by Randi Ocean
5 years immersion in Latin Cuisine in Lima, Peru
Master’s Certification in Hospitality Leadership, Cornell University, School of Hotel Administration
Associate’s Degree in Culinary Arts from the CIA, St. Helena, CA
My passion is creative Latin cuisine that feeds the soul. Our restaurants provide a wide variety of dining experiences. I’m most proud of Buena Comida, Ramirez Restaurant Group’s high-end dining experience that opened in October 2011 and was an overnight success.
As I read on, I realized he never once mentioned Sergio as his brother or business partner, only that he was a partner in the Ramirez Restaurant Group. I pulled up Sergio’s profile and found the same. There was a long list of accolades and associations, but no mention of Cy. That was a bit more understandable, since associating with Cy would be more of a detriment to his image, but I was surprised Cy wouldn’t promote his connection with Sergio. I wondered how deeply their bad blood flowed.
**
Dane and I met Monday morning to review my selects from the test shots. “What’d you think?” he asked
“Awesome shots, Dane. It was really hard to pick. I decided on three of the still-life shots, and one each of the single-serving and the family-style plating. I liked the tomatillos and peppers best of the ingredients, and the single-serving plate most of all. I think those are the ones we should clean up. You?”
“Yeah, I was having a hard time deciding between the tomatillos and the scallions for the still-life shot. I felt really good about both of those. I’ll go with your picks. You have such a good eye.”
“Thanks, Dane. That’s very nice of you to say.”
“Only ‘cause it’s true,” he said, fist-bumping with me. “Do you think you can get them cleaned up by two so I can get them blown up and mounted for our meeting tomorrow?”
“Shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll get on it,” I said, looking at my watch and remembering I should have had a response from Adele about the contract by now. The first e-mail from her finally came in about eleven.
Bridget,
Attached is the revised contract. Please sign it and get it back to me ASAP.
Adele
Adele Westbook
Culinary Director
Ramirez Restaurant Group
503-555-5656
I opened the document, and the only change I could find from the original contract was the place where “Savory Shots” had been listed as the photographer was corrected to “Pratt Photography.” None of our other changes had been incorporated. Surely this was a mistake, although the file name had a new date. I wrote her back right away.
Hi, Adele,
I think there may be a mistake with the file you attached. I didn’t see any changes other than on page 4 where the company name was corrected. Could you double-check it?
Thanks,
Bridget
Bridget Stone
Studio Manager
Pratt Photography
503-555-2345
Not a moment later, she responded.
That is the correct document. This covers all of the stipulations we need to agree on.
Adele Westbook
Culinary Director
Ramirez Restaurant Group
503-555-5656
My blood boiled. She was pushing back to see if we would give in or walk away. There had to be a middle ground, but how could I get her there? I knew the likelihood of her agreeing to all our changes was slim. I had to focus on the most critical, nonnegotiable points.
Adele,
Please consider adding the language spelling out the list of deliverables, specify that we can use the material for our promotional purposes, and the stipulations about Nicole as the stylist relative to maintaining the schedule. Also please include the addendum with the schedule as we have outlined it. Once those changes are made, Dane will sign it.
Thank you,
Bridget
Bridget Stone
Studio Manager
Pratt Photography
503-555-2345
An hour went by with no response. My stress level was through the roof as I waited to see what she would come back with. I was having trouble concentrating on the Photoshop work, and time was running out to get the images to the printer. I didn’t want Dane to know about the e-mail exchange with Adele, either. He would only worry that the job might go away. Another hour went by before I finally got another e-mail from her.
Nicole is a professional. There is no need to call into question her ability to maintain the schedule. Attached is the revised contract. Sign it and return it ASAP.
Adele Westbook
Culinary Director
Ramirez Restaurant Group
503-555-5656
She’d added the list of deliverables, and the stipulation that we could use the material after the book was published for promotional purposes. That was certainly better than not being able to use the material at all, but she still hadn’t included the calendar, and from her note, it seemed she wasn’t even going to consider adding any language about Nicole. Why was she so defensive? I hadn’t questioned Nicole’s professionalism, only the speed at which she did her job. None of us had worked with her. I was sure if they were shooting and we were forcing them to work with Valerie, Adele would want the same assurances.
I had to focus on finishing the cleanup on the shots for Dane. They were coming together, and once I added a slight vignette to the edges, they were perfect. I put them on a thumb drive and took them to Dane.
“See what you think of these,” I said, handing him the drive.
He plugged in into his laptop, and his eyes lit up. “You are one badass Photoshop artist!” he said, high-fiving with me. “These are awesome! I’m going to take them to the printer right now.”
“Before you go, I need to talk to you about the contract.”
“Oh?” Dane said, looking worried.
“Well, Adele has only added a couple of our changes from last week. The biggest things that aren’t in there yet are the calendar and the stipulations about Nicole’s ability to maintain the schedule. How much do you want me to push back?”
