Caleb was a good dad, Lindsay reflected as she tried not to see her face on the TV. Hannah wore a pink dress with ruffles, an interesting contrast to Caleb’s rougher edges. He had on a blue T-shirt with his veterinary clinic logo and jeans, and Lauren was similarly dressed in mom attire of a purple tunic and leggings, but they looked perfectly content holding their baby.
She heard herself make a dumb joke about skirt steak on screen and shook her head.
Luckily, most of the episode focused on the chefs and what they were up to. The camera panned over the chefs chopping and blending and sautéing. Lindsay did actually find this kind of thing interesting; she still had enough of her culinary schooling in her to appreciate good knife work and nice plating.
At the commercial, she said, “I couldn’t see most of this from where I was sitting. I mean, I could see that the chefs were working, but not close up like this.”
“My French technique teacher would have some things to say about Chef Allen’s knife skills,” Brad said, gesturing at the TV.
“Yeah, his work is a little sloppy,” said Lindsay. “Tasted good, though.”
“I’ve always wanted to know what it would be like to judge a show like this,” said Caleb. “I don’t really know anything more advanced than ‘this tastes good’ or ‘this tastes bad,’ so I probably wouldn’t make good TV, but to taste a meal like that must be something.”
“On your next anniversary,” said Brad, “take Lauren to City Tavern on Essex on the Lower East Side. I know a chef there and can probably finagle a table for you to try the tasting menu. I promise you will not be disappointed. They do all kinds of experimental food there, but the executive chef is at the top of his game, and everything is delicious.”
Lindsay was conscious of the fact that Brad was watching her, but she rolled her eyes anyway. “Brad knows everyone.”
“What?” said Brad. “I mean, I do, but in this case, I worked with the pastry chef at Milk Bar, and she introduced me to the executive chef. City Tavern is basically new takes on very old dishes, but it’s excellent.”
“If you find me a reliable babysitter,” Lauren said, “that sounds delightful.”
The show came back on for the judging portion of the first round. Lindsay mostly looked at the floor because looking at the screen seemed to make every flaw apparent. She had one flyaway bit of hair the hairdresser had failed to tame. Her mascara was a little smudgy on her left eye. But that was fairly minor. Her voice was what grated on her. Did she really sound that nasal?
On screen, Ben Hawthorne said, “And the chefs moving to the next round are…” before the show crashed too commercial again.
“Hearing you talk about food is wild,” said Josh. “I had no idea you were so knowledgeable.”
“Ididgo to culinary school.”
“The sliders are amazing, Linds,” said Evan. “Even the veggie ones. Did you use that weird, pink fake-meat stuff?”
“I did. It cooks up quite nicely. No one will ever convince me it’s beef, but I like using it for burgers. They’re lighter tasting than beef burgers.”
“What’s in the sauce?” Brad asked.
“Trade secret.”
Brad smirked and licked some sauce off the bun of one of his sliders. “Let’s see. Mayo base, I think. Something sweet, probably honey. No, maple syrup. Some kind of spice blend that is heavy on black pepper and paprika. And it’s got a bit of a kick, so…sriracha.”
“You’re just showing off,” said Lindsay.
Brad grinned. “It’s good sauce. I was asking for your recipe.”
“The show’s back on.”
After the segment of chefs making their second-round dishes with heavy cream, Lindsay turned to Brad and asked, “All right, Mr. Pastry. What would you make?”
“With heavy cream?” He considered. “Tres leches cake.”
“In a half hour?”
“Sure. If you make small cakes, they’ll bake in twenty minutes or less. I might make little cakes in ramekins and have them bake while I make the rest of the components.”
“Tres leches cake.” How very Brad to think up something fairly complicated and hard to pull off in half an hour. Lindsay thought he’d be able to do it, though.
Brad shrugged. “First thing that popped into my head. Also, as we’re about to see, I did win this damn show.”
When the episode ended and finally put Lindsay out of her misery, her friends all clapped.
