From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

The new store in Hangzhou is basically ready. Before the opening, Feng Zhengming also recruited a batch of new waiters.

Having learned from the previous issue, Feng Zhengming has clearly stipulated a probationary period this time.

"Everyone will have a one-month trial period. If you can't adapt to the work in the store during this month, then I'm sorry, you'll have to leave."

If you cause trouble in the store or there are any service defects within a month, you will also be dismissed.

As you all probably know, I've already fired a group of people, and if anyone else causes trouble, I wouldn't mind firing another group.

Faced with Feng Zhengming's warning, all the newly recruited waiters could only earnestly agree.

Then, when Feng Zhengming was assigning tasks, he scattered all the newly recruited people and made them learn from scratch by following the experienced waiters transferred from Shanghai.

With this, the problems at the store were resolved, and the store in Hangzhou finally opened as scheduled.

On the opening day, people from the province and the city came to offer their congratulations.

The chefs' association and the catering association also sent people to offer their congratulations.

Even the renowned state guesthouse in Hangzhou sent a master chef and two senior chefs.

They came because of Feng Zhengming.

At the same time, they came hoping that Feng Zhengming could drive the development of the catering industry around West Lake in Hangzhou.

When Feng Zhengming met them, he gave them a proper welcome and frankly told them about his plans for the future.

"My restaurant is the benchmark for small restaurants in Hangzhou. I hope that all the small restaurants around West Lake will take my restaurant as the standard, and the service, food quality, and even the decoration of the restaurant must meet the standard."

In addition, I know that you will definitely be building some things around West Lake in Hangzhou. I hope that some local restaurants can be preserved here.

At the same time, it is also necessary for the chefs' association and the catering association to cooperate in bringing some well-known restaurants here.

Creating a vibrant food scene around West Lake is crucial for boosting the restaurant industry.

Feng Zhengming's words made everyone in Hangzhou agree with him.

Furthermore, the experienced craftsman who came all the way from Hangzhou also expressed his opinion.

“What Scholar Feng said is very practical. We need to cooperate with him well. Just as he said, we need to create delicious food that matches the beautiful scenery of West Lake.”

The provincial and municipal governments are naturally very supportive of this.

Their hope is that this will elevate the overall quality of food in Hangzhou.

Feng Zhengming then offered a suggestion: "Actually, we could set up a food street in the surrounding area, introducing specialty snacks from all over the province to create a cohesive food scene."

His words made many people feel that he seemed more like a local.
As they chatted, the dishes that Feng Zhengming had ordered for everyone that day were brought over from the kitchen.

Feng Zhengming smiled and invited the master chef inside, saying, "We've come from Hangzhou today to congratulate you all and invite you to try our food."

"These dishes are specially designed by me based on the specialties of some places in your province. Please try them and see if they suit your local tastes?"

The chefs at the Hangzhou State Guesthouse were greatly surprised to see the dishes served.

"Scholar Feng, you're actually cooking our local dishes in your humble eatery?"

Feng Zhengming: "To be honest, in my branches in various places, I basically serve more local specialties. The dishes that are kept in the dry rice shop are the four old ones: braised pork, pork knuckle, pig's trotters, and four-happiness meatballs."

At this point, Feng Zhengming laughed and revealed, "This time in Zhengzhou, in order to adapt to the local people's taste preferences, I also designed to use beef and mutton instead of pork to make Four Happiness Meatballs."

These words stunned everyone present.

The master chef said, "Feng Zhuangyuan is indeed innovative. He can come up with ways to adapt to the tastes of different places and make various adjustments. He is really amazing."

Feng Zhengming: "You flatter me. I just follow the market and make sure the dishes suit the local tastes."

This statement made the chefs in Hangzhou feel somewhat ashamed of themselves.

They are still striving to preserve their local characteristics.

But Feng Zhengming was already able to adapt to the local characteristics of a place.

This level of vision is truly unmatched by ordinary chefs.

This restaurant in Hangzhou offers not only Shandong cuisine but also some local Hangzhou specialties.

You can even find some local specialties from Ningcheng, Taicheng, and Wencheng.

For example, Feng Zhengming's side has a dish of fried ribbonfish in a plastic shell.

This is a way of cooking ribbonfish from Taicheng.

Feng Zhengming used ribbonfish from the Bohai Bay to make it.

The outer shell is fried to a golden brown and crispy, while the fish inside remains quite tender and smooth.

It became a must-order dish at every table on the first day of opening.

Besides this dish, Feng Zhengming's restaurant in Hangzhou also serves fried rice made with seafood from Ningcheng and pickled mustard greens.

