From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

Feng Zhengming and his group stayed in Beijing for two days, and he and his two senior brothers also visited some master chefs and old masters in Beijing.

The people who were visited were all very pleased with Feng Zhengming's arrival and had many exchanges with him.

The master chefs and experienced chefs all approve of Feng Zhengming's acquisition, integration, and support of established shops.

They also felt that those small shops needed integration and support, but some things were indeed difficult for the government to do well if it were simply left to the government.

On the contrary, Feng Zhengming's acquisition and integration methods seem to be more in line with market needs.

During a conversation with several veteran chefs in Beijing, Feng Zhengming also mentioned his desire to reopen Yanxilou in the capital.

The experienced craftsmen were quite supportive of his idea.

"Zhengming, you've already opened a trendy Chinese restaurant in Shanghai. Opening a restaurant in Beijing would be a way to differentiate yourself from your Shanghai location. Reopening Yanxilou in Beijing is indeed a great idea."

"Yes, restaurants in the capital should not pursue fashion too much; it is better to preserve tradition."

"How exactly you do it is up to you, Zhengming. We are looking forward to it."

With the support of his master chef, Feng Zhengming asked his fifth senior apprentice to help him find a suitable place in the capital to open a restaurant.

Fifth Senior Brother also agreed.

After visiting the master craftsman, Feng Zhengming and his third senior brother led everyone away from the capital.

Yang Bin returned to Jinan and made an appointment with Cao Zhiguo to go back and arrange for his senior brother to bring the children to Beijing for a trip.

Cao Zhiguo was naturally very happy and said to his third senior brother, "No problem, I will definitely treat you well then."

Feng Zhengming led everyone to take a plane directly back to Shanghai.

Upon returning to Shanghai, Feng Zhengming immediately got to work.

Contact everyone on vacation and get them back to the shops on the old villa restaurant and Western restaurant street.

After some adjustments, both stores were able to resume operations.

Since we just reopened, there are naturally fewer customers than when we were always open.

However, in the following days, more people learned that Feng Zhengming had returned to Shanghai and that both stores had reopened, and customers began to flock to the two stores one after another.

This time, Feng Zhengming returned to Shanghai, giving everyone the impression that he seemed to care less and less about the business in his shop.

He diligently prepares every day, waiting for customers to come to him.

He didn't even bother to announce that he had returned to Shanghai.

However, in just one week, customers who had gotten used to eating at the two stores that Feng Zhengming had closed gradually returned to both stores.

The restaurant on the Western restaurant street changed its head chef from Jiang Chengzhe to Xia Hui.

Initially, some customers had some concerns.

Some customers who liked Jiang Chengzhe's previous Cantonese cuisine might think that Xia Hui, being Feng Zhengming's apprentice, is probably not good at Cantonese cooking.

So some people actually started trying to choose other Cantonese restaurants that were somewhat famous in Shanghai.

However, when they ate at other restaurants, they always felt that the taste wasn't quite right.

Gradually, these people chose to return to this restaurant on the street with the Western restaurant.

I'd like to try again. After changing the head chef, will this restaurant still taste the same as before?

After ordering some of the dishes they used to order, they found that the taste seemed to have remained unchanged.

The fact that the taste remained unchanged surprised these long-time customers.

What many customers don't know is that this restaurant has been around since it opened on the street with the Western restaurants.

Every dish in the restaurant is discussed and decided upon by Feng Zhengming and Jiang Chengzhe.

Moreover, Feng Zhengming and Jiang Chengzhe always made each new dish together at the beginning.

While they were doing it, Xia Hui and Jiang Chengzhe's apprentices would help out.

Therefore, Xia Hui already knew all the dishes in the restaurant by heart.

Do you also know what details need to be paid attention to for each dish?
Therefore, Xia Hui can try her best to recreate each dish.

Especially in small details, Xia Hui women's advantages will be amplified.

Many of Jiang Chengzhe's apprentices might not notice this, but Xia Hui would carefully observe and record the small details of her master and Jiang Chengzhe's cooking.

As the saying goes, details determine success or failure, and the same applies to cooking. Often, if you overlook a few small details, the taste of the dish will vary greatly.

