay, I’ll get on it.’
‘Are you going to Skye in the morning?’ Russell asks James as he arrives back with arms full of plastic containers.
‘Wednesday,’ James replies.
‘Then maybe you can take Heather with you and discuss.’
