Chapter Text
New York was a beautiful city if you looked at it the right way. Steve loved the city even if he got overwhelmed sometimes. His line of work was exhausting but he loved to cook, to be the head chef. He had a long road behind him, he became one of the best chefs in America and he went to the UK last year to work with British chefs on a TV show, Kitchen Impossible.
Teaching new, amateur chefs and helping them to be one of the bests was reminding him of how he made a name from Brooklyn and now owning three restaurants, five Michelin stars and a whole brand of kitchen wear. He had many TV shows and one of his favorites was where he could help restaurants and diners that was about to close to renew and become a place people would love to eat in. He missed one thing in his life however… he missed the fire of that passion he started cooking with. And losing that passion meant his business was going downhill as well. Steve slammed the door of his car shut and hurried inside the building of his Michelin star restaurant. It was a warehouse before he dreamed big and made it into a restaurant.
It was shining and was so radiant but back at the kitchen… it was a chaos. He was yelling at his stuff mercilessly, driving them so tired some wouldn’t be able to work next night. He knew it was wrong but it seemed like customers were coming faster and faster and there were just too many of them. It was madness. He looked over the dining hall finding everything in the right place just like it was before. They weren’t open yet but there was a man sitting at one of the tables at the back. His brown hair short, wide shoulders leaning into the seat, dressed in a dark blue suit with a white shirt that was unbuttoned at the collar. Steve stopped in his tracks as he spotted Tony Stark, his once enemy now colleague. Back when they started as chefs, they really hated each other and kept competing but when they were both asked to host the TV show, Kitchen Impossible, they learnt a lot from and about each other and became friends even if they kept this competition of who’s the better chef up. Tony stood up when he noticed Steve and he smiled at the blonde.
“How are you doing, Cap?” Tony was calling him captain because the brunette thought the blonde was acting like a commander captain at a warship in the kitchen. Steve disliked the fact that Tony was sometimes too friendly and easy-going, he thought the other chef wasn’t respected in the kitchen as a chef.
“Fine, Stank” Steve called him by that nickname since one of the DHL guys – who brought fresh salmon – read the brunette’s name wrong on the show. “What’re you doing here?”
“Gah, could you forget that name?! It’s Stark, okay?” Tony pronounced it exaggerated making Steve chuckle. “Anyway, I came by to check on you. You’ve disappeared from the media lately.”
“Nah, I just need a little downtime. The paparazzi are still a pain in the ass but it became bearable since Brangelina divorced and the gossip magazines are trying to tear them apart.” Steve shrugged. Tony walked up to the blonde with narrowed eyes and pursed lips.
“There’s something else… this place looks so… boring, old-fashioned, outdated. Are you ever gonna change the design?” Tony motioned around with a bored expression. “And the menu… it’s the same as last year. Are you a grandpa? ‘Cuz you definitely run this place like one.”
“People come here to eat delicious food, not for the design” Steve rolled his blue eyes.
“That’s exactly why you’re gonna get this place bankrupt. Steve, change is not bad. You’ll lose costumers if you don’t change sometimes. Change is refreshing and people come here to try out new dishes if they’re coming to a fancy place. You got five Michelin stars I bet you know how to make souffle and macarons rather than making boring Italian dishes like Milanese. Hell, everyone can make Milanese!” Tony dropped the menu back on the table disgusted. “It’s like you’re in the dark age…”
“What do you want?” hissed Steve not approving how Tony was pointing out obvious things.
“I know a young chef, she just got her own show in the TV. She was working with me but I saw potential in her and so I pushed her to do her own thing and she’s a quickly rising star-“
“I’m not hiring. There’s enough stuff here or any of my restaurants” Steve put a hand up stopping the brunette from explaining anything.
“She’s nice and would love to work with you. Or instead of you” Tony added and quickly continued jabbering. “Look, you need her, she can bring change into this place, she has new ideas, new methods. She’s young and intelligent, she learns extremely quickly and comes up with even better recipes.”
“No and that’s my final answer, Tony” Steve said determined and passed by the other chef with quick steps into the kitchen. He jumped into work and everything was ready when the first few customers arrived. Sometimes he looked out through the window and saw that there were fewer people outside than yesterday or the day before yesterday.
A month later~
Steve was desperate now. His restaurants were going downhill and he couldn’t stop it even if he tried his hardest. He sat where Tony sat a month ago and tried to get a hold of himself. He realized that he’s been doing it wrong when two nights ago, one of his cooks burnt themselves because he was so demanding and yelled at him.
He sighed running a hand through his hair before pressing the call button on his cellphone and put it to his ear. His heart was hammering in his chest and cold sweat was running down his spine but he told himself that it was the right thing to do.
“Stevie boy! How are you?” came the cheerful tone of Tony’s.
“I think I might need help”