Original subtitles

Table four is waiting. Move your useless hands, Vance.

I don't need my eyes to see the plate.

Just touch, temperature, and precision.

Five microgreens, two drops of lemon-infused oil.

Done.

What are you waiting for?

Fire up the grill!

No, the fire.

It is happening again.

It burns.

You frozen freak!

You ruined the station!

You are fired!

Get out into the rain!

A Terry's Midnight Audition Flyer.

This is my last chance to survive.

Chef Sterling, your terror does not interest me.

Taste this reduction.

Tell me what is in it, or pack your things.

Reduced porp, roasted veal bones, and wild elderflower. Exactly 3% acidity.

Impressive.

Watch this, Chloe.

You see that? That's what's gonna happen to you!

You are smoking my line.

What is this?

Salt. Rich, oceaneric salt.

I can taste it.

After two years of absolute void, I can taste!

Get off my line! Now!

It is over. I ruined everything.

Sweetness is the only honest thing in this kitchen. Take this chamomile

macaroon. But be careful, Chloe.

Chef Diana burns everything she touches. She destroys her trainees.

The kitchen.

Come alone if you want to keep your career. Why is she summoning me in the

dark?

If you want to stay at a Terry, you will submit to the darkness.

No questions, no hesitation.

Otherwise, leave gastronomy forever.

I submit, Chef.

Open your mouth.

Chef, I can only hear your breath.

Do not look at me.

Just taste.

It is hot, onion, thyme, but the shallot is slightly burnt.

The moment my skin brushes hers.

The flavor floods my mind. Rich, deep, magnificent time.

Her touch is my only cure. Oh, God.

A sensory explosion.

Chef, let me... The

flavor is too intense.

Too sweet.

I am losing control of my own body.

Lunch service has started, trainee.

Since you love the heat, you are on the hot meat station.

Move!

No, don't freeze.

Remember her breathing.

Slow, steady, rhythmic in the dark.

How did she do that?

What are you doing in this kitchen at midnight?

I see how the executive chef looks at you.

She is executing my private training orders, sous chef.

Do you have a problem with my management?

No, Chef Diana.

Excuses.

Vivian Cross, it is Marco. I have the ultimate weapon to destroy Diana

Sterling. Let us talk about her forbidden midnight secrets.

Do not disappoint me, Marco.

You said you had proof of Diana's late-night weakness.

Where is it?

She is in the kitchen right now with the new trainee, Viviana.

I am going to get you the visual leverage you need to absorb a Terrian.

Just keep your end of the deal.

Keep the blindfold tight, Chloe.

Do not move.

Yes, Chef.

Tell me what you feel.

Hot searing metal 140 degrees Chef, why are you holding me so close?

Silence in this kitchen. I decide when the trial is over

A surprise table?

Julian Marsh is in the dining room right now? The most ruthless food critic in

the city, Diana.

And you cannot taste a single plate.

You need my tongue to survive this night. Step back, Marco.

Trainee Vance, step up to the pass.

Me? Chef?

You will taste and season every single master sauce.

before it leaves this kitchen. Are you insane, Diana?

She's a trembling amateur.

She will ruin us. I said do it. Trust your palate, Chloe. That is an executive

order.

It needs a pinch of sea salt and three drops of aged red wine vinegar.

Now.

He approved.

The three stars are safe.

You think you are a genius now, little girl?

You are just a temporary tool.

Diana is using you. One word from me and I will destroy your career. Get your

hands off her, Marco.

If you ever threaten my line cooks again, I will blacklist you from every

kitchen in the Sovereign Republic.

For now, you will dismantle and scrub the heavy grease traps under the

hotline. Every single inch. Five until dawn, Marco.

Start scrubbing.

I received the photo of Diana and the girl. The trap is set.

Let her burn.

Enjoy your last days, Chef Diana.

Chloe,

look at me. You need to run.

What do you mean, Lena?

Diana had another brilliant protégé's midnight sessions.

Overnight, she vanished from the industry, blacklisted, completely

ruined. She got too close to everything might touches.

Diana burns everything she touches.

Midnight, the dark kitchen.

Do not be late.

Turn around

Chef

my eyes I can't see anything you do not need eyes to taste

Stand still, Chloe.

Conquer the fear or leave my kitchen forever.

No! It is burning!

I have you.

Look at the darkness, Chloe.

Breathe with me.

In and out.

The fire cannot touch you.

All I am holding you.

Oh, my God.

Salt, sweet sorrow, and raw lemon. I can taste it.

Chloe, I can taste you.

Chef, what is happening?

She is here Vivian is here

I'm no see Diana still the perfect picture

You

went through my kitchen

Marco took them nice angle, isn't it Marco?

Marco took them.

Tomorrow morning, they can land in Julian Marsh's inbox.

Or they can disappear forever.

What do you want?

No rush.

First, once the third star is gone, what's left of your name?

Chloe, leave.

I'm not leaving.

