A Restaurant for the Masses

The recording popularly known as <Kyle Pratt's Devil's Kitchen>—I don't even know its official title, but that's roughly what people called it—became wildly popular and was sold far and wide.

Count Klever was itching to film a follow-up as soon as possible, but I wasn't nearly as eager.

“I think making it is a good idea too, but if I devote myself solely to that, Maison Monbel will go under. I became famous as Maison Monbel's head chef, first and foremost.”

It wasn't a joke.

I had seen it in my previous life too.

The moment a head chef started running around appearing on broadcasts, working events, serving as a judge, consulting, and trading on their name, the establishment would gradually begin to wobble.

At first, more customers flocked in.

Because it had been on television, because it had become famous, because everyone said the place was so delicious.

But if the chef wasn't in the kitchen, the distinctive character that had made the restaurant famous gradually faded.

The sauces no longer tasted the same, the meat was cooked inconsistently, and the employees grew lax...