The Chef, the Critic, and the Steak

What Could Go Wrong?

"Oh, shit, there's a new one out. This won't be good." Kaminari scrolled through his phone with more attention than he gave to most things until he landed on the Reviews section of the website.

Each post was long and wordy, but nothing felt extravagant or unneeded, every horribly descriptive adjective chosen with precise care and thoughtfulness. One bad review - well, most of his were bad, really - could ruin a restaurant's reputation and put them out of business. Customers held onto the words of well-known food critic Bakugou Katsuki like meat dangled in front of a starving beast.

He was ruthless when it came to nitpicking every detail of the dishes he tried: taste, texture, smell, the freshness of the ingredients, presentation, how hot or cold something was when it came out of the kitchen, whether or not the kitchen used seasonal foods, along with several other criteria that chefs could only guess at.

Kaminari groaned as he read through the scathing article, knocking down one detail after another from a restaurant across town. "Ooh, man...this one probably won't last long."

"Hey, man," Sero announced as he walked into the kitchen and hung up his jacket. "Oh, are you reading another review? They just make you stressed out."

"I know, I know, but I can't help it! I'm addicted to gossip." Kaminari tossed the magazine onto the counter and put on his apron alongside Sero to prepare for their shift. "At least Kirishima isn't worried about something happening to this place. It's like nothing gets to him."

Sero shrugged and looked over the chalkboard menu where Kirishima, the restaurant owner, wrote down the rotating dishes for the day. "It's only a matter of time before that critic comes here. We're getting more and more popular so-"

"Hey, guys! Sorry I'm running late, had to pick up a few extra things for tonight." A man with shocking red hair tied back in a high ponytail walked into the back kitchen with several heavy-looking bags draped across his forearms. He was tall and built like a mountain with wide shoulders and a sturdy stance.

While Kirishima began laying out and organizing the various veggies and meats in the bags, Kaminari grabbed his magazine from earlier and waved it in front of his boss's face. "You seen today's review? It's especially bad," he asked while Sero rolled his eyes behind him.

Kirishima looked up, saw the magazine, and grinned a sharp-toothed smile full of confidence. "Nah, you know I don't like reading those. We've come a long way over the past two years, and I'm not about to let some asshole who gets a kick out of shutting down restaurants bring me down. Our food is good and our customers know it. That's all that matters."

"Told ya," Sero quipped as Kaminari tossed the magazine away once more in defeat.

Once the rest of the cooks and the waiters and waitresses showed up Kirishima dolled out orders for the night, explaining to everyone about the specials and to highlight the fresh ingredients he picked up. "We got this, everyone!" Kirishima's enthusiasm and perpetual positive attitude kept morale high and his regular customers happy. While other restaurants struggled, the restaurant he'd worked so hard for was coming together nicely.

When dinner service hit things started to pick up, servers running around while the kitchen worked like a well-oiled machine to crank out orders. Suddenly, Kaminari burst through the doors and nearly slipped on a stray puddle of water on the floor.

"No, no no! Not tonight! Not here! Ooh man, we're doomed," he screeched while his fingers pulled at his yellow hair. Sero kicked him in the leg.

"Get up! What's your problem? We're crazy busy right-"

"He's here! Ashido told me she saw him come in! Bro, we gotta go or flee or something," he said while struggling to stand up with his shaking nerves.