From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

To ensure the fairness and impartiality of the recommendation guidelines, Feng Zhengming did not participate in the entire review process this year.

The review of this year's recommendation guidelines was entirely handed over to my senior colleague, Huang Tao.

Over the past few years, Huang Tao has indeed become a well-known food critic in China by publishing annual recommendation guides and writing various food-related articles for food magazines.

In addition, he joined forces with some gourmets in Hong Kong, Guangdong, Shanghai, and Beijing.

They also co-hosted a food talk show on Shanghai TV.

It could be said that Huang Tao's current fame is almost on par with Feng Zhengming's.

Of course, this applies both on television programs and when meeting the public.

Huang Tao almost always tells others that he is Feng Zhengming's senior martial brother.

He would also admit that his cooking skills were not as good as those of Feng Zhengming, the national culinary champion.

"However, I know how to eat, and I know how to eat properly. This is probably why I was able to become a columnist for a food magazine and why I was chosen by my nephew Feng Zhengming to be the editor-in-chief of a recommendation guide."

When interviewed, Huang Tao never shies away from the subject, but speaks frankly about his strengths and weaknesses.

What convinces everyone is that Huang Tao truly knows how to eat.

He can break down the characteristics of different cuisines and explain many cooking details that even some chefs of their own cuisine might not understand. Huang Tao can do it in great detail, and he's not just making things up.

Today's interview is with Huang Tao by Shanghai TV.

The main topic of the interview was the release of this year's "Shanghai Food Recommendation Guide".

Huang Tao calmly stated the judging criteria during the interview.

"Our evaluation has always used two sets of standards, because we evaluate small snack shops and street food stalls in Shanghai together, and restaurants and hotels of a certain size together."

Therefore, two sets of standards must be established, one for snack shops and street vendors, and one for restaurants and hotels.

During the interview, a TV reporter asked, "Editor-in-Chief Huang, what specific standards do you have?"

Huang Tao smiled and said, "First and foremost, it