The Kitchen with Six Names

The kitchen had no dining room, no sign over the door and, strictly speaking, no restaurants. It had one fryer, two induction hobs, a steel counter and Reinhold. Out of these it served six establishments to the city: the Copper Skillet, Grandmother's Table, the Seaside Fry House, Green Bowl, Little Dumpling House and the Smokehouse Co-op. Each had a menu, a logo and a set of warm, glossy photographs, all produced in one afternoon by a program that had never eaten anything.

Dapur itu tidak punya ruang makan, tidak punya papan nama di atas pintu, dan, tegasnya, tidak punya restoran. Isinya satu penggorengan, dua kompor induksi, satu meja baja, dan Reinhold. Dari semua itu ia melayani enam usaha makan untuk kota: Copper Skillet, Grandmother's Table, Seaside Fry House, Green Bowl, Little Dumpling House, dan Smokehouse Co-op. Masing-masing punya menu, logo, dan seperangkat foto hangat yang mengilap, semuanya dibuat dalam satu sore oleh sebuah program yang belum pernah makan apa pun.

Emeric, who handled the accounts, had explained the idea on Reinhold's first day. "People trust a restaurant with a story," he had said. "Nobody wants to order from a kitchen." So the chicken that left the building at six o'clock was "rustic family-style" on Grandmother's Table, "crispy coastal" at the Seaside Fry House and, with a pinch of sesame seeds, "street-style" at the Smokehouse Co-op. It all came out of the same oil. Reinhold had stopped finding this funny some time in the spring and had started finding it merely tiring, like answering to six names at once.

Emeric, yang mengurus pembukuan, telah menjelaskan idenya pada hari pertama Reinhold bekerja. "Orang percaya pada restoran yang punya cerita," katanya. "Tak ada yang mau memesan dari sebuah dapur." Jadi ayam yang keluar dari gedung itu pada pukul enam menjadi "ala keluarga yang bersahaja" di Grandmother's Table, "renyah ala pesisir" di Seaside Fry House, dan, dengan sejumput wijen, "ala jajanan kaki lima" di Smokehouse Co-op. Semuanya keluar dari minyak yang sama. Reinhold sudah berhenti menganggap ini lucu sejak musim semi dan mulai menganggapnya sekadar melelahkan, seperti menjawab enam nama sekaligus.

The grandmother in the photographs had flour on her hands and a kind, creased smile. Her left hand, if you looked closely, had six fingers. Reinhold had pointed this out once. "Nobody counts," Emeric had said.

Sang nenek dalam foto-foto itu punya tepung di tangannya dan senyum ramah yang berkerut. Tangan kirinya, kalau diperhatikan baik-baik, berjari enam. Reinhold pernah menunjukkannya. "Tak ada yang menghitung," kata Emeric.

On a wet Tuesday in October, a review arrived. It was posted under Grandmother's Table, five stars, signed with a single initial, and Reinhold read it standing at the pass with a damp cloth over his shoulder, expecting a complaint about cold chips. Instead the customer wrote that the chicken had tasted exactly like the food her aunt used to make before the aunt moved away. She had eaten it at the kitchen table with the radio on, she said, which she had not done in years. "Please tell the cook thank you," the review ended. "Someone is clearly looking after this recipe."

Pada suatu Selasa yang basah di bulan Oktober, sebuah ulasan masuk. Ulasan itu diunggah di Grandmother's Table, bintang lima, ditandatangani dengan satu inisial, dan Reinhold membacanya sambil berdiri di meja serah dengan kain lembap di bahunya, menduga akan ada keluhan tentang kentang goreng yang dingin. Sebaliknya, si pelanggan menulis bahwa rasa ayam itu persis seperti masakan bibinya sebelum sang bibi pindah jauh. Ia memakannya di meja dapur dengan radio menyala, katanya, hal yang sudah bertahun-tahun tidak ia lakukan. "Tolong sampaikan terima kasih kepada kokinya," tutup ulasan itu. "Jelas ada orang yang menjaga resep ini."

Reinhold read it twice. Never in four months had a customer written more than the word "fine." It was the same chicken that had gone out that evening to the Copper Skillet, with a different sprinkle. If he was honest, he had cooked it badly, because a delivery had come late and he had been rushing. What bothered him was not that the woman had been deceived. It was that she had been, for the length of one dinner, genuinely looked after, and that the only person she had thanked was somebody who did not exist.

Reinhold membacanya dua kali. Selama empat bulan belum pernah ada pelanggan yang menulis lebih dari kata "lumayan." Itu ayam yang sama dengan yang malam itu juga dikirim ke Copper Skillet, dengan taburan yang berbeda. Jujur saja, ia memasaknya dengan buruk, karena kiriman bahan datang terlambat dan ia terburu-buru. Yang mengusiknya bukan karena perempuan itu telah tertipu. Melainkan karena selama satu kali makan malam ia sungguh-sungguh dirawat, dan satu-satunya orang yang ia ucapi terima kasih adalah seseorang yang tidak ada.

Had the grandmother been real, he would have passed the message on. As it was, there was nobody to pass it to but himself.

Seandainya sang nenek nyata, ia akan meneruskan pesan itu. Nyatanya, tak ada siapa pun untuk meneruskannya selain dirinya sendiri.

The reply box on the app blinked at him. Emeric's guidance for replies was a short template beginning, "Grandmother says thank you!" Reinhold typed it, deleted it, and sat for a while with the fryer ticking as it cooled. Then he wrote, "Thank you. The cook is glad it reached you." He considered adding a name and found that, of the six available, none of them was his. He pressed send before he could improve it.

Kotak balasan di aplikasi berkedip kepadanya. Panduan Emeric untuk balasan adalah templat singkat yang dimulai dengan, "Nenek bilang terima kasih!" Reinhold mengetiknya, menghapusnya, dan duduk beberapa lama sementara penggorengan berdetik mendingin. Lalu ia menulis, "Terima kasih. Kokinya senang pesannya sampai kepada Anda." Ia mempertimbangkan menambahkan sebuah nama dan mendapati bahwa dari keenam yang tersedia, tak satu pun miliknya. Ia menekan kirim sebelum sempat memperbaikinya.

Behind him the printer chattered and produced three tickets, one for the Copper Skillet, one for the Seaside Fry House and one for Green Bowl. Reinhold tied on a fresh apron, wiped down the counter, and began, as carefully as on his first night, to cook the same chicken three times.

Di belakangnya printer berderak dan mengeluarkan tiga tiket, satu untuk Copper Skillet, satu untuk Seaside Fry House, dan satu untuk Green Bowl. Reinhold mengikat celemek bersih, mengelap meja, dan mulai memasak ayam yang sama tiga kali, secermat pada malam pertamanya.