The Restaurant
Clive Gordon was dreaming of food. He didn’t finish the dream. The sound of a telephone woke him up. Automatically he moved his hand towards the small table by the bed.
`Who is it?’ he asked.
‘Marcus. I have some news for you.’
Clive sat up. Marcus Baxter was a friend of his. He wrote articles for a local newspaper. He often knew about things before they happened.
‘I’m listening,’ Clive said.
‘An inspector from the Good Restaurant Guide* is going to visit your hotel some time today. You should be prepared’ ‘Thanks for telling me. But how did you know ...?’ ‘I’ll explain later. I must go now I’m phoning from work: Clive thanked his friend and put the phone down. ‘Karen,’ he called in a loud voice. ‘It’s time to get up.
You’ve got work to do.’
Clive was the owner* of the Flower Garden, a small hotel by the sea. His wife had died several years before and now he lived in the hotel with his fourteen-year-old daughter, Karen. During the summer they were very busy. But winters were quiet. There were very few guests at this time of year, and very little money. Clive wanted to change the situation. He wanted to make the hotel restaurant famous. ‘If I can do that,’ he thought, ‘people will come here all year.’
There was a good chance that Clive could do this. He was a good cook with good ideas. But he didn’t like hard work and his daughter had to do most of the cooking. Every week day, when Karen got home from school, she had to stay in the kitchen until midnight. And she worked all day Saturday and most of Sunday. She hated doing so much work in the kitchen. She never had time to do her school homework or to go out with her friends. She wanted to run away from the hotel. But she couldn’t. She had to finish school first.
‘Clean those vegetables,’ Clive said, when Karen walked into the kitchen that Saturday morning. An inspector from the Good Restaurant Guide is coming to eat here this morning. I want everything to be perfect. If he has a good meal, he will put our name in the guide. This is the best chance we have of making this restaurant famous?
Karen was silent. She thought about all the work she had to do. ‘This, she said to herself, ‘is going to be a very long day.’
Time passed slowly. Karen’s hands were red from washing and cutting vegetables. When she looked at the clock, she saw that it was only twelve-thirty. She felt as if she had been in the kitchen all her life.
Five minutes later her father ran into the room. ‘It’s the nun from the Good Restaurant Guide,’ he said in an excited voice. ‘He’s here.’
‘How do you know?’ Karen asked.
‘It’s everything about him,’ Clive said. ‘Well-dressed*, expensive car, important manner. He’s also carrying some kind of book. He keeps opening it and writing things down.’
‘But couldn’t he ...?’ Karen began. ‘Oh, stop asking stupid questions,’ Clive said. ‘Get the food ready. I’m going to take his order.’ Karen watched her father leave the room. ‘Get the food ready yourself,’ she said in a low voice.
When Clive walked back into the restaurant, there was another customer* in the room. It was a little old woman with grey hair and blue eyes. She was wearing trousers and an anorak. ‘She’s not important,’ Clive said to himself. Her clothes looked cheap and she was carrying a plastic bag.
He thought quickly. The inspector was sitting at a table in the middle of the room. He didn’t want to put the old woman at a table where the inspector could see her. There was a table beside the door to the kitchen, behind the inspector. She could sit there.
`Good afternoon,’ Clive said. ‘Follow me, please’ He took the old woman to the table and gave her a menu.
`Thank you,’ she said. She looked up to ask for a glass of water. But Clive had gone. He was standing in front of the other customer with a wide smile on his face. The other customer looked important. He was a big man with dark hair and round glasses. He wore a blue jacket with a white shirt and a red tie*. His clothes looked expensive. The old woman listened to their conversation and smiled.
`Would you like to try one of our fine red wines with your meal?’ Clive was asking. He put his mouth close to the man’s ear. ‘The Bordeaux is very good.’ He spoke like a man who was telling someone a secret.
The customer closed the wine list. ‘It’s a little expensive,’ he said. ‘Maybe one of your "fine glasses of water" would be just as good.’
Clive laughed and put his hand on the man’s arm. ‘We have special prices today, Mr ... err
`Hughes: the man said. ‘Thomas Hughes’
`Please accept half a bottle of our finest wine at half price, Mr Hughes.’ Mr Hughes was surprised. `Oh, all right,’ he said. ‘And thank you.’
`Not at all,’ Clive said. ‘We like to keep our customers happy. He stepped back and fell over a chair behind him at the next table. He got up quickly, still smiling. ‘Oh, excuse me,’ he said.
`What a strange man!’ thought Mr Hughes. Clive went to ask the old woman what she would like to eat.
`Now I can tell you what my name is, ‘she said, when he came up to the table. ‘It’s Mrs Williams. And I would like a glass of water to drink and something from your menu. I don’t care what you give me. But I want to enjoy it of course:
`She’s trying to be funny,’ Clive thought. ‘Certainly, Mrs Williams,’ he said. He felt uncomfortable and went away quickly.
When Clive walked into the kitchen, Karen was making a Caesar salad. ‘Isn’t Mr Hughes’s meal ready yet?’ he shouted.
Karen jumped. ‘Who’s Mr Hughes?’ she asked.
`The inspector. The man from the Good Restaurant Guide. The most important customer of the year, you stupid girl: Clive said angrily. ‘Now be quick.’
‘All right, all right,’ Karen said. ‘But be quiet. Someone will hear you’
Clive’s face went very red. ‘Don’t tell me what to do,’ he said. ‘The only person .who can hear me is you. And you don’t listen.’
But Clive was wrong. Someone else did hear him shouting. It was Mrs Williams. She wanted to know what was happening, so she put her ear to the wall and listened to the conversation on the other side. She was surprised. Clive was a lot nicer in the restaurant than he was in the kitchen.
More people came to eat. Karen worked very hard. It was difficult. Clive kept going in and out of the kitchen and
shouting at her angrily.
At two o’clock Mr Hughes stood up to go.
Clive walked with him to the door. ‘I hope you enjoyed your meal,’ he said in a soft voice. ‘We are always happy to
have you here. Please remember that.’
`Yes, I will,’ said Mr Hughes. ‘But sadly I don’t think I will be here again for a long time. I don’t live in this country, you see. I’m just here on holiday.’ He held up the book he was carrying. ‘Most people take photographs. I like to write about what I see in this little book’
`But I thought…,’Clive began. But Mr Hughes was already walking to his car.
`Excuse me, ‘said a voice. Clive turned. It was Mrs Williams. `I’ve been waiting for you,’ she said. `I would like to pay for the meal.’
‘Er, yes. Of course,’ Clive said. There was no enthusiasm in his voice. `I would also like to tell you, Mrs Williams continued, `that I am from the Good Restaurant Guide.’ `You! But that’s not possible!’ Clive said. ‘The other man I thought he ...’
Mrs Williams smiled ‘Things are not always what they seem to be, Mr Gordon. Now, about your restaurant I thought the food here was very good. But good food is not the only important thing for our guide. We need to be sure that the ambience of a place is as good as the food on the table. And the ambience of your restaurant isn’t bad. But then there’s the kitchen to think about. Oh dear, Mr Gordon. I don’t think I would like to work in your kitchen. I wouldn’t like to work there at all. For that reason I’m afraid I can’t put your restaurant in next year’s guide. I’m very sorry.’ Clive Gordon was too surprised to say anything. He watched the old woman walk away. His dream was finished. It was going to be another long winter.
