Part 12: Groundhog Day

Episode 11: Groundhog Day



So how has it been with you guys? I haven't seen Armand in a while.

We're good. Everything is… you know… we're good.

Okay, you just said 'we're good' twice. Seriously, what's going on?

He's… well, you know, he's doing the TV show and the restaurants and everything so he's been pretty… busy… you know?

Del…

So! What have you been up to the last few weeks Jules?

Well, not much other than the usual really. But ooh, have you heard about this: this month the committee has finally started to solicit entries for induction to this year's World Hall of Fame of Desserts.

How do you get into the Hall of Fame?

The committee is extremely picky about the entries. What happens is that if the judges find your entry to be worthy, one of them will come down to your restaurant and try your dessert out for themselves.

Once they believe that the product is up to their standards, they'll invite you to this global competition and pit you against previous Hall of Fame holders. Win against them and you'll be headed to the final challenge.

Which is?

Creating your dessert for the Hall of Fame committee's secretive panel of judges. Once you score your dessert high enough with them, that's when your dessert gets inducted.

Have you submitted your application yet?

Oh no… I don't think I'm cut out for that just yet…

Well how do you know you're not cut out for it if you don't try?

I don't know, I just feel I'm not yet at that level where I can compete with the masters, you know what I mean?

C'mon Jules! It's not like it's going to hurt if you make your submission this year. Your pastry shops are running well. You've got the support you need. And I honestly think you've got what it takes…

Yeah I guess you're right. It doesn't hurt to do it. And if I don't make it, there's always next year I guess. Okay, that's settled then! I'm going for it!



All right, we're back to doing things with the patisseries again! I'd been trying to forget those existed, but it looks like that's not going to work out. Luckily, we've been investing a ton of money in new patisserie recipes, so Jules should have a great shot at the dessert hall of fame. The patisseries will never make any money, of course, but at least we'll be able to fill our empty restaurants with awards!



But first, let's head back to Munich and check out the renovated Heiliger Klaus.



Welcome to the Merkel dungeon.



In order to be able to arrange the tables in proper Rauten I've had to move the main dining room upstairs where there's more room.



Downstairs, I've added one or two of those slightly creepy statues. Just for atmosphere.



And although it goes against every moral principle I can think of, I've regretfully added beer to the menu. I've also started research into the following types of recipes:

- German main courses
- German desserts
- German appetizers
- German soups
- Italian soups
- American main courses



Heiliger Klaus works like a well-oiled machine now. Once our recipe research finishes, it will truly be a wonderful restaurant.

Now let's go back to a less wonderful restaurant.



Good old I Heart Cake. Last month it made a profit of $966, about 2% of what Heiliger Klaus earned us. Sigh.



Hello my dear. Are you by any chance the proprietor of this fine establishment?

That is correct sir. Can I help you with anything?

No you may not help me with anything. However, I may be able to help you.

You can help me in what way sir?

It's simple really. Are you not Miss Julia Delecoeur that sent this letter to us to compete for a place in the Hall of Fame?

That I am sir!

I'm terribly sorry if you were inconvenienced or…

No, no, no… No inconvenience. It's our policy to sample our contestants' products anonymously. You see, this way, we can see it from the point of view of the average consumer. That is very important to us, you see…


I don't think the Hall of Fame committee knows what the word "anonymously" means.

I'm about to start my evaluation of your dessert.

But, Julia! You don't even offer Pineapple Sorbet! You do realize that I need to specifically review this recipe, and without it, I simply cannot write a review of any kind, even if your food might be world-class! I'll be back again, but see if you include the Pineapple Sorbet in your menu next time around.



What? Uh, I guess he refuses to eat anything other than pineapple sorbet? Oh well. I'll just add it to the menu. Then we'll wait for him to come back to anonymously review our restaurant next month now that we know who he is and what he wants to eat.



Meanwhile, we're in luck! A guest at Treize à Table wants to sell us another copy of Restaurant Empire!



If our chefs play this, they'll become masters in no time! $100,000 is a steal! I buy it, naturally.



I also buy this turkey sandwich. Surely for something as rare and refined as a turkey sandwich, $50,220 is a small price to pay!



This recipe cost me another $50,220, draining most of my remaining cash. That's $10,000 for each millilitre of milk in this latte!

Later in the day, Clairmont returns to I Heart Cake and calls us over again.



Hello my dear. Are you by any chance the proprietor of this fine establishment?


Clairmont, we already had this conversation.

So, the game apparently assumes that there is simply NO WAY you won't have the pineapple sorbet on your menu, so it has no dialogue to account for a situation where Clairmont has to come back and visit your patisserie a second time. Since the dialogue is the same, I'll just skip the parts of the conversation that we've already seen.

I'm about to start my evaluation of your dessert.

