where: Sunny Side Up Diner, 6.00am with: Ali Webster ( @alitwebster )
Roman had been home for just over a week, and Andrew was starting to relax about his recovery. Roman respected and appreciated Andrew's concern for him - he wanted Roman to recover properly, and not push himself - but Roman was a chef, he had worked hard, long hours for decades so lying in bed and sitting at home doing very little was not for him. Especially now he'd been landed with a fat medical bill.
He'd been in the diner for 5.30am, which was especially early for any normal member of staff. He looked everything over, checking the cleanliness, the books and the bills. Everything looked great. Luciana and the team had done a great job keeping things running, especially when it looked like they'd had some busy days without him. Satisfied, Roman had decided to get to work, and he'd started making bread. Since he'd taken on Ali, he'd become more serious about them eventually making all their own bread. For now, it was just soup rolls and loaves for sandwiches, but he hoped one day they could do burger buns and hot dog buns. They would need two full-time bakers - one for sweets and one for savoury.
Roman enjoyed making bread rolls. Mixing the ingredients, watching the yeast do its thing. He enjoyed the process of kneading, but on such a scale, they let the mixers do most of the work. He was in the process of portioning and rolling them into neat, perfect rounds after their second prove when the door opened, and Ali Webster was standing there. "Ali. Good morning." He said casually like he hadn't been missing for almost a month.
