Soon after getting the equipment and the stand that I need to set up the restaurant, I had to be with my fellow students to get ready for the festival.

You see, before we could get into business, we had to be talked to by Senzaemon, who I hope comes by my restaurant and tries my food, especially Mark Weins, who I got a message from last night:

Mark: Hey, Y/N! I'll be stopping by the festival to check out some of the restaurants, including yours! I hope you got what you have on the menu because I'm bringing someone with me!

He's such an awesome guy and I hope we get to have some fun, but the problem is that I'm only one person and I don't have any friends to help me with my dishes.

When I told Erina about this, she felt really bad. To solve my problem, she asked a couple people to join me as I had to give them a crash course in how I want my items to be cooked and how they should be done.

Also, one of my signature dishes is Egg Fried Rice and I cooked the rice the day before because I wanted to be prepared. Not to mention that the starch fermentation will start to spoil, so to solve that problem, we just added some salt and mixed it well.

Salt is a mineral that is not just for flavor, but for preserving certain foods as well. For example, if you're carrying a certain meat, like a steak, without a cooler in hot weather, seasoning it with salt will keep the meat from going bad as it preserve the flavor of the meat as well, but we have to keep in mind that certain temperatures will try to spoil the flavor as well and bacteria will develop.

While the crash course was going on, I also showed the people that I have a habit of doing the vegetables first on the cutting board and then I start on meat like poultry, beef, pork, that way cross contamination won't be an issue because in the states, if you do the meat first and then the vegetables, the health inspector will shut you down immediately. So, for safety reasons, I prep the vegetables first and then I work on prepping the meat, to keep everyone from getting sick, which is the last thing I want.

Through the crowd, I saw the Ten walking past us.

Urara: それでは、戸月学園校歌で幕を開けます！ (And now, we'll kick things off with Totsuki Academy's school song!)

School song? I never heard of that, well, everyday's a school day (pun intended).

Students: 日出ずる国の懐に
牙と共に集ま​​る意気込み
収穫の恵みを上に向けて
そして声を上げて ああ！
洗練 (洗練) 高級料理の聖地よ
戸月学園はこちら
(At the bosom of the Land of The Rising Sun
High spirits gather alongside fangs
Gaze upward at the bounty of the harvest
And lift up your voices, ahh!
Refine (refine), O sacred land of haute cuisine
Totsuki Academy is here)

I thought that song was beautiful. Like, I'd listen to that on the way to school everyday.

Then, Senzaemon came up and spoke into the microphone.

Senzaemon: 時が来た！ 今ここで、月の饗宴の開始を正式に発表します！ (The time has come! I formally announce, here and now, the commencement of the Lunar Feast!)

As it got started, we immediately got over to the tent, set up the equipment that I was able to get thanks to Senzaemon:

Two coolers

Prep station

Fridge/Freezer (to keep the veggies and meat cold at 39°)

A triple dual burner

The reason I got a three burner stove is because I have a way of making ramen and how I want it all to be cooked the way I want it to be done.

Three separate burners

I want to use these so I can control the heat and the cooking process of the carbonara and the Italian dishes that I'm serving.

Also, if one person is using the three burner stove, they can certainly use the single gas stove.

A small grill

I want to use this for cooking finger foods like the sliced pork belly and some other foods that I can advertise to the customers.

And last but not least, two wok burners.

Why would I use two wok burners? It's simple, when I'm making fried rice, I'm gonna have to use one while using the other for the Saury Gyoza recipe.

As everyone can see, what I'm doing is a call to action. What that means is that I want to catch the customer's eye with some flare while cooking while putting out the menu for everyone to read.

And what does the menu look like? Here it is:

Tempura is all fried everything: veggies, carbs, and seafood. It may be fattening, but it's delicious nonetheless.

Chicken cheese katsu is flattened chicken thigh wrapped in mozzarella cheese and deep fried to a golden brown as the cheese will ooze out as you bite into it. It's magical.

Sliced Pork Belly is self explanatory: pork belly that's sliced, seasoned with salt and MSG, skewered, and grilled to perfection.

That was it for the Japanese style food, onto the Italian.

Piadina is basically Italian flatbread, but I'll be adding some freshly grated mozzarella and large tomato slices that are roasted with a kitchen torch, which I think will accentuate the taste of this dish, and fresh basil leaves with a drizzle of olive oil on top for dressing.

Yes, it's almost like a pizza, but in Italy, it's a flatbread, and I'd like to leave it at that before an argument happens!

Also, making the Piadina will be a hassle to make since we don't have an oven, so to solve that problem, we'll be making the dough with all purpose flour, extra virgin olive oil, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.

When making dough without an oven, it's essential to use the baking powder and baking soda because it'll bake on both sides of the frying pan. The dough needs to be thin and runny, if it isn't, that means we'll have to start from scratch.

And no, I'm not using active dry yeast because that will take a shitload of time to make the dough. Since this is a festival where timing is essential, I have to leave the yeast at home. The yeast will have to be used another day.

