“I noticed,” Lindsay said with a smile.
“I didn’t know enough to judge,” Joey said with a shrug. “I’m not used to failing. But I guess I could only coast on my name for so long. So I closed the restaurant before I dug too big a hole for myself.”
“So what’s next for you?”
“Well, my hope is to rebrand and reopen. I figured I could start by picking a better chef. You know anyone?”
Lindsay laughed, not sure if he was kidding. She mumbled something about the name of her culinary school and still being in touch with several graduates.
“That’s a great school,” Joey said. “I, uh, have done a lot of research in the last couple of weeks.”
“That’s a good first step. And it’s not that I want restaurants to fail. I just want them to be good.”
“If you were in charge, what would you do here?”
Lindsay balked, surprised to be confronted with this question again. But she was honest. “Well, since we found out Pepper closed, my friends and I have been talking about what we’d do to replace it.” That sounded like a more significant investment than was warranted, so Lindsay added, “One of my best friends manages the cat café across the street, so she keeps tabs on what’s going on in the neighborhood.”
“Oh, sure. Wow, that’s cool. Is it really a café with cats? I haven’t had the chance to stop in yet.”
“Yeah. One of my friends from culinary school is the pastry chef, actually. So you can go there for breakfast or lunch takeout, or you can get a scone and a latte and hang out in a room with the cats. There are usually about a dozen cats in the café at a time.”
“I’ll have to check it out sometime. That sounds really cool.” Joey grinned. His teeth were unnaturally white and straight.
“Anyway, we thought what the neighborhood needed was a kid-friendly family restaurant in the midprice range. We’ve got plenty of casual places, and there’s a fine-dining restaurant a couple of doors down, but there are not many places where all the families in this part of Brooklyn can bring their kids and sit down for a meal.”
Joey nodded slowly. “That’s not the kind of thing I would have imagined investing in, but that’s a really good point. Cater to what the neighborhood needs.”
“Brooklyn is not Manhattan.”
“That’s true. This part of Brooklyn has been developing so much that I imagined it would have a vibe more similar to Manhattan than anything else, but I was definitely wrong about that. At least I got a good deal on this space.”
Lindsay actually kind of doubted that. Lauren had encountered the real estate developer who owned the building a couple of years before, so Lindsay had heard he was ruthless. Joey had probably gotten swindled. He struck Lindsay as being a little naive.
“Anyway,” Joey said. “I’m glad you came by today. I wanted you to know that I bear you no ill will. In fact, ever since you called, I’ve been wondering ifyouwanted to cook here.”
“Me?” Well, that seemed crazy. Sure, Lindsay had been fantasizing about running a restaurant, but she hadn’t expected anyone to offer her a job.
“Sure. You have a culinary school degree and some restaurant experience, right?”
“A little.”
“And I saw you judge that show on the Food Channel. You clearly know what you’re talking about.”
“Sure, but that doesn’t mean I can cook restaurant-quality food.”
“Only one way to find that out.”
Lindsay stared at Joey for a long moment, trying to work out if he was serious. “Are you…”
“Cook me something.”
Lindsay’s heart pounded. This was really happening. “Uh, what should I cook?”
“Can you cook a steak?”
“Sure.”
Joey sat there looking at her expectantly. “Cook a steak. The kitchen is fully stocked. Make something with whatever you find there.”
