Adam appears briefly in the first book when Guy takes Jimmy on a romantic dinner out to Adam's Sierra Bistro. Once a famous San Francisco chef, Adam abandoned fame and started a small restaurant in the foothills of Northern California. He serves what he wants and diners either eat it or they don't.
The mystery is why Adam decamped from the city and what happens when his past comes back to haunt him. To tell the story, I've introduced Jason, Adam's former lover; Little John (aka L. J.), Adam's current sous chef; and Damon, the teen Adam's mentoring.
So far, this is the way the book starts out. This is subject to revision, however. It's early stages and I'm only 11K into writing the book. So this may or may not be included in the final copy.
You've probably heard of me even if you haven't seen me on
streaming media or TV. I'm Adam de Leon,
the guy who won the Millennium Cook-Off and then capped the win with the Gift
to the Gods Challenge five years later.
There’ve been a lot of rumors about what happened to me
afterward, whether I tried to off myself like the celebrity media reported or
if I seriously plotted to poison Anthony Bourdain, Emeril Lagasse, and a dozen
other celebrity chefs. Well, I can put
those rumors to rest right away. Might
as well start up front.
Yeah, I thought about killing myself, but it had nothing to
do with cooking. Good thing I’ve got
solid friends, who talked me down after I had to walk away from the love of my
life.
The chefs? It didn't
even occur to me to try to take them out.
I know I look like a hitman—it’s where they got the name for my
short-lived show, Thug in the Kitchen.
Looking like a thug doesn't mean acting like one, though.
My best friend Guy Stone and I might appear to be out to
destroy the world, but he owns and runs Stonewall Saloon and is together with
barista and coffee shop owner Jimmy Patterson.
I mean, how middle class can you get, right?
Me? After the turmoil
of the last ten years, I got out of the celebrity chef business and started cooking
what I want to cook for the people who want to eat at my Sierra Nevada mountain
bistro. I serve one sitting per week
night and two per weekend. I cook for
friends and have gala parties for paying customers. For the past couple of years, my place has
been a part of Tahoe destination weddings.
Unlike Stone and Jimmy, and Fredi and Max, and a bunch of my
other friends, I'm not looking for love or to settle down. I'm perfectly okay as I am. I’ve got money, food, and friends. What more can a thug want?
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