Chapter 11: The Battle at the Global Feast
Chapter 11: The Battle at the Global Feast
The destruction of the smuggled warehouses was a crushing blow, but Helen Park remained a clever old fox. From inside the villa where she was held under house arrest, she played her final, desperate card: utilizing her connections with the International Food Association (IFA) to host the Global Culinary Dedication Awards—where she once held an honorary seat—aiming to whitewash her reputation through makeshift charitable funds.
Naomi received an invitation as a nominee for the "Humanitarian Breakthrough" category. It was an obvious trap. Helen wanted to drag Naomi into the playground of the high society elite, where rules were bought with money and superficial pleasantries.
"You don't have to go," Jae-min said as they sat in the dim office late at night. "I can use the Kang Group's financial leverage to strip the Park family of their sponsorship for the event."
Naomi shook her head, her gaze drifting to her father’s old copper trophy sitting on the shelf.
"If we avoid them, they will say we only dare to judge from the dark," Naomi said. "Helen wants a high-society banquet? I will cook her a dish she will never forget."
The Gala at the Grand Heritage Hotel
The gala evening was a lavish affair attended by hundreds of politicians and billionaires. Helen Park appeared in a gold-plated wheelchair, frail but with eyes still burning with arrogance and malice. When she saw Naomi walk in wearing a simple black dress, carrying her familiar apron over her arm, Helen smirked mockingly.
According to the gala’s rules, each nominated chef had to prepare a dish representing the "Future Vision of Gastronomy."
When it was Naomi's turn, she walked onto the main stage. Instead of preparing a complex dish with molecular foam or luxurious caviar like the other chefs, Naomi brought out a simple, rustic ceramic tray. On it sat three bowls of Juk (White Rice Porridge) accompanied by three traditional banchan: cabbage kimchi, pickled radish, and salted perilla leaves.
The entire hall murmured in confusion. The IFA judges looked at each other with skepticism. A French judge spoke up, "Ms. Brooks, this is a global gala. Isn't this dish a bit... simple and ordinary?"
Naomi held her wooden spoon, smiling calmly.
"The future of gastronomy does not lie in how much gold leaf we drape over a plate, but in how we protect its purity. This porridge is made from rice grown by farmers whom the Park Group exploited and underpaid for ten years. These pickled side dishes were made using recipes from the immigrant mothers our Foundation protects."
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She turned her eyes directly onto Helen Park.
"When a person is sick, when a system is rotting from within, they do not need a lavish banquet to cover it up. They need honesty and healing. This dish is a reminder: food is meant to nurture life, not to build thrones for those who bleed others dry."
