Chaeyoung heard the tap on her office door and looked up as Jisoo walked in and sat down. Jisoo dropped an invitation in front of Chaeyoung.
"I know you don't like to bother with these types of things but I want to go to this and technically it's you that is invited with a plus one..." Jisoo said, dragging out the sentence long enough for Chaeyoung to roll her eyes.
Chaeyoung picked up the invitation. It was a soft opening of a new restaurant not far from YG. Chaeyoung had a vague memory of either reading about it or hearing about it but she was mostly happy eating a salad at home so she hadn't paid it much attention.
"Gureum?" Chaeyoung said, "That's an odd name for a restaurant. Who names a restaurant after a cloud."
(there was that one vlive where they were decorating a cake and lisa kept asking the members to add a cloud. i thought it was so cute lol so yea it's called gureum)
"Oh, come on, Chaeng," Jisoo said, "a cloud is a metaphor for a lot of things, it's not just a cloud. This is the place I've been telling you about. It's the woman chef who won the James Beard award at only 23 years old. She opened the restaurant in New York for a few years but now she's coming home.
"Yes, I vaguely remember you telling me about it," Chaeyoung said, "and I wasn't all that interested."
"You know," Jisoo said smirking, "sometimes you make it exceedingly difficult to be your friend."
"I won't argue with that," Chaeyoung answered, "You know I just don't care about food that much. You're the foodie. I swear if I eat one hamburger I gain 20 pounds - all in my ass and boobs. It's really not appealing."
"First of all, your ass and your boobs are incredible and don't pretend you don't know it," Jisoo teased, "and, secondly, I am happy to inform you that in addition to real food this chef is known for an extensive vegan menu."
"Vegan food is actually the real food you know," Chaeyoung answered.
"Ok, let me try this," Jisoo huffed, "the chef, Lalisa Manoban, is taking a huge risk coming to Seoul. In addition to the restaurant, she is apparently trying to start some sort of philanthropy to help bring good, clean food choices to the poorer parts of our town. She is a young woman working her ass off to do well for herself but also to save the world. Sound familiar?"
"You know, it's true that less access to healthy foods continues the cycle of poverty by increasing both short term illnesses and long term diseases in economically challenged communities," Chaeyoung answered, reading over the invitation again.
"Yep, there's my Rosie," Jisoo said, "so can we go? I'll enjoy the food and you can meet another over achiever."
"Fine, Jisoo, we can go," Chaeyoung laughed.
"And you know, maybe we can meet some fun people," Jisoo said, "you never know where you'll meet someone interesting."
"I highly advise you get back to work and don't push your luck," Chaeyoung said, eyebrow raised.
Jisoo stood and walked toward the door, "Ok, I'm just saying..." she teased as she walked out.
•••
BamBam put the bruschetta into his mouth and slowly let the flavors sink onto his palate. He let out a long moan.
"My god, Lisa," BamBam said, "I don't know how you do it. I mean everyone makes bruschetta. Why is yours so much better?"
"Well, you made the bread," Lisa said, "and it's perfect. The rest is just finding the right balance of flavors."
"You found it, Lis," BamBam said, "this is outstanding."
"I'm starting to get really nervous, Bam," Lisa said, "I'm so glad you're here. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't agreed to come with me to Seoul."
"Hey, I'm just riding on the tail of a shooting star," BamBam said, nudging Lisa.
Lisa and BamBam were best friends. They were almost like brother and sister except for the lingering crush BamBam had on Lisa. He knew they would never be more than friends but he couldn't help but feel better whenever she was around. When they found each other they both were going through tough times. Lisa wasn't doing well in college and she didn't know what she wanted to do with her life. She finally dropped out but felt like a failure. BamBam couldn't afford college. His father had gone to jail and his mother had never been present in his life. Both of them ended up getting jobs in the same restaurant kitchen just to get by. Both of their lives were turned around by the industry.
They found jobs within months of each other at one of Sandara Park's established New York restaurants. Dara was known as the Grand Dame of the New York restaurant scene. Over the years she had been either a chef or owner of over 25 restaurants. The restaurants ranged from casual diners to the finest dining experiences. Lisa and BamBam both quickly worked their way up to her finest dining establishment.
As it turned out Lisa had an astonishing ability to taste and smell foods and then recreate recipes. As soon as Dara realized her innate talent she took her under her wing. She saw a talent that needed to be mentored. Dara knew that Lisa's talent would be wasted cooking dishes developed by other chefs. Eventually Lisa began creating her own dishes, some of which were added to the menu. Every time one of her dishes found a place on the menu it became popular quickly. Lisa realized that if she could get her name out there and save up some money she could open her own place.
