A Chef’s Sacrifice
Sam’s Place sat atop a hill overlooking the River Reme. It was a little way away from the rest of the cafes and restaurants in town, but for his loyal clientele, it was worth the trip. The quaint little building had once been a forge, and Sam had kept some of the original fittings to add to the quirkiness and some for practicality (the furnace happened to make a perfect pizza oven, for example).
Sam had poured his heart and soul into his restaurant for years, but when the pandemic hit, he found himself struggling to keep the business afloat. When things opened up again, not even the most generous of dinner specials had managed to lure the same amount of customers back through the door.
But as fate often does, it threw him a bone when he was least expecting it when, late one summer evening, a tall woman in an elegant figure-hugging black dress waltzed into the restaurant. It wasn’t long before her presence had drawn all the attention of the wait staff, creating a bit of a buzz in the privacy of the kitchen.
Sam, who was busy prepping some Norwegian salmon for searing, overheard one of the waiters exclaiming to another excitedly, “Do you know who that is? I follow her on Instagram.”
Sammy, always alert to opportunity, called the waiter over to his station.
“Oh, Franky. What’s that you say about the leggy blonde that just walked in?” he asked. Sammy had a great rapport with all his staff and enjoyed good banter with them too.
“Shayna McMillan - she’s one of the social media foodies, Sam – something like a million followers on Instagram,” the waiter replied.
“Is that a fact?” Sam mused before snapping into action. “Take her drinks order - I’ll handle her meal.”
“She’s a bit out of your league, boss,” Franky joked, ducking to miss the onion that Sam hurled across the kitchen at him.