“Fuck!” they said, and Hannah laughed.
“That’s good?”
“Yeah!”
Hannah tried the mixture as well, giving her approval, before Tay added it to the ice-cream machine. Then they had to think about how they were going to surprise Guilia with it that evening.
“You should eat something,” said Lily, bringing over a bowl of the stellina en brodo that was simmering on the stove.
“I’m fine,” said Tay, but Lily put the bowl down on the workbench firmly.
“No, no you’re not. You’ve been hyperfocusing and you need to eat and drink. Where’s your water bottle?”
Everyone in the kitchen had their own water bottle; it was one of the things that Guilia insisted upon. It sometimes got very hot, what with the pizza oven in the corner and all of the pasta dishes that Tay put out, and Guilia put a great emphasis on the importance of hydration.
Tay was tired and probably more than a little dehydrated and wanted to argue with Lily as a result, but one look at the woman’s face had them grabbing their water bottle off a shelf and filling it up.
“That’s better,” Lily said. “I want the entire water bottle emptied by the time you finish that bowl.”
It had been an excellent choice of food, and Tay finished off every single spoonful. The brodo—the chicken broth—was exactly what they needed to settle their stomach after trying all of the new flavors.
The heavy cream that they’d managed to produce from the milk was delicious but very rich indeed.
As the rush of the lunch service died down, all of the kitchen members—and even Paulo and Miriam from front of house—came to watch Tay take the ice cream out of the freezer where it’d been put after its time in the machine
CHAPTER 32
Guilia
The Italian restaurant was empty when Guilia entered. She and Sadie had returned the picnic basket to Chef Connor’s kitchen with thanks for the lovely treats, and then Sadie had hugged Guilia again and skipped off back to class, leaving her with the book.
Where was everyone?
“Hello?” she called out, and Miriam and Paulo came hurrying out to greet her.
“Chef Guilia!”
“What brings you here?”
The two of them had suspiciously innocent expressions on their faces.
“What brings me here? I work here. Irun this restaurant.”
They looked at each other and burst into giggles, before running back into the kitchen, leaving a very perplexed Guilia behind them.
What on earth was going on? This was not the professional behavior that she expected of her staff, and she was about to follow them back to the kitchen to demand to know what was going on when the kitchen door swung open, and Tay came out.
There was a bit of a commotion, and Guilia saw that the rest of the team were staring out through the open window that connected the dining area to the kitchen. They all looked remarkably excited, and she wasn’t sure whether to be nervous or excited herself.
“I finished the ice cream,” said Tay. “Would you like to try it?”
“Absolutely,” said Guilia. “I’m really proud of you. You’ve worked really hard on this.”
Tay grinned, but it was shy, as if they weren’t sure what would happen next. They led Guilia to a table, sat her down, and then headed back over to the kitchen.
Guilia watched as Hannah handed a plate and a bowl through the window, only for Tay to inspect them closely and use a cloth to clean the edge of one of the plates.
Then, a determined look on their face, they walked back to where Guilia was sitting, balancing a dish in each hand.
