Alice Nakiri and Ryō Kurokiba also stayed at the Totsuki Resort. This could be considered adapting in advance, as the subsequent Stagiaire training would also take place here.
During this time, Yuuki also saw the molecular gastronomy equipment Alice Nakiri had brought.
"The original story really wasn't exaggerating at all!"
Looking at the molecular gastronomy equipment, which resembled a moving wall, Yuuki was speechless. Molecular gastronomy was somewhat different from traditional cuisine.
While some molecular gastronomy techniques existed within traditional cuisine, the various techniques and concepts of molecular gastronomy had only been fully summarized and separated out in the last few decades.
This counted as a brand-new culinary concept. However, compared to traditional cuisine, it was like the difference between a seedling and a towering tree.
Although more and more chefs in the international culinary world were engaging with molecular gastronomy, the system itself was still too young and couldn't shake the foundations of the traditional culinary system.
Alice Nakiri was the best example. She had achieved many outstanding accomplishments at Nakiri International.
At the age of nine, she dominated international molecular gastronomy competitions held in several countries. By ten, she already held forty-five patents, along with a series of other achievements.
Logically speaking, this resume was already very impressive. But after returning to Totsuki with such achievements, let alone making the Elite Ten, Alice couldn't even be considered number one among those below the Elite Ten.
Just among the first-year students in the original story, Soma Yukihira, Ryō Kurokiba, and Akira Hayama were all more outstanding than her.
Although Alice Nakiri's achievements were impressive on paper, they were heavily inflated. Yuuki also planned to learn a bit about Alice's molecular gastronomy.
It wasn't that he was particularly interested in molecular gastronomy itself, but rather in some of the cooking techniques within it.
While many exquisite molecular dishes required special equipment, there were still many techniques worth learning.
Yuuki wasn't the type to work in isolation; he was very willing to receive external information and learn these techniques.
With Food Honor as his cheat, Yuuki's speed in learning these techniques would be lightning fast. It could be said he was now a walking cheat code.
"Yuuki, are you also interested in molecular gastronomy?"
Seeing Yuuki looking at her cooking equipment with great interest and occasionally asking her about some molecular gastronomy knowledge, Alice Nakiri was quite surprised.
After all, many traditional chefs viewed this new field of molecular gastronomy as unorthodox.
Having studied molecular gastronomy for so many years, she had encountered many traditional chefs who looked down on it.
She herself knew very well that molecular gastronomy currently couldn't compare to traditional cuisine, and that her achievements were heavily inflated.
But in her view, the future of molecular gastronomy was very bright. It had only been a few decades since the concept was fully proposed.
Comparing molecular gastronomy to traditional cuisine was indeed a bit unfair. It was like asking an infant to fight a king of special forces soldiers—unless the infant was Kryptonian, the outcome of the match would have no suspense.
Yuuki was one of the very few people interested in molecular gastronomy, which made Alice Nakiri feel as if she had found a kindred spirit.
"A little interested. Molecular gastronomy itself was separated from the traditional cooking system and later became its own field. There are many techniques within it that can be used in cooking," Yuuki said.
"We can talk about that later. Your name is Yuuki, right? Let's have a match!"
Just as Alice Nakiri was about to speak, Ryō Kurokiba approached, his flame-patterned bandana already wrapped around his forehead. He wanted to compete with Yuuki.
Although he had already witnessed Yuuki's culinary skills and knew he wasn't Yuuki's match, competing against such a master would be beneficial for his growth.
In the original story, after he met Akira Hayama and Soma Yukihira, they would hang out almost every day, learning from each other and competing, rapidly improving their culinary skills through this method.
"I refuse."
However, the moment Ryō Kurokiba's words fell, Yuuki directly refused. He had read the original story and naturally knew what Ryō Kurokiba was up to.
But he wasn't just sitting around with nothing to do. Why should he waste time competing with Ryō Kurokiba?
He wouldn't gain anything from competing with this guy, so there was no need to waste time on it. He wasn't like Soma Yukihira and those guys.
He had his own methods of improvement. Although a suitable opponent could also accelerate his improvement, that suitable opponent was clearly not Ryō Kurokiba.
These words instantly stunned Ryō Kurokiba. Although he really wanted to compete with Yuuki, if the other party didn't agree, there was nothing he could do.
"Huh? Why refuse?" Ryō Kurokiba asked with a fierce expression.
"Why agree? You have to give me a reason," Yuuki retorted, not coddling the other party at all. Ryō Kurokiba's personality might have some appeal in manga and anime, but in reality, he was a bona fide psycho.
"Ryō-kun, if Yuuki doesn't agree—then forget it!" Alice Nakiri interjected, trying to persuade him. Although she knew she might not be able to fully convince him, with Yuuki refusing, Ryō Kurokiba had no other options.
Yuuki's question, coupled with Alice Nakiri's persuasion, deflated the somewhat fired-up Ryō Kurokiba.
He really couldn't find a suitable reason. And he couldn't just resort to physical threats, especially not here at the Totsuki Resort.
Helplessly, Ryō Kurokiba, simmering with frustration, could only remove his bandana.
After removing his bandana, Ryō Kurokiba looked like a beached fish, completely listless, but the unwillingness in his eyes was almost overflowing.
"Yuuki, I'm really sorry—Ryō-kun's personality is just like that. He gets a bit aggressive when he wears his bandana," Alice Nakiri apologized.
Although it wasn't her who offended Yuuki, Ryō Kurokiba was, after all, her attendant. Failing to control her attendant was her problem too.
"No need to apologize, I haven't lost anything. But he should still be more careful. If he ran into someone with a short fuse, his aggressive attitude might get him beaten up," Yuuki said.
This wasn't a joke. Although society now was governed by law, people were still different.
If Ryō encountered someone with a bad temper and strong fighting ability, his pushy attitude might very well lead to a physical confrontation.
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