She worried for Brad, though. Maybe the dish was too simple.
Priya praised him for cooking the lobster perfectly. Zachary really liked the balance of flavors in the slaw. Amanda said she wanted to lick the aioli off the bun. They all agreed, though, that a lobster roll wasn’t much of a risk.
On the other hand, one of the other chefs brutally overcooked their lobster, and the judges agreed it was chewy. Another of the chefs had gone a little experimental with the seasoning, and the judges disagreed about whether it tasted good. But one chef had managed a lobster bisque in a short amount of time that the judges were positively orgasmic over.
When it was time to announce who would be moving on to the next round, Lindsay leaned forward to watch the proceedings on TV, hardly able to breathe in anticipation. She wanted Brad to have a chance to knock the judges’ socks off with a dessert.
When he made it through to the second round, the look of surprise that came over her face hit Lindsay right in the solar plexus.
Could it be that she wanted good things for him?
Of course she did. Of course. But her feelings were complicated. It reminded her of when she heard he’d gotten the job at Milk Bar. Part of her was excited someone she knew had gotten a job somewhere famous. She was glad he was successful, she was happy for him. But she was jealous, too. She’d imagined she’d have a career cooking in great restaurants, but that just wasn’t how her life had played out. She had a lot of regrets about her life, and that was one of them. So learning about Brad’s successes had hurt in a way; here he was having this amazing life in the industry she loved, too, and she was… what? Writing restaurant reviews for a few cents a word? She’d made the right choice for herself at the time. She knew that in her gut. But maybe, deep down, the reason why she found Brad’s arrival back in her life so disturbing was that he made her feel like failure all over again.
He hadn’t even done anything. He just…existed. And these were Lindsay’s own issues apart from him. But seeing him again brought all her old insecurities roaring back.
The secret ingredient for Brad’s dessert round was arbol chiles. The camera zoomed in on Brad’s face the moment he started turning over ideas for how to put a fairly hot pepper into a dessert.
What he came up with was a Mexican chocolate cupcake.
Lindsay worried he couldn’t get the cupcakes baked in the allotted time, but he got them in the oven immediately before turning his attention to making frosting. He got those cupcakes out of the oven in time to shove them in the freezer to cool before he frosted them. Lindsay wondered if his time working in a cupcake shop had taught him how to do all this quickly.
The other chef went in a savory direction and made a chicken dish. It did look great when he finished it.
But while the judges found the dish tasty, arbol chile plus Mexican-inspired chicken thighs and rice wasn’t really reinventing the wheel. Everyone seemed tremendously impressed by the cupcakes, though. Amanda said, “I can’t believe you made cupcakes that fast,” about eight times.
The cameras kept running while the judges deliberated. Lindsay’s heart started to race as she realized that, though the judges liked both dishes, they were more impressed by the cupcakes.
Aaron snuck into the green room. “I thought he was a seat filler,” he said. “I asked him yesterday to sub in because one of my chefs canceled. He didn’t want to do it, but I talked him into it. He assumed he’d flame out in the savory round.”
Lindsay let out a heavy sigh. “Isn’t it just like Brad to win the whole thing.”
“You know him?” asked Claudia.
“We used to date.” Lindsay turned to Aaron. “I kinda feel like you kept me out of that round more because of Brad than because eating lobster makes my whole face swell up.”
Aaron smiled sheepishly. “I did engineer the lobster round to coincide with Brad’s presence on set.”
They watched as the judges came to an agreement. Aaron stood next to Lindsay as they watched the chefs go back in for judgment.
The undeniable thing about watching Brad cook is that he was good and he deserved his success. When the judges declared him the winner, he accepted it humbly and thanked them.
He was right, about everything. Lindsay didn’t have much faith in love or romantic relationships. She’d spent that entire year they’d dated waiting for the other shoe to drop. It never did, but when their graduation was pending, when she knew the culinary-school bubble would pop, making plans suddenly felt essential. So when Brad kept putting her off, she figured he wasn’t in it for the long haul. And he was right, Phoebe was an excuse. Lindsay could have let him explain himself. She could have forgiven him, even. She chose not to.
She’d wondered for five years if she made the wrong choice.
A production assistant stuck her head in the green room and said, “Hey, guys, we’re ready for you on set.”
The third episode featured judges Lindsay, Pedro, and Claudia. Lindsay worried she wouldn’t be able to come up with anything intelligent to say, given how distracted she felt. Was Brad still here? Did he know she was here? He must have. Should she talk to him?
Cameras were rolling, though. Nopales was the mystery ingredient, which felt like the show was pandering to Pedro. One of the chefs that round worked in a vegetarian restaurant and made a Mexican-inspired entrée in which the nopales was grilled and treated like a steak. He was an easy pass into the second round.
The two final chefs cooked plantains. One went in a caramelized dessert direction, and the other went in a savory, deep-fried direction. Both were delicious, but the dessert eked out the win.
The whole day had taken almost eight hours. As they wrapped up and got ready to head home, Aaron walked over to her and said, “Greatjob. Just the right amount of snark and compliments for the chefs. I’m way impressed.”
“Thanks!” Lindsay hadn’t expected a compliment like that, but she appreciated hearing it.
“I’ve got judges booked for the rest of the season, but can I call you if I have a cancellation? I like to have a couple of locals on standby.”
