𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐲

𝙧𝙖𝙤𝙪𝙡 🍳

played by eiji fukui

( the curly hair aaAAA )

PERSONALITY ;
raoul has a reputation among chefs: he is mean af, and he knows it. at least with his reviews, he is able to pick out even the slightest errors and mention them in detail, and he holds quite a bit of gravity in the reviewing community by now. he has quite a bit of confidence because of this, as having quite a few people afraid of you tends to do. he is a very creative person, as was evident in his days of cooking himself. he found that he was always able to put an interesting twist on dishes and to make them unique and special. raoul also has a reputation for being a good writer who can be a little excessively descriptive, especially when describing how bad food is. yeah, his writing skills are universally hated because of what he uses them for-- unless you're one of the lucky few chefs he has praised. if you were to listen to what the chefs tell you about him, raoul is a cruel demon with a laptop that he has his fingers glued to, writing malicious things to slander good people all day long without even enjoying the food. however, obviously, that isn't all there is to raoul. despite his reputation, he is honestly quite shy to interact with new people. he is a more introverted person, and so he doesn't have any of the brashness that people imagine he would. raoul is a pretty sweet person too, just to interact with and to know-- he's a lot more casual than people expect, and isn't all that stuck-up. he hates cruel and overly perfectionist chefs, although USUALLY he won't diss them for their personality in the reviews, you can tell by the tone that it is written in. raoul is a very picky person and has an uncanny ability to be able to tell what's wrong, even if 99.999% of the dish is completely correct and wonderful, he will still criticize it. raoul is a tough critic, but he doesn't like to see people upset about what he writes. raoul is a pretty down to earth person one you meet him, and it is quite obvious that he wants to go back into cooking, but he won't do it just yet. he uses his writing as a shield to keep others respecting him and seeing him as qualified, mostly because he doesn't want to be seen as just another useless chef again who does everything wrong (also, he has way too much jealousy and built up resentment towards head chefs, which isn't great--). he tends to be a pretty sweet guy with a chill demeanor and a inclination towards the creative once you get to know him, but his reputation precedes him in most instances.

BACKSTORY ;
raoul was the only child of two parents who met in high school, long-term friends who were set up by their friends on a blind date, and were quite surprised to see each other there. however, they began to date then, and became closer. they both had grown up in japan but went to high school in france, and when they were freshly out of high school, they became married. raoul's mother sought to become a chef, and went through years of culinary school before she finally earned a job as a chef. however, shortly afterwards, it was revealed that she was expecting, and she was obviously quite surprised and told raoul's father, worried about her job-- he worked as a businessman-- and he told her not to worry. she took maternity leave to have him, but was fired when she returned because 'her work was not up to par,' which she knew was a lie. ever since then, she's held a bitterness towards cooking which used to be her favorite activity throughout her life. imagine her surprise when her only son, all adorable and curly-headed shunned the usual dinosaur nuggets and desired to have something more adult-like. her son helped her to get back her love of cooking, and as such, she would show him how to cook her favorites. from a young age, he would be able to cook for his parents, and raoul quite enjoyed it. he went to a private school in france, and did well, never achieving straight a's, but doing well enough for his family's desires. raoul started off school as a little bit of an outsider, one who would never quite make his impact in the center of the group-- however, suddenly in middle school, he did become quite popular. it turns out that universally, cafeteria food sucks, and people would much prefer raoul's bribery. yes, that was how he made friends, and while it likely wasn't recommended, it seemed to work well enough. he did well throughout his middle and high school experience, having his first girlfriend when they were both thirteen (he wouldn't call it that now though, as he knows it was just puppy love). however from his junior year of high school, he started to attend a school designed to teach culinary arts. his father always disapproved, telling him one day what had happened to his mother and how he would do best to avoid that world. raoul stubbornly disagreed, thinking that he would make it a better world where unfair firings and unfair treatment as a whole doesn't exist. raoul studied hard there and achieved well too, graduating at the top of his class and finding a job in a kitchen. his family was quite proud of him, especially his mother. yes, he did quite well for himself when he worked there as it was a restaurant with two michelin stars. however, working there was a genuine nightmare ninety percent of the time. the head chef was a very flighty person who would say one thing and mean another entirely, and then yell when one did what he actually said to do. his voice was always incredibly loud, the kitchen was always very hot, and the chef would constantly be in your face and correcting you. it was an irritating work environment, especially with the inconsistent directions and how the chef would force the other chefs to throw out what had been done "incorrectly," which resulted in a longer wait time, and angry customers, and then the chefs would be yelled at more. all went on like this, and raoul would often vent about it to friends and family, but stayed collected and apologetic at work. that was, until the restaurant lost a michelin star. that was a genuine nightmare, and of course it was blamed on the other chefs instead of the head chef being a perfectionist nightmare. raoul grew frustrated with the constant weeping and pathetic attitude towards the star, and eventually, he completely quit in the middle of a shift after the head chef had broken the camel's back with more crying and yelling about the food being late-- gee, wonder why? well, his father was right he guessed, which he had rubbed in his face the whole time he was down and out without a job, and his mother was devastated and guilty that she had led him down this path of failure. raoul landed on his feet when he fell, however, and he knew just what to do next. he had intense experience in the kitchen and with all sorts of culinary techniques. he was experienced, talented, and innovative, and when he saw an application to apply for being a reviewer. almost instantly with his first few reviews, raoul gained a reputation: he was mean af, and grown chefs would sweat at having him in their dining rooms. he was picky, an expert at picking out even the slightest errors, and incidentally, a wonderful writer who could make food sound like the pinnacle of culinary success or a complete devastation of values and hard work. he's a nightmare to have review your food, but he is genuinely fair in his reviews, and that is the reputation he has gained over time. yes, he landed on his feet after quitting, although he still holds a passion for cooking and hopes to do something more with it someday.

OTHER ;
- raoul has a dog, a st. bernard named tom who is three years old and who he absolutely adores. he is pictured below.
- raoul has a very nice french accent ; )
- he speaks english from learning it as a third language in school, and he was brought up speaking japanese.
- he is 6'2 inches tall.
- he is allergic to fish.
- raoul is actually quite good at video games and likes playing them in his spare time.
- he has very nice manners, so he can tell people he hates them in a very polite way.
- he grew up in aix-en-provence.
- he genuinely cannot bake at all and will burn the entire oven and kitchen down.
- someday, he will probably get back into cooking and such, but not right now.
- he lived in france, but now he lives in the states and travels.