Is this the face of a chef? Stephen wondered when he was placing his breakfast order. The store was running a promotion, because of which it was open till late night. It opened at 7 in the morning under open sky, and it would continue operating till 3 AM. At first, we thought that the chef would not be able to work so long to prepare good quality meal for his hungry customers. I could never perfect the art of blending the right kind of spices with the main curry. Nor could I ever enjoy flipping burgers tirelessly over the gas stove. I always used to burn both the ends of the burger! Up until now, his store had three chefs who followed a standardized recipe to cook burger, pizza, fish, chicken wings, nuggets, etc. But that day was different. As soon as he started taking the order of his first customer at 7:19 AM under the cool breeze, he announced that he will prepare food customized as per the demands of the customer – and all by himself. So, he decided to throw the ‘cheat-sheet’ recipe to cook food that was used to prepare food in a calibrated manner.
“Can I take your order, Sir?” asked the chef to Stephen, his first customer, at 7:19 AM. “One double cheeseburger and one orange juice”, replied Stephen. “Sure, just 25 minutes, Sir”. Hearing this, Stephen got amused. “I order breakfast everyday here. It’s only supposed to take 15 minutes, so why the 10 additional minutes today?” he asked. The chef replied that he needs to add special flavors to the cheeseburger and offer freshly prepared orange juice instead of a packaged juice. “Wow, that would be an ideal breakfast!” imagined Stephen.
The chef started flipping the cheeseburger in a skillet, and the rustling noise was for all to hear. “Sir, while I prepare your morning munches, would you like to solve today’s Crossword puzzle?” Stephen was delighted with this kind service. The chef sprinkled mustard and then added mayonnaise over the bun. He then added sautéed mushroom, onions and tomatoes. Amidst all this action, Stephen was busy solving the Crossword. Soon, the smell of burger disseminated into the open air, which riveted his appetite. After just a few minutes, Stephen saw a bunch of oranges in front of him. He couldn’t resist seeing the chef tightly squeeze the oranges with his palms, then cut it in pieces, remove the seeds, use the juicer to get the juice out, and finally add the pulp in the juice. The chef put down his tacky gown and approached Stephen. “Eat your meal while it is still hot. And orange juice should energize your day.” Stephen thoroughly enjoyed the food. He would soon spread the word to the other customers. And the chef continued to work tirelessly and please them until 3 AM.
The lesson is that if you love your trade, then you can be confident that you can please the people around you.
nice one!
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