Food Wars: Tavern

The moon, like flowing water, is gentle and tranquil.

It may not be as dazzling as the sunlight, but it exudes a soft and serene glow.

The soft yellow lights cast a faint glow, creating a romantic atmosphere inside the tavern.

The gentle saxophone music slowly fills the air, like an invisible smoke, gradually occupying the hearts of the diners!

At this moment of the celebration banquet, delicious dishes abound.

Each dish is personally prepared by the tavern owner, Zane.

Megumi, Yuuki, Ryoko, Zenji, and Satoshi, among others, are enjoying the food, drinking floral tea, laughing and chatting.

Throughout the entire celebration, Zane seemed like an unrelated spectator, observing this interesting group, listening to their respective stories and backgrounds!

Soon, three hours passed, and there were less than two hours until the tavern would close.

This celebration banquet, organized by the residents of Polaris Residency, finally came to an end!

"Everyone, had a good time?" Zane, with a faint smile on his face, asked them as he collected the bills.

"Owner, to be honest, your place is awesome!" Yuuki commented without hesitation.

Student gatherings are generally simple, with modest expectations.

Usually, at taverns, banquet packages can cost over ten thousand yen per person, and the portions are small.

Each dish is barely tasted, a piece of fried chicken, a slice of sashimi, a chopstick of noodles, and the rest of the time is spent drinking.

Although banquets usually last for over 2 hours, with such portions and dining style, it's not very enjoyable!

However, unexpectedly, Zane's tavern serves generous portions for each dish.

Not only that, the dishes are exceptionally delicious, leaving Yuuki and others feeling extremely satisfied!

Most importantly, the price of each dish is surprisingly affordable, making them increasingly fond of this tavern.

Food is the source of joy, unlike using alcohol to dispel worries, delicious dishes can truly bring happiness and satisfaction to people.

The quality of the dishes largely determines the success of an tavern!

Indeed, Zane's tavern.

Due to its relatively recent opening, it is not widely known.

Yet, the delicacy of each dish, his exceptional culinary skills, and the affordable prices make every diner quickly feel a sense of belonging here!

"Owner, this is an tavern that offers alcohol and dishes, but why don't I see a menu here?" Yuuki, now full and content, continued her conversation with Zane like a chatterbox.

"We have different daily ingredients, so we don't have a fixed menu," Zane explained. "As long as there are available ingredients or something you want to eat that I can prepare, you are free to order it!"

"I see, that's actually a nice rule!"

"Typical taverns often cover a variety of Japanese cuisine in their menu, such as sushi, tempura, soba, as well as various Japanese sake, green tea, and specialty drinks for patrons to choose from."

"But the feeling I get from your tavern doesn't seem like a place specifically for selling Japanese cuisine."

"Oh, really? Can't a tavern sell other dishes?" Zane asked with a smile.

"Not really, it's just... it's just a feeling I get. Owner, you do things so casually, you don't seem to be constrained by convention and rules!" Yuuki blushed slightly and responded awkwardly.

In fact, the tavern of the new era is very different from traditional ones.

To meet the diverse needs of diners, emerging chain taverns often offer a variety of Japanese and Western dishes.

They even use iPads for ordering, and the menu is available in multiple languages.

Despite the diversity in form and style, one thing remains true: for people, a tavern is a place to be themselves!

The tavern operated by Zane may differ in form from others, but with the casual and free ordering rules, it satisfies the appetites and hearts of its patrons.

"Okay, Yuuki, it's getting late, we should go back!" At this moment, Megumi, who was in the tavern, tugged at Yuuki's sleeve and softly reminded her.

"I understand, Owner, that's it then." Despite wanting to chat with Zane a little longer, Yuuki quickly got up, went to Megumi, and waved to say goodbye.

"Take care!" Zane nodded.

In the end, this group of Polaris Residency residents left the tavern in a joyful mood.

The night grew even deeper!

Since the departure of Megumi and her group, the tavern became a little less lively and a little more peaceful.

Even though there were still some customers coming in to eat and drink, the overall atmosphere became a bit quieter.

Previously, at this time, Rindo, the second seat of the Elite Ten, would always be at the tavern!

But tonight, she hadn't shown up at the tavern at all. This must be the first time in over a month since the tavern opened that Rindo hadn't come.

For some reason, Zane surprisingly missed her.

After that, two regular customers and one new customer appeared at the tavern.

Two black cars were parked at the tavern's entrance, with two girls getting out of the front car. The car behind them carried an old man with white hair!

"Grandpa, this is the place!" Erina, who had just gotten off the car, quickly came to the director's side and whispered.

"This adjacent restaurant is the Shunkatei, I remember..." The director paused, trying to recall something.

Finally, he seemed to remember and said with sudden realization, "This Shunkateirestaurant is run by Sonoka, who graduated in '89, right?"

"Yes, that's Sonoka Senpai."

"Well, to be able to run a tavern next to Kukuchi, it seems that person is no ordinary individual!"

After saying this, the director walked into the tavern with hopeful anticipation.

Erina and Hisako, following behind, exchanged glances and quickly walked in together.

—-------

Director!

Being the highest authority at the Totsuki Academy.

Simultaneously holding significant influence over neon nation's culinary world, he is revered as the "Food Demon King."

Although this director rarely appears in front of the students, his "survival of the fittest" teaching method has a critical impact on the academy's education and operations.

