Chapter One
“ALL RIGHT, chefs, you have ninety seconds to get your food plated and presented. If your dish isn't ready, you will automatically be eliminated.”
My cooking instructor, Chef Michelle Lee, walks through the room, examining our stations. My fellow cooking students and I are competing for the chance to enter another competition. The winner of today's cooking challenge will get the chance to compete for a full-time apprenticeship at Fission, one of Austin's hottest restaurants.
I'm not confident in many aspects of my life, but I know I dominate in the kitchen. I begin plating my dish just as Chef Lee approaches my station.
“Your food presents beautifully as usual, Kiara,” she tells me with a smile. “If it tastes as good as it looks, you've got this in the bag,” she adds with a
