The Restaurant(24)
“I’m so sorry, let me grab you a napkin.” The tall man in front of her was apologetic and strangely familiar. Emma placed him in an instant.
“Veal parmesan, extra sauce on the side, right?” He’d come in twice for lunch last week—once alone and another time with what Emma guessed were several co-workers.
“Yes! Great memory.” He quickly grabbed a paper napkin from a nearby coffee stand, blotted up the small amount of spilled coffee and then held out his hand and introduced himself. “John Bigley. The accounting firm I work for is a block away, just off Main Street. Guess you could say I’m a regular.”
“I’m Emma. My sisters and I are the new owners of Mimi’s Place and we definitely appreciate our regulars.” He still seemed a bit nervous, so she tried to make him feel at ease. “Don’t worry about the coffee. I only spilled a drop, and it was growing cold, anyway. I’ve been here awhile, and that was actually my third cup. I’m well caffeinated.” She smiled and was glad to see him relax a bit. He was kind of cute if you liked the clean-cut preppy type.
He was about six feet tall and was wearing a pale blue oxford shirt tucked into well-worn jeans. His hair was sandy blonde and very short, as if he’d just had a cut. He was probably about her age, and if she was looking, he was the type she might go for. But of course she wasn’t—looking, that is. And because of that, she wasn’t nearly as nervous as she would have been otherwise.
“Are you sure? I was just heading up to get in line. I’d be happy to pick up a hot cup for you,” he offered.
“No, I’m good, thanks. I’m going to be heading out shortly.” She looked at her watch and sat up in surprise at the time. Several hours had flown by since she’d first arrived at the café and she was due at the restaurant in a half hour. “I didn’t realize how late it was. I have to run.”
“Right. Well, I’ll see you next week, I’m sure.” He went to join the coffee line and Emma gathered up her stuff. She was going to have to race to make it to Mimi’s Place by three and relieve Mandy, who had to pick up the kids. It was a juggling act, but between the three of them, they were managing to make it work, so far.
Paul worked one lunch shift each week to give Jason a day off and also to give himself a night off. He was writing out the daily specials list when Mandy walked into the kitchen and looked around until she saw him and made her way over to him.
“I have something I need to tell you,” she began. She seemed a little nervous.
“What is it?”
“So, my husband, Cory, hired a consultant to come in here a few times and then make some recommendations for how we can improve the business.”
Paul immediately felt defensive. “What’s wrong with the business?”
Mandy hesitated. “Well, have you read over the financials?”
“No, not yet.” They were in a folder with all the other paperwork that he’d been given and he hadn’t really glanced at them. He’d never been a numbers person.
“Well, sales are down and costs are up, and this is what Cory does, evaluate businesses. So, he hired the guy as a gift for all of us.”
Paul still wasn’t sure if he liked the sound of it.
“What kind of changes is he going to want?”
“He’s going to come in a few times to eat, and he’d like to be able to walk around the whole restaurant, including the kitchen, just to see everything. This is all he does, help restaurants reinvent themselves. And it’s all just going to be observations and suggestions. We’ll review everything and then the four of us will decide what, if anything, we want to do.”
“Okay, he can walk around. I suppose it will be interesting to see what he has to say.”
When Emma arrived at the restaurant, Mandy was organizing lunch checks at the front desk. She looked up and smiled when she saw her sister.
“Thanks for agreeing to come in a bit earlier. Brooke is starting a new dance class today.”
“No problem. How was lunch? Was it busy?” Emma glanced around the nearly empty dining room, which wasn’t really a good indicator as it was in between lunch and dinner.
“It actually wasn’t too bad. We had a bit of a rush earlier. Gary experimented with putting a sign outside listing the day’s specials. So it may have been that, or just warmer than usual weather. You never know, right?” Mandy left a moment later, and Emma poked her head in the kitchen to say hello to Paul.
“I heard your lunch specials were a big hit,” Emma said as she helped herself to a roll and butter.
“We’ll see how they do tonight. That will be the real test.” Paul said, but he was smiling and Emma could tell he was pleased. “We’re also adding a butternut squash tortelloni with toasted walnuts, prosciutto and a cream sauce with a little gorgonzola.”
“Yum.” Emma bit into her roll and then her stomach did a giddy dance as Paul pushed a small dish of the pasta special towards her.
“I really shouldn’t,” she protested lamely as her fork dug into the creamy sauce. As anticipated, the contrast of flavors and textures was delicious.
“Now you can sell it to the customers.”
And she did. Emma loved when she was asked what was good and what she’d recommend. She didn’t hesitate to give her honest opinion. If there was a dish she loved, she raved about it. If there was one she was less crazy about such as the surf and turf, which in her opinion had a too small and thin steak, she’d truthfully say something like, “It’s an excellent steak, but if you’re very hungry, it’s not an oversized portion. You might enjoy the New York strip instead.”