“Mine too...well, French Creole,” Remy admitted.
“Cool. Did she cook?”
“Yes,” he said. “Yours?”
“Yeah. She’s the one that taught me to cook. But you can only go so far in a home kitchen,” Tony said.
“True. Do you have any formal training?”
“CIA,” he said with a smile. “This might be the only place where I don’t have to explain that it’s the Culinary Institute of America not the Central Intelligence Agency. Though to be honest there are a few from my hood that think I’m with the government.”
Remy laughed. “Where do you work?”
“Dans La Jardin,” he replied, naming one of the most popular French restaurants in the city.
“Head chef?”
“Nah, junior, but I’m hoping to learn some skills here that will give me a leg up when I get back home.”
“Not here to win?” Remy asked.
“Sure I want to win, but I have heard of some of these other chefs,” Tony said. “They might be hard to beat.”
“They might be,” Remy agreed, writing Tony off as a nice guy but not much competition. Anyone who was more concerned about what would happen when he got home versus what needed to happen here wasn’t going to win it. And Remy was definitely here to win.
“You’re not worried?” Tony asked.
“Nah, but I have been around celebrated chefs before,” Remy said.
“Me, too,” a tall thin girl with skin the color of cappuccino said, joining them. “I’m Vivian Johns.”
“Tony Matea,” Tony said. “This is Remy Stephens. Whom have you cooked with?”
“Troy Hudson,” Vivian said flashing them both a grin. “I work at The Rib Mart in Austin and he came down there for one of his cook offs.”
“How was it?” Remy asked.
“Interesting. He’s a solid cook but a lot of his talent gets lost in filming the show. He had a staff with him for the challenge,” Vivian said.
“Did you win?” Tony wanted to know.
“Hells to the yeah,” she said. “It’s hard to beat Austin ribs in Austin but my dish was good.Really good. It’s interesting how people act around celebrity chefs. Who’ve you cooked with, Remy?”
“Alain Cruzel,” he said. His grandfather was one of the most famous chefs to come out of New Orleans.
“Yeah, I’ve heard of him. He’s one tough guy in the kitchen.”
“Yes, he is. He doesn’t tolerate mistakes,” Remy said. “However, sharing the kitchen with him made me realize even the greatest chefs make mistakes some times. That’s why I’m not worried about anyone’s reputation.”
“You don’t have to,” Tony said.
“What do you mean?” Remy asked wondering if he’d somehow given away his real name and pedigree.
“You won today. I think that means most of the participants will be gunning for you.”
“Not just me,” he said. “Cupcake Girl was pretty impressive as well.”
“I don’t think she’s going to take kindly to being called that,” Vivian said with a grin.
