First Bowl [Ship Planning Video]

[ricebird]

[Kotori planned on this being a text post. Keyword being planned, because the tortoiseshell cat on her shoulder decided to bat at the light box and press the "live video" button.]

Ah! Slowburn-chan, no--!

[Oh. They're live. Lovely. Not how she wanted this to go, and her face is RED on camera, but no choice but to roll with it.]

Ahaha, um... hi, everyone. So um... I meant to text this, but... I guess I have a few questions?

So someone brought up the idea of a restaurant ship, one that'd be open to both sides and serve food from our worlds as well as recipes from this one, and... I kind of like that?

B-but I'm not that good a cook yet, let alone able to run a restaurant! So... anyone interested in being a head chef? And ideas for names? And any recipes you'd like included? Sorry I know this is a lot... and thank you...

[And this is why she wanted this to be a text.]

Comments

[ricebird]

[Oh. Kotori was going to agree anyway, but that last sentence sombers things a bit.]

Ah, yeah. Why don't I wrap this up, and then we can meet on deck?

[pinksidekicking]

[ Nimona gives her a salute. ]

I'll see you up there. [ She practically lives up on the deck. ]

[ricebird]

[It takes a good few minutes, but eventually Kotori emerges with a shy wave, Slowburn trotting daintily with her tail high by her human's side.]

Hi, Nimona-san.

[pinksidekicking]

[ Oh! Kitty! Nimona is going to crouch and offer a hand out to be sniffed. ]

Hi! So did you get any head chefs interested in helping you run the Shiperaunt? [ No, Nimona. Don't call it that. ]

[ricebird]

[Okay, "shiperaunt" actually gets a quick snort out of her.]

Possibly. I don't know if you've met Zhao-san yet, but he seemed interested. He's a bit... hot-blooded... b-but he apparently has experience running a restaurant back in his world.

Depending on the size of the restaurant, though, we'll probably need more than just one cook. And waitstaff, and someone to handle inventory and bookkeeping.

[Kotori's mom handled everything back home all by herself, but that was only because it was a small, tucked-away local restaurant, and even she had Kotori help as a waitress on occasion.]

[pinksidekicking]

[ She'll be here all week with the mash-up. ]

I have not met Zhao-san yet. At least there's someone around here with experience, because that's sure not me.

[ Nimona can cook, but that's about it. ]

To start out, you could just open for one or two meals a day, at least until you get people working there. You know, do lunch and dinner with reservations. Take only what you can handle.

[ It might require a little more bookkeeping to start with, but less needed for more employees. ]

[ricebird]

Maybe, at least the lunch and dinner part. I worry the reservations might be too limiting, though. If we were a super-popular restaurant already, maybe, but getting a good flow of customers and repeat business is going to be important at the start. Hm... and maybe a smaller menu at first, and expand gradually?

[This would be easier if she could ask her mom for advice, but... she's not here, so it's easy to second guess herself.]

Zhao-san might have better ideas.

[pinksidekicking]

True. A smaller menu wouldn't be a bad idea to start with, anyway. Get a feel for the whole thing, then you could even swap dishes the next time you need to buy ingredients. You might get all kinds of people then. And you could even do it food truck style. Where you pull into port at lunchtime and serve quicker meals with less staff - at least at first. Alternate leviathans.

[ Nimona has no experience starting a business of any kind, let alone a shiperaunt. But she's all about offering different kinds of ideas to think about and consider. ]

[ricebird]

Oh, that's not a bad idea either! Hm... alright then. I should probably start saving up money, then, and hopefully keep an eye out for more people who'd want to be involved.

[pinksidekicking]

I could come by to help cook! I'm probably like a master chef at this point.

[ A thousand years to learn. ]

[ricebird]

Oh right! I remember you mentioning tacos, and pizza! Those would be really nice too! What else do you like making?

[pinksidekicking]

There's spaghetti, or just all kinds of pasta. Usually I do easy meals because it's just been me forever.

[ricebird]

[Nod nod. She has... a SLIVER of understanding, due to being a recent latchkey kid back at home.]

Those sound delicious! I only started making things like rice and miso soup back home. The rice I can do on my own just fine [not mentioning that she made her first pot of donabe rice perfectly on the first try], but anything with a knife I still need help with.