Gourmets Gone Missing

Key takeaways

Keep the quest's two-part structure in mind: first locate the missing cooks, then prepare the requested meal.

• Start at Riverside Stable Penn is encountered at Riverside Stable, where the disappearance becomes an active investigation.
• Search nearby woods The missing traveling cooks are located in the woods near the stable rather than at a distant quest destination.
• Prepare the requested dish The resolution requires a Meat and Rice Bowl, which is used to help the missing individuals recover from their upset stomachs.
• Supports wider progression Finishing the quest contributes to the Lucky Clover Gazette series and its associated Froggy Armor rewards.

Gourmets Gone Missing overview

Gourmets Gone Missing is a side adventure that begins at Riverside Stable and asks Link to investigate a group of traveling cooks who have failed to arrive with a recipe associated with Princess Zelda.

Gourmets Gone Missing is one of the investigations in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom's Potential Princess Sightings! questline. The quest begins at Riverside Stable, where Link meets the journalist Penn and learns that a group of traveling cooks has disappeared from the expected route. The investigation is therefore tied both to the stable and to the wider search for information about Princess Zelda.

The immediate concern comes from Gotter, who is worried because his friends knew a recipe from Princess Zelda but never arrived. Rather than sending Link toward a conventional dungeon or a large combat arena, the quest uses a nearby wilderness search followed by a cooking task. The woods around Riverside Stable are the important search area, so examining the surrounding paths and clearings is more useful than travelling far away.

After the missing individuals are located, the quest changes from investigation to preparation. Link must cook the specific Meat and Rice Bowl recipe to heal their upset stomachs. Completion provides a group of practical food and currency rewards, including Rupees, Rock Salt, Hylian Rice, and Raw Gourmet Meat, while also contributing to the Lucky Clover Gazette series and its Froggy Armor progression.

Where this sits

Requirements

The confirmed prerequisite is participation in the Lucky Clover Gazette investigation series.

• RequiredJoin the Lucky Clover GazetteGourmets Gone Missing is part of the Potential Princess Sightings! questline, which requires joining the Lucky Clover Gazette.
• RequiredReach Riverside StableThe quest begins at Riverside Stable, where Link meets Penn and receives the investigation.
• RecommendedPrepare cooking materialsA Meat and Rice Bowl is required for the resolution. The source pack does not confirm the exact ingredient inventory needed before the quest starts.

Objectives

1. Investigate the missing traveling cooksSpeak with the relevant people at Riverside Stable and follow the investigation into the cooks' disappearance.
2. Search the nearby woodsLook for the missing individuals in the woodland area close to Riverside Stable.
3. Cook a Meat and Rice BowlPrepare the named dish after finding the missing individuals.
4. Help the travelers recoverUse the finished meal to address their upset stomachs and complete the immediate request.
5. Continue the Lucky Clover Gazette seriesThe completed side adventure counts toward the broader Froggy Armor progression.

Walkthrough

1. 01

   Begin the investigation

   Go to Riverside Stable

   Travel to Riverside Stable to begin the investigation. The quest does not start in the woods; arriving at the stable first is important because Penn is the journalist connected with the report and the initial lead.

   Location: Riverside Stable

2. 02

   Investigate the disappearance

   Speak with Penn and learn what happened

   Meet Penn at Riverside Stable and listen to the report about the missing traveling cooks. The key clue is that the group was expected to arrive with a recipe connected to Princess Zelda, which identifies this as one of the Potential Princess Sightings! investigations.

   Location: Riverside Stable

3. 03

   Search for the missing individuals

   Find Gotter's missing friends

   Gotter is worried because his friends never arrived, so use his concern as the context for the search. Move out from Riverside Stable into the nearby woods and inspect the surrounding woodland area rather than abandoning the stable region for a distant destination.

   Location: Woods near Riverside Stable

   TipKeep the search local: the source-confirmed destination is the nearby woods.

4. 04

   Locate the missing travelers

   Locate the traveling cooks

   Continue through the nearby woods until you find the missing individuals. Once they are located, the investigation portion is complete and the quest's next requirement becomes clear: their upset stomachs must be treated with the correct cooked dish.

