The Coffee Shop in a Different World Station

Thank you very much for using our station again. The last train bound for Woodford is scheduled to depart at 16:00. Since the ticket checking is scheduled 10 minutes before the departure, please wait in the waiting room beside the ticket gate.
— However, the adjoined coffee shop 『Swallow』 will take orders until 15:30.
Please feel free to stop by.

「This is really good! I can’t stop eating it!」

Roland exclaimed as he heartily ate his chicken curry. From the departure of the second train at 13:15 until its arrival at 14:30, the flow of customers was often interrupted long enough for the employees of 「Swallow」 to take a break and eat. Nyaachi had already finished eating and was now cleaning the station. Tak.u.mi, who no longer had to worry about the floor, continued to prepare his meal.

At that time, he heard ringing from near the entrance. It came from the bell attached to the door, which rang whenever someone entered. Tak.u.mi, who had been preparing his boarding meal, stopped what he was doing and went to check the floor. There was a fairly tall man in his prime, with deep, chiseled features, standing at the door wearing a black, three-quarter sleeve shirt with matching black long pants. Tak.u.mi recognized the man. Tak.u.mi briefly bowed before receiving the store’s “regular customer” and showing him to his seat.

「Will you be having the usual?」

Tak.u.mi asked the customer, who had arrived at his seat. The man’s order was always the same, the “C set daily special lunch.” He nodded silently as he wiped his face with the complimentary warm towel. After Tak.u.mi confirmed the order, he went to the kitchen with an abnormally stiff expression.

「A lunch customer, at this time? That’s rare.」

Roland hurriedly tried to scarf down his chicken curry in order to attend to the unexpected customer. After Tak.u.mi told Roland to take it easy, he readied the ingredients for the order.

The coffee shop 「Swallow」 offered three types of lunch sets. A set was curry or stew, a “rice meal”, B set was a “light lunch” with food such as tacos or a pizza, and a salad with a tortilla and garnish, while C set was a “plate lunch” with a main and side dish on one plate with bread and salad on another plate. Among 「Swallow」’s lunch menu, C set was one of the most expensive and it took the longest time to prepare.

Lunch sets were difficult to prepare, so a chef’s skill was always key. Tak.u.mi first took out a stewed roll from a large pot, the main ingredient of today’s “lunch C set,” and transferred it to a smaller pot used to heat things up. Then he placed it on the oven stove. The roll had been

stewed since yesterday. Pork and beef were chopped and minced. Cebolla with apio were minced as well as sautéed. Egg, salt, pepper, and a little nutmeg were added in and kneaded well. These ingredients were firmly rolled into individual portions, which were wrapped and tied with boiled repollo leaves and kite string to contain the filling. For that step, it was important to remove the hard core of the repollo leaves to make it easier to tie up, but Tak.u.mi had a way to make use of the core for soup instead of throwing it away.

When all the repollo rolls were prepared, they were spread out onto a thick pan. It was important to tie the winding part of the knot downwards in order to not leave any gaps, but the repollo needed care to prevent tearing. On top of the pale green cushion, he placed a heap of bright red diced tomatoes, a touch of water, a little red wine, a foliage of laurel for scent, strong-flavoured grains of pimiento, and several other spices in amounts just enough to bring out the flavor. Finally, it was finished when a dash of salt and pepper was added and then warmed. These stewed dishes, like the rolls, could be made the day prior, and since it went well with cornbread, it became a staple food in the lunch C set and was one of the cla.s.sic items in 「Swallow」.

Stewed cabbage roll

As Tak.u.mi warmed up the stewed roll, he began preparing the side dishes. He cracked two eggs into a bowl, added sugar, salt, fresh milk, which was delivered every morning, and a little colza oil, which he then whisked thoroughly. When it was ready, he put some b.u.t.ter on an iron frying pan that was heated to the hottest temperature in the middle of the oven stove. The b.u.t.ter quickly melted in the heat of the pan, and the surrounding air was wrapped in the mellow fragrance unique to dairy.