Every time she softens,

Someone pays the price for her.

The last one?

You've heard of him.

I agree. I told you to leave.

Not unless you say it to my face. That you want me gone.

Say it.

Diana, look at me and say it.

From today, midnight training is canceled.

Last night, you told me to conquer fire.

Overnight, it all counts for nothing.

You return to kitchen helper status. You don't set foot on the hot station again.

Strictly business.

You're just a kitchen helper?

Look at me when you speak. What did Vivian Cross say to you? There's no

question about you on the schedule.

Stop arguing.

From today, the hot station and the sauce pass are mine.

You took those photos?

Evidence.

What evidence do you have? The basement inventory is waiting to help her. Oh,

right. No lingering in the office during work hours.

Get out!

Miss Cross is very pleased with your cooperation.

Cold soup.

She took a second sip.

Someone who can taste, why would they drink a second sip of cold soup?

That was this morning's consomme. You can't taste, can you?

Who let you in?

Marco said it two years ago.

I thought it was a lie to stir things up.

Get out!

So the midnight kitchen, the blindfold, forcing me into fire, all of it was

real. You've been using my tongue as your tongue. I said, get out! I could be

your tongue. Miss Cross asked me to deliver this.

Read it, and you'll understand.

Why she agreed to marry into the Cross family.

She's going to marry the person she hates most for me.

Two years.

She's been fighting taste every single day.

Marco is right.

Your three stars are built on borrowed tongues.

Since you've read it all, sit down and listen.

You should have told me long ago.

Tell you what?

That the tongue this city trusts most is a walking corpse?

For two years, I held on with Marco.

Now Vivian is blackmailing me with the photos, marrying to the Cross family,

and Etel and you are safe. You're trading a marriage for me? It's the only

price I can pay.

Salty and sweet.

So thick, it all floods in.

Don't touch me! Your sense of taste isn't dead.

It just needs the right person.

At the anniversary tasting, Julian will come.

And so will Vivian.

So?

Marco's sauce will kill me in public.

South of the city.

17 Rue Saint-Marcy.

The underground kitchen.

Why are you giving me the key?

If you really want to prove something, walk into that kitchen on the day of the

tasting. You'll regret not destroying me yourself.

I've been regretting it for a long time.

Two years.

She locked her entire world of taste in here.

Can't taste.

Can't taste.

How do you know this place?

She comes every night.

I delivered flour once and watched her stare at the soup.

Sip after sip, then spit it out. You knew she was sick all along.

Last year's apprentice knew too.

He wasn't sick.

He just got too close.

Vivian forced him out with photos.

Exactly the way she's cornering Diana.

When he refused, the whole industry erased his name the next day.

So she drove him away.

To save him. Diana never says soft words.

She just pushes people out the door and stays in the fire herself.

She wrote it all down, pushing me away yet remembering me. Marco sent all the

photos to Vivian.

On the day of the tasting, Vivian will announce her engagement to Diana in

public. Cross-groups money in exchange for Eytere's life.

She's using blackmail as a bride price?

It's not over.

Julian Marsh received a challenge letter signed with your name.

I never wrote any challenge letter.

I know. On the day of the tasting, I'll make the flavor. Let Vivian's engagement

and Marco's scheming burn to ash.

Elderflower, smoked salt, aged vinegar.

Every line in her notebook, I'll turn into flavor.

He's hidden away all the real ingredients.

On tasting day, Diana's signature dish.

is doomed.

A kitchen helper rummaging the cold room at midnight?

Vivian would find this footage very interesting.

I'm taking inventory.

My name is on the schedule.

Then what's that on your phone?

Nothing.

Hand it over, or I report you.

For using restaurant ingredients for yourself?

Theft. Go ahead and report me.

Let Vivian see how her man ruins the signature dish.

Did she pay for three stars?

Or a pot of spoiled soup?

You wouldn't dare!

I don't know anything.

Neither do you.

Color is right.

Consistency is right.

But I can't taste a thing.

Take one taste.

Get out. Just one taste. After tomorrow, you can throw me out.

Caramel, sea salt, and a hint of smoke.

Where did you learn that?

Your notebook.

And the night you forced me into the fire.

Tomorrow, I stand beside you. No. The Cross family holds the photos. If you

show your face, they'll destroy your entire career. I'm not afraid.

How touching.

Too bad.

The video of Chloe sneaking in and out of the restaurant at night was just sent

to Vivian.

If you send it out, I'll tear you apart.

Tear away?

There's a backup.

Tomorrow's tasting.

Vivian is just missing an appetizer.

Anonymous? Who would know about this?

Don't leave her alone.

Was it you?

Lena, tomorrow night's plan has to change. He wants to swap the seasoning

jars. I'll let him do it in front of everyone.

Tomorrow, not a single one of them gets away.

Chef, the sauce is ready.

Send it out. He really swapped it.

She can't taste a thing.

