Part 8: No guilt in victory

Episode 7: No guilt in victory



Armand, nice of you to come at such short notice.


We get called over to Don Corleone's mansion, and it's pretty amazing. I don't even know what to comment on first. The blond hitman? The extremely dilapidated walls in an opulent mansion? The world map carpet?



I came as fast as I could. I heard you had something important to tell me.

Yes, but first, remember the 250 grand I gave you a while back?

Sure, Don!

Well, you'll be needing that money for your next task.

I was attending an opening ceremony in Verona the other day – my brother opened up a trattoria – and you won't guess who I bumped into!

You're right about that! Who'd you meet with?

Secondo Gordini, the gourmet guru who writes for the F&B Times, that's who! You know the F&B Times, right? He's got this great column that's pretty much the industry standard called Gordini's Gourmet Guide.

Gordini's Gourmet Guide? What's that?

Secondo writes a periodic column about what's hot and what's not in the restaurant industry. He is the *galloping gourmet*, if you want to call him that. He's also the editor for F&B Times.

What's this F&B Times? Care to explicate? [sic]

That's the Food and Beverage Times magazine. It is the premier magazine of the culinary world! Get a good review with them, and you're sitting pretty. But if they pan you, Armand, you might as well take up some other profession.

Change professions?

Bad reviews will sink your restaurant faster than the Titanic. Everyone reads the magazine, Armand, and I mean everyone. Not just us working in the field – even your customers will, do and will continue to read Secondo's column.

Really! Well, I have no idea who he is!

Secondo is the premier food critic out there. For quite some time, he has travelled the world tasting fine cuisine. He's built an impressive reputation for himself due to his integrity.

And how does this have anything to do with me?

You won't guess what I've done for you this time – and I'm sure you're going to thank me for this!

Why? What'd you do?

I've got him to visit La Cosa Nostra so he can write up a review of the restaurant! How's that for savvy PR?

When will I expect him to show up?

He's wrapping up the northern leg of his tour across Italy. He said he'd show up in roughly three months.

What does the review entail?

He's going to do what he does with any other restaurant, and that is to critique the service, the decoration, but most importantly, the food.

Don, can you cancel the engagement?

What for? This is excellent exposure for us!

Exposure, yes. But I don't think Secondo will be very pleased with the restaurant in its current state, and you know what bad reviews do to a Restaurant…

Nonsense! You've got a great restaurant that's raking in the cash!

But cash, Don! The food's not really that great. I'm just lucky that there aren't too many restaurants in the area; otherwise, I'm sure we'd be incurring in losses! [sic]

I never thought of that, Armand! Too bad I can't get a hold of him. I've only got his office number, not his mobile. Tell you what: Let me see if I can do something to help your restaurant, but I can't guarantee anything. Sounds good?

OK. Please try your best. I think we can use some smoothing out our rough edges.

Now, about those 250 grand I gave you before – I want you to go and turn La Cosa Nostra into a worthy restaurant, and not some hovel. I also want to see three and a half stars proudly emblazoned on all your restaurants!

You didn't think I'd just give you 250 big ones to spend on a food processor, did you? So, let's put that moola to good use. I also want you to win the Italian locals. I want to see you win, and have the winning recipe in La Cosa Nostra! Got it?

OK. Got it!


Armand's such a baby, I'm sure we'll be fine. The food critic is called the Galloping Gourmet, right?



He's going to love our restaurant!



I was very worried when Don Corleone said he wanted us to reach a three and a half star rating on our restaurants, though – at the end of the last month, Treize à Table was at two stars. Luckily, I guess he was just joking, because that's not actually on the list of mission objectives. In fact, neither is Gordini, just the cooking contest and for some reason the food rating.



I updated La Cosa Nostra's menu with the dishes requested in the thread. I haven't yet shown off the recipes we got when we took over La Cosa Nostra and when we hired Thierry and Pierre. I'll post an overview of our menus and recipes in the thread along with this update, but I wanted to show this one off right away since it's about to become relevant. This is the best recipe in our entire empire. It's got a bafflingly high quality rating of 71%, even higher than Uncle Michel's old mère's favourite mixed casserole of pork with all his secret ingredients. It also cooks super fast and costs nearly nothing to make. The default price is kind of low, but with quality like that you can just jack the price way up. The cappuccino sundae is, to put it mildly, a good recipe, and we'll be needing it for the Italian cooking competition. This dessert is going on La Cosa Nostra's menu and will remain there until the day the feds bust down the doors and confiscate it.