The food was highly praised by experienced chefs and master chefs in Hangzhou.

Even in the Hangzhou branch, you can order the famous yellow croaker and pickled mustard green noodles.

"My goodness, Zhengming, your yellow croaker and pickled mustard green noodles are exactly the same as the ones in our hotel."

Feng Zhengming laughed: "It's still different. I didn't use such good yellow croaker."

These words immediately made everyone laugh.

At this moment, the chefs in Hangzhou were truly impressed by Feng Zhengming.

After all, the dishes he serves are almost all representative of Zhejiang cuisine.

Although the prices are not low, people in Hangzhou don't think they are expensive.

The key is the taste of his cooking, which is indeed very popular with the locals.

Feng Zhengming's store in Hangzhou has become the first choice for many people in Hangzhou every day after only one week of opening.

Although the shop's business was stable, Feng Zhengming was not in a hurry to leave.

The reason Hangzhou, or rather Zhejiang Province, invited him here was not just to have him open a store.

We hope that he can take charge of the design of some restaurants around West Lake in the future.

Feng Zhengming naturally agreed to this, so he seriously carried out some design and planning.

The city of Hangzhou even went out of its way to accommodate him, planning a street near West Lake as a food street.

On this food street, Feng Zhengming boldly incorporated all kinds of local and out-of-town snacks.

At the same time, the local government is very supportive of this, and even the rent for shops is relatively low.

After Feng Zhengming's design, this food street really did look quite impressive.

The food street offers a variety of local snacks from all over Zhejiang Province.

In addition to those from various parts of Zhejiang Province, there are also specialty snacks from neighboring provinces.

It truly felt like being surrounded by a dazzling array of local snacks.

Feng Zhengming also realized that Hangzhou truly has the determination to make the most of both the beautiful scenery and delicious food of West Lake.

Thanks to Feng Zhengming's strict standards, the snack shops and restaurants have all performed exceptionally well. It's fair to say they've reached a level comparable to the snack shops Feng Zhengming runs near tourist attractions in Beijing.

Of course, things are different here compared to Beijing. In Beijing, Feng Zhengming acquired those old shops himself, and then reorganized and centralized their operations.

In Hangzhou, Feng Zhengming only participated in the planning of the food street. As for all the snack shops and restaurants, they were basically rented out to others to operate.

Even so, thanks to Feng Zhengming's supervision, the quality of the snack shops and restaurants was guaranteed.

We originally wanted to invite Feng Zhengming to provide guidance to the big restaurants in Hangzhou, but he declined.

His wife, Luo Qing, sensed something was amiss: "You've come all this way, and even helped plan and build the food street, so why did you refuse to give advice to those big restaurants?"

Feng Zhengming: "After all, I am a Shandong cuisine chef. It's not appropriate for me to give advice to people who specialize in Zhejiang cuisine."

Luo Qing: "This isn't like you. Aren't you always able to cook dishes from all over the country?"

Feng Zhengming: "I do know about cuisines from all over the country, but I only know a little bit about most of them. My expertise is still in Shandong cuisine, so I don't want to turn the dishes in big restaurants into variations of Shandong cuisine."

Hearing her husband say that, Luo Qing could only smile.

"When are we leaving? We've had enough fun here, and everything's taken care of. Third Brother has been preparing to open a shop in Shicheng, Hebei Province for quite a while now. Don't you want to go and take a look?"

Feng Zhengming: "No problem, I trust Third Brother's abilities, and Sun Hai has already gone there."

Luo Qing: "You really are something, you're not nervous at all when you should be."

Feng Zhengming: "It's not that I'm not nervous, it's that I really don't need to be nervous. Third Brother took care of Jing Guanlin over there. With Jing Guanlin there, doesn't he understand the situation in Hebei Province better than I do?"

When Luo Qing heard her husband say this, she thought it made sense. With the help of a local master chef, it wouldn't matter whether Feng Zhengming went or not.

"So we still have to go and attend the opening ceremony?"

Feng Zhengming nodded: "I'll definitely go. After all, I've been to the store in Zhengzhou, Henan Province before. If I don't go when it opens, Jing Guanlin will definitely scold me."

Luo Qing: "Hahaha, you're really getting more and more savvy about human relationships."

Feng Zhengming: "There's no other way. I asked them for help, and if I don't go, it would really be a bit too insensitive to human relationships."

Finally, the wife asked, "So? Where do we go next?"

Feng Zhengming: "Go back to Shanghai. I think you should take good care of yourself here during your pregnancy. I feel at ease with your second aunt by your side. As for Hebei Province, I'll just take Youyou there."

Luo Qing did not refuse the arrangement after her husband said so.