Diana, admit it with your own mouth tonight.

This truffle roux, the oil is dead.

It begins.

With all due respect, Mr. Marsh, the chef hasn't personally tasted the dishes

in a long time.

Chef, do you dare taste it? Very well.

Taste it.

Can't taste it. Two years, and tonight the whole world is watching.

This dish.

I can't.

Taste it. In front of everyone.

Chloe Vance!

Do you have any idea what you're doing?

Diana, open your mouth.

You know that one bite, and we're both finished.

You've been tasting me for two years.

Tonight, let me feed you for once. This is trespassing at a private tasting.

Security! The bitterness of caramel, the salt of sea salt, the sour of citrus,

the warmth of smoke.

All of it is back. It's alive. The whole dish is alive.

Ten years.

This is my most honest bite.

Mr. Marsh, she's a kitchen helper. This dish has no known origin. Wait.

My sense of taste?

I lost it two years ago. Diana, you've lost your mind. The engagement? There is

no engagement.

The cross-contract is void as of tonight.

Lies. Two years ago, she was still scoring at tastings. Who believes a

kitchen helper?

That's impossible.

There are no cameras in the cold room. No cameras, but there was a person.

Chef, whose name goes on this dish?

Her name.

Chloe Vance. From tonight, she is the co-head chef of a tear.

The Cross Group contract is void in public.

Tear it up.

The photos in the medical record hit the headlines tomorrow.

The whole city will know the three-star chef is a wreck.

Two years of medical records and the Cross family's blackmail evidence were

handed to my lawyer last night. Send one photo and I'll release everything.

Extortion charges alone will knock 30% off your family's stock.

Miss Cross, my column's deadline is 10 tonight. Would you like to stay for the

show? Diana, you'll regret this.

I've regretted many things. Tearing you apart was never one of them. Diana!

Without me, you won't last a week!

I lasted two years. Now someone is here to take my place.

From tonight, Chloe Vance is co-head chef of Atir.

And my partner.

This dish made me understand cuisine anew.

From now on, I'll taste every single dish myself.

Two years of darkness in this moment, it all lights up.

Finish scrubbing this pot, then leave.

Don't come back tomorrow night.

Cross Group stock plunged 40 percent in three days.

Vivian Cross announced her resignation from all positions and three of her

restaurants are closing for liquidation.

Every door in this city has closed on me.

The fire is still the same fire, but I'm not afraid of it anymore.

Medium rare, sea salt at the end?

Not a single thing wrong.

What he never got to stand on, you stood on for him.

Julian's column is out.

He calls Eterle the temple of new expression, and your dish is called fire

and salt.

He named it.

The flavor is ours.

The heat is your call.

I only do the tasting.

What can you taste?

Scared? From now on, every dish has to pass your lips. For two years I couldn't

taste the world. Now, you are my tongue. This time I finally tasted the complete

flavor.

Cut the sea salt in half.

As you say.

What did you taste?

Plain water.

Away from your hands, every flavor is plain water.

Then don't leave.

That's exactly what I'm afraid of.

Afraid of what?

Afraid I can't live without you.

She's still trying to blackmail?

If those photos go out, every media outlet in the city will be on you.

What are you hiding again?

Some wars aren't worth fighting together.

Who made you the one to decide?

The poster is anonymous.

But the camera angle?

Only someone standing inside this kitchen could have taken it.

Marco's already out. Who else is there?

3,000 shares in two hours.

By morning, the whole city will know.

This photo could only have come from the cold room.

The secret I hid for two years.

Overnight, the whole city gets a taste.

One hour out.

Shares past 3,000. The comments are all attacking.

This angle, behind the furthest steel rack, in the cold room.

Only one person ever used that spot.

Have the firm delete the post tonight.

Sue every single repost.

Seven outlets have already reposted it.

We can't scub it clean.

The more we suppress, the louder it gets.

Service as usual tomorrow morning.

Anyone asks, keep your mouth shut.

Don't touch me! No one touches me tonight!

60% of reservations cancelled.

And two suppliers stopped deliveries.

They say they're lying low.

Prep as usual.

All seasoning goes through Chloe.

Mr.

Marsh wants to verify. Is the loss of taste described in the post true?

You can tell him the truth.

The truth?

the truth is the moment i leave your hands i'm a wreck

get out

front door marco's here

with reporters i'm here to expose

how atari chef fooled michelin for two years with lies

Look.

Here she comes.

Diana's accomplice. A kitchen helper.

Who climbed to the head chef's seat on a tongue.

The day before the tasting.

He swapped out the truffle oil and ruined the signature dish in public.

Delete it. That's fabricated.

He was fired and holds a grudge.

Now he works for Vivian, slinging mud at Atre.

You don't understand the truth.

The truth is in the video.

Chef, can you send me a copy of the video?

It's all over the forums.

Share it freely.

Let everyone see who's lying.

You saw what just happened.

You turned my private business into a public show.

