"Damn it, why are there so many orders all of a sudden?!"
The head chef, who had been enjoying a bit of downtime, stared at the endless stream of order tickets, completely frozen in place.
"Smoked Salmon... Smoked Salmon... Still more Smoked Salmon??"
A quick glance revealed that out of a dozen or so orders, every single one included the same dish.
It was an appetizer that typically had moderate sales. There was never a rush for it, but it was also a reliable, foolproof item.
It was easy to make, could be prepped in advance, and had a long shelf life. Plus, since almost every restaurant had a similar dish, their daily output was nearly constant, hovering between five and eight orders.
October was the off-season for tourism. Without the usual crowds of foreign visitors, the restaurant had been getting quieter by the day.
The sudden flood of orders not only caught him off guard but also left the lazy kitchen staff dumbfounded.
RING RING RING—
The phone rang.
The front-of-house manager glanced at him and picked up the receiver. "Hello, this is the White Whale. How may I help you?"
"I saw online that your restaurant has a smoked salmon appetizer. I'd like to reserve two orders of the same dish made by Chef Lin. I was wondering if you could make a custom order?"
"Chef Lin?"
The front-of-house manager's big, sapphire-blue eyes were filled with confusion. She turned to the head chef. "Since when do we have a chef named Lin?"
"Wrong number?"
The head chef, who hadn't heard the call, was frantically punching numbers on a calculator, afraid he'd miscounted the orders. He replied without looking up.
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but we don't have a chef named Lin here."
"Oh, my apologies, that's my mistake. Chef Lin is the name of the young chef from Great Xia who's on season fourteen of *Wild Survival*. The delicious food he's making with natural ingredients in the Alaska Forest looks so tempting. It's causing a huge discussion on YouTube and TikTok."
"What? Season fourteen of *Wild Survival*?"
The manager scratched her head and turned back to the head chef. "Chef, the customer says she wants to order the same dish that Chef Lin from season fourteen of *Wild Survival* made. It seems to be the smoked salmon. Have you seen the show?"
"Season fourteen? Since when is there a season fourteen?"
The moment he heard the words "smoked salmon," it all clicked for the head chef. No wonder so many identical orders had suddenly appeared.
'If this customer on the phone is making this request, maybe all these other orders are for the same reason.'
He reached out, miming a tap in the air, then immediately pulled a laptop out from under the counter and started searching online.
"One moment, ma'am. Our chef is looking it up... As you know, we're not allowed to use electronic devices in the kitchen during work hours, so he needs to check to see if he can make it."
On an off-season afternoon, aside from prepping ingredients for dinner service, the entire restaurant staff was usually idle.
If you saw a portly man sunbathing on a lounge chair near the restaurant, you could bet he was either the owner or the head chef.
The sudden flood of orders made the head chef, who had been about to slack off, see a business opportunity. He realized that if he could seize this moment, he might be able to make a name for the restaurant.
"A 24/7 livestream?"
He exclaimed in surprise when he logged onto the show's main page and saw fifteen different screens flashing constantly.
He hadn't watched the show carefully, but he'd come across clips online and knew it was a pre-recorded program.
By the time the show officially aired, the contestants were already back home, relaxing.
But the live feeds staring back at him confirmed his suspicion: this season was actually being broadcast in real time!
'That means the smoked salmon the customer was talking about must have just appeared on the show not long ago!'
But this raised a new problem.
If it was live, where was he supposed to find the clip from earlier?
His eyes scanned the screen and quickly settled on the largest feed in the top-left corner.
As the only Asian contestant, Lin Chen's features stood out, making him instantly recognizable.
Besides... he was the only one eating. All the other contestants were busy with their own tasks.
"I suggest you just search with keywords," came the woman's patient voice from the phone. "All the clips of the food Chef Lin has made in the last two days have been uploaded to YouTube."
To make communication easier, the front-of-house manager had put the call on speakerphone.
The head chef immediately opened a new tab and typed in the two keywords, "Wild Survival" and "Chef Lin." Just as she'd said, the search results were flooded with video clips of Lin Chen cooking in the forest.
'Hey, isn't this just a Northern European cure? Oh, wait, he added the method for maple-cured salmon later. Fusion cuisine? Interesting.'
Lin Chen explained every step in great detail, making it easy to understand even for a kitchen novice, let alone a professional chef like himself.
The head chef immediately gave a big thumbs-up.
"No problem, we can do it. But proper smoking takes at least half a day. If we copy the video's method exactly, it'll be much faster, but the final product might not have the best texture."
The woman on the other end of the line clearly had her answer ready.
"No problem. How about this: I'll reserve two orders for tomorrow, and another two for tonight. For tonight's order, just follow the method in the video. I want to taste it for myself and compare it with tomorrow's version."
"Of course, ma'am. Please leave your name and phone number, and let us know what time you'll be picking it up..."
While the manager was busy confirming the details with the customer, the head chef had already picked up his own phone.
"Hey, buddy! I need you to send over a case of sour cream and some baguettes right now. Do you have any prepped fresh Red Salmon? Send a case of that, too!"
After hanging up, he relayed the news to the kitchen crew while quickly scribbling down the recipe steps and a list of ingredients on a piece of paper.
"You, go chop some dill. You're going to make a flavored sour cream with lemon juice, sea salt, black pepper, and honey. The sour cream is on its way."
"You, go to the supermarket at the crossroads and buy a bag of applewood."
"And you, old pal, slice up a bowl of red onions. Start pickling them with apple cider vinegar and honey—no heat. Also, make a purée with green apples and lemon juice. Use the food processor, not the high-speed blender. Add some chives and dill. We'll use it to cure the Red Salmon later."
"Quick, quick, quick! Everybody move! Whether or not this restaurant makes a name for itself depends on these dozen-or-so orders!"
At his command, the lazy atmosphere in the back of the house instantly grew tense.
The head chef himself didn't stay idle. He started opening videos from the past two days, planning to first watch all of Lin Chen's clips.
"Oh? What kind of technique is this? The fish broth is actually white..."