The Way to Her Heart

It was a cool summer evening as Sophie walked along the sidewalk of a surprisingly quiet neighbourhood. Leaves rustled gently in the wind, birds cawed in the distance, and small animals scuttled along the pavement to climb up trees. It was quite a calming and peaceful atmosphere, however Sophie’s mind was the complete opposite. The closer she got to the apartment building, the more nervous she became. She repeatedly wiped her sweaty palms against her summer dress, and she tried to calm her racing heart, to no avail.

She had met Nick at a mutual friend’s party, and immediately felt a connection with him. They had talked the entire night, and by the early hours of the morning had exchanged numbers and added each other on their socials. Physically, he was definitely her type. He was tall and slim, with wavy blond hair and warm brown eyes. When he smiled, he had the most adorable dimples. Everything about him was just so perfect.

The cherry on top was his passion for cooking. As soon as he told her he was a culinary student, Sophie was convinced that their meeting was fate. She loved food more than anything else, even though she wasn’t the best cook. It was just eating the food that she loved most. So if she ruined this date, she would never forgive herself.

Before Sophie knew it, she had arrived at the apartment building. Taking one last deep breath, she took out her phone with trembling hands to text Nick about her arrival. He appeared in no time, smiling widely at her through the entrance doors before letting her inside.

“Hey Sophie, I’m glad you could make it! Please, come in,” he said, stepping aside and extending his arm out as an invitation.

“Of course,” she said, walking past him and into the building. When she turned back to face him, she noticed his eyes roaming her outfit.

“You look really pretty, by the way. That dress suits you.”

“Oh, thank you!” She smoothed down her dress self-consciously, embarrassed by the compliment. “You look really nice, too.”

“I don’t look half as good as you, but thanks.” He grinned sheepishly. “Anyway, let me show you to my apartment!”

Sophie followed him up the stairs, and took the opportunity to admire his outfit. He did look good, despite what he said. He wore a dark blue button-down with the sleeves rolled up, and a nice pair of beige dress pants. She liked how he put in the effort to dress up, considering the amount of dates she had been on where the guy dressed inappropriately for a fancy date.

As soon as they stepped inside the apartment, the delicious smell of cooking herbs and spices took over Sophie’s senses. The smell was so mouth watering that Sophie was surprised she hadn’t started drooling yet.

“Wow, it smells incredible in here,” she said, inhaling deeply.

“Thanks! I hope it’s going to taste as good as it smells.”

Nick led her down the short hallway and into the kitchen once they had taken of their shoes. Things were simmering and boiling in pots and pans, diced vegetables were resting on a cutting board, and a bunch of other ingredients were laid out on the counters. Nick immediately walked up to stove to stir whatever was in a small pot.

“Please, take a seat,” he said, gesturing to one of the bar stools. “Sit back and relax while I prepare this hopefully delicious three course meal.”

“Wow, you’re really pulling out all the stops.” Sophie sat down and rested her elbows on the counter. “Is that rosemary I smell?”

“Yeah, good catch!” he said, sounding impressed. “For our appetizer, I’m making rosemary mushroom risotto.”

“That sounds amazing.”

“It’s one of my favourites, so I hope you like it.” Nick scratched the back of his head. “I realize that I should have asked you what kind of food you like.”

“Oh, I like pretty much everything, so you can’t go wrong with whatever you choose to make,” Sophie said. “Although I really appreciate a good steak.”

Nick laughed, gesturing at the giant steak sizzling in the pan. “That’s either an incredible coincidence, or you’re lying right now.”

“I would never lie about that!” Sophie put her hands up as she laughed along with him. “It seems like you didn’t even have to ask me about my favourite food.”

“Guess not.” He looked at her with a warm smile before returning to the food.

“So, what’s the third course? Dessert, I hope?”

“Yeah, but it’s a surprise,” he said with a wink.

“Fair enough.”