I was protecting you.

Marco blocks the door with reporters, and you won't fight back?

Once that video airs, the whole city reopens my illness.

You shield me from the blade, and you also lay my wound bare.

Then what do you want?

Stay silent while they dismantle Atre?

This isn't yours to decide for me. Two years, you carried everything alone.

Until you smashed bottles in the cold room, until the reservations hit zero.

You don't understand.

You're the one who doesn't understand.

To my fire.

Who is she?

Who told you to touch what's on my desk?

The woman on the back of the photo. Who is she?

Get out!

She was a chef too.

Like you, wasn't she?

Who is she?

Someone who should never be mentioned again.

I'm not leaving tonight.

You don't tell me. I stand right here.

I stand right here.

Her name is Camille.

She was my apprentice at Le Férix in Paris.

Two years ago.

Your loss of taste.

Wasn't it caused by stress?

That's what the doctors wrote.

The real origin is that fire.

The flames tasting.

The kitchen caught fire.

Camille was trapped behind the hot station.

I rushed in.

You saved her.

Her hands were burned.

She never held a pan again.

The day I woke up, tasted, I tasted the soup.

It was plain water.

Where is Camille now? I... She's married.

We don't keep in touch.

I want to help you get your taste back.

Together we... You can't help me! No one can help me!

In the midnight kitchen, you could taste it.

That was an illusion.

A false hope your touch created.

False hope?

Then when you kissed me, was that false too?

You're just my apprentice.

Don't turn a master-apprentice bond into something else.

Fine. Apprentice. I'll remember that.

Paris. Leferix.

She's going back alone to face that fire.

Want to carry it alone?

Not this time.

The line on the back of the photo, it matches.

Lena, who is Camille?

You found that recipe book.

Tell me the truth.

Le Férix closed forever after the fire.

Camille's hands were burned.

She never held a pan again.

And then?

She married a Swiss businessman and left the trade.

Diana never mentioned her. Not even Julian knows.

I always thought her taste was destroyed by stress.

So the origin was that fire.

She carried it alone for two years.

Diana pushes everyone away because she's afraid of burning someone else.

Lessie, inters consobier, pas double dédilé.

She hasn't smiled like this in two years.

She's rebuilding the past.

But her sense of taste is in my hands.

She's been in there all day.

What takes a whole day?

I didn't come to make a scene.

I just want the truth.

The truth is heavy. You can't carry it.

I carried your medical report and the blackmail letters. You think I'm afraid

of heavy?

There's a tavern over there.

Come with me.

Camille and I were more than master and apprentice.

We were together for three years.

The best days in Paris were all in that kitchen.

And then that fire.

I designed the show.

I miscalculated one pipe route.

Her hands could never hold a ladle.

Again.

I ruined her life.

We broke up.

She left Paris.

And she married.

That was an accident.

It wasn't your fault.

But her hands won't come back.

Neither.

Neither will my taste.

This is punishment.

And I accept it.

Your taste can come back.

Just let me help you.

Don't touch me.

In Paris, touching me won't help either.

Why? In the midnight kitchen, it clearly... I promised Camille I'd stay

and help her open a new restaurant.

I'll come back to Atterre.

The hot station is mine. The fire platter is mine. When you return, I'll

be there.

When she cries, she never lets anyone see.

You're finally back.

Tell me, how bad is it?

Vivian sent a formal acquisition offer to the parent company.

Cross's legal team is already in.

Auditing our books for two years.

What else?

A notice from the Michelin Review Committee.

Reinspection in two weeks. If Diane is absent or fails, the third star is

revoked on the spot.

She's not answering.

People back from Paris say she's locked herself in the Ferrix, seeing no one.

Two weeks.

If she doesn't come back, I'll hold this kitchen together until she does. You

can't hold it alone.

Then don't leave me alone.

Table three, sea salt last.

Yes, chef.

Three days, and not one order was ruined.

Why did you come back?

In Paris, I cooked one last guest dish in Camille's kitchen.

The whole dish, I tasted nothing.

Until I remembered your hands.

My taste doesn't live on memory.

It lives on you.

Taste it.

Salt and citrus.

It's real.

Marco was filming us by the back door.

He's definitely sent the photos to Vivian again.

Let her send them.

What did you say?

Once the photos go out, the whole city's media will... In three days in Paris, I

figured one thing out.

Every day I keep letting her blackmail me.

I fail to protect you for one more day.

Send a letter to Cross Group. If Vivian dares move a single finger, I'll release

all the evidence that she, as an investor, covered up the aging

electrical wiring in the Leferix fire.

You've had leverage on her all along?

Why wait until now?

Because releasing it means revealing my own mistake.

If we burn, we burn together.

A page is torn out here.

Three days after the fire, Vivian's people stole the key page of the

original report from the fire department.

With the page missing, the chain

of evidence breaks.

Then we need Camille to testify.

No, I can't drag her back into this.

She lost her hands to that fire.