Of course, the unexpected presence of this director at the tavern didn't surprise the owner, Zane, much!

Just coming in, the whole decor of the tavern feels very classical and traditional.

There seem to be fewer customers as it's almost closing time, and most of them seem to be ordinary people.

As for the owner, he is a young man about 20 years old.

He looks particularly handsome, but there's always a kind of composure in his manner that is different from his age.

So, just a glance at him left a deep impression on the director!

Later, the director casually found a place to sit down.

"Erina, why do you have time to come to the tavern again tonight?"

However, just then, Zane bypassed the director and went to greet Erina.

"I... can't I come to the tavern every day?" Erina, startled at first, then gave Zane a resentful look. "Besides, this time, it's because my grandfather wanted to come to your tavern."

"You should feel lucky. If it weren't for me, do you think such a small tavern would be worth a visit from the Totsuki Academy director himself?"

"Hehe, if you want to eat my cooking, just say it."

"Must you always come up with such lousy excuses every time to fool me?"

"Who... who's fooling you?"

"This time, it's really the Totsuki Academy director who wanted to come to the tavern. I... Hisako and I are just accompanying."

As Erina "bickered" again.

"What would you like to eat?"

"Reincarnated Spring Rolls, with a larger portion, otherwise it doesn't feel sufficient to eat!"

"See, you answered so quickly."

"And you even have to remind me to make it a larger portion, you're clearly craving my... um, my cooking!"

"You... You..."

Realizing that she had been teased by Zane, Erina's face turned red in an instant.

"Alright, you're like this, I won't tease you anymore."

"Tell me, why are you, your grandpa, and Hisako coming to the tavern this time? What dishes do you want?"

Seeing Erina's rare embarrassed expression, Zane felt a bit satisfied.

But everything should have a limit, and he knew he should stop now. So after pretending to cough twice, he formally asked.

"Zane, I just told you."

"I want Reincarnated Spring Rolls, with a larger portion!"

"Unfortunately, we don't have red snapper tonight, so we can't make Reincarnated Spring Rolls!"

"What?"

"No Reincarnated Spring Rolls?"

Erina paused, feeling that she had praised Zane so much in front of the director before. Yet, right at this moment, at this critical time when she could prove she wasn't lying, Zane couldn't even provide his best dish?

"Are you doing this on purpose?"

Gradually blushing, Erina bit her lip with her white teeth. Finally, her tense face relaxed.

But it was clear that she was quite displeased with Zane at the moment!

"I'm not lying to you!" Zane remained in place, calmly responding.

In fact, he still had a red snapper in hand. After all, the system rewarded him with ten high-quality red snappers last time, and he couldn't use them up.

But this time, he didn't plan to use Reincarnated Spring Rolls to entertain Erina and the others.

The reasons are twofold:

One, the process and preparation for the Reincarnated Spring Rolls are particularly troublesome.

Two, he had just obtained a new special recipe for Ascending Dragon Dumplings. So he wanted to use Erina's divine palate ability to test the power of the Ascending Dragon Dumplings.

"The Reincarnated Spring Rolls you want can't be made because we don't have red snapper tonight."

"But I've developed a new dish, and I can guarantee that it is definitely comparable to the Reincarnated Spring Rolls!"

"Huh? You... you've developed a new dish again?"

Hearing this, Erina, who had felt quite low-spirited, turned shocked.

After all, in the last three days, she had been to the tavern three times, and every time she met Zane, he would say the same thing: "I've developed a new dish again!"

 No!

Are dishes nowadays really that easy to create?

Even for a real chef, sometimes it takes a year, several years, or even a lifetime to develop a new dish.

Then, through relentless effort and continuous improvement, the new dish gradually becomes perfected!

Unconventional geniuses like Erina can use the divine palate ability to create new dishes in a very short time!

But how many people in this world actually possess the divine palate ability?

"What...what's the new dish?"

Erina, shocked yet curious and hopeful, asked.

"It has a nice name, but since you wouldn't understand, I'll tell you plainly - it's essentially a dumpling made with shrimp meat!"

"Shrimp meat?"

"Dumplings?"

"What kind of shrimp is used?"

"A jumbo shrimp, you can find it at the supermarket, it's very cheap!"

Zane replied truthfully.

Erina: ???

Sometimes, she really doesn't want to chat with Zane.

Because while chatting, she might really get annoyed!

Clearly, the last time, the red snapper variety used for Reincarnated Spring Rolls was expensive and of excellent quality.

But this time, the new dish is just regular shrimp dumplings, made with a common jumbo shrimp variety commonly found in coastal areas of China.

"Let me tell you, even though it's made with regular shrimp meat, the key is not the quality of the shrimp but the dumpling skin."

"And it ensures a never-before-experienced taste sensation, coupled with a strong visual effect. I think you'll like it when you try it!"

Zane explained gently in front of Erina.

"Really?"

Erina, somewhat skeptical.

"I'm not lying to you!"

Zane nodded in confirmation.

"Alright, then I'll have three... hmm, larger portions of the shrimp dumplings!"

Erina replied.

"OK, please wait."

After taking this order, Zane turned back to the cooking counter.

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This was a 2-in-1 chapter, meaning there is 2 different chapters in this 1 chapter. Make sure to give more power stones! Had a little more time today to fit 2 in 1.