Dating In the Kitchen Episode 2 Recap Highlights:
- Gu Sheng Nan is rehired at Bauhinia Hotel and is now a Chef
- Gu Sheng Nan gets drunk and stumbles into President Lu’s hotel room
- Meng Xin Jie tries to hit on Xu Zhaodi
- Room 1123 orders a lot of food from the hotel and loves all of it
Yard Fry Diner
When Gu Sheng Nan’s grandpa finds President Lu in the kitchen president Lu asks to meet the “female chef.”
Grandpa denies that there even is a female Chef. President Lu leaves.
So President Lu doesn’t end up meeting Gu Sheng Nan at the diner, but he has her spoon.
What is he going to do with it? What do you think?
Then Grandpa finds a note from Gu Sheng Nan along with money. This note is a follow up to the conversation they had in the last episode.
The note mentions that Gu Sheng Nan’s dad is Grandpa’s son. Gu Sheng Nan is Grandpa’s granddaughter.
Gu Shen Nan wants her grandpa to remember that, even if his son isn’t around, he does have posterity.
Yard Fry Diner – The Morning After
President Lu’s assistant,” Richard Meng,” opens the box he gave to President Lu for his birthday. Instead of the ruiy/pumpkin it is the spoon President Lu picked up at the diner.
The executive tells Richard not to touch it because it is his “Glass Slipper.”
This is so cute. I can’t believe such a serious person would keep a spoon.
Have you ever kept something that came from someone you were interested in?
Gu Sheng Nan’s Special Sauce
Gu Sheng Nan has a Special Sauce.
I think it is the same spice she went to fetch when the storeroom caught on fire.
She seems to treasure it because she is taking great care to repackage it.
While giving it a new “coat” and “hat” Gu Sheng Nan is talking through her current troubles.
I like this little scene. It shows Gu Sheng Nan’s child-like personality. It makes her very endearing.
There is a knock at the door. It’s “Big Trumpet.”
Gu Sheng Nan doesn’t react well to seeing him, after all it was his idea to cook when they were supposed to be working.
Big Trumpet convinces her to listen to him. He explains that the guest in room 1123 tried her Finger-Licking Fried Rice.
Gu Sheng Nan’s curiosity is piqued.
Bauhinia Hotel Room 1123
President Lu and his assistant are sitting at a dinner table.
President Lu is hungry, but he doesn’t want to sound too eager for the hotel’s food.
His assistant reminds him to be elegant when eating– unlike yesterday when he ate the entire plate of Finger-Licking Fried rice.
Of course when President Lu is presented with baked salmon from Gu Sheng Nan, he eats all of it again.
I mean, these are such little portions guys, how could you NOT eat the whole thing?
Also, I can’t believe he still doesn’t know the girl who started the fire, vandalized his car, and cooked at Yard Fry Diner are all the same person.
When do you think he will find out?
How ’bout them Dodgers?
After president Lu is less than elegant, he stands up and comments on the color of the building across from his window.
He asks manager Shen about it. Why doesn’t Manager Shen have the color changed? Manager Shen responds, it is a government building.
President Lu says, “No wonder it looks so imposing.”
Negotiating Terms
We’ve already seen Gu Sheng Nan’s negotiating skills from the last episode; she does not hold back when it comes to being rehired by Bauhinia Hotel.
Bauhinia Hotel needs Gu Sheng Nan in order to please President Lu. If President Lu is pleased the purchasing price of the hotel will be higher.
Gu Sheng Nan uses this to her advantage.
By the end of her conversation with Manager Shen, Gu Sheng Nan has been promoted to a chef.
I love seeing her confidence when she fights for a promotion. This is such a great step for Gu Sheng Nan.
I am excited to see what will come of her as a chef. I love female characters that take initiative like this!
Way to go girl!
Slave of Room 1123
Gu Sheng Nan happily puts on a chef uniform before heading to the kitchen. She is very pleased with herself.
She automatically tries to take charge. Unfortunately, Manager Shen brings her back down to earth.
Gu Sheng Nan’s only task is to cook for room 1123.
Even if it is the middle of the night, she has to cook for him.
If room 1123 doesn’t order anything she is supposed to do nothing.