I owe her more than I can repay in a lifetime.

I won't use her as a weapon again.

It's not a weapon.

It's the truth.

Vivian just sent an email ten minutes ago.

She never wanted money.

She wants me crawling back on my knees.

You won't go alone this time.

I'm walking into that room with you.

You came faster than I expected.

The terms are simple.

Sign the transfer agreement for a Terry, one dollar, and the restaurant belongs

to Cross.

The photos and medical records disappear forever.

Chloe's career guarantee stays spotless.

You protected her for two years now trade one restaurant for her whole life

Wait

Give

us one day Same time tomorrow

you get your answer One day That's the last kindness I'll show.

Come with me.

Don't ask.

Last night I contacted Lena.

She had someone obtain Cross's internal emails.

Fast food chain?

She wants to dismantle a tear and sell it off.

She doesn't want the restaurant.

She wants your name.

To destroy everything you leave behind.

Two years of blackmail, forcing me to my knees, so she wanted to wipe out the

roots.

Hand the emails to Julian, to the press.

Her acquisition becomes a joke.

Fine. This time, your way.

Chef Sterling, one moment.

My lady asked me to pass a message.

Marco already sent the photos to every director of a Terry's parent company.

Tomorrow at nine, an emergency board meeting.

The board gives her 24 hours to explain the scandal.

The Michelin re-inspection is moved up to three days from now, focusing on the

chef's personal tasting.

I can't taste.

On the spot means humiliation on the spot.

Then tell the truth on the spot.

All of it.

You know what that means. It means no one can blackmail you with it ever

again.

A new menu.

Each dish matches a milestone.

of your two years.

First, plain water and salt, the flavor of the night you lost your taste.

I'll contact Julian and a few outlets, have them come with cameras.

I hold the photos.

Sign the agreement, or the whole city reads the papers tomorrow.

Publish them.

On the day of the re-inspection, I'll stand at the plating station myself and

tell everyone she's been without taste for two years.

Are you insane?

Once the secret is out, your photos are worthless paper.

You have three days left, Marco.

His last act of sabotage.

The key ingredients have all been replaced. There's no time to restock.

No swaps.

We use these.

Expired ingredients?

The review committee will...

The truest flavor was never in.

Expensive ingredients.

Two years, and for the first time, I'm not afraid.

Tomorrow, we stand out there together.

The re-inspection begins.

Today, the chef must personally taste every dish.

Perfect. The whole city should watch this re-inspection.

Scared? Not anymore?

Let's go.

The citrus covers the fishness.

Nice.

The briteness of caramel. The richness of meat. I can taste it.

Complete. All of it is here.

Because I'm touching you.

Send it out.

Ask the chef to come see me.

Who controlled the heat on this vegetable dish?

Me.

But the one who taught me not to run from fire is standing behind me.

I've known for a long time.

Today I step forward.

My taste was lost for two years. Through her, I taste it again.

Everyone, it's time to see the real truth.

Impossible.

Looking for this?

The real documents are here.

Inside are the complete emails.

Between Vivian and Cross's top executives, including how she used the

chef's health to drive down A-Train's valuation.

Turn it off. That's forged.

Every email you stole, you wrote with your own hand.

In the past two years, she used the same tactics to bring down three

independent restaurants.

How do you explain this?

Forgeries.

I can forge a hundred of these emails in a day.

Have Marco shoot from that angle in the cold room.

Capture the moment she holds the girl, and we win.

This doesn't count as evidence.

I tasted it, but I could only think of one thing.

The root of all this is that fire two years ago. It was never truly faced.

I ran for two years. Paris is not the end. Then face it together.

I'll go with you.

This is something I have to face alone.

Last time you went alone, you almost lost yourself.

This time is different.

I'll come back.

Fine. But check in every day.

Miss one, and I fly over.

Her design drafts.

Who sent these?

Camille. She knew all along.

Diana's phone is off.

Check her flight.

A storm over Paris. Her flight diverted to London. We can't reach her. She's

alone, stranded halfway.

Marco! The police are on their way!

Someone doesn't want her to reach Paris.

This time, I'll go find her.

The result is announced in 24 hours.

But I'll tell you in advance.

The third star is safe.

Thank you.

The third star is safe.

You should smile.

Vivian was taken away, and I still can't be free.

There's one more thing I must do.

Go back to Paris and tell Camille the truth myself.

What truth?

That fire was my design flaw.

I've owed her those words for two years.

She can't even finish writing her apology.

You're Chloe.

How do you know me?

Diana's phone wallpaper is you.

She came to LaFedix yesterday and confessed her design flaw in the kitchen

in tears.

I showed her the original report. The wiring was aging.

It had nothing to do with the flame show.

Did she believe it?

She fell apart.

She said she'd punished herself for two years for nothing.

That's where we first trained.

An abandoned cooking school.

After she left, she didn't go back to her apartment.

She could only have gone there.