Xia Hui also gained experience in the kitchen of the old villa restaurant, so running this restaurant on the Western Restaurant Street is much easier for her than running the old villa restaurant.

After all, the dishes in the old villa restaurant are mostly created by Feng Zhengming himself, which requires a higher level of attention to detail.

Five young chefs returned and worked with Xia Hui at a restaurant on the Western restaurant street for a few days.

They also discovered that, contrary to their initial assumption that Xia Hui might be somewhat flustered about running the shop, she was not flustered at all.

On the contrary, she easily took control of the business, and it quickly recovered.

The five young chefs realized that they were now far inferior to Xia Hui.

This further solidified their resolve to return to their respective hometowns and open a branch of Feng Zhengming's business, learning on the job from scratch.

This will allow me to improve my management skills and build up my experience for when I return to Shanghai to open a store in the future.

Five young chefs together found Feng Zhengming.

After they expressed their thoughts.

Feng Zhengming couldn't help but laugh when he heard this.

"You want to go back to your hometown and open a branch of my dry rice shop? Why? Tell me your thoughts."

The five young chefs looked at each other in bewilderment.

They had been planning this all along, but hadn't had time to tell Feng Zhengming yet.

They thought Feng Zhengming would agree immediately when they brought it up, but to their surprise, he didn't.

Wang Hanwen spoke first: "We, the head chef, feel that we have many shortcomings in kitchen management and operation, so we want to go back and open a branch of the dry rice shop, and try to start from the operation of the branch, and accumulate experience while doing it."

Deng Huaichuan: "That's right. Before, we just wanted to open our own store as soon as possible, but now we feel that we may not have that ability yet."

Huang Yunliang: "Chef, you took us out for a visit this time. We saw your branches, and I think it would be good to open a branch in my hometown and add some of my hometown's specialties to the menu."

Li Yao: "I think it's feasible for the head chef to go back to my hometown of Nanjing and open a branch of a dry rice shop there."

Han Rui: "I want to go back to my hometown, Lucheng, and open a branch there to try to learn about business and management."

Feng Zhengming's gaze swept over the five young chefs present.

Feng Zhengming was somewhat aware of their capabilities.

Knowing that they went back to their respective hometowns to open branches, they should all be able to run them well.

However, there is one thing that is currently troubling Feng Zhengming.

“I am very grateful that you are willing to return to your hometown and open a branch of my Feng Family Rice Shop there. However, I must make it clear to you that I may not be able to provide you with much help at the moment. I am currently short of staff, so you will probably need to recruit your own people to open the shop.”

Hearing Feng Zhengming say this, the five people looked at each other again.

Then the five of them seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and told Feng Zhengming that they were willing to hire people themselves.

Deng Huaichuan: "To be honest with you, Chef, I'm planning to open a branch in my hometown of Suzhou. I believe that if I go back to my hometown, I can recruit suitable staff."

Wang Hanwen: "I plan to go back to Chengdu. Chengdu has developed very quickly in recent years. With my skills, I believe many people will be willing to come to my shop and work with me."

Huang Yunliang: "Yes, when I go back to my hometown, my family alone should be enough to support me."

Han Rui: "Hahaha, when it comes to manpower, Anhui Province is definitely not inferior to you. We have more people."

Li Yao: "If I go to Nanjing, I think many people from Anhui Province will be willing to come."

This remark immediately amused everyone.

Feng Zhengming laughed and said, "That's right, that's right, Nanjing is, after all, the capital of Anhui Province."

Everyone laughed even harder.

Feng Zhengming then gave the five people a serious warning.

"You must remember that when you go back to your hometown and open a branch of your dry food shop, you must take the local approach and adapt to the tastes of the local people. The local people's tastes are the foundation of your business."

After hearing Feng Zhengming's warning, all five of them nodded to indicate that they understood.

"Don't worry, Chef. We followed you to visit those branches in various places, and we also realized that in order to do well, the taste must be adapted to the local taste. We will make adjustments."

“That’s right, that’s where we need to improve, just like Sous Chef Jiang.”

"What we truly learned from you, Head Chef, and Sous Chef Jiang, is the saying 'What suits one's taste is precious.'"

"Yes, it was you and Chef Jiang who taught us to adapt to the tastes and eating habits of people from different places."