Sophie rested her chin in both of her palms as she watched Nick work his magic. He was expertly maneuvering between both the steak in the pan and the risotto in the pot. There was even something in the oven, which he glanced at every once in a while. Grabbing a small spoon, he basted the steak for several seconds before turning back to the risotto. He looked like he was about to taste it, but changed his mind and glanced at Sophie.

“Did you want to try it and tell me what you think?”

“Sure, I’d love to!”

Taking a small spoonful of the risotto, Nick reached across the counter to feed it to her. Sophie felt a blush creep on her cheeks as she took a bite, fully aware of how close his hand was to her mouth. She tried to stay focused on the food as she chewed it thoughtfully. The risotto was firm yet tender, and it had a nice tang to it.

“It tastes great! I think it’s the perfect texture.”

“Oh, good. I was worried I had cooked it for too long.” Nick sounded relieved as he added the vegetables to the pot. He stirred it continuously, adding in some salt and pepper to finish it off. “Should be just about done now.”

Sophie clapped her hands excitedly. “I’m so excited to try everything.”

He laughed, taking the risotto off the heat. “So am I.”

After platting the risotto, they sat down at the table to start the first course. Sophie felt her stomach rumbling as she stared at the delicious food in front of her. Not only did it smell heavenly, but it looked absolutely delicious with the added vegetables.

“Oh, I almost forgot!” Nick stood up from his chair and left the room for a few seconds before coming back with two wine glasses and a bottle of red. “This is really going to tie the whole meal together, I promise.”

“What is it?”

“Dolcetto. It’s an Italian red with nice fruit flavours,” he explained, pouring them both a generous glass. “They call it the poor cousin to Nebbiolo and Barbera, but it’s honestly just as good.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not a wine connoisseur or anything,” Sophie said. “I don’t even know what those other two wines are, anyway.”

He laughed. “So you’re less of a drinker and more of a foodie, huh?”

“Definitely,” she said, taking an eager bite of the risotto. As the different flavours burst on her tongue, she closed her eyes contentedly. “This tastes amazing, Nick. I don’t know how anyone can make food taste this good.”

Nick looked embarrassed by the compliment as he scratched the back of his head. “Thanks. I’ve still got a lot to learn, but it’s nice to hear you say that.”

“What made you decide to go to culinary school?” Sophie asked between bites.

“I mean, it’s kind of a boring story.”

“I’m sure it’s not,” she insisted. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to hear it.”

He stared at her for a moment, his face slowly relaxing into an easy smile. “Alright… Well, I grew up pretty poor. My parents struggled to make ends meet, and it was hard for them to even put food on the table sometimes. I basically lived on Kraft Dinner and instant ramen for most of my life.”

“To be fair, Kraft Dinner and ramen are really good.”

He laughed. “That’s true. My parents felt bad that they couldn’t afford to buy good food, though, but I never really blamed them for it. I remember watching a lot of cooking shows growing up and being super fascinated with the different kinds of meals people could make with even the simplest ingredients.

At a certain point, I started to scrounge up anything I could find around the house to make a meal out of. They weren’t very good for the most part, but when they did turn out decent, I would feed them to my parents. I still remember how proud they looked when they tried my first good meal.

It was at that moment when I realized that I wanted to become a chef and make other people happy with my food. Especially people who had only ever eaten Kraft Dinner or instant ramen.”

“Nick, that’s amazing.” Sophie felt her heart beat faster. “That wasn’t a boring story at all. In fact, it’s pretty inspiring.”

“Come on, it’s not that deep.” He looked embarrassed again, and averted his gaze. “Everyone’s got a story. I’m not special or anything.”

“Sure, that might be true, but I think it’s nice that your goal is driven by something so authentic and simple. You’re not doing it for fame or fortune.”

“How do you know I’m not also doing it for the money?” Nick asked, the smile giving away his true feelings.

They both laughed, settling into a comfortable silence as they finished up their first course. The more Sophie learned about Nick, the more she liked him. Not to mention those adorable dimples when he smiled. She hoped she wasn’t staring at him too obviously, although if she was, he didn’t seem to mind.

