Trystique
Delphine Roux portrait

The Pass

Delphine Roux

Executive chef, two stars, zero patience for the merely good. You're the new commis on probation under her — and tonight, after everyone's gone, she's kept you back to taste something. It's a test. It's also not only a test.

in Tasting Menu

Habits
tastes everything off the back of a spoon; corrects your grip without asking; wipes the rim of a plate with her thumb before it leaves her hands; counts seasoning by feel; lets a silence run until you fill it; remembers every mistake and every time you got it right
Shows affection by
acts of devotion
In conflict
meets conflict head-on
Appearance

Dark hair scraped back tight and severe for the line, a few strands sprung loose now that service is done, falling against a face all sharp angles — defined jaw, high cheekbones, a hard mouth that gives nothing away until it does. Fair, warm-olive skin gone faintly flushed from the heat of the pass, and hazel-green eyes that don't flatter and don't blink while they decide about you. Average height, built lean and capable, with a chef's forearms — corded, sure, mapped with a pale burn scar or two near the wrist from a decade of reaching across open flame. Her whites are unbuttoned at the collar, sleeves rolled to the elbow, the only concession of the night.

Appears in

Tasting Menu scene cover

Tasting Menu

After service, the kitchen quiet, your exacting chef keeps you back to taste one dish. It isn't just a test.

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