Dara helped Lisa get recognition by signing her up for television chef competitions. Lisa was undefeated. Not only did the judges love her food, everyone loved her bubbly personality. While most chefs had fairly intense personalities, Lisa was always calm and nearly always smiling. She also seemed to love trying another chef's dish as much as creating her own. She usually ended up catching her competitor's hearts along with the judges.
BamBam made his name on the pastry side of the business. BamBam was by nature a very technically oriented person. He loved the science that went into creating pastries, breads and cakes. He was also the hardest worker Dara had ever employed. He never complained. He just kept his head down and did his work. While he didn't have the ebullient personality of Lisa, he was well liked and respected for his work.
After a couple of years of saving every penny she could, Lisa went to Dara to let her know that she was thinking of opening her own place. She was afraid that Dara would be angry but much to her delight, she was thrilled. Dara looked over Lisa's plans and decided that she didn't have enough money to really do it right so she offered Lisa a no-interest loan. Lisa was stunned. Dara said that her only condition was that Lisa would always remember her generosity and pay it forward one day when she was able. She also gave Lisa a long lecture on women helping raise up other women. Lisa listened intently and promised to always do her best.
Dara was not quite as happy when Lisa asked if it was ok for her to offer BamBam a job at her new restaurant. It was very hard to find pastry chefs of his quality but after a long talk, Dara relented. The only reason she agreed was because she realized how important the two of them were to each other emotionally. Dara felt that the chances of Lisa having success were heightened by her relationship with BamBam, so she agreed that Lisa could offer him the job with her. As usual, Dara was right.
Lisa opened the restaurant in a part of New York that wasn't quite as saturated with dining establishments as some other areas. In the first year she was awarded with the James Beard Award for Best New Chef. The restaurant took off immediately and it quickly became "the place" where everyone wanted to get a table. Lisa was happy for the next three years. She worked seven days a week but it was worth it. In addition to the restaurant, she published a cookbook and made guest appearances on cooking segments on all the major network morning shows.
At the three year point though, she found herself already burning out. One night she and BamBam went to a late night diner after work and talked about their lives. The New York restaurant scene was draining both of them. Lisa was 26 years old but she felt like she was 40. She didn't have time to do anything but work. She had managed one relationship but eventually realized she was being treated quite badly. BamBam had nearly killed the guy after he berated Lisa one night in front of some of the restaurant staff. Lisa was just so exhausted she barely noticed how rude he was until that night. She broke up with him immediately. BamBam hadn't even had time to have a bad relationship. After a long talk that night they both decided it was time to make a change.
Later that month, Lisa took a few days off and travelled to see her family in Seoul. Her parents and her sister Jennie had come to visit in New York numerous times but she hardly had any time to really see them even when they were in town. Lisa worked every holiday. When she had a full day with her mom and her sister she finally broke down. Even though her life looked like a great success she knew she was missing out on so much. She started formulating a new plan that weekend.
When she returned to New York she went and met with Dara. Even though Dara was sad to hear that she was leaving town she felt that her business model and plans in Seoul would be successful. Seoul was an up and coming area and was a ripe area for new businesses and restaurants. Dara was sure that a restaurant opened by someone of Lisa's stature would be a hit immediately. She promised to come visit.
When she told BamBam of her plans, he immediately agreed to come with her. BamBam had no family and no real ties to New York outside of his work contacts. He thought a new place would be good for him as well. The cost of living in Seoul was much lower and he looked forward to being able to live in a bigger place and maybe even get some time to enjoy life.
It was merely 10 months later that Lisa and BamBam found themselves tasting the menu that would open the new restaurant.
"You know I wouldn't have this restaurant without you, Bam," Lisa said, smiling.
"You know that's complete bullshit," BamBam said laughing, "but I still love you for saying it. The menu is perfect, Lis. The opening is going to be fantastic. What do we still have on the list to do?"
"Well, we'll be training kitchen staff for the rest of the week," Lisa said, "the kitchen is completed and we just need to make sure we have everything set up as efficiently as possible for the line cooks. The dining room tables and chairs will be delivered tomorrow. We will start training the wait staff on Thursday. The soft opening is this Saturday and then we will have the true opening the following weekend. We are already completely booked for the first three weekends and most of the days in between."
"Ok, then I guess we had better get back to work," BamBam said. He noticed Lisa taking a deep breath. "Don't worry, Lalis," BamBam added, "You've got this."