We can't actually go to the Italian cooking contest yet – the game won't let you until after you deal with Gordini. However, since the game is threatening to start giving me goals relating to our restaurants' star ratings, I decide to invest in some staff training. The max we can possibly invest is $50,000 per restaurant, which should only make a dent in our obscene profits.



As for Signor Gordini… I know where we can seat a man of his calibre.



We get a visit from Don Corleone. Not pictured: giant horse also dining at the Don's table.

Hi Don, what news do you have for me?

I've got good news, and terrible news for you, Armand. What do you want to hear first?

Give me the good news…

I got you a new recipe, the Spaghetti Marinara. I'm sure this one will be a blast with the customers!

Now tell me the terrible news…

Well, he left a message on my answering machine saying he'd be in Rome sooner than I thought.

At least he was considerate enough to let us know.

What's so special about the Spaghetti Marinara?

I remember Secondo mentioned being particular towards Spaghetti Marinara. There's a good chance that he will order this recipe if you offer it on the menu.

Now what? How are we going to increase our food quality in time?

If you can't improve the food in time, at least you can make your restaurant group more *up-market*. Also see if you can transfer one of your Italian chefs to La Cosa Nostra to help you out.

And how about the recipes? Can I have them now?

Oh, yes. Here you go.

YOU HAVE THE SPAGHETTI MARINARA RECIPE.

Well, thanks for everything.

Good luck, Armand. I think this time we can use some.

When Don Corleone suggests moving one of my Italian chefs, I think the game is assuming that I've assigned both Thierry and Pierre to Treize à Table. Restaurant Empire, I can't even fit enough tables to fully occupy two chefs at Treize à Table, why would I put three chefs there and leave only one at La Cosa Nostra?

Anyway, we got the Don's secret spaghetti! Is it any good?



Meh. At this point, we have plenty of incredibly good main courses, so 57% is just not very impressive. I'll put it on the menu, but I was just expecting some kind of crazy powerful trump card recipe, you know? A mediocre recipe.

Also, three tablespoons of garlic is a lot for 60 grams of spaghetti, don't order this if you invite your date to "y'know, that shady horse restaurant".



The game tells me one of our guests wants my attention. I ready my chequebook.



We finally meet, Armand LeBoeuf.


Oh, damn it, the receptionist screwed up and seated Gordini at the wrong table! Now he can't have an unfortunate accident with his salad fork thirty-seven times.



Hi there, Mr. Gordini. Don has told me a lot about you.

Good, then! You know that I am here to review your restaurant.

So, how may I help you?

The question is how may I help YOU! I am scheduled to review your La Cosa Nostra restaurant and from the looks of it, the reviews do not look promising…


The animations in this game are limited, but I like to think that the game designers wanted Gordini to cackle maniacally here while pinching his fetching steampunk monocle.

Why so harsh on the reviews?

I'm very professional and have a reputation to uphold. I will always write a review with impartiality and veracity.

Why, is the food here that bad?

I haven't tried it yet, but from preliminary ratings and customer feedback, you still have lots of room for improvement.

Any chance that I get a negative review on your part? Not that I want one…

There's always that possibility…

You're not going to do a review of my new Italian restaurant now, are you?

I'm giving you a period of grace, Armand. I still have other restaurants to visit.

But when I come back, I will review and critique your restaurant. So you’ve been given a fair warning, Armand…

Maybe if I had better recipes, I could prepare better food.

I think my brother can help you out. He loves French food, perhaps the two of you can exchange recipes? Why don't you look us up. Here's my address. Drop by later and we'll see what can be done about your lack of recipes.

See you then!


Wasn't Gordini – sorry, "the Galloping Gourmet" - supposed to be famous for his integrity? Does he normally introduce himself to the restaurant owner in advance of his visits as a food critic, schedule a date for his review and also help the restaurant out with a few recipes? I'm thinking Don Corleone might have managed to pay him a friendly visit before he got here.

Anyway, let's head over to the Gordinis'



Hi Armand, nice to have you over.

Hi, Secondo, how are you doing?