Before I opened the restaurant, which was a 6 meter by 3 meter stand, I had to have a meeting with my temporary employees and fire them up.

Erina managed to get four employees for me as I wanted two to work on the Japanese Style Food and two to work on the Italian Style Food. It's a pretty good strategy.

Y/N: 皆さん、今日は初日ですが、知っておいてほしいルールがいくつかあります。 まず、レシピにランダムな材料を使用しないでください。 私たちが最も望んでいないのは、「これは私がこの料理の味を覚えている方法ではありません」と言う人です. 第二に、食べ物をきちんと調理すること、私は間違いがないようにしたい. ジェイミー・オリバーは、彼が望むなら、彼のバージョンの日本食で私たちの祖先を泣かせることができます. 第三に、楽しんでください。 料理をするだけではなく、人と触れ合って楽しむことです。 みなさん、わかりますか？ (So guys, today's the first day and there are a couple rules I want you to know. First, don't use any random ingredients in the recipes. The last thing we want is someone to say, "This isn't how I remember this dish tasting like". Second, cook the food properly, I don't want there to be any mistakes. Jamie Oliver can make our ancestors cry with his version of Japanese food if that's what he wants. Third, have fun. It's not just about cooking, it's about interacting with people and having a blast. Do all of you understand?)

Employees: かしこまりました！ (Yes sir!)

Y/N: では行こう、行こう、行く！ (Then let's go, go, GO!)

They all got to work as they started prepping the ingredients as I was at the cash register, waiting for our first customers.

And speak of the devil, there were some coming towards the restaurant as I took their orders.

The orders were:

- Egg Fried Rice
- Sliced Pork Belly
- Mozzarella in Carrozza

It all came down to...

Y/N: 1750円でお願いします。 (1750 yen, please.)

The customers paid as I got the order down and showed them what the customers want.

Y/N: カロッツァの卵チャーハン、豚バラ肉のスライス、モッツァレラチーズが 1 つずつ必要です。 (I need one Egg Fried Rice, one Sliced Pork Belly, and one Mozzarella in Carrozza!)

Employees: Hai!

One started the Mozzarella in Carrozza, one started the Sliced Pork Belly, and one started the Egg Fried Rice.

I was looking over the operations, making sure that everything was done correctly and so far, it's all good, but before I could serve it to the customer, I had to look at it and taste it.

The reason I'm doing that is because I want to make sure it's edible. If not, we have to throw it out and start again.

The employee who was cooking the Pork Belly was a female and I don't want to be hard on her.

She passed me it as I gave it a taste, it was tender, flavorful, and delicious.

Y/N: 奥様！ (Ma'am!)

Employee: Hai?

Y/N: 素晴らしい！ とても美味しい！ (Well done! Very delicious!)

Employee: ありがとうございます！ (Thank you, sir!)

I skewered the pork belly, put it on a rectangular plate, and served it to the customer, who was ecstatic on trying it out.

Y/N: 先に進みます。 あなたの考えを教えてください。 (Go on ahead. Tell me what you think.)

He took a bite and he was in pure bliss.

Man: とてもきれいに調理されました。 美味しい。 (Very nicely cooked. Delicious as well.)

Y/N: ありがとう、それが私たちが聞きたいことです。 どうぞお召し上がりください。 (Thank you, that's what we want to hear. Enjoy your meal.)

?????: Y/N!

Mark had arrived with someone who I probably never met before.

Y/N: Hey Mark! Who's he?

Mark: Y/N, this is Vincenzo Prosperi. He runs a YouTube channel called "Vincenzo's Plate".

Vincenzo: Nice to meet you, lad!

Y/N: Same here, Mr. Prosperi.

Vincenzo: Oh, no. You can call me Vincenzo, it's all right.

Y/N: Alright.

I shook both their hands as Vincenzo seems to be very friendly and excited to be here since this is probably his first time traveling to Japan. I really hope he has a nice time here with Mark.

Y/N: So, how you guys enjoying the festival so far?

Mark: It's so nice! I went to a restaurant called Teppanyaki Grill a couple rows down and it was really good, but I wanna try your food and see how it's done.

Vincenzo: It's belissimo. I really love the food here. It's just fantastic. Oh, and I see you have an Italian menu, am I right?

Y/N: That's correct, and one of my favorite dishes is Carbonara.

Vincenzo: Carbonara? Hmm, I'd like to see how you make it, see how it tastes, Y/N.

Y/N: If you want, I can make that an order for you.

Vincenzo: Sure, go for it. I'd like to try it out!

Y/N: Alright, and Mark?

Mark: What do you recommend, Y/N?

Y/N: I personally recommend the Pacific Saury Gyoza. It's the very dish that I made when I was in the Finals of the Fall's Selection, a tournament. I didn't win, but this dish made me a legend in this school.

Mark: I'll definitely try that.

Y/N: Sounds good. That'll be 1,700 yen, please.

Mark paid as I gave the Saury recipe to the same female employee who did the sliced pork belly as I was working on the Carbonara.