“Ya know, Nicole is obviously Adele’s dream girl. She can do no wrong in her eyes, so forcing that point will lead to no good. Let it go but I really need to know they’re on board with extending the schedule. That’s critical.”
“Okay, let me see what I can do. Hopefully, by the time you get back, it’ll be resolved.”
“Kick some butt, girl!” he said as he walked out the door.
This could not be a deal-breaker. I had to make it work.
Adele,
I see that the calendar is still not attached as an addendum. We need to know you are on board with the schedule as we have outlined. Please let me know if our timeline is acceptable. That’s the last point that needs to be addressed before Dane signs the contract.
Thank you,
Bridget
I said a little prayer before hitting “send,” then waited anxiously for her reply. I knew it would only take Dane about half an hour to get to the printer and back, and, more than anything, I wanted to have a clean contract waiting for him to sign. Twenty minutes later, the e-mail came in from Adele.
This paperwork must be settled before our meeting tomorrow. I’ve removed all references to the schedule and added a TBD clause. We will discuss it tomorrow and initial it when we can agree on it. Send the signed contract to me by the end of the day.
Adele Westbook
Culinary Director
Ramirez Restaurant Group
503-555-5656
I guess that could be considered a compromise. I felt better about it than I had, but still couldn’t claim victory.
When Dane got back, he read through the final document. “Well, it’s an improvement from where we started.”
“I know, but I wish I could have gotten more of our changes added in. I’m going to fight hard for that schedule tomorrow. I’ll feel a lot bett
er about it when we get that settled.”
“Amen, sister.”
Chapter 10
Tuesday morning, I was extremely nervous about seeing both Sergio and Adele. My last contact with each of them had been strained. I hoped all that would be behind us so we could have a productive meeting as a team. Valerie and I prepped the coffee and breakfast, and set up each place at the farm table with the reference materials Dane had shot. He was quite pleased with how the test shots had turned out. The poster versions were “book ready” and looked outstanding. The rest were included in everyone’s meeting books for discussion purposes. Even though they were in the raw format, it was still an impressive body of work for this stage of the project.
At ten o’clock on the dot, Sergio, Adele, Nicole, and Cy arrived at the studio. We hadn’t anticipated Cy attending, although after Friday’s encounter, I should’ve realized he would be involved. I quickly adapted, adding another coffee cup to the stack, and then hurried to produce another book of materials. Dane realized the fire drill I was going through and made small talk with them while I ducked into the back room to make copies. Sergio split away from the group and found me deep in the back office. I didn’t hear him come up behind me and practically jumped through the ceiling when he put his hands on my shoulders.
“Oh, my sweet Bridget, I didn’t mean to scare you.” He chuckled and leaned in to whisper in my ear, ”I’ve missed you so much these last few days.”
My breath hitched and my nipples tightened from the feel of his warm hands through the fabric of my blouse. My whole body was responding to his touch; this was not the time or place to be distracted like this. I couldn’t even turn to face him. I was afraid I might cave and fall into his arms. “Sergio, please. I have to concentrate on this. I didn’t know Cy was coming.”
He tried to calm me. “Oh, Bridget, I’m sorry you’re so stressed. How can I help?”
“Please, just go and talk with the others. I’ll take care of this and will join you in a few minutes.”
He kissed the top of my head and left to rejoin the conversation in the other room. I wasn’t sure if I was more stressed by Cy showing up unexpectedly or by trying to conceal my attraction toward Sergio in front of everyone else.
**
With the materials finally staged at each seat, everyone was moving toward the table. The two poster shots looked regal floating on the rear wall.
“Wow!” Sergio said as he approached them to examine each more closely. His reaction reminded me of the first night we were together when he discovered my Journelle ensemble -- genuine surprise.
“This is the shrimp escabeche from my second book, isn’t it?” Sergio said, more as a statement than a question.
“Yes, exactly,” Dane responded.
Even Cy and Adele had to admit that the shots were stunning.
“Did you style this, Valerie?” Nicole asked.
“Yes. It was a pretty simple recipe, but the ingredients are beautiful, so I had a lot to work with.”
“You’re quite talented,” Nicole said, with a hint of annoyance that Valerie was showing off her abilities to Sergio. I was afraid she might feel threatened by Valerie -- like we were trying to move in on her territory -- but all we wanted was for everyone to be able to work together.
We sat down and began reviewing the materials. Sergio was even more excited when he saw all the variations Dane and Valerie had put together. Cy glanced at Nicole, checking for her reaction to Valerie’s beautiful work. She didn’t look up and seemed a bit uneasy as she surveyed the thoughtful detail Dane and Valerie put into every frame. It was way more material than they ever expected we would prepare for a kickoff meeting, and better than anything they had ever produced in the past.
Cy spoke up. “Well, you’re clearly the right team for this job. This is great stuff.” Nicole glared at him.
Sergio added, “Yes, this is fantastic! I can’t wait to get started.” He looked at me and smiled, knowing that as soon as we began shooting, we would see each other every day. I still didn’t know how I was going to manage that and not let my emotions get in the way.
