Revenge for the Star

Spite the Grave

While Alice Van drives home, she sighs and admires the vibrant lights of Bourbon Street. Although the clock had just struck midnight, marking the start of a new day, many people still party in the street. Wistful, Alice turns off of Bourbon Street and drives toward the highway. Alice spent her college days throwing wild parties, but now she works doggedly for the greatest award a chef can receive: a Michelin Star. Not only would receiving this award solidify Alice’s name in the history of cooking, but it would also spite her overbearing late mother. At 1:30 AM, as Alice finally pulls into her driveway, she yearns to obtain the object that would compel her mother to regret disowning her.

Taylor Jackson pours himself a cup of sour lemon tea to relax after a long day at the station. Languid, Taylor grabs the television remote off of his desk and flips on the small TV in the corner of his office. Just as the monotone voice of the news reporter lulls him to sleep, Taylor’s eyes snap open as wide as fishbowls at the headline on the screen: Late Food Critic’s Daughter Contends for Michelin Star.

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remote off of his desk and flips on the small TV in the corner of his office. Just as the monotone voice of the news reporter lulls him to sleep, Taylor’s eyes snap open as wide as fishbowls at the headline on the screen: Late Food Critic’s Daughter Contends for Michelin Star.

Taylor recognizes the last name of the head chef right away, causing a tsunami of bad memories to wash over him. While he attended culinary school, Kendra Van, a world-renowned food critic, reproached Taylor’s flamboyant cooking style, ending his cooking career in a flash and leading to Taylor’s life falling apart. For the past two decades, Taylor remained hungry for revenge, and now he smirks as the television delivers the perfect opportunity on a silver platter.

Sabogated Spices

The next morning, Alice arrives early at the closed Silver Sett to practice her famous turmeric capon. But when she steps out of her car, she notices a tall man with a large

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overcoat and sunglasses loitering ominously at the entrance of her restaurant. The man approaches her as an anonymous detective working for the NOPD who needs access to her restaurant to investigate a nearby burglary. Dubious, Alice ponders why he needs to search her restaurant in particular but consents because she does not fancy the idea of the detective detaining her right before the day of judgment for the Michelin Star.

Throughout the day, the detective aimlessly ambles through Alice’s restaurant. Finally, Alice suspects the detective and decides to test him. Telling him she finished practicing for the day, Alice gives the detective a key and asks him to lock up after himself. But instead of exiting the restaurant, Alice sneaks into a restroom and hides. After fifteen minutes, Alice leaves the restroom and creeps as silently as a snake back toward the kitchen area.

As Alice enters the kitchen, her eyes lock on the detective in the process of taking the label off of the salt canister. Alice yells out, alarming the detective who sprints full speed towards the exit, jumps into his black minivan, and speeds off.

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Dejected, Alice cleans up the mess the detective created when he dropped the salt and deprecates herself for her imprudence in trusting the detective. She apprehensively assumes that changing the labels only pierces the surface of the endless abyss of egregious things the detective committed to her spices, so after closing the restaurant she drives to the nearby supermarket to purchase new spices.

Police of the Prey

As she arrives, she immediately notices the black minivan in the parking lot, standing out like a bolt of lightning in the dreary night sky. Checking the time, she realizes that only fifteen minutes remain until the supermarket closes, so she scurries across the parking lot, but the detective suddenly appears right in front of her. He solemnly discloses that he needs Alice for further questioning, almost taunting her with his grave tone because they both know the detective only created the burglary case as a facade to hinder Alice’s pursuit of the Michelin Star.

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Alice tries to run past the detective and into the store, but he grabs her arm, his nails biting down into her flesh like an alligator clamping down on its prey.

When the detective finishes his “questioning” twenty minutes later, he lets Alice go without resistance, as if to claim victory. But Alice doggedly promises to never give up and resolves to wake up extra early the following morning to buy the spices she needs.

Choked Hope

Alice wakes at the break of dawn, speeds to the supermarket, purchases spices, and drives back towards downtown. However, she sees a blockade accompanied by a black minivan when she nears the freeway entrance. Impetuously, she decides to try and move the blockade out of the way. Right as she steps out of her car, the detective steps out of his minivan. He haughtily explains how removing the blockade would make Alice a criminal.

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Not desiring another physical encounter, Alice flips the detective off and leaves, driving towards her restaurant on the long, winding residential streets.

Knocking of Despair

When Alice arrives two hours later at the Silver Sett with only forty-five minutes remaining before the tasting, all of the news broadcasters from around New Orleans wait for her with their cameras set up around the restaurant. Meticulously, she prepares all of her ingredients, hoping that the thousands of people watching live could not see her heart pounding through her chest.

Alice focuses so hard on her cooking that she does not hear the yells of surprise as the news reporters jump out of the way and cameras crash to the ground. She doesn’t see the detective barreling full speed at her, yelling “THIEF!!” until he arrives directly in front of her, knocking over both the canister of turmeric and Alice.

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By the time Alice returns to her senses, the detective has sprinted elsewhere in pursuit of the “thief” To her dismay, the entire canister of turmeric lies on the ground, the powder all over her workstation like scattered ashes.

Panicking, she desperately tries to gather as much turmeric to season the capon but can only pile up a sad anthill of the spice. As a last-ditch effort, she decides to use cumin instead. The last five minutes pass like thirty seconds, and before Alice has time to even blink, the judge sits down in front of her, gazing expectantly at Alice.

Alice closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.

She introduces a dish never served before at the Silver Sett: cumin capon.

The judge daintily cuts a piece off of the chicken and brings it to his mouth.

His eyes light up, and the word “delicious” emerges from the corners of his lips.

Alice faints from excitement.

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