Chapter 32
“Today’s chef’s recommended ingredients are cutlassfish and veal. Would you like guidance on the menu and wine selection?”
Just as the manager had prepared the menu book and wine list in front of him and me respectively, the general manager visited our room.
Since I stood up from my seat, he also rose while buttoning his jacket, and somehow we all ended up shaking hands. It wasn’t a full-scale introduction involving business card exchanges. I briefly introduced him as a new friend.
The general manager in his mid-fifties was an Italian from Campania, same as me. He was also in a same-sex romantic relationship with the owner chef, who was likewise Italian—an extremely confidential matter known only to a few among the staff. While both were quite strict work-wise, they had welcomed me very warmly from the interview stage, being from the same Campania region.
Despite the situation suddenly turning into a reunion with my acquaintances, he joined the conversation comfortably without showing any signs of discomfort.
“The general manager is from southern Italy.”
“Really? Then shall we go with wine from that region today? It would be even better if the general manager could recommend a menu that pairs well with the wine. Is that okay with you, Jiin-ssi?”
“That sounds wonderful to me.”
Hometown food and hometown wine. There was no reason to refuse. Moreover, the general manager was quite an expert when it came to pairing Italian wines and foods. Hearing our conversation, the general manager smiled with his reddish cheeks glowing.
“Then, I’d like to recommend Fiano di Avellino produced in my hometown region. How about Feudi di San Gregorio, which is DOCG¹⁾ grade? It’s not on the menu, but I can arrange a course with Margherita pizza as the first main dish and fried cod as the second main dish. Both dishes are favorites among Campania people, so they’ll pair very well with the wine I recommended.”
“I’d like to try it, but what do you think, Jung Jiin-ssi?”
“If Lee Han-ssi is fine with it, let’s do that. The general manager’s recommendations are famous for never failing.”
“I’m very much looking forward to it.”
The general manager looked back and forth between him and me standing across from each other with the table between us, and smiled contentedly.
“Then I’ll prepare the course with the combination I mentioned. As a side note, Fiano wines produced in Avellino are also famous as wines to drink with someone you’ve fallen for at first sight.”
“That’s an interesting story. It seems like useful information, so I should remember it well.”
Everyone burst into light laughter at his joke as he nodded seriously with his eyes widened enough to wrinkle his forehead.
The order was completed in the cheerful atmosphere, and he and I settled back into our seats.
Who would have thought that the place he brought me to treat me to a meal would be ‘Fiano.’
Although it had maintained its reputation as an authentic Italian restaurant for a long time, there were plenty of famous restaurants around. At the coincidence of him choosing Italian cuisine, specifically ‘Fiano,’ I was excited as if I had received an unexpected gift. Moreover, that feeling was showing on my face to an unusual degree.
It wasn’t just because I was visiting ‘Fiano’ after a long time. Seeing him blend in naturally with the people I liked in a place I loved gave me a somewhat different impression. For a relationship that began with a fling during travel, I couldn’t deny the fact that the more I saw of him, the more decent of a man he seemed to be.
With his elbows on the table and his chin resting on his clasped hands, he was gazing at me intently. His face said he had waited patiently and well, so now he wanted his curiosity satisfied. I lifted my water glass to wet my throat and readily answered his question.
“I used to work here before my debut.”
“I could tell from listening to the conversation. You speak Italian very well too.”
“Well… I lived in Italy for over 20 years.”
I attended an American international school throughout until graduating 12th grade, and most of my school friends, even if our relationships were shallow, were multinational English speakers. The guests who visited Mother’s hotel were the same. Because of this, even though I grew up in Italy, English was more comfortable than Italian. And Korean was more comfortable than English.
The influence of our family always using Korean in conversations from my earliest memories, which I can’t even recall, must have been significant. Even though my adoptive father was American, I only started learning English in earnest when I entered kindergarten, which corresponds to Korean preschool.
“You don’t seem surprised.”
He unclenched his clasped hands and propped his chin with just one hand at an angle as he replied.
“The fact that you came from Italy is information that comes up if you search a bit diligently. I didn’t know you worked at this restaurant before your debut, though.”
“……”
“Ah… did you not like that I searched you up?”
Perhaps reading my silence and steady gaze as displeasure, he released the hand supporting his chin and straightened his posture.
