Boys 'Round Here

[Bo Jones]

Cafe Walk? The name sounded more than a little generic, but Bo knew better than to judge a place by his name. He did like to support local businesses, particularly local eateries and all. He kinda felt like he should at least get to know them; chefs courtesy and all. For the most part he did. But someone had mentioned a new guy here, and, well, Bo wanted to check it out.

The inside looked pretty decent, and Bo had taken his seat easily enough. There weren't many people around; Bo had waited till just the edge of a lunch break. Not the best time to judge a cook, but probably the best time to meet one. He didn't even look at a menu, simply telling the waitress that he wanted whatever the chef's special was. That he happened to know her probably helped, and he even leaned in to ask about the local gourmand.

The waitress promised to let the cook know who was in, headed back to the kitchen, and left Bo staring at the furnishings on the table. "Kinda homey, I guess?" he said, looking around. It didn't look too awful, he supposed.

Everett King

[Everett King]

It was pretty unusual for a local cafe chef to attract much attention. People generally came in for their food, ate and continued on with their busy lives without a second thought. It wasn't something he particularly minded, giving people good food was the only thing he wanted in life, and praises heaped upon him was merely an added bonus. When he got an order for his daily special it didn't raise any flags, he'd prepared a multitude of them already that day. He had an apple crumble sundae - two scoops of vanilla ice cream, stewed apples, caramel sauce, vanilla custard, whipped cream and butternut crumble - ready in under ten minutes. It was a surprisingly warm day and they'd been quite popular.

Now the fact that the waitress, Lou, had made a specific point to let him know that it was someone special ordering....that was out of the norm. He hovered thoughtfully over the sundae, contemplating what another chef's presence in the cafe could mean. Since the man had gone through so much effort to make himself known to Everett, he had to assume they had some business together. He was curious, to say the least. Decision made, he waved off Lou as she approached and picked up the dish to deliver it himself.

As he approached Bo he quickly ran over what he knew of the name, and what information Lou had imparted. His first name, that he knew. And the fact that he was cooking at Bellefonte Academy. And he only knew that because he made it a point to keep tabs on his old school, particularly in the departments that were of interest to him. The fact that Bo had been employed by the illustrious Bellefontes had to mean he had some skill. It was half the reason Everett was even bothering to leave his kitchen.
He placed the apple crumble and a spoon before his guest then stepped back, lacing his hands behind his back professionally. It was also half so he didn't fidget. Even having confidence in his cooking, he was always nervous when someone new tried his foods. "We prefer the word 'cozy'," he interjected wryly, having caught the man's words. "You were asking after me, I hear?"

[Bo Jones]

A dessert? Bo looked at it speculatively for a few seconds; he had been expecting something with a bit more heft, but he wasn't going to argue it now that it was sitting in front of him, especially not in front of the creator. "Kinda means the same thing, don't it?" Bo asked, offering a smile and a nod. "An' yeah, ain't nothin' major 'bout it or nothin'. I've jus' been workin' up at the school for a piece now an' I try an' make sure I know all the local talents an' all. We'd'a run into each other sooner or later."

Bo nodded, then extended a hand toward Everett. "Bo Jones, school chef."

[Everett King]

He knew it was unorthodox to be serving a dessert at the end of the lunch hour, but it was in fact quite on purpose. Usually he recommended his customers have a regular lunch first, and then the sundae as a quick bite going out the door. It was small, and he'd replaced one of the icecream scoops with vanilla and lemon gelato. The tart flavors combined with the apples left a clean, sharp aftertaste that wiped away any leftover lunch before they had to go back to work. He found it refreshing. That, and Everett preferred desserts to anything else.

He took the offered hand firmly, regarding Bo with a smile. "Everett King...Cafe chef." Though hopefully not for much longer. He had bigger aspirations than a downtown cafe. "So Bellefonte huh? I figure you'd have your hands pretty full feeding that lot e'ry day?" He gestured to the booth seat across from Bo. "May I?" The cafe was quiet so he had some time to chat, and who better than a fellow chef?

[Bo Jones]

Bo nodded and shook the hand in a firm grip. "Everett, huh?" Bo considered; the name sounded vaguely familiar, but he couldn't quite place it. Questions drove queries out of his hand, and he shrugged. "Sure, kids an' such need to be fed an' all," he drawled, "but a man's gotta rest every once in a while."

Bo gestured for the seat, before adjusting to lean over his plate. He took an especially large piece of it, balancing it on his fork. Soon enough the dessert went into his mouth. He chewed speculatively, nodding as he did. "That's some damn good sundae," he said. "Got that buttery taste that some people jus' don't get right," Bo swirled his spoon around the ice cream. "This homemade? Can't quite tell,' he took a bite of it, considering. "I got a homemade recipe, goes way back to churnin', it'll knock your socks off."

Bo nodded again, before reaching for his water. Gotta clean the palate, after all.

[Everett King]

Everett let out a chuckle and sat down gratefully. He hadn't had a chance to do as much since beginning his shift. He leaned forward and braced his elbows on the table. "Fair enough. Got much help in that place?" He questioned, cocking his head. He knew the amount of students that Bo would have to be catering for on a daily basis. It seemed impossible to assume he worked and managed that load on his own.

Ever accepted the compliment with a small, grateful smile. "It's a rather simple dish, so I put extra work into the flavors." He spared a glance outside the large windows thoughtfully. "Not really the weather for it. Though, I've never been much of a traditionalist." His gaze was brought back by Bo's query and he nodded, pleased. "Stayed late last night to start setting it up. If you ain't putting your whole heart into things, why bother, aye?"

Always excited to lean a new recipe, he leaned forward a little further. "Be mighty keen to see that. Just used an ice-cream maker for these charmers, but I'd certainly be interested in your churnin'."

[Bo Jones]

Bo shrugged. "Enough," he offered regarding help. "Get kid helpers from time to time, an' I ain't the only one slingin' hash in there." Which was definitely something of an understatement. Bo technically wasn't even the highest ranked chef there, though he liked to think he was the most popular, or at least in the top three or what have you. He took another bite of the food, thoroughly enjoying it and fighting the urge to make that enjoyment known through noises.

Bo nodded, understanding the flavor additions all too well. "Got some nice texture to it too; always tricky with something like this," he took another nibble, chuckling at the mention of traditionalist. That described Bo's style and coking almost too perfectly.

"Usin' one of those modern kinds?" Bo asked. "we got one of those back at the school; sometimes use it for large batches an' all. 'vantage of the school is that we can do some stuff by hand 'bout as fast as machines," Bo winked as he finished that comment, figuring that Everett would have at least heard about what went on at the school. He took another bite. "Slow churn'll get some of the flavors in. Trick is to use some old fashioned vanilla too. Tastes great."