"Thank you for your guidance, Chef. I will always keep it in mind."

Seeing that all five of them had their own goals, Feng Zhengming smiled and nodded.

"Okay, now that you understand these things, I believe you can definitely run the store well. I will grant you authorization, and I will only own 10% of the shares in each of your branches, which is just a symbolic gesture."

As for how to run it, you can handle it yourselves. I believe you can manage it well.

When the stores open, I'll personally go and cheer on each of your branches.

Hearing Feng Zhengming say this, Deng Huaichuan couldn't help but ask, "Chef, isn't taking only 10% of the shares too little?"

Wang Hanwen: "Yes, I think that since you taught us the skills and let us use your brand, you should take the lion's share in the branch. You should at least take 60% of the shares."

Everyone else also felt that Feng Zhengming should hold the majority of the shares in their branch.

Feng Zhengming smiled and waved his hand: "I'm giving you authorization to use my brand and then let you run your own branches. This is also a kind of experiment on my part."

My business with your store is a franchise model, and I'd like to see if this model is feasible.

This was an idea that Feng Zhengming, his wife, and his second aunt had discussed after returning from Beijing.

Both his aunt and wife felt that Feng Zhengming should open shops one by one.

Traveling all over the country is really too tiring.

You could try a franchise model, allowing chefs with a certain level of skill to join your store.

Let them open branches in their local area using his brand.

All operations are handled by the local authorities themselves.

Feng Zhengming holds only a small share, and his role is to share the four traditional technologies and supervise quality.

As for the other dishes on the menu, let their local branches design them themselves.

Just cook everything according to their local tastes.

This way, Feng Zhengming can have a slightly easier time.

It's not necessary for you or your senior apprentices to be responsible for the preparation of each branch.

His wife, Luo Qing, even felt that if there were any problems with the operation of the branch, they could revoke the authorization for the signboard at any time.

Furthermore, the recommended guidelines can be used to regulate branch stores in the future.

In particular, the recommended snacks and small shops have been rolled out across the country.

If a franchise store cannot be included in the local recommendation guide, it is undoubtedly a disgrace to the person operating the store.

This will definitely have a direct impact on the business of the local branches.

So if business is affected, the branch will make improvements on its own.

That's why Feng Zhengming let Deng Huaichuan, Wang Hanwen, Huang Yunliang, Li Yao, and Han Rui try to open their own branch stores.

It can be said that they started by trying out this brand-new franchise model.

"You can rest assured that I will provide you with the brand authorization for the branch, as well as the recipes for braised pork belly, braised pork hock, pig's trotters, and four-happiness meatballs. Moreover, no other branch in your area will be authorized to use this brand."

This is essentially giving you exclusive rights to operate the business in your area. Don't let me down, or I'll revoke the license, and you'll be even more embarrassed than I am.

Upon hearing Feng Zhengming's words, the five young chefs exchanged glances and then all burst into laughter.

Li Yao was the first to speak up: "Chef, rest assured, we will not embarrass ourselves."

Han Rui: "Yes, we will definitely run the branch well."

Deng Huaichuan: "This is also a valuable experience for us."

Wang Hanwen: "I hope that after running the branch for a few years, I will be able to return to Shanghai to open a restaurant."

Huang Yunliang: "Haha, let's see who can be the first to return to Shanghai."

At this moment, the five young chefs found their own direction.

Feng Zhengming was also very happy for them and believed that they would gradually grow and mature.

After discussing with Feng Zhengming, the five young chefs packed their things, handed over the business of the shop, and returned to their respective hometowns.

In the following period, the five individuals each set up branch stores in five different locations.

They contacted Feng Zhengming via mobile phone.

They would report their progress to Feng Zhengming almost every day and ask him many questions.

Feng Zhengming felt that this way of remotely guiding others to open branch stores seemed quite interesting.

Most importantly, it made things much easier for Feng Zhengming, as he no longer had to constantly think about how to prepare for the branch stores in other places.

For the next few months, Feng Zhengming spent almost all his time in Shanghai, enjoying a period of peaceful life.

As National Day approached, Feng Zhengming was located in Shanghai.

Hopefully, he can host the National Day celebration banquet in Shanghai this year. (End of Chapter)