Surprise Celebration
As Gu Sheng Nan leaves work she receives multiple messages inviting her to celebrate her promotion.
The messages from her friends Gao Quan An, her uncle who is a little over the top and Xu Zhaodi, her friend that wouldn’t take any responsibility for vandalizing the car.
At this point I am starting to feel a little nervous for Gu Sheng Nan. She, however, is completely oblivious to any kind of potential trickery from her friends.
I am cringing because I feel like I already know what is going to happen.
She walks into the “party” room which is a super fancy room at Bauhinia Hotel. Xu Zhaodi and Gao Quan An start singing a celebratory tune (no words).
It is pretty obnoxious actually.
They inform her that she is paying for the executive suite to celebrate her promotion.
Of course Gu Sheng Nan wants nothing to do with this extravagance. She still has to pay for President Lu’s car!
After Gu Sheng Nan’s desperate attempts to change the situation, the friends agree to split the room cost.
How are these people really her friends? Can you really be friends with people like this?
Friends that Ditch
Since it’s a celebration there is a lot of drinking. Gu Sheng Nan gets super drunk.
By the way, they make a lot of noise and their neighbor in the hotel is totally annoyed. Guess who it is? Yep, President Lu, room 1123.
The friends then chat about Gu Sheng Nan’s firing and rehiring.
The friends then decide that the fire was actually a good thing. She never would have had an opportunity to negotiate a promotion otherwise.
While Gu Sheng Nan is passed out on the couch, Xu Zhaodi gets a message from a guy to go dancing.
Goa Quan An wants to leave because he doesn’t want his roommate to lock him out.
They both leave. Poor Gu Sheng Nan is left alone and drunk.
I knew these friends were up to no good. They manipulate her into getting an expensive room and then leave her when she is totally drunk.
I am starting to wonder if Gu Sheng Nan isn’t as mischievous and I thought she was.
Maybe she is just easily manipulated? Maybe her innocence means that people take advantage of her?
The Room Next Door
So, after Gu Sheng Nan’s friends leave, she wakes up. She is still totally drunk.
She gets the idea to thank the person in room 1123.
(I mean he is the reason she got a promotion after all but she doesn’t know it is the same guy who’s car she vandalized).
She climbs up the wall separating her executive suite and her neighbor’s. With a yelp she awkwardly reaches the other side.
Seriously though guys, you have to watch this part. This part makes me giggle!
It is totally campy and cliche, but I love it.
Meanwhile, at the nightclub, Xu Zhaodi dances away. Guess which playboy is eyeing her? President Lu’s assistant, Meng Xin Jie.
Awkward Drunk
Back at the hotel Gu Sheng Nan opens the balcony door and throws her arms around the occupant of room 1123. “Thank you for giving me a new life!”
Gu Sheng Nan backs off the embrace to take a swig of her vodka.
The two get a look at each other.
“It’s you!” President Lu exclaims.
Vodka comes spewing out of Gu Sheng Nan’s mouth onto the executive. She drops to the floor in a mess of ams, legs, and bathrobe. She is out cold.
By the way President Lu is wearing glasses, which I kinda dig. They are a conservative frame to match his character.
It turns out President Lu is a gentleman because when he can’t wake her up, he moves her to the bed.
Their faces end up being really close together when he puts her down, but the romantic music doesn’t play.
Instead, a goofy trombone-like tune starts up because this is completely awkward!
Xu Zhaodi and Meng Xin Jie
Back at the nightclub, Xu Zhaodi sits at the bar and Meng Xin Jie tries a clever move to get her number, but Zhaodi doesn’t give it to him.
Meng Xin Jie ends up getting a call from President Lu and leaves the bar.
When Zhaodi sees him drive away she is shocked because Meng Xin Jie is driving one of President Lu’s nice cars.
She thinks Xin Jie is a rich guy now.
I bet she wishes they had exchanged numbers.
Meng Xin Jie to the Rescue
In room 1123 Gu Sheng Nan has rolled off the bed.
President Lu puts her back on, but it is completely awkward because Gu Sheng Nan is in a weird position.
*giggle*
Meng Xin Jie arrives at the hotel and is surprised to see a girl on President Lu’s bed. When he sees President Lu wearing just a wifebeater he starts to congratulate him.
