Simmer Down

together for lunch sometime.” Barry, however, had taken Josh literally. I peeked at my boyfriend and raised an eyebrow.
    “Thank you.” Barry nodded. “It’s a rough time right now. Thought I’d stop in here for some comfort food, as they say.”
    “Yup,” Josh agreed. “We just whipped up something for him.”
    Oh, I got it. Josh was being cocky; he was showing off for the guy who’d lost this location. He might as well have stuck out his tongue and yelled, “Ha-ha!” Or maybe his tactic was to keep his friends close and his enemies closer. As Josh had pointed out, this “enemy,” Barry, could one day be a good connection. Or maybe Josh and Barry were just two food affkionados sharing their common interest?
    “Snack, how’s the veg doin’?” Josh asked his sous chef.
    “Just done now, Chef.” Snacker pulled the skillet off the heat and poured what Josh loosely referred to as a “hash” onto a plate. When Josh said hash, he didn’t mean some unidentifiable mess you’d find next to two fried eggs with a side of bacon. He meant a delicious combination of vegetables he’d pulled together, sauteed over high heat, and seasoned with a rich broth, a sauce, or just salt, pepper, olive oil, and maybe fresh thyme.
    Josh reached into an oven and, using only a thin dish towel, pulled out a tray to reveal a gorgeously browned game hen. He picked it up bare-handed, gently placed it on a cutting board, sliced off a beautiful portion, and added it to the plate with the hash.
    “Here you go, sir.” He carried the dish over to Barry. “And fresh rosemary bread, too,” he added, turning to another counter to cut a thick wedge from one of four loaves. “You’re next, Chloe,” he promised me with a wink, having probably seen the drool dripping down my chin.
    Barry took a mouthful from his plate and, when he finally swallowed, put down his plate and fork. “Superb. Really, Josh. Losing Oliver is miserable, and this is just what I needed.” Was he going to cry? “No wonder Gavin won’t part with even a share of this place. With you two here, Simmer is going to do well. It’s a dream.”
    Barry had come here to attempt the impossible feat of convincing Gavin Seymour to let him in on a restaurant that Gavin had just put oodles of money into? A restaurant on the verge of opening? And, more than everything else combined, a restaurant that he loved? What an idiot Barry was.
    “It’s just been a terrible few days. I’ve known Oliver most of my life, and to have him suddenly gone... well, it’s just unimaginable. We grew up together and started Full Moon together. Even with the disagreements we had, he was one of my best friends. Practically family.” He rested his head in one hand, but with the other hand, he kept eating. Barry looked positively heartbroken. I hoped that Josh’s comfort food fulfilled its mission by soothing some of Barry’s sadness.
    We’d just met Barry. Josh could at least offer the condolence of a delicious meal. I racked my brain to come up with something to say to a stranger who’d lost a best friend, but Barry was now focused on his food. Besides, he did have a wife and, presumably, friends who could help him deal with this loss, so I tried not to feel horribly inadequate. I have to admit that I was aching to ask him about Hannah, but it seemed cruel to push him to discuss Oliver’s death.
    Josh and Snacker looked as uncomfortable as I was with the silence that had now fallen, so I changed the subject. “So, tell me what’s been going on here today,” I said to the two chefs as I dug into the plate Josh had made up for me. It was identical to Barry’s: game hen with glorious hash and fresh rosemary bread.
    “Josh has been running me through the menu,” said Snacker, “and we’ve been cooking up some of the more complicated dishes so he can show me how he wants them plated. And, more importantly, I’ve been asking Josh if you have any single friends in need of some male companionship.”
    I laughed. I’d be surprised if Snacker didn’t get clubbed over the head and dragged back to some woman’s house by the end of the day. “I’ll work on it for you. I promise.”
    Josh groaned. “Hey, hey. Snacker’s got plenty to do around here to keep him busy, so don’t get him all distracted with one of your friends this early in the game.”
    After Barry and I had finished our food, he thanked Josh and Snacker and promised to return on New Year’s Eve. “I know how