Good. My brother Primo is in the kitchen. Let me get him…


His parents were REALLY lazy.

Primo! Come here! We've got company!

Coming!



Hi, Primo, how are you doing?

Hi Armand! I saw you at the French cooking competitions a while back, and you've got flair. Adding that mix of nutmeg, chives and oregano to the Mixed Casserole of Pork was a masterstroke.

That's what's so great about French cuisine – the diversity. Here we've only got pasta. It's always pasta this, pasta that…

But Italian cuisine has over 200 types of pasta! That's a lot of variety!

Well, I guess you're right. A lot of ingenuity is needed to concoct so many tastes and varieties from one ingredient!

Secondo suggested that you may want to exchange recipes. Are you interested?

I'd love to exchange! Especially your French regional Pea Soup with Crème Fraîche.

I've got that soup. Are you willing to exchange with one of your recipes?

I've got a past Italian regional winner here, my famous Macaroni in Meat Sauce. Seems like a fair trade.

YOU EXCHANGE THE MACARONI IN MEAT SAUCE WITH THE PEA SOUP WITH CRÈME FRAÎCHE.

Primo, why don't you join me? We'd make a dynamite team!

I'm sorry, but I'm afraid no. I'm doing well in my restaurant, and I enjoy a steady clientele, and I have a good reputation. Maybe if your Italian restaurant had a higher rating, I'd reconsider.

But why don't you try these two friends of mine?

ARMAND HAS THE NAMES OF TWO CHEFS, MARCO AND STEFANO.

Stefano is wholly dedicated to appetizers. He makes some knockout Italian primos. Marco, on the other hand, is quite well-rounded, if my memory is correct.

And where can I find them?

You can look for them in the *Toro Spaccato*. Here's the location.

ARMAND NOW KNOWS THE WHEREABOUTS OF THE TORO SPACCATO, WHERE MARCO AND STEFANO WORKS.

OK. Thanks loads, guys, and it was nice knowing you two.

Come back anytime, Armand. You're most welcome here. Don't forget that I will be conducting a review on your restaurant in, say, four months' time, so you have time to be prepared!

And a word of advice about those two chefs. They always whine about their jobs. Get them talking about their jobs and you'll see what I mean.


Is it just me, or does Armand's "it was nice knowing you two" seem like a threat? Anyway, we got a new recipe! Let's take a look at it.



Now this is much better. The key thing about this recipe is that it's an appetizer, and we have a dearth of really good appetizers. At 68% quality, this is by far our best. The only downside that I can see is that it's Italian only, so it won't help us in any French competitions. A good recipe.

The game won't let us enter the Italian cooking competition before we go talk to those two chefs that the Gordinis mentioned, so let's go to the Toro Spaccato.



Hi, I'm looking for Stefano and Marco. I'm a friend of Primo and Secondo Gordini.


I don't particularly need new chefs right now, but like, I can't NOT hire that moustache.



Nice to meet you! Any friend of Primo and Secondo is a friend of ours!

Yes, it's been a long time since we've seen him. Send him our regards…

How's it going for you guys in the Toro Spaccato?

This restaurant is killing my career! They only focus on main courses, and that places me in a sticky spot.

What about you, Marco? How's work for you?

It's alright. Just because I know a thing or two about main courses they treat me so much better than poor Stefano. I mean, he's the Appetizer star!

And you're the best Italian chef I've worked with!

Alright, alright. Enough flattering already.

I've got a proposition to make.

Tell us what you have in mind.

Marco, let's combine forces and build up my restaurant!

I'd like to, but I'm afraid that my situation is a rather delicate one. I would love to escape this mediocre pit, but contractual obligations state I would have to pay heavy fines if I back out of my contract.

Stefano! Why don't you come join me in my restaurant!

Sure! I'll do it – if Marco comes along.

Alright, then, what is keeping you from joining?

Maybe if you could pay for the fines for breaking our contracts, we'd break our contracts!

If you break your contract, how much would the penalties ascend to?

The total would be $25000 in penalties. That's apart from my salary.

I'll pay for your contractual penalties! As long as the two of you join me in my new restaurant!

Great! We'll quit this poor excuse of a restaurant and immediately report to your restaurant, boss!

Thanks a lot for giving our careers a new lease on life!

YOU HAVE JUST HIRED STEFANO AND MARCO! THEY WILL COMMENCE WORK IN LA COSA NOSTRA.