Once Tak.u.mi estimated it was melted enough, he poured the beaten and seasoned eggs into the pan. Before the egg mixture solidified, he stirred it with bamboo chopsticks, custom-made in “this world”. Once it had become a bit solid, the zanahoria that had been sliced and was in the draining basket; the big, green pimiento, which was chopped and had the peculiar characteristic of not being entirely spicy; and thinly sliced cebolla were all added onto the carpet of eggs. He then held the frying pan handle with his left hand and knocked it with his right to vibrate the egg so it folded onto itself. After that, he waited a while so it cooked with the residual heat. Then, he scooped it out with a spatula and placed it on a plate. This

This omelette had plenty of vegetables and was the side dish of the day.

Vegetable omelette

The plate used to serve the food today had rounded corners and part.i.tions dividing it into compartments that prevented sauces from spreading. The stewed roll, which had been warmed up earlier, was arranged next to the omelette on the main compartment and topped with a red sauce. In the smallest compartment, on the top right corner of the plate, there were impressive dark greens with bits of red roots, called espinaca, chopped into bite sized pieces; and served with the espinaca salad was preserved smoked pork that was fried in oil with high heat using the rocket stove.

Spinach salad

After arranging the main dish, side dish, and salad onto the plate, Tak.u.mi took out two pieces of lightly toasted corn bread from the oven stove, which he had placed inside a while ago, and dished them onto a small white plate. The yellow cornbread stood out against the white of the plate, and its fragrance was amplified from the light toasting and spread throughout the surroundings. In the soup mug was today’s soup, brown cebolla soup, which featured a deep caramel color. This was the base of the chicken bouillon, which was set aside for the base of A set’s chicken curry and was stir fried until the cebolla turned golden brown. The golden brown soup seasoned with pepper was Tak.u.mi’s favorite soup since he could enjoy the taste of the chicken as well as the mellow sweetness of the cebolla.
The serving of lunch C set was completed.

Brown onion soup

Roland, who had just finished eating, called out.

「Master, that’s quite some skill you have! Ah! I shall serve it.」

「No, I will serve it today. Can you please wash the dishes?」

Tak.u.mi replied while finishing the arrangement of the dishes on the tray. He then tightened his expression once again and carried the “lunch C set” to the customer’s table.

「Thank you for waiting. Here is today’s plate lunch set. The main dish is the stewed roll. Please enjoy the food.」

Tak.u.mi, who finished serving the stern-looking man, bowed a little deeper and left. The man nodded silently at Tak.u.mi without changing his stern expression and immediately cut the roll in half with his knife and ate it. He closed his eyes, like he was savoring the taste, and quietly chewed away.

(… There is a rich tomato taste pervading the meat, with the sauce and meat combining into one. It is also easy to eat the soft repollo leaves, which had absorbed both of the flavors. Enhancing that mellow taste as a whole is a subtle spiciness from the pimiento. This is exquisite. If that’s the case, then…)

The man then cut the stewed roll into smaller bite-sized pieces. He reached

He reached for the cornbread, tore a quarter of it, dipped it into the sauce of the stewed roll, and put it into his mouth. The man wrinkled his brows, yet his serious look was still maintained.

(I see… the meat flavor and the tomato sauce makes a good dip for the toasted cornbread that absorbed the flavor. The texture of the meat and bread are also intriguing.)

Next, he reached for the omelette with his fork. When he inserted his knife, a thin green and orange strip appeared from the brilliant yellow, half-cooked egg. The man cut the omelette into a bite-sized bit and consumed it. Together with the lively music played by the crunching sounds of the green pimiento and orange zanahoria, the slightly sweet, mellow taste of the egg spread in his mouth.

(Well… this is interesting. It seems that the sweet egg reset my palate from the slightly salty stewed roll. What’s more is that the texture of the vegetable strips is quite pleasant. The slightly bitter taste of the pimiento and the unique taste of the zanahoria feels refreshing.)