Adele got back to business in her oh-so-abrasive way. “I saw that your calendar has completion at the end of February. I specifically said we need to be done mid-month.”
“Part of the reason we did these test shots was to plan every step of the process that we had outlined in our original proposal,” I said. “For Dane to give you his best work, produce the still-life shots and the plating shots as he proposed, we feel we will need the extra time.”
Adele responded, “Nicole’s very fast, and I think you’ll find that things might go more quickly than you expect.” Nicole sat up a little straighter in her chair and pursed her lips in a slight smirk. Adele’s comment was a direct jab at Valerie, and Nicole was relishing it.
“Well, that would be great, and we’ll hope for that,” I said, trying to appear gracious for her input, but letting her know this was about more than the food styling. “I’d prefer to leave the schedule as we have laid it out to give Dane the creative freedom he needs.”
Adele was irritated and about to object when Sergio interrupted. “I think we can leave it as-is for now. Those couple of weeks won’t hurt us, and I want to give Dane the time he needs.” He knew having the time to do it right was important to me, too, so that was his way of supporting me.
Adele and Cy looked at each other skeptically but finally acquiesced. Adele added, “Okay, but if it looks like it’s going to drag on too long, we’ll have to start cutting back. This book has to be online by the end of-March in time for Mother’s Day sales.”
Dane agreed. “I completely understand, and we’ll do everything we can to give you the most variety to choose from and still finish on time.” With that, everyone seemed to relax a little. Even my stress began to fall away slightly.
I felt Sergio studying me as we talked through the next phases of the project. His riveting brown eyes were drawing me back to him. I had to get a grip. My head was spinning with all the conflicting images I had of him – my initial impressions from his TV persona on Top Chef, Nicole’s perspective that she shared with us on Friday night, and my first-hand encounters with him romantically. Who was the real Sergio Ramirez?
We wrapped up the main meeting, and Valerie and Nicole adjourned to the prep kitchen to begin their planning session. Dane and I escorted the others to the door.
“Dane, we’re so impressed and appreciative of your passion for this project,” Cy said.
Sergio was nodding. “Yes, the work you’ve done really helped me understand your vision and how fantastic it will be.”
Adele stood between the brothers with her arms folded, impatient to get out the door.
“Thank you, gentlemen,” Dane said, beaming. “It helped me get grounded and formulate the approach, too. We’re excited to get started.” He shook hands with Cy and Sergio, and reached out to shake with Adele, but she just nodded and escaped quickly.
Cy shook my hand and followed her out, but Sergio hung back for a moment. He held both of my hands in his as he had the first time we met, but this time he kissed me on the cheek. “I look forward to seeing you soon,” he said, and nodded to Dane as he left.
Dane looked at me as if to say, Is he “Mr. Red Roses”?
“Stop it,” I said. “It’s not what you think.” He didn’t seem to believe me. “I need to see what’s up in the kitchen. We’ll talk about it later.”
“Yeah, they definitely need a referee,” Dane said, rolling his eyes and shooing me toward the prep kitchen.
As I walked in, Valerie was presenting Nicole with her list of duties the way she saw it. It was a version of the document Nicole had given her Friday, but on Val’s terms. I could see Nicole’s expression change. She was not used to an assistant standing up to her or setting her own ground rules. Valerie would give her some room to be the boss, but she wasn’t going to be subservient the way Nicole was seemingly accustomed to. I could see I woul
d have to watch them to be sure there wasn’t too much of a grudge building that could reach a breaking point.
Nicole read over the list in silence. Finally she said, “I realize you have way more experience than my typical assistant. I’ll accept these terms, as long as you’re willing to accept that I’m in charge and you’ll follow my direction.” I could tell she was annoyed that she even had to have this conversation, but she had to admit, Valerie was a talented stylist. She could be a huge asset if Nicole gave her the room to use her knowledge.
Valerie seemed okay with that. “Yes, ma’am, but if I have a suggestion, I’m not going to keep my mouth shut. We’re all in this to make it the best book possible, and if I think something could be better, I’m going to say so.” Nicole seemed taken aback by Valerie’s straightforward attitude, but she agreed it would be a team effort. They shook hands and got down to business.
I put on a fresh pot of coffee and went back to my office to check my messages.
“I heard that,” Dane said as he flopped down in a chair across from me. “Do you think it’s going to be a problem?”
“I’ll keep a close eye on them and try to diffuse any issues before they get ugly. I’m hoping after a week or so, they’ll find a rhythm working together and it won’t be a problem at all. They’re both strong personalities, and it’ll require some give and take to make it work.”
“And what about Sergio?” Dane asked. “Are you going to be okay working with him? He seems to be quite enchanted with you.”
I could feel my face flush. “Sergio’s fine. I think his Latin mannerisms tend to exaggerate his actual level of enthusiasm for everything. I can manage him, I promise.” I looked away, hoping Dane wouldn’t detect my uncertainty about the situation.
