Gemotions

Chef David had always been proud of his modern take on classic dishes. The critic had called it "pretentious and dull." Now, standing in the kitchen, David felt… distant. The familiar smells, the clatter of the pans, seemed to belong to someone else.

He barked an order to his line cooks, his voice strained. He tasted a sauce, immediately rejecting it. He kept fiddling with his toque, pulling it tighter, then loosening it.

He began to question every decision he had made. The review had shaken him to his very core. He wasn't sure what to do next.