   Location: Nearby woods

5. 05

   Cook the requested meal

   Prepare the Meat and Rice Bowl

   Use a cooking pot to make the specifically requested Meat and Rice Bowl. The recipe name matters here; prepare the named dish rather than offering an unrelated meal, because the food is the step that addresses the travelers' condition.

   Location: Cooking pot near the quest area

   Watch outThe source pack does not verify the exact ingredient combination or the nearest cooking-pot location, so consult the in-game recipe prompts if the dish is not immediately available.

6. 06

   Heal the travelers

   Give the meal to the travelers

   With the Meat and Rice Bowl prepared, return to the missing cooks and use the meal to help heal their upset stomachs. This completes the practical problem at the centre of the quest and leads to the reward sequence.

   Location: Location of the missing travelers

7. 07

   Complete Gourmets Gone Missing

   Collect the quest rewards

   Finish the conversation and accept the rewards for resolving the incident. The confirmed reward group includes Rupees, Rock Salt, Hylian Rice, and Raw Gourmet Meat, while the completed quest also supports the Lucky Clover Gazette series and its Froggy Armor progression.

   Location: Quest conclusion

   Checkpoint

Mission mechanics

This quest is built around a simple investigation-to-cooking loop. The first section is an area search: Link receives the report at Riverside Stable, follows the lead into the nearby woods, and locates the missing traveling cooks. The quest's search target is close to the starting stable, so the main navigation challenge is recognising that the objective remains in the surrounding woodland.

The second section checks the player's cooking response rather than combat ability. The missing individuals have upset stomachs, and the required solution is a Meat and Rice Bowl. Because the source pack confirms the dish's name but not a complete ingredient list, players should rely on the in-game cooking interface if they need to reconstruct the recipe.

The quest does not have a confirmed boss fight, dungeon sequence, or branching decision in the supplied material. Its importance is instead cumulative: it resolves a small local problem while advancing the Lucky Clover Gazette investigation series and contributing to the Froggy Armor reward path.

What works and what does not

Completion checklist

• Join the Lucky Clover GazetteRequired to access the Potential Princess Sightings! questline.
• Reach Riverside StableThis is where the quest begins.
• Speak with PennPenn provides the journalist's investigation context.
• Learn why Gotter is worriedHis friends are the missing traveling cooks.
• Search the nearby woodsThe travelers are located in the woods near the stable.
• Find the missing individualsThis completes the search portion.
• Cook a Meat and Rice BowlThe named recipe is required to heal the travelers.
• Give the meal to the travelersUse the dish to resolve their upset stomachs.
• Collect Rupees, Rock Salt, Hylian Rice, and Raw Gourmet MeatThese are the confirmed reward items.
• Check Lucky Clover Gazette progressionThe quest is associated with the Froggy Armor series rewards.

Rewards and drops

• Rupees
  Currency awarded for completing the quest; the exact amount is not confirmed in the source pack.
• Rock Salt
  A confirmed item reward from Gourmets Gone Missing.
• Hylian Rice
  A confirmed item reward from Gourmets Gone Missing.
• Raw Gourmet Meat
  A confirmed item reward from Gourmets Gone Missing.
• Froggy Armor progression
  Completion contributes to the Lucky Clover Gazette series associated with earning pieces of the Froggy Armor set.

Characters in this mission

• LinkPlayer character who investigates the disappearance and prepares the meal.
• PennJournalist Link meets at Riverside Stable.
• Princess ZeldaAssociated with the recipe that the traveling cooks knew.

Aftermath

Trivia

• The quest's title refers to the traveling cooks who fail to arrive at their expected destination.
• The missing cooks are connected to a recipe associated with Princess Zelda, tying the local incident to the questline's larger subject.
• The resolution is centred on a named meal rather than a boss battle: the Meat and Rice Bowl.
• Rock Salt, Hylian Rice, and Raw Gourmet Meat are among the confirmed completion rewards.

Sources

• Gourmets Gone Missing quest reference — YouTube
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom guide reference — IGN
• Gourmets Gone Missing walkthrough reference — YouTube
• Gourmets Gone Missing gameplay reference — YouTube
• Gourmets Gone Missing guide reference — YouTube

Relationships