Thank you.

This time, I'll bring her back.

I knew you'd come.

The fire wasn't your fault.

Aging wiring, it's in black and white.

Blackmailed me with it. I didn't dare argue a single word.

From tonight, no one can use it.

To hurt you again.

What do you mean?

I tasted it.

Then now, taste me.

From now on, I'll taste every flavor with you.

This is the best thing I've ever tasted.

I first tasted Camille's cooking right here.

After the fire, I never came back. I failed this place.

Then turn it back into a kitchen.

My future is in Inter.

By your side.

The original is here.

Along with the fire department's complete investigation records from that

year.

You kept it all this time?

I knew that one day, you'd need to see the truth.

Next month, I'm closing Leferix and moving to Switzerland.

Will he take good care of that kitchen?

The way you did back then.

Take care of her. I will.

Two years, the first time she slept this peacefully.

Back in Atteray, I'm going to do one thing.

A new menu, using everything I learned in the two years from losing my taste to

finding it again.

Then every flame on every dish belongs to me.

This time, I want more than just your touch.

She's gone.

Watch closely.

Fire rises three seconds press the wrist half an inch pull back

Don't fear the fire the fire listens to you again

first course blank Second the bitterness of salt third the

sour of citrus fourth caramel fifth smoke and the last one the reunion of

fire and salt

The night before the tasting?

This must be the finale.

Julian's article is out.

He wrote all of your two years, the loss of taste, the blackmail, Marco.

Not a word hidden.

Reservations are booked three months out.

He turned my scars into a story.

He stepped forward for us first.

Chloe Vance originally used underhanded means to win Diana's trust.

Here's a photo of her lurking outside Diana's apartment late at night.

They're coming for me again.

This time she's the target.

The photo in the video is real.

I did come looking for you.

I know.

The comments are attacking me for clinging to you for being unclean.

Julian wrote it clearly.

Who taught me in the dark to taste again.

But they don't believe it.

Whether they believe is their business. Whether we stand together is ours.

I'm here. I'm not going anywhere.

She's back.

A court summon.

You violated a confidentiality agreement. You're prohibited from

disclosing any information about the LaFerrinix fire.

I have nothing to hide. Please leave.

This is more than a meal.

It's a kitchen's confession and rebirth.

I'll write everything that happened today into my column.

The court ruled the summon is invalidated.

The fire report proves you violated no confidentiality duty. And the industry

association announced it's permanently revoking Vivian's license to work in the

restaurant trade. It's over. This time it's truly over.

At tomorrow's Global Chef Summit.

What?

I want to do one thing.

Publicly and formally hand you the title of co-head chef of Attea.

From now on...

A-Train no longer has an executive chef title.

Only two people sharing the fire.

Are you sure?

Eight years of holding it, and I finally understand. A seat isn't held. It's

stood in by two people.

I once believed perfection was a chef's only language.

I punished myself with two years of tastelessness.

Until a fire-fearing kitchen helper taught me to listen with my hands and

cook with a heart that has known loss.

A kitchen doesn't need absolute obedience.

A kitchen needs trust.

Trust the ingredients.

Trust your partners.

Trust the one who holds your hand when you stand before the flame.

Today I announce that Chloe Vance is a Terry's equal partner.

All.

All power and all profits of this restaurant are shared between us.

The Michelin Special Award Restaurant of the Year goes to Atere.

Chef Sterling, I just took over this place.

Camille said the soul of this kitchen was taught by you.

The fire platform inside is still in its original spot.

It's never been moved. Would you like to look inside?

No need to go in.

We already have our own kitchen. First thing back, you take the fire, I take

the seasoning.

Old rule, one look is enough.

20 minutes to lunch service.

Hold on, I have something to tell you.

Flame, salt, and a little warmth.

You touched me? I touched you.

But just now, three steps away, I could already smell the smoke on the grill.

Explain. I don't need to touch you anymore.

The flavor came back on its own.

It's back. Then why do you still touch me? Before I touched you for medicine.

Now I touch you because I want to.

Two letters.

One from the parent company's board.

Vivian has been removed from all positions at Cross Group. The family

formally apologizes and permanently abandons the auntie acquisition.

Good. The other one is from Michelin.

They're inviting you both to serve as review advisors for next year's guide.

Review advisors?

Will you accept? I don't want to get too close to any system of power.

In the kitchen today, when you tasted the flavor, your hands were trembling.

I was afraid it was another dream.

I've had too many of those dreams these two years. And now? Now it won't

disappear. But I've noticed one thing. Two years ago, you blindfolded me and

said, obey the dark or leave the culinary world.

Back then, I couldn't even save myself.

But you did save me. I finally feel whole.

We both are.

Three months of reservations.

Not one day taken lightly.

Camille's wedding invitation.

Switzerland.

Her hands can hold a knife again.

She opened a cooking school in Switzerland.

She made it out.

So did we.

Taked.