I remembered how I did the Carbonara: fill a pot with water, seasoned it lightly with salt and once that came to a boil, I twisted the La Molisana spaghetti, and dropped it in as I moved on to the guanciale, the pig cheek.

I cut the skin off and then diced the meat into chunks as I put the pan on a medium high heat burner. I put the guanciale in the pan and let it sit.

I took a block of Pecorino Romano cheese, cubed it up, put it in a food processor, and shredded it until it was all very finely grated.

I took three eggs, poured the Pecorino into the egg, added a lot of black pepper into the egg and cheese, mixed it all together with a fork until it turned into a nice thick paste.

10 minutes later, I saw that the guanciale was cooking and the fat had been rendered into an oil, cooking the pork as I took some pasta water from the pot in a measuring cup, and put it to the side.

3 minutes later, the spaghetti was done as I took some out of the pot and into the pan as I continually added the pasta water to keep the pasta from sticking to the pan.

I then added some more pasta water to the egg and cheese paste as I stirred it around again. Once it was all a very fine liquid, I added a couple more teaspoons of pasta water to the pan, and then I added the cream.

After that, I stirred it all around with wooden tongs, since it's a nonstick pan, and kept doing so until the cheese and the egg was starting to cook.

I took a plate, set the pasta and everything on the plate in a very fancy way, seasoned it with more pepper, and added some finely grated fresh Parmigiano.

I saw that the Saury was finished as well so I took the plates and set them down in front of Vincenzo and Mark as my waitress grabbed a bottle of sake and poured it a glass for the both of them.

Y/N: Alright, guys. Here is your food. Enjoy.

Vincenzo: I saw how you cooked it all, fantastic job, Y/N. You did it how the Romans would and I'm looking forward to trying this.

He took a fork, swirled the pasta around, and took a bite of both the guanciale, pasta, cream, and cheese.

Vincenzo was in such pure bliss that he looked so happy.

Vincenzo: You didn't put any cream in this, did you?

Y/N: No. It's all natural, just egg, cheese, and pepper. No cream.

Vincenzo: Then you have my approval because this is the proper way to make Carbonara! Mark, please, give this a try.

And Mark did. When he took another fork, he took a bite and his mouth was just watering by how good it was.

Mark: So delicious. And I can't wait to try the gyoza.

He took a gyoza, dipped it in the sauce, and took a bite of it.

Mark: Oh my God! This is so good! The fish is cooked perfectly. There's a nice crunch of the gyoza wrapper, and the sauce, it's spicy but sweet at the same time! This works!

Y/N: Thank you so much. Everything you see is just as real as you want it to be.

After that, Mark and Vincenzo had to go around and try more food, but a couple hours later, it was time for the results.

Announcer 2: これはすべてのゲストの皆様にお知らせです。旧正月の饗宴の初日の午後 6 時時点での販売数が集計されました。 各エリアのランキングを発表します。 (This is an announcement for all our guests: sales figures as of 6:00 PM on the first day of the Lunar Feast have now been tallied! We will announce the rankings for each area.)

Urara: よし、まずはメインエリアから！ 3位はボウル研究会！ (Okay, let's start with the main area! Third place goes to the Bowl Research Society!)

Everyone applauded as we were going to hear the second place.

Urara: 2位は君の名はと氏のレストラン「風になる」！ (In second place is Y/N LN and his restaurant, "Become The Wind"!)

I was in unbelievable shock. I thought I wasn't going to get a place in this. To me, this is a huge deal. If I can get this done for the next four days, we could stay at this rate!

Urara: そして、まずは「トラットリア アルディーニ」店！ (And coming in first is the "Trattoria Aldini" branch restaurant!)

I was actually surprised that Takumi and Isami won first place, but they deserve it. I'm not a hater, I love seeing my friends succeed.

Announcer 2: では、中央エリアの結果です。 3位は日本料理研究会「ようよう軒」。 2つ目はスペイン料理研究会「エル・フエゴ」。 そして、まずはチャイナソックからは「久我中華レストラン」です！ 2位や3位の2倍以上の成績！ (And now, the results for the central area. In third place, the Japanese Cuisine Research Society with "Yoyo Ken". In second, the Spanish Cuisine Research Society with "El Fuego". And in first place, from China-Soc, it's "Kuga Chinese Restaurant"! Their results were more than double that of second or third place!)

I hated that Yukihira didn't get to beat Kuga on the first day, he's definitely got time to do it again this entire week, but he's gotta be careful. If he and Megumi are in the red for rest of the time being, they're both gone, so they gotta step it up.

As much as I wanted to meet with Erina and the others about today, I wanted to go home and sleep.

So I thanked my employees for helping for the first day, I helped them pack up everything, and we all went our separate ways as I went upstairs, went in the shower, text Erina an apology of not being able to come by to celebrate my win since I was so tired, and went to sleep.

I didn't want to bother with my roommates because of how tired I was, but they completely understood.

This week, however, was getting started.