La Fee Verte, Wednesday afternoon, Closed.
La Fee Verte was going to close down for the whole of July, and there was only two weeks to go until then. New menus and lists for the beginning of August had to be tested and confirmed, shift lists to be made, vacation pays to sort out, and of course the clean up of the whole restaurant was looming ahead. The concern about keeping the two Michelin stars they had gained was also a big topic of discussion in the executive meeting of the restaurant - both of the owners, the Chef, the head waiter and the sommelier were all attending.
"Now, there's just one final thing to discuss," Mr. Lloyd said lowering the glasses on his long nose to look at the papers in front of him. "You all recall the thought about releasing a book about the restaurant we had some months ago? Now, it occurred to us that a perfect timing for it would be in late October, early November, right under Christmas and..." he turned to look at the Chef.
"Right after the release of the new Michelin guide," Emily realized, and grinned.
"Exactly. We don't have much time left, but it would be great publicity, if done properly," Mr. Lloyd continued. "And you, Ms. Brandon, seem to have no problem in writing about the restaurant industry or making clear but interesting recipes."
"Not at all! I do want to write even more than I do now, a few columns and articles are fun but I want to do more. It would be good for the chef of the restaurant to be the one to write the book too, to make it convincing to the readers," Emily went on, her brown eyes suddenly bright and wide of excitement.
Mrs. Emerich, the second owner of La Fee Verte with Mr. Lloyd, chuckled and shook her head. "And here we were all prepared to persuade you to the job, we had actually reserved some extra time just for that."
"Are you kidding me? It's exactly what I've been wanting to do, and I will have good time in July to get started. You know, now that I think of it, many of my neighbours have special talents that could help the cause."
"I'm sure the Morningstar's people have all sorts of talents. What exactly are you referring to?"
"I don't think I've ever met him personally, but we do have a brilliant photographer, at the very least. I'll ask around, but I'll start gathering material for the book right away," Emily said readily, thinking of Vincenzo and Charlie and others mentioning someone called Andras. Emily was pretty sure it was the scruffy looking fellow with a peculiar fashion taste she saw often around the Manor.
"Excellent! You do that, Ms. Brandon, and we will meet again next week to set up a proper schedule and budget for the project," Mr. Lloyd said, ending their meeting.