#squirrellyone

Part 1 (I guess?) (runs and hides somewhere)

            “Day-vey! We got a tricky one!”

            “Hit me!” It’s slower than usual in the restaurant and he always likes the challenge that a tricky customer brings. He’s never had a dissatisfied customer yet and it’s a record he’s not only proud of, but intends to keep.

            “He’s asked for the pork belly main, but with the pork belly entrée sauce. Here, he gave me a card with his list of food allergies…”

            He takes the card from Rachel’s fingers and scans down the list.

            “Tomatoes? The guy is allergic to tomatoes?”

            “The acid or something?” Rachel says, hazarding what is clearly a guess, but she’s a vegan, and he’s cooked for her enough times to know she’s probably right.

            Dave grimaces, because he can’t imagine not being able to not eat tomatoes. Or dairy. Or… wow. A lot of stuff. Gluten. Peppers. Some onions. Strawberries. Chocolate.

            “And this guy is actually brave enough to try eating out?”

            “Apparently, although he doesn’t look too happy about it. Sounds like it was all his dinner partner’s idea.”

            “Right. Well, go and ask him if he’s okay with coconut cream, coriander, sweet potatoe and soy. I’ll happily make him something from scratch, but it’ll take a while.”

            He flicks through the other orders, making sure that everything is on track for timing and waits for Rachel to return.

            “He said he’s more than happy to wait, seemed pleasantly surprised the chef was so accommodating actually. He’s cute. Just your type…” Rachel winks.

            He rolls his eyes and sets about starting a new sauce from scratch, making a conscious decision to use the gluten-free soya sauce after rewashing the pan carefully to remove any traces of gluten or dairy. Maybe he’s being over cautious, but he doesn’t know how bad this guys allergies are, he might keel over and die, and that would be extremely bad for his reputation.