‘Most chefs do.’ Roberto nodded. ‘Sadly, most don’t make it or make a hash of it when they do. But you...’ Roberto narrowed his eyes as he scrutinised Jay’s face. ‘Yes, you, I can see making a success of it. I’ll have to watch my back.’
Jay laughed. ‘That’s a long way off yet.’
‘What’s stopping you? Money?’
Jay nodded.
‘Have you thought about getting yourself a financial backer?’
‘Thought about it, yes. But if I did, it would have to be a silent partner. There’s no point having your own restaurant if you’ve got someone interfering all the time.’
‘And if people invest in a restaurant, they usually have an ulterior motive,’ Roberto said. ‘Either they fancy having a go at it themselves, but don’t have the experience, or they want to show off to their friends.’
‘Exactly. So I was thinking that I could start small, maybe renting somewhere, and build it up. I need to save a lot more money before I can do that, though. No point doing it without having a financial buffer.’
‘Too true. And in the meantime, you’re using your creativity to develop a potential future menu?’
‘In some ways, yes. It’s not the same, though, creating individual dishes or ones for mass catering. I’d like to go a bit further than I’m doing at the moment.’
‘How so?’
‘I was thinking of trying my hand at competitions.’ Jay felt nervous — it was a big thing to admit it to a chef he looked up to and he hoped Roberto wouldn’t laugh at him.
But Roberto didn’t laugh. Instead he said, ‘And have you found any you want to enter?’
‘Not yet, no, I’ve only just started thinking about it.’
‘In that case, I might be able to help you.’ Roberto sipped his coffee.
‘Really?’
‘Yes, there’s a new competition being set up to celebrate the food of London and the south-east. Chefs will be selected to have their own dish on the menu at a banquet later in the year.’
‘What? You mean likeGreat British Menu?’
‘Yes, but it’s only celebrating food from this region and it won’t be televised. It might be a good place to cut your teeth on competitions and at least it’s local.’
‘Sounds exciting.’ Jay took out his phone to find it online.
‘It does. You’ll have to get your skates on if you want to apply, though. The closing date isn’t far away.’
‘I’ll definitely look into it,’ Jay said. ‘How did you find out about it?’
‘They asked me to be a judge.’
‘You’re a judge?’ Jay asked, panicked that it would rule him out from entering.
‘No, I turned it down. I don’t have the time for anything like that at the moment, much as I would have enjoyed it.’
‘Well, it sounds perfect for me. Thank you, Roberto, you’ve made my day.’
Chapter Six
As they reached the exit of Bethnal Green Tube station, Jay took Emma’s hand in his.
‘Are you nervous?’ he asked.
‘Very.’ Although they’d been going out with each other for over eighteen months now, this was the first time she was going to meet any of his family. When Jay had come home on Friday night and said that his nan had invited them both for Sunday lunch and he’d like her to go, she’d been more than a little surprised, if not shocked. Jay had always been very private about his family. His dad had died when Jay was a teenager, and his mum had later remarried and had two more children — Jay’s half-brothers, twins who were now nine years old. Jay hadn’t got on with his stepfather and this had created a rift in the family. A rift that hadn’t healed. The only family member he did get on with — apart from his nan — was his older sister, Hannah, who lived in Australia.