I couldn’t really imagine him typing my name into a portal site search box. He didn’t seem like someone who would have that level of curiosity about others, nor did he seem like someone who would put in that much effort to satisfy his curiosity. Not because he was selfish or cold, but because from his confident and leisurely demeanor, I got the impression he was someone who focused more on himself than on others.
So it was just unexpected, not unpleasant. I shook my head several times and reached for my water glass.
“When you’re clearly meeting someone for the first time, but the other person knows basic information about you. Don’t you sometimes think that’s unfair?”
His voice was calm as he asked this.
I wanted to become an actor, but being a star or celebrity didn’t suit my personality, so as he said, that kind of information imbalance had always been uncomfortable. I had been even more defensive because I didn’t want to cause harm to my family in Italy. But in his case, it felt like genuine interest rather than curiosity for entertainment’s sake, so I didn’t dislike it. Though that was purely my subjective feeling.
“The more I see of you, Lee Han-ssi, you really have delicate aspects. I thought you’d be more of the type to push through recklessly.”
“I can be reckless and pushy too. I’m just pretending to be gentle because I don’t want Jung Jiin-ssi to dislike me.”
“……”
These were unnecessary words in a relationship where sex was the purpose, so I was at a loss for words. However, he didn’t seem to be testing me.
Just as the atmosphere was about to become awkward, the wine was served. The tableware, glasses, and cutlery matching the ordered dishes were reset as well. After a simple tasting procedure, clear golden wine with a greenish tint was poured little by little into our glasses.
“It’s the wine to drink with someone you’ve fallen for at first sight.”
I burst into laughter at his serious face as he proposed a toast. Being with him, there were many occasions to laugh over trivial things. Forgetting the earlier awkwardness, we briefly exchanged thoughts about the taste and aroma of the wine the general manager had recommended. It wasn’t an expensive wine. Fortunately, it seemed to suit his taste as well.
“You might already know this, but this place’s name starts with F, not P—Fiano. It’s taken from the name of a grape variety that represents the Campania region. The Fiano variety has such high cultivation rates and excellent quality that it’s called the crystal of Campania.”
“I occasionally look for Terredora made from Greco grapes from the Tufo region, but this is my first time with this one. I was curious about why it’s called the wine to drink with someone you’ve fallen for at first sight… hmm, I think I understand.”
He nodded and tapped the base of the wine glass on the table with his fingertips.
“You seem to like DOCG grade wines.”
“Not really. Rather than well-behaved and stable wines, I prefer wines with character. If they suit my personal taste, I drink them well regardless of whether they’re vino da tavola or DOCG.”
Vino da tavola. It was a term I hadn’t heard in a long time.
Among the categories indicating the quality of Italian wines, vino da tavola was the lowest category, usually meaning table wine. Wines whose origin, producer, or variety were unknown were also included in vino da tavola. A child with an Asian mother and Western father should normally be mixed-race like their siblings, but my appearance was purely Asian. Among the nicknames that followed me, the most malicious one was vino da tavola. It meant an adoptee whose birth parents were unknown.
At the not-so-beautiful memory, I lowered my head and smiled bitterly with cynicism. He naturally changed the topic.
“The people you worked with seemed very happy to see you. Did you work there for a long time?”
“I worked for about a year and a half, but even that’s quite a long career here. There aren’t many people in Korea who want to make restaurant server work their permanent job.”
“I guess you didn’t come to Korea with the intention of becoming an actor from the start?”
“……”
It was a question that touched the core for me, but it was a natural flow for such a question. Grateful for the wine, I took two or three sips.
“It’s true that I came to Korea to become an actor… but I thought it wouldn’t be that easy to achieve. I tried to find work for making a living first, but there weren’t many jobs I could do.”
First, I had booked a residence hotel for a two-week schedule and arrived in Korea. I had no intention of living affluently with Mother’s financial support like in Italy. With the goal of finding suitable housing and employment within two weeks, I moved busily without a moment to breathe as soon as I arrived.
However, in Korean society, which I wasn’t familiar with, there didn’t seem to be many jobs I could do. Since I had experience at ‘Mio palazzo,’ I mainly looked for server positions at high-end fine dining restaurants. The most promising position at that time was a part-time job opening at ‘Fiano.’
¹⁾ DOCG: The highest grade among the four categories classifying Italian wine quality. Although the European Union introduced common regulations for a new wine classification system in 2009, Italy currently uses both the existing and new systems together.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