As they walk into another room President Lu assures him nothing happened. He took his button down shirt off because the girl spit vodka on him.
Meng Xin Jie seems to be having fun teasing him about the situation.
Yes, keep teasing him! See if you can get him flustered.
When they go back into the bedroom to try questioning Gu Sheng Nan they discover an empty bed.
The Room Next Door Version 2
The next morning Gu Sheng Nan is talking with Xu Zhaodi on the couch in her apartment.
This time we get Gu Sheng Nan’s version of the awkward encounter.
This version is even more funny because it turns out that Gu Sheng Nan was actually awake the whole time.
Each time President Lu had to pick her up/move her she was awake and cringing.
When President Lu went to take off his shirt she was watching– until he closed the doors.
Eventually we get to see her escape: Since she is only wearing one shoe, she steals one of President Lu’s shoes.
The audience gets a nice shot of Gu Sheng Nan running down a Bauhinia Hotel hallway wearing two different kinds of shoes and in a bathrobe.
After Xu Zhaodi hears the story she tells Gu Sheng Nan she is doomed. She will definately be fired.
Gu Sheng Nan explains that is not true. President Lu recognized her from the Ferrari incident, but he doesn’t know she is a chef at the hotel.
So I guess as long as President Lu doesn’t find out where Gu Sheng Nan works she will be safe 🙂
Assigned Food Topic
The next day Gu Sheng Nan is at work. She is ordered by room 1123 to make meals with the topic: red wine.
She makes him: steak with red wine and nuts, mutton chop with red wine and black pepper, and baked pear with red wine.
When the baked pear is delivered, President Lu is reminded of something: the Ferrari incident.
One of the dough-noodles on his Ferrari was shaped into a swirl. The baked pear also has a swirl of bread covering it.
I don’t know about this. I feel like these two things are not similar enough for him to have made the comparison.
President Lu is very happy with the food he is receiving. He even smiles and takes pictures of it.
After grilled pigeon with truffles and red wine, strawberry red wine cocktail and rose pudding with red wine the executive asks to meet the Chef.
President Lu Wants to Meet Another Chef
Gu Sheng Nan does not want to meet President Lu. She tries to come up with excuses to give her boss.
In the end “Big Trumpet” delivers the food. He says the chef is too ugly to be seen.
Of course now President Lu is even more curious. He heads to the kitchen.
“Big Trumpet” warns Gu Sheng Nan.
While Gu Sheng Nan is leaving the kitchen she sees President Lu. She swirls around to avoid him. Her bandana falls from her head.
President Lu picks up the bandana.
Cinderella Always Runs
In the next shot we see Gu Sheng Nan coming out of the dressing room.
She has already changed into her street clothes.
And she is wearing a mask over her mouth.
She passes President Lu in the hall.
Just when we think she is home free, President Lu says, “Stop!”
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Comments
I like how loyal Gu Sheng Nan is to her grandpa. It is very touching that she would want to pay back some of the money her grandpa must have spent on her over the years.
There is no way I could pay my parents back for what they have done to support me– I am sure it is the same with Gu Sheng Nan and her grandpa– but it is a nice sentiment.
So why did Gu Sheng Nan’s grandpa raise her? It sounds like her dad is still alive. Has the show mentioned anything about her mom? What do you guys think?
The exchange about the building seems a little out of place to me. It seems like he is trying to draw the attention away from the fact that he just ate the entire dish of salmon.
However, why use the comment about the government building? Why mention it’s ugly paint and say that it is imposing.
Is this building a metaphor for President Lu?
Or is it saying that President Lu is a less than handsome, imposing entity that one can not change?
Or is this just a really round about way of saying, “How ‘bout them Dodgers?”
What do you think? Is this a metaphor? Just awkward? Is it something cultural that I am not understanding?
The pear and the noodles!
Did you think the pear and the noodles are similar enough for him to suspect that the Chef is Gu Sheng Nan?
If President Lu really does suspect the chef of being the person who vandalized his car, I feel like Gu Sheng Nan really will be doomed.
I am also very excited to get to Episode three because this episode had me giggling and smiling. What do you think will happen next?
Will he get to meet the chef this time?
What were your thoughts on Dating In the Kitchen episode 2? Tell me in the comments below!
