Tomatoes, Olives, and Artichokes

I walked into another long day of work and smelled the delicious aroma already. I was an apprentice chef at a gourmet restaurant in the city and helped the executive chefs. My dream had been to be an executive chef one day. The whole restaurant was preparing for the highly-ranked food critic who was going to come the following week. The food critic owned the fanciest restaurant in town and was looking for some new chefs. Pots and pans clanked while time was cut short.

During the weekend, I loved spending time with my family. One day, I visited my grandma, who makes the best food for me. She was my inspiration for starting to cook. She cooked pasta with her homemade recipe of Puttanesca sauce, an Italian pasta sauce made with tomatoes, olives, and artichokes, which I loved to put on everything. It was delicious, and she even gave me a jar of the sauce to keep for myself.

On the day the food critic came, everything was chaotic. There was a lot of screaming behind the soundproof kitchen wall. Until lunch hit, the critic was just finishing up their meal as I was in the middle of my lunch break. I sat at the front desk, with a jar of Puttanesca sauce in one hand and sourdough in the other.

“Well, unfortunately, no one here would be a good fit for…” the critic started to say while looking around at everyone. There was an orange, curly haired man sitting next to a messy, brown haired boy waiting for her to finish. A couple of the workers poked their head through the curtain. They were sitting She stopped and sniffed the air. “What is that amazing scent I smell? I would like to try some of that,” she asked, looking around. Her eyes suddenly stopped moving and stared at my jar, the only source of food on the table.

Before she even said a word, I handed over the jar and an extra slice of bread I had.

“Oh! This is amazing. I would surely like to invite you to help out at my restaurant! Wait… you made this right? What is it made of?” she asked excitedly.

“Uh…” my brain moved as fast as it could as I panicked to make my decision. “Yes, of course I did. It’s made of tomato, olives, and artichokes,” I quickly added.

“Alright, I’ll send you a few details later, be prepared to come to work tomorrow!” the food critic said while walking out the restaurant door.

I turned around and saw all my co-workers staring at me in shock. They surrounded me with questions as I played along.

I got home to think about my decision. Was this really what I wanted? Of course it was… but was I ready for this? The opportunity was huge for me, but inside, it bothered me. I did not make the sauce, and I surely did not have the skills to make something like this ever. I thought long and hard for the rest of the night and decided to send a quick email back to the critic. “Sorry, I am not ready for this opportunity,” I wrote. I knew I turned down a huge chance, but I knew that I would soon get good enough to really make that kind of food on my own.