HOWEVER, YOU HAD TO PAY THE TORO SPACCATO RESTAURANT $25,000 IN CONTRACTUAL LIABILITIES…



We got two new chefs! We don't particularly need new chefs – Treize à Table is full, and we're already seating all the guests we can attract at La Cosa Nostra – so getting more chefs isn't that useful. In fact, it's hurting us because it will spread the cooking XP between four chefs at La Cosa Nostra instead of between two. Once we get another restaurant we'll reassign them. We also get half a dozen new recipes (though strangely no appetizers). The only notable one is this fisherman's soup, which has an amazing rating for a soup. We could have used that last mission, damn it!

The game warns me that Secondo is coming again, and that he'll actually review the restaurant this time. At this point, I'm not that worried about the review, as I'm pretty sure he doesn't have the guts to write something negative.



I just finished the meal…

Wow! That was some great food! In fact, that was some of the best regional Italian fare I've had in a long while…

So, will you give me a favourable review?

Not only that, but I think you are ready for the Italian Locals.

SECONDO TELLS YOU THAT THE ITALIAN LOCAL COMPETITION IS ON!


Yeah. That's what I THOUGHT. Now all that's left to do is win the Italian cooking competition. It shouldn't be a problem, but since we have six months to meet the objectives, I let the game run a couple of months to let Armand build his cooking skills a bit more at Treize à Table. Deliberately delaying ending missions like this isn't really necessary, but it makes the later missions a lot easier.



All right, now we'll… damn it, why are all the cooking stadia placed up against the map edge so I can't get good screenshots of them? Is there something wrong with the texture that they're trying to hide?



One chef, one round, one Italian recipe of any kind. Piece of cake.



This time, Mario Corleone will be entering with his guilt free cappuccino sundae, which he has perfected. Something something dessert you can't refuse.



Mario's first opponent, Signor Leonardo Varesi, who is entering the contest with his lobster bisque. You know, I think this is the only place I've seen digital stage pyrotechnics outside of Eurovision. You'd think they'd be able to do real pyrotechnics if they already have a gas line for those stoves.



Mario's second opponent, Signor Giuseppe Caroni, who will be preparing a stuffed spider crab – a very good recipe that I happened to buy off a customer earlier in this mission. It's not as good as the cappuccino sundae, though.



Mario is a hard man, but with a sweet tooth. The sundae's inherent 71% recipe quality plus Mario's cooking skill of 100% results in a dish quality of 80%. Those other guys don't stand a chance.



COOK SHIT GET HIT



In case you were curious: yes, Mario does the same awesome victory dance. Except ANGRIER.



We win some potato soup! We already got a really good soup earlier this mission, but that was an Italian soup – this one can be served in French and American restaurants, so this is really helpful. A good recipe.

As usual, we can enter the cooking competition again to win some more money and another recipe. They were lazy this time and just made it the exact same contest: one round, one Italian recipe. It's even against the exact same competitors, Leonardo and Giuseppe. I guess those guys weren't tired yet of GETTING WRECKED.



Mario is a BEAST.



We win the chocolate walnut pie. They dare to offer Mario Corleone this inferior dessert? To make matters worse, it looks like it's some kind of low-fat pie, since they've replaced nearly all the butter with water. 1/8th of an ounce of butter? That's just insulting.



While making a note of the recipe we won, I accidentally panned the camera over the Colosseum. Apparently they fully repaired it in the Restaurant Empire timeline?



Victory! We humiliated the Italian cooking competition and survived the malicious restaurant critic. La Cosa Nostra is getting a bit crowded with four chefs in there, but that's fine, because we'll be getting a new restaurant next mission. This is where the game starts to accelerate and you rapidly start getting new restaurants and building up your restaurant empire.



habeasdorkus made an intriguing proposal in the thread, suggesting that we should close La Cosa Nostra for lunch and only open for the dinner service. This would mean earning a lot less money (we make about half our profit at lunchtime), but it would doubtless make the restaurant better for various kinds of skulduggery. Should our restaurant remain a restaurant of the light…



…or a house of darkness?

Thread poll: should we close La Cosa Nostra for lunch and become a house of the night?

- YES, assassination during a lunch date is so gauche.
- NO, the Don is all about the money, and so are we.