Sea salt, pumpkin, and a touch of smoked chili. I know, but I still want to touch

you and taste. Why?

Because you taste like fire and salt, and like home.

At Atate, taste is not power. It is language.

The kitchen is not a confessional.

It is a stage.

This is the best flavor I've tasted in my life.

Every day from now on, will taste like this.

Too salty. I didn't put salt in that soup.

She tasted that soup three times just now.

The flavor is right.

Diana, what exactly did you taste?

Lunch rush is too loud. I lost focus.

Get back to your fire platform.

Alexander, I carry a letter of recommendation for Ms. Camille. I'd like

to see Chef Sterling.

I recognize Camille's handwriting.

Trial shift starting today.

He's working with his eyes closed. The heat control is flawless. To the second.

Wait, what perfume are you wearing?

No perfume.

Someone trained by Camille, truly different. Maybe I picked it up from

shops. I've smelled this before.

Vivian Cross's perfume, exactly the same. He won't leave at night? What's he

pacing at the door for?

What's that in your hand?

Chef Sterling, we need to talk.

About that metallic taste you've been having lately.

Going through the head chef's office in the middle of the night appropriate?

Looking for the original of my recommendation letter from Miss Camille.

The recommendation is in Diana's hands, not in the filing cabinet.

Would someone from Camille do a thing like this?

Last night he went through your filing cabinet and took a folder.

Last night he went through your recommendation.

He's entrusted to us by Camille. Stop suspecting him.

He smells of Vivian's perfume.

Have you forgotten? That perfume is all over the city. Bias? I got evidence on

camera. Your evidence is a photo you took secretly? For lunch service.

Alexander takes over the hot station.

Chloe, you go to the cold station.

You're taking me off the fire plate full? That's an order.

This is blue dragon spit pepper.

Where did you get it? That pepper exists in a single jar.

The storage room?

Locked in Diana's private cabinet. Is there a problem? He got into her private

cabinet. He's seen those notes too.

I checked the employee system.

Alexander, no such person.

What do you mean?

No resume, no social security record, even his passport info is empty.

He appeared out of thin air.

Julian, help me look into someone.

Alexander, recommended by Camille. I need his real identity.

This name, an identity under it, was just struck off at the Restaurant

Association three days ago. Whose identity was struck off?

Alexander is Vivian Cross's nephew. He's not Camille's man. He's Vivian's nephew.

He set a fire five years ago.

Impossible. Camille's letter is real.

Letters can be stolen.

Handwriting can be forged.

Look at this.

On his trial shift, I thought he looked familiar.

I assumed it was Camille's letter that made me drop my guard.

He touched your private cabinet and went through your files? Your recent metallic

taste is no coincidence.

Ask him face to face. Now.

Alexander.

Or should I call you Vivian's nephew?

Three weeks of pretending.

Finally, I don't have to. You went through the filing cabinet and her

private cabinet. What exactly do you want? What I wanted I already got long

ago.

Explain.

Vivian has arranged everything from inside.

My mission was never to steal records.

It was to make sure you never taste again.

The bottled water you drink every day.

A trace neurotoxin, the kind that can't be detected.

The metallic taste.

It's the toxin.

The USB drive is on the shelf.

Vivian's parting gift to you.

Hold on, I'm taking you to the hospital.

What, she left?

What is it?

Confirmed. A low-dose industrial neurotoxin.

Not lethal, but it will keep damaging the taste nerves.

Can it be treated?

Detox must start immediately.

Leave it too long and the taste may never come back. Again.

This time I'm afraid I'll truly never taste again.

You survived two years of blankness. This time I'm here. Last time, even with

you, I almost didn't make it. Chloe, I survived the fire. I survived Vivian.

But this time they're poisoning my body. Even if you truly can't taste again,

I'll tell you every flavor. What temperature salt is. What color fire is.

What I learned blindfolded, I can teach you.

The kitchen is holding. Elena's on the hot station.

The flame never went out.

Good. Atre is yours.

I'll handle the rest from here.

Diana, if you're seeing this video, it means Alexander did his job well.

My goal was never just Atre. I want you to lose everything and beg for mercy on

your knees.

Remember, the moment you think you've won, the game has only just begun.

She's locked up, and her reach is still this long.

This time, I won't let you face it alone.

Chloe? Calling this late, Camille. I need your help.

I've been waiting for this call for five years.

Listen, that arson five years ago didn't just burn a restaurant.

I brought someone back from Switzerland.

Doctor, the best specialist in neurotoxins. Toxin damage is reversible,

but at least three months of complete rest.

No exposure to any strong smells or tastes.

Three months?

Atrey can't go a single day without me. Right now, you can't even taste a

spoonful of soup correctly. I can rely on my notes and my memory. No! Atrey

needs a living, Diana. Not a legend lying on a hospital bed.

She's right. You fell once. The kitchen goes to Chloe. When you come back, your

fire platform will be waiting.