I know you are impatient to know the results of my critique, but do you mind? I'm trying to evaluate a recipe here!

Julia, did you know that food critics tend to give better evaluations when they are not constantly interrupted?

You were the one who called me over! Sheesh! I let him finish, then talk to him again.



I just finished my meal…

And Julia, I am sorry to say, but I am disappointed. Your food still needs improvement. But don't worry, I'll be back later to try your Pineapple Sorbet again…


I really am not sure about the integrity of the dessert hall of fame's anonymous review procedures. How many warnings are we going to get?

I don't know what made him reject the recipe this time. I checked the recipe page and saw that I could increase the recipe quality by about 10% by using better ingredients, so I'll try that and see if he likes it better. I'll also bring Jules back to I Heart Cake from Amo La Torta since she's a better dessert chef.



Clairmont comes back again the next day. I think he may be suffering from short term memory loss.


I just finished my meal…

You've passed my dear.

Your dessert is exquisite, to be honest. It is very sweet but just rightly so. And your use of the crushed Almonds is just about perfect. I think you will do well in this year's competition… Congratulations!

I'm… oh wow, thank you so much! Can I hug you?

Hahaha… just remember though that although I found your dessert to be exceptional. It is not without its flaws. Nothing in this world is without flaws, but I do believe that if you prepare well. You will go far in your career.

Practice helps us touch perfection I always say.

Don't worry sir, I'll train hard. Day and night even if I have to!

Good luck in the contest Miss Delecoeur!



Phew! We passed. I don't know what the quality threshold is for getting Clairmont to accept your recipe. If we couldn't cook it well enough, I guess I'd have to reload like, several missions back just to give Jules enough time to get her cooking skill up.



To celebrate, let's take a look at some new recipes! I just finished researching all the best patisserie recipes. This is our ultimate cakes, pies & tarts recipe. It's not actually super impressive, our marble cake is better, but if I can get a white chocolate wholesaler, this might get really good.

But man, that's a lot of sugar.



This is our ultimate "ice cream & soberts" recipe, our old friend the guilt free cappuccino sundae! I believe we won more contests with this recipe than with any other recipe in Restaurant Empire 1. It's just amazing.



Our ultimate puddings & gelatin recipe, the Swiss roll! It is neither a pudding nor gelatin.



And the ultimate patisserie beverage recipe. Shouldn't this be a café recipe? It's actually better than all of our current café recipes by a pretty wide margin! I add it to all the patisseries and cafés.



Our other research also pays off. This is our new German main, containing two whole grams of sole!



And our new Italian German appetizer, cannelloni con bottarga*!

*The cannelloni with Bottarga does not contain cannelloni or bottarga.



Bread soup. At least this is exactly what it says on the tin.



We also get this new American main.

We don't get a new Italian soup quite yet. Apparently you start with one level of Italian soups researched, so we'll have to wait until the next tier.



Right, now that's all taken care of, let's go to that dessert contest that Jules was talking about!



…Pleaaaaaze… C'mon Del, just this once.

How many times, do I have to tell you? I can't. I'm slammed with work as it is…

I've never asked you for anything Del… Ok that was a lie… But c'mon, I can't do this without your help!

Jules, trust me you don't need my help. You'll be fine!

Who was the one who dragged me into his mess in the first place? If it weren't for that person I wouldn't even be in this contest. And now she won't help me…

Oh what, so now I owe you?

Of course! If I lose, it's all gonna be your fault: not lending a hand to little ol' sis. I don't think that would be something you want to burden your conscience with…

You're enjoying this moment aren't you?

Oh yeah! I can tell it's just eating away inside you…

Fine, I'll be one of your chefs. I'll help you out in the contest; I'll even wash your dishes for you, whatever you want, just stop nagging me…

Del, you're the best!


It's like poetry; it rhymes.



This is the dessert arena! The contest is all dessert recipes, so we don't really need Delia. I guess we're just bringing her to annoy her.



Round one is cakes. Jules isn't very good at making the marble cake yet, but it's the best we've got.



As always, the audiences that these contests attract astound me.



We've got a decent lead after round one. This shouldn't be too tough.



I spoke too soon about Delia. Café au lait is technically a patisserie recipe, and although she has never made it before, her overall cooking skill with coffee recipes means that she's pretty good at making it.



Damn, Delia.



The nougat parfait isn't our very best option for this round, although it is very high quality, but if we use it to win the contest, there'll be more interest in ordering it from our customers at our French restaurants too, which is something I want.




We win!



We also win this recipe. It's not very exciting, but that's all right. We won the contest!



And the mission!

Next mission, we'll be getting a new restaurant. And holy shit, what a restaurant – it's by far the most ridiculous restaurant in all of Restaurant Empire 1 and 2. And that's saying something!