Once they had finished their risotto, Nick went to get the steak, which was paired with roasted potatoes and carrots. Just like the risotto, it was absolutely incredible. The meat was cooked medium rare, which was exactly how Sophie liked it. It was definitely the most tender steak Sophie had ever eaten, and the juices from the pan added to the already amazing flavour. The potatoes and carrots were, of course, seasoned to perfection. This dish was definitely Sophie’s idea of heaven.

“Just when I thought you couldn’t make anything better,” Sophie said, taking a sip of the wine, which was a perfect complement to the steak. “You make something like this. How do you do it?”

“I can’t reveal all my secrets, Sophie.” He winked over his own wine glass. “If my food makes you react like this every time, then I’ll happily cook for you whenever you want.”

“So can I hire you to be my personal chef?”

“You don’t need to pay for me to cook for you, believe me,” he said, his face turning a little red. He cleared his throat, placing his glass on the table. “Are you hungry for dessert? I’m excited to show you what I made.”

“I’ve always got room for dessert.” Sophie stared at her empty plate. “You’ve got a tough act to follow, though.”

He picked up their empty plates with a chuckle. “Trust me, you’re going to love it. Just do me one favour and close your eyes. I want it to be a complete surprise.”

With a nod, Sophie closed her eyes and waited with her hands fidgeting in her lap. She was genuinely excited to see what the dessert was. All she could hear was Nick scrambling around in the kitchen for a few moments before he finally came back. He set down what sounded like two bowls, and then he sat back down, the chair scraping under him as he pushed it forward.

“Okay, open your eyes.”

She opened her eyes slowly, and looked down in front of her to see two scoops of strawberry gelato. It looked just like store-bought gelato, but Sophie figured that the dessert he had been hyping up all evening wouldn’t be from a grocery store.

“Whoa, did you make this?” she asked.

His face was red again, but he stood proudly in his seat nonetheless. “Of course I did! I wouldn’t serve you anything less.”

“It looks like something you can buy from a store! Seriously, how do you do this?”

“You never know, it could taste terrible. I’ve never actually made gelato.”

Sophie took a generous spoonful of gelato and placed it in her mouth, letting it melt slowly on her tongue. It was nice and refreshing, and the strawberry flavour was the perfect blend of sweet and tart.

“Wow. This is so good!”

“I’m so glad. I’m not as good with dessert, so I was worried about it.”

“Well, you don’t have to worry about anything because this is one of the best desserts I’ve ever had.”

“Thanks, Sophie. That means a lot.” He looked back down at his ice cream shyly.

They spent the rest of their dinner talking about anything and everything. Before Sophie knew it, three hours had passed since they had finished the gelato. She offered to help with the dishes, and so they spent even more time talking while cleaning up in the kitchen.

All too soon, Sophie and Nick were at the front door of his apartment. She put on her shoes and checked her purse to make sure she had everything with her. Nick had his hands in his pockets as he watched her, a small smile on his face.

“Thank you so much for the amazing three course meal, Nick,” she said. “Everything tasted wonderful.”

“It’s my pleasure. And I meant what I said earlier about cooking for you. You know, since you seem to like my food and stuff,” he said.

“So does that mean you’re open for another date?”

His entire face turned bright red. “Absolutely. We can text about the details later.”

“Sounds perfect.”

Sophie leaned in for a hug, and he returned it eagerly as he wrapped his arms around her. She could feel his heart beating quickly in his chest, although her heart was beating just as fast. They stayed in that embrace for a while before slowly pulling away.

“Have a good rest of your night, Sophie,” he said with a small wave.

“You too!”

As she walked out of the apartment building, Sophie couldn’t help but walk with a slight pep in her step. It was, hands down, the best date she had ever been on, and the second date couldn’t come fast enough.

Food was definitely the way to Sophie’s heart.