Potus, 2/14 lunch part IV

The waiters had efficiently cleaned up the table by this point and they retreated to the kitchen.  The headwaiter announced, “Sandwiches are being made available now.” He was clearly following the more-than-four-words-per-sentence quota.

Everyone settled down back in his or her respective seat.  The Head Chef came out to observe the commotion.  He looked nervously at Potus and approached.

“Is everything going well, Sir?”

“Ah yes,” replied Potus, glad to be distracted.  “Wonderful chowder!  Truly magnificent!”

The Head Chef was pleased and beamed.

“We had a bit of an incident with the soup,” he started and flinched again as the First Lady attempted to swat his shoulder.

“Yes, Sir, I heard.  I hope that everything was satisfactory?”

“Well, next time, make sure we have some bread on the side.  I want to dip some bread in my soup and I don’t want to break my bread bowl to do so.  That’s just a suggestion, not an order, of course.”

“Oh, no Sir, believe me, I understand and I’ll let my staff know that bread is to be served every time on the side.”

“Ah, good.  What’s for dinner tonight?”

“Sir, we’re having a nice poached salmon (your favourite) and a creamy risotto with pommes de terre purée.”

Potus rubbed his hands in glee.  “Let me ask you a question,” he said.  “Let me ask you a personal question.”

The Head Chef nodded and leaned closer.

“You know how you cooked the baked salmon a few weeks ago and it was nicely cooked, very soft, juicy, delicious?”

The Head Chef nodded.  “Yes, Sir.”

“You know how you cooked the salmon last week, where it was still a bit rare inside and wonderful?”

The Head Chef nodded, but looked a bit worried, unsure where this was going.

“Could you under poach the salmon so that’s just basically raw?  Like just bring out the salmon fillet on a cold platter and let us rip into it?”

The Head Chef looked very worried.  “Sir, I’m very sorry, no we can’t do that.  We need to cook the food for safety reasons.”

Potus pouted.  “I’m not sure that’s unsafe.  I just want to dig into the salmon sushi style, you know?”

The Head Chef started to make motions to leave.  “Um, Sir, I think you mean sashimi.  Anyway, I have to go.  I hope...  Yes, everyone, bon appétit, thanks, I hope everything is ok...”  He disappeared through a hidden door to the kitchen.