Steamed

and I’d love some Kobe beef. Garrett’s good, though—he can dress up the lower-cost food and come up with solid dishes on our budget. But he needs some pricier ingredients to work with to make the menu spectacular. Fresh morels, foie gras, that sort of stuff. We’ve got a few high-priced items thrown in, like the filet with the lobster hash. Got to have a filet—there are always people who have to have steak. Chefs get so damn tired of making it, so I let Garrett splurge on that—spruce it up and make it a unique dish.”
    “That looked wonderful,” I spoke up. “I was thinking about ordering it, but Eric is having the chef do something for us.” I paused. “I hope that’s all right?”
    “Excellent. I’m glad you went ahead and asked. Actually, I've already arranged for Garrett to give you a tasting. I’ve brought in a few more ingredients for him to play with tonight so you can see what the menu could look like if we had another investor to increase our budget.” Tim winked at me and patted Eric’s shoulder. “But Garrett’s coming along. This is his first executive chef gig, and he’s struggling a bit, but I think he’s going to work out. I begged Maddie to let me take Josh from Magellan, but there was no way she was parting with him. Not that I blame her. I wouldn’t have parted with him either. Josh Driscoll is unreal. I don’t know how we were lucky enough to find him. But she let him help Garrett with the menu, which has been great. And she let me take Magellan’s hostess, Joelle, and one of the waiters, Ian, so that’s helped me out a ton. And even Veronica to do the books here, too.”
    Just then, a tall flame leaped from the grill, and Tim, Eric, and I reflexively leaned away from the heat.
    Chef Garrett started yelling at no one in particular. “Dammit! Who turned the heat up? Where are my apps? Move it, move it!” He rubbed his eyes and continued working over the now-subdued grill, sweat visible on his forehead and neck.
    Eric just shook his head and smiled and called over to Garrett, “You okay?”
    “Yeah, just my damn eyebrows again. Third time this week I’ve singed ’em. Might as well just shave them off and get it over with,” he answered. Garrett shook a saucepan, violently mixing its contents and sending an aromatic cloud our way. He turned around to face us. “Hey, Eric! Sorry, I’ve been so crazed tonight, I didn’t even see you at my counter. Hope I haven’t scared you off from joining forces?” Garrett reached out to shake Eric’s hand.
    “No way, kid. Things are looking good to me.” Eric pumped Garrett’s hand. “Just gotta taste your dishes tonight, though, to make sure! I can’t pass up a free meal,” Eric snickered.
    “Don’t worry,” Tim assured him. “If you get on board with Essence, every meal here’ll be on the house, of course.” A look of concern cut across his face.
    “Hey, I'm just kidding. I know you’ll take care of me,” Eric said. “Oh, Garrett, this is Chloe. She’s the one you’re really going to have to impress.”
    “Well, then, Chloe. What’ll it be?” Garrett asked. “Any special requests?”
    I was momentarily distracted by the chef’s charred eyebrows but managed to regain my composure enough to say that I was sure anything he made would be outstanding.
    He clapped his hands together and announced that he was off to work on our mystery dinner—our chef’s tasting—which would be five courses, each a sample of what he could do.
    “I’m up for anything,” I replied excitedly.
    Garrett left to work some magic, I hoped, and I turned to Eric. The sights and aromas of the kitchen, as well as the fun of meeting the owner and the chef, had changed my mind about Eric’s harping about his insider knowledge. Now I wanted to hear the secrets of the restaurant world.
    Instead, I got a boring lecture on Eric’s business (something incomprehensible about financial planning) and a monologue about his professional success, which, he emphasized, had afforded him the opportunity to drive a Land Rover and invest in Essence. Eric took my hand in his. “It is so wonderful to have you here with me tonight. The beautiful Chloe, here helping me with one of the biggest decisions of my life. I couldn’t ask for a more perfect companion on this special evening.” Inappropriate though the words were on a first date, and a blind one at that, they would have sounded touching if Eric had been looking at me instead of over my