# 6
“What is this?” He straightened up, pointing at the edge of the white porcelain plate with his index finger.
“Oil stains carelessly wiped along the porcelain rim. The vegetables are arranged crookedly and cover the texture of the meat’s crust. This plating is incredibly amateurish!”
Sang merely lowered his head, too afraid to say a word.
Devandra then reached for his knife and fork. He cut off a small piece of the wagyu drenched in demi-glace sauce and put it in his mouth. He chewed slowly. But after only two chews, Devandra’s expression grew even darker. The wrinkles on his forehead deepened. Without hesitation, Devandra grabbed the silk cloth napkin beside his plate and spat the food back out into it.
Devandra threw his knife and fork onto the porcelain, creating a sharp clatter that echoed throughout the room.
“Trash,” Devandra condemned in barely restrained anger. “The meat is overcooked on one side, the sauce is so salty it ruins the wagyu’s natural flavor, and the purée is lumpy, like some failed dough! The flavor of this dish is an absolute disaster by five-star restaurant standards!”
Devandra stared at the waitress, who was now trembling in fear beside the table. His dominant aura of authority and power filled the entire room, making the air feel increasingly oppressive.
“Bring the head chef, the sous chef who cooked this meat, and whoever is responsible for this plating to me right now!” Devandra ordered coldly.
“Yes, sir...” the waitress rasped. Without wasting another second, she half-ran back toward the bustling main kitchen.
The kitchen’s glass door swung violently as the waitress rushed inside, her face pale. “Chef! Our VIP guest at table five is asking for Chef Bima, Chef Fandi, and the person who plated that food!”
Fandi, who was wiping down his station, immediately whipped around, his eyes stabbing toward the girl beside him. “Rena! Did you screw up again?!”
Renata stood there trembling, able only to shake her head slowly and lower it further. Her throat felt blocked, unable to produce a single word in her own defense.
“Who exactly is the VIP guest at table five?” Bima asked as he approached them, his brow furrowed.
“He’s under the name Mr. Vandra, Chef,” the waitress replied.
“Vandra?” Bima murmured for a moment. The name felt completely unfamiliar. Throughout his culinary career, he had never heard of a critic or influential figure named Vandra.
With their hearts filled with questions and suspicion, the three of them walked side by side toward the VIP room. Bima led the way, followed by Fandi, while Renata trailed behind with unsteady steps. However, the moment they crossed the door into the private room, Bima and Fandi came to a complete stop. Their faces instantly paled when they recognized the stern figure sitting behind the table.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Devan. You said you wouldn’t be coming to this hotel until two days from now,” Bima said, bowing deeply in respect.
“I’m conducting a surprise inspection,” Devandra cut in without preamble. “And what do I find? Did you not check your team’s performance at all, Bima? Look at this! Overcooked meat, sauce that’s too salty, and plating that’s a complete mess. There are even oil stains left along the edge of the plate.”
At the reprimand, Renata’s body trembled. Her heart felt as if it had stopped beating. What if she really got fired after this? Bima had just made it clear that he was giving her one last chance, and now that chance had been utterly destroyed in front of the hotel’s new owner.
“I’m sorry, sir. We had several other important VIP guests to serve in the main restaurant today, so I focused on taking care of them. I truly didn’t know you would arrive early.”
“As a chef, you must treat every customer to the same high standard!” Devandra declared. “Never work carelessly just because you don’t know who’s sitting at the dining table!”
“I’m sorry, sir. But I cooked and prepared that menu according to the usual standards,” Fandi interjected.
“The usual standards?” Devandra let out a mocking chuckle, a cold laugh that made the hairs on their necks stand on end. “That means your cooking standards are extremely low, and you need to upgrade your skills immediately! I don’t care. Tomorrow, prepare every menu item served in this restaurant. I’ll taste them one by one and completely overhaul this hotel’s entire menu. If not a single dish suits my palate, then all of you will be replaced!”
Fandi’s chest thundered, his jaw clenching as he held back his anger at the blatant insult. However, in front of the owner of the hotel where he worked, he had no courage to fight back.
Devandra’s cold gaze then shifted to Renata, who continued to keep her head lowered behind her two seniors. “Were you the one who plated this food?”
With trembling lips, Renata nodded slowly. “Y-yes, sir...”
“How long have you worked at this restaurant?”
“Two months, sir.”
Devandra raised one eyebrow, his eyes narrowing critically. “Two months, yet your skill and attention to detail are still like this? Where did you graduate from? Why is HR so careless about hiring people?”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Devan...” Renata said, trying to hold back the sobs about to burst from her chest. “I’ll definitely study and work harder.”
“The culinary world is extremely demanding and harsh,” Devandra said flatly, looking at Renata. “If you feel you can’t handle it anymore, you may quit. Don’t stay if your presence here will only become a burden to your team.”