Chapter 10The hotel restaurant was more informal than Talya had expected. It reminded her of an Italian Trattoria. A huge conical copper hood descended from the ceiling to almost head level over a semi-circular charcoal grill of imposing dimension, which occupied one corner of this vast room a third of the way into it. The Chef (in full gear—hat and all) stood in front of the grill watching the fish, meat and poultry frying gently on the iron grid. At the far end of the room, there was an open kitchen behind a glass counter where cooks and sous-chefs were busy applying the finishing touches to the dishes they had prepared.
As they entered, the restaurant being sparsely occupied—they were too early for the dinner rush—the maître d’ led them to a table close to the terrace windows, and away
