Chapter 6

Posted: October 05, 2009 - 09:14:11 am

“What do you think about Pensacola, Florida?” Mark asked while chopping the cilantro into the small pieces.

“I don’t think about Pensacola, Florida,” Molly answered wondering what the reason for the question was.

“Start thinking about it,” Mark said.

“Why?” Molly asked looking up from the tomato she was dicing.

“I think it would be a good place for our restaurant,” Mark answered. He picked up a pepper and started to clean it.

“Pensacola?” Molly asked. It didn’t even dawn on her to question opening a restaurant with Mark. She picked up a second tomato and started to dice it.

“Yes. A couple of my cousins have set up a company there. They are always complaining about not having a good place to eat,” Mark said.

“I was thinking of someplace in New York or London,” Molly said. She picked up an onion and deftly removed the outer layer.

“Those places are boring,” Mark said.

“Boring?” Molly asked shocked at the suggestion that London or New York could ever appear in the same sentence as the word boring.

“Easy market,” Mark said.

“Are you kidding?” Molly said. The rich in those two cities had a clear understanding of great food and would be extremely critical of any flaw in flavor or presentation. She picked up the clove of garlic and set it on the wooden cutting board. A quick whack with the side of her knife and the skin fell off.

“No,” Mark said. He picked up an avocado and cut through it to the seed. With practiced ease, he cut around the seed separating the avocado into two halves. Giving it a twist, the avocado split into two pieces with the seed remaining in one of them.

Molly chopped the garlic into very small pieces and dumped half of the pieces into a mixing bowl. She wanted just enough garlic to provide a contrasting flavor. She said, “The New York and London markets for restaurants are the toughest in the world.”

“You’ve got people there who already have refined palates. With two of the greatest chefs in the world working in the kitchen, what kind of challenge is that? They would come to our restaurant and we’d be an overnight sensation. If we go to Pensacola then we would have to invent a regional flavor, develop a customer base, and establish a national reputation. That would be far more interesting than just opening a restaurant in New York or London,” Mark said.

“That would be a challenge,” Molly said thoughtfully. She watched Mark scoop the avocado from the skin and dump it into the mixing bowl. She picked up another avocado and cut it in half.

Mark picked up another avocado and started preparing it. He looked over at her and said, “We would have to start with a southern cuisine and slowly evolve it into something unique for the area. I figure it would take a couple of years to establish a good consistent customer base. Our first set of clients would probably be lawyers, doctors, and politicians. It would be a while before we’d pick up the old money crowd.”

Molly picked up the fourth avocado and went to work on it. She was silent while thinking about Mark’s idea. She had to admit that the idea of opening a restaurant was attractive although she would never have picked Pensacola as the location. She asked, “Where would we get the money?”

“I wouldn’t worry about that,” Mark said with a grin.

Molly took a sip of her wine and asked, “So which one of us is going to mash the avocado?”

“I thought we would do it together,” Mark said moving behind her. He wrapped his arms around her and took her hands in his. He could feel her shiver in response. Pressing his body against her back, they proceeded to mash the avocado into a thick chunky paste.

“You’re cheating,” Molly said. She groaned when he started nibbling on her neck. She tilted her head to give him easier access to her neck.

“This is nice,” Mark said.

“No it isn’t,” Molly said in a half hearted protest. Unable to stop herself, she pressed her ass against him.

“Thou doth complain too much,” Mark said with a grin. He reached over and dumped the contents of the second bowl into the paste.

Mixing the ingredients together, Molly said, “This looks good.”

“It looks almost as tasty as you,” Mark said. He squeezed half a lime over the bowl while she continued to mix the ingredients.

He nibbled on her earlobe. She shuddered and asked, “Do you really think we could make it work?”

“Yes,” Mark answered. He reached over for a chip from the store bought bag of chips. He scooped a bit of the guacamole onto the chip and offered it to Molly. She ate the chip with a low moan of appreciation.

“That’s good,” Molly said. She grabbed a chip and topped it with a bit of guacamole. She turned and fed it to Mark.

“That is good. Just the right amount of garlic,” Mark said.

Molly said, “Okay. So our assignment is to come up with a full menu for a restaurant in Pensacola, Florida. That sounds a little challenging.”

“We don’t graduate until we come up with a five star menu,” Mark said. They not only had to come up with the menu, but serve it to a crowd of customers. It was all part of a charity event to raise money for breast cancer research.

“So where do we start?” Molly asked thankful that they had three weeks for this last assignment. They had achieved an impressive record consisting of ten five star dishes over the past few weeks. The challenges had gotten progressively more difficult. It had started with simple dishes, themed meals, and progressed to fixed budget meals. The last one had required them to prepare a seven course meal with less than five dollars worth of ingredients.

“I suggest that we start by moving over to the couch and eating this guacamole,” Mark said.

Molly eyed the couch with dread. She knew what would happen once they reached the couch and knew that she would be helpless in stopping him. It would start with feeding each other and then end with clothes being scattered around the room. She was still missing a pair of panties from the last meal they had prepared together.

Mark turned to the refrigerator and removed a pitcher from it. He held it up and said, “I made a little something to go with the guacamole. Would you like a Margarita?”

Reaching up to the top button of her blouse, Molly said, “I might as well get naked now.”

“That’s my girl,” Mark said with a grin.

“I’m not your girl,” Molly said. She hoped that none of their classmates would decide to come down for an afternoon snack.

Molly looked at the menu feeling like something was missing from it. Every high class restaurant had a core set of dishes that were basically expected and then a few signature dishes on which the reputation of the place rested. They had the typical appetizers, main courses, side dishes, and desserts that would serve for clientele that did not have developed palates. She was pleased with their signature dishes, but there was something missing from the menu. She looked over at Mark and said, “Something is missing.”

“I know,” Mark said.

“What do you think it is?” Molly asked. She looked over the menu and decided that she didn’t like it at all. Like a lot of ideas, the idea of a nice southern cuisine restaurant had sounded great until they had started working out the details involved.

Mark shrugged his shoulders while staring at the menu. He dropped the menu on the table and said, “The more that I think about it, the less I like the menu as a whole.”

“Same here,” Molly said. “I’ve almost decided that I don’t like the idea of a restaurant.”

Mark looked across the table at Molly for several long seconds trying to decide what she meant by that. He sighed and said, “Maybe we need to step back for a bit and think about something else for a while.”

Victoria entered the kitchen and said, “I’m hungry for a snack. Do we have any cookies here?”

“No,” Mark answered.

“We can make some for you if you’re willing to wait a while,” Molly said wanting a break from working on the menu.