Moreover, Luo Qing had actually been missing Shanghai a bit during this time.

They always stayed in hotels in Hangzhou, not because they cared about the cost.

The main reason is that staying in a hotel is not as comfortable as staying at home.

The home in Shanghai is the second home that Luo Qing misses the most.

My first thought is definitely my hometown, Jinan.

Feng Zhengming spent a few days arranging things at the store in Hangzhou, and then, accompanied by his second aunt, he took his wife and daughter back to Shanghai from Hangzhou.

Upon returning to Shanghai, Feng Zhengming naturally went straight to the old-style restaurant.

It's been a long time since I've been in the restaurant kitchen.

When Feng Zhengming returned, he found that everything in the restaurant was in excellent condition.

Upon entering the kitchen, I saw Xia Hui leading everyone in their diligent work.

Feng Zhengming had to admit that Xia Hui had made great progress during this period and had truly become a chef who could take over his responsibilities.

It was easy to tell from Xia Hui's expression that she was indeed quite tired.

It's clear that Xia Hui works incredibly hard to maintain the reputation of Master's Restaurant and to make the dishes taste just like the Master's.

Feng Zhengming stepped into the kitchen and took the pot and ladle from Xia Hui.

Xia Hui was startled. She looked up and saw Feng Zhengming. A joyful smile appeared on her tired face.

"Master, you are back."

Feng Zhengming: "Thank you for your hard work these past few days."

Xia Hui: "It's okay, Master. I've figured out a lot of things on my own during this time. I think that this kind of intense hard work has actually helped me improve my cooking skills."

Feng Zhengming gave a wry smile: "Now I can understand why your father didn't want you to learn to cook."

Xia Hui was stunned for a moment.

Then she laughed: "Is Master feeling sorry for me? Does he not want me to continue being a chef?"

Feng Zhengming: "How could that be? My shop is still counting on you."

Then Feng Zhengming added, "However, I think it's really too hard for you to run this store by yourself. I'm going to arrange for some people to help you."

Xia Hui: "Should I arrange for someone to come and help me?"

Feng Zhengming nodded: "I plan to transfer a few people from Huiquan Tower to come with you."

Upon hearing that people were to be transferred from Huiquan Tower, Xia Hui nodded: "Sure, Huiquan Tower has a senior master leading the way, so there must be quite a few experts there. They will definitely be willing to come."

"I'm going to Hebei Province in a few days to preside over the opening of a new store there with your third senior uncle. After the new store opens, I will go back to Quancheng to personally select staff for the kitchen of Huiquanlou."

Xia Hui: "Master, actually Sun Decai, Gao Yongfu and Hou Dong are also very good."

Feng Zhengming: "I know, otherwise I wouldn't have let the three of them stay in the store to help you. Zhu Xu and Sun Hai are also the most suitable people to come here to help you."

Xia Hui knew that Sun Hai and Zhu Xu must have other plans for their master.

“Master, our old house restaurant is actually quite relaxed. After all, most of our customers make reservations every day, so apart from the somewhat tedious preparation of ingredients, it is actually quite easy to serve those customers when we are open for business.”

Feng Zhengming chuckled: "What? You want to increase the intensity for yourself?"

Xia Hui: "It's not impossible."

Feng Zhengming: "We chefs also need to balance work and rest. We can't just push ourselves too hard. Jiang Chengzhe does this much better than you all."

Upon hearing her master mention Jiang Chengzhe, Xia Hui immediately reported on some recent developments at Jiang Chengzhe's shop.

“He recruited a batch of new people. I heard from the older folks there that Jiang Chengzhe seems to be somewhat prejudiced against the older folks in our shop.”

Feng Zhengming: "I know, he told me that it's because he recruited a group of new Cantonese cuisine apprentices from Hong Kong and Guangdong Province, and those people seem to be deliberately sticking together."

Xia Hui: "Master, I'm worried that Jiang Chengzhe will take over the shop you worked so hard to open."

Feng Zhengming: "I know what you're worried about, but don't worry, he wouldn't dare."

Xia Hui found her master's confidence rather strange: "Why doesn't he dare?"

Feng Zhengming: "That store is owned by me. Besides, people go to that store because of my reputation. At most, Jiang Chengzhe will just leave that store and open his own."

Xia Hui frowned slightly: "What will happen to the shop if he leaves?"

Feng Zhengming: "You go over there, I'll handle the old-style restaurant myself, isn't that easy to solve?"

Xia Hui was taken aback when she heard her master speak so casually.

However, Xia Hui quickly realized that her master had already made corresponding contingency plans. (End of Chapter)