From today, I'm acting executive chef.

Lena is promoted to sous chef.

Elena takes over the hot station.

Give me the fire platform. It won't go out.

Marco posted.

He says Diana's empire has finally collapsed.

He has the nerve to show his face!

Listen up.

Anyone connected to Marco or Vivian is permanently banned from setting foot in

a tape. Don't celebrate yet. Vivian is in prison, but she still has channels

outside. Alexander has already been arrested. He's just a pawn. Other

members of the Cross family may still be moving in the dark. Then I'll hold my

ground here. Whoever comes, I block.

Taste. I'll do the talking.

Sea salt first, then the sweetness of roasted onion. At the end, a little

bitterness of lemon zest.

I tasted it. Every word landed on my tongue. Those are my words, not the

flavor. It is my flavor. You fished it out of the dark.

In the kitchen, you used to follow my orders.

Now you feed me soup, and I follow yours.

I figured one thing out.

Taste isn't why I love you.

It's the result.

Something's happened.

Vivian's lawyer filed an anonymous complaint with the Michelin Committee,

claiming Etade's executive chef, due to health issues, is unfit to run a three

-star restaurant, demanding a re-evaluation.

Diana's still recovering. The doctor says three months of no exposure to any

stimulating flavors. Proved it. A surprise inspection in three weeks, so

they can arrive any time. I know. That's why I'm telling you in advance.

Three weeks, Chloe. Think it through yourself.

I heard. Three weeks. Go back to your room. This isn't your concern. Etade is

my kitchen. On inspection day, I must be at the sauce station. Doctor said three

months of rest.

Touch one spoonful of soup and all the treatment so far is wasted. But the

third star is mine. I can't hide here watching you carry it alone. This time I

set the rules.

The third sauce, red wine vinegar, cut in half. I've tasted that ratio. This is

my kitchen. We do it my way. Chloe, a surprise inspection is not a drill.

You used to blindfold me and force me to trust my tongue in the dark. Now it's

your turn to trust me once.

I trust you.

If you trust me, stop directing me through a screen.

Then what's the point of our preparation?

There is a point.

If they want to find flaws, I'll show them a dish with no flaws to find. On

inspection day, in front of the committee, I'll recreate Diana's most

famous signature dish my way. Diana hasn't made that dish in two years, so

I'll make it for her.

Written by Diana two years ago.

The last page after the fire.

You wrote it long ago, two years ago.

Tomorrow, I taste for you, and I win it back for you.

Signature dish, out.

The heat control is steadier than the last review.

Ask the chef to come out.

I want to question her face to face. The committee wants the chef, the one with

personal ties to Vivian.

What's coming can't be dodged.

Then I'll stand and take it.

Diana Sterling is recovering.

Every dish today is on me. An interim chef?

Then taste this sauce on the spot and explain the seasoning logic.

Red wine vinegar halved, caramelized onion base, sea salt added last.

Temperature 62 degrees, three drops of aged wine vinegar for acidity before

reduction.

The logic is complete?

No flaw.

Michelin review committee, I demand you halt this review immediately.

Who are you? Vivian Cross's attorney.

By court injunction, Chloe Vance lacks the qualifications of executive chef.

This review's result is void. She's in prison and she still wants to run my

kitchen? The injunction takes effect immediately. The committee must leave or

we meet in court.

Before you sit down, look at this.

Officially approved by the board. During Diana Sterling's recovery, Chloe Vance

holds full authority over the kitchen in black and white. This authorization, it

hasn't been notarized. I don't recognize its validity, not you. But let me remind

you of one thing.

Interfere with this review once more and I'll report you for disrupting business

order. The cross name has made enough headlines lately.

Say it.

Don't make me guess. The third star is safe.

Julian drove the lawyer out.

It's safe? The committee said it themselves.

Atre's fire burns without anyone's tongue.

Perfect timing.

I have something to show you.

You tasted it?

Blackberry, oak, and a little tannin's bite.

The first time in two years. No touching, no describing for me. I tasted

it myself.

Don't speak. Let me finish. It was you, spoon by spoon, in the dark, who fed me

back to life. To life.

It took me three months of practice before I dared answer to sous chef.

Rightly earned. The fire platform goes to Alina. Dessert to you.

Smoked paprika, sea salt, and a little citrus sourness.

Complete. Every layer is there.

Chef, two dishes are being called for at once. Who do we listen to?

Listen to the fire.

Atea is no longer one person's empire, but a kitchen's democracy.

Two years.

The first time I feel I don't have to prove anything.

Standing here.

Because everything worth winning, we've won back.

Now every flavor I taste has you in it.

We've both tasted the dark.

That's why we know the flavor of light.

Look, my hands are fully healed.

Today I'm teaching the kids to make creme caramel. Camille, they're in for a

treat. It's snowing in Switzerland.

What about your side?

Over here, the fire has never gone out. Our story is finally no longer about

loss. It's about finding our way back.