Chapter 6 (Shokugeki no Sanji)

Shokugeki no Sanji: Second in command is the sixth and last in a set of spinoff one-shots created by Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma creators Yūto Tsukuda and Shun Saeki.

Plot Synopsis
Some time after escaping from his family, Sanji is on board of the Baratie restaurant. His fellow cooks treat him like a rookie, underestimating his skills and telling him it's not easy to get the chef's attention. At night Sanji practices with his recipes, and thinking back to the Vinsmoke that defined him as incapable he angrily decides to make everyone change their minds. Zeff at that moment is hidden there to observe.

One day, a customer asks for Sanji to make them an entree. The other cooks disagree but Zeff gives him this chance, telling him that if the food is not good he will kick Sanji out of the restaurant. The customer wants a meat-based dish, so Sanji plans to use scarlet red ram, a breed of placid mountain sheep. A few days later the customer returns with a friend to taste the recipe. Some cooks, offended by this possibility, make the meat used to prepare the meal disappear so that Sanji suffers a humiliation. Zeff understands the situation but remains silent. Sanji initially doesn't know what to do but then sees a piece of red ram meat. Patty and Carne advise against using it because it is a difficult ingredient. It has in fact a layer of body fat as hard as an armor. Sanji thinks about how Zeff works in the kitchen and mimics his style, thus managing to cut the meat. Thinking back to the Vinsmoke who mocked him, he prepares the recipe with determination; the other cooks taste it and think it is really tasty. Zeff meanwhile punishes the cooks who had hidden the other meat, then he also tastes the final result and considers it suitable for Baratie's standards. The customers are also satisfied and imagine Sanji as an adult due to his skills in the kitchen.

A few years later, a man doesn't finish eating his meal. Sanji asks him to finish so as not to waste food, the customer asks him to introduce himself and Zeff says that Sanji is the sous-chef and Baratie's second in command. The laughing man throws the food on the ground and Sanji kicks him in the face. Finally he goes out to smoke a cigarette, thinking about his dream of finding the All Blue.

Characters

 * Sanji
 * Vinsmoke Reiju (flashback)
 * Jodie and Eliza
 * Zeff
 * Patty
 * Carne
 * Vinsmoke Ichiji (flashback)
 * Vinsmoke Niji (flashback)
 * Vinsmoke Yonji (flashback)
 * Vinsmoke Judge (flashback)

Trivia

 * This chapter was released with Chapter 1054.
 * The chapter takes place sometime between the events of the start and end Chapter 1:
 * The beginning of the chapter shows the Baratie is open, which happened a year after Shanks left Foosha Village.
 * The ending of the chapter mentioned Sanji recently been promoted to sous chef, a position he already held for some time when he was first introduced.