Private Gourmet Padawan

[Varindar Asyt]

"Karkan ribene, pho soup" the waiter told the two.

One couldn't talk about gourmet dining without the layout of utensils: a handkerchief, a knife, a fork, chopsticks and a spoon on it. Once the waiter took the cloches out of the meals, Xian Xiao got hers first, and then Varindar would get the bowl of soup. True, to someone that never ate at a five-star restaurant, the premises and the service would be wonderful, knowing that it wasn't every day they would get to eat at such a place. However, for each five-star restaurant, there were lower-rates restaurants that still offered delicious food but don't quite offer the same kind of service, nor used the same ingredient quality. For now, however, she just started eating the soup.

"The ice cream will come later"

 

[Xian Xiao]

Since this was the very first time Xian had been in a place this nice, she had no real idea how to use the silverware properly and just went with her instinct. Placing her elbows on the table, she picked up her fork and started eating. At least, Xian knew to chew with her mouth closed, but happy noises did come from her at the taste of the food.

"The taste on this is as wonderful as the service and beautiful as the hotel. Thank you for this chance, miss."

While she attempted to have good table manners, she probably showed just how uneducated she was about this kind of thing. It was mentioned the ice cream would come later and that was fine. The teen just enjoyed her first really good meal in her whole life.

Varindar Asyt

 

[Varindar Asyt]

"You may want a copy of the Iokath Cookbook at the end of the meal"

Also, for each unsatisfied restaurant guest, there were satisfied guests, especially for those who never had the opportunity to eat at a gourmet restaurant. Fortunately, dress codes weren't as tight here on Trandosha as were the case at some five-star restaurants on planets such as Lorrd, Galidraan and even Barkhesh to a lesser extent, and gourmet dining was treated by the Trandoshans as a curiosity, so it was easier to excuse Xian Xiao being a little uneasy around silverware. The reason why ice cream (and desserts more generally) were given out later in a meal was that sweets were, typically, eaten after the salty foods were - at least for a rather wide set of cultures. But, as Varindar ate her soup with chopsticks and a spoon, Xian seemed to be eating the karkan ribene mostly as a Trandoshan would. And yet, the time has come for the ice cream to arrive.

"Chocolate ice cream and orange ice cream!" the waiter announced.

 

[Xian Xiao]

It was probably a very good thing there was no enforced dress code here. Xian had appeared in her street clothes and while they were clean, they had certainly seen better days. She wasn't uneasy around the silverware, she just didn't really know how to use it well. Most of her food had been hand eaten or on sticks. A fork was similar to that and that was almost how she used it.

Looking across the table at Varindar, she shook her head at the offer of the cookbook.

"What good is it going to do me? I have a hard time reading."

At least she could admit this again to the other woman. Education would come or it wouldn't. Xian didn't miss it since she didn't know it was offered.

Her face lit up when the ice cream was set in front of her.

Varindar Asyt

 

[Varindar Asyt]

"The cookbook would be useful to you later. You have a point about what you could request some instruction in at the temple, though: literacy is one of your priorities for now"

Sure, it was sweet to be eating ice cream, but no amount of ice cream would be able to make up for subpar literacy. Xian Xiao definitely liked her ice cream, though, just that, not knowing how to make a proper use of silverware, Xian would probably wish to make the most of this meal. Yes billing was the order of the day, just that a meal for two at a five-star restaurant was not the cheapest option for training a Jedi in pyro/cryo. However, the Iokath Cookbook would, outside of a handful of libraries whose audience would reasonably be interested in learning more about cooking, be available only at specialized cooking utensil shops in its "hardcopy" format, and at both hotels she ran.

"Bill this meal to the Order" she told the waiter before Xian could leave the hotel.