The man then partly tore the cornbread and combined it with the omelette like before. Even though he chewed twice or thrice, a smile never surfaced on his face.

(Hmm. The gentle taste of this egg… does it somewhat fall behind due to the fragrance of the toasted cornbread? On top of that, because the bread is firm, the uniform texture of the vegetables stands out if it’s eaten together. Is it possibly better to eat these separately…?)

This time, the man reached for the espinaca salad. The oil from the fried, smoked, and salted bacon gave the dark green espinaca leaves a glossy coating. When he put it in his mouth, the slight bitterness from the crisp stalks accompanied the gentle taste of the leaves and the rich flavors of the oily, smoked, and salted bacon, conjoined together to form a middle ground and spread in his mouth.

The man put some espinaca salad on one half of the corn bread and folded it in half, eating it with a big bite. After sinking his teeth into it, the dark green espinaca peeped out from inside the bread. He continued to eat as he nodded once or twice.

(I knew it… this is a good way to eat salad. The sweetness of the bread and the characteristic taste of the espinaca, combined with the rich taste of the bacon, came together to form a great taste.)

After finishing the remaining cornbread with espinaca salad filling, he reached for the soup. The sweet cebolla — which had been thoroughly stir-fried until a dark golden brown littered the soup, and had the chicken bouillon as the soup base — had a rich flavor. The man first took a sip and carefully savoredand carefully savored it with the same expression. Thereafter, he began to tear half of the remaining cornbread and dipped it into the soup.

(This soup… is made exactly for the bread. The umami flavor from the chicken accompanied by the sweetness and richness of the stir-fried cebolla is exquisite. On top of that, thanks to the coa.r.s.ely ground black pepper, it packs a punch. The soup might be a little too rich to drink by itself, but as a dip for the bread…)

The man tossed the cornbread that had soaked in the soup into his mouth. As he chewed, the golden brown soup from the bread gushed out inside his mouth. Unlike the time when he drank the soup, the flavor and fragrance of the cornbread permeated into the soup, giving it a completely new taste. The man finally gave a big nod after feeling satisfied, and continued to enjoy every bite.

「This is cinnamon coffee for the after meal.」

When the man finished eating, Tak.u.mi brought the cinnamon coffee as the after meal beverage to the table for the man to enjoy at his leisure. The man nodded silently, picked up the white cup and saucer, and sipped. In the hands of a large man like him, the average-sized cup looked smaller. Normally, Tak.u.mi would step back once he was done serving, but today was different. Tak.u.mi was waiting for the man to speak.

「The soup…?」

The man looked into Tak.u.mi’s eyes and uttered two words.

「Yes, today’s soup was boiled down a little, so it had a stronger taste. But, I believe it became better when consumed with the cornbread…」

The man nodded silently at Tak.u.mi’s words. After that, silence lingered around those two for a bit while they communicated with one another using their stares. Eventually, the man happily smiled and handed the cloth he had to Tak.u.mi. When Tak.u.mi unwrapped the received package, he found two small, round buns inside ― they were smaller than the usual cornbread, but they appeared to be fluffy.

「Please… try this later.」

Tak.u.mi nodded at the man’s words. It was probably baked bread made from corn and wheat flour. In “this world”, there were few imported goods, so it was considered an ultra luxurious item if one used wheat flour, but this guy seemed to have made it himself as an experiment. Tak.u.mi figured that his visit to the man’s shop the other day must’ve ignited the man’s pride as an artisan, so Tak.u.mi felt nothing but admiration towards his serious att.i.tude.

The man paid the price of the lunch by leaving money on the table and silently left his seat. Tak.u.mi watched him walk silently away. When the man was on his way to the door, it suddenly swung open with a thud, ending the silent moment.

「I’m back-nanonya~! Ah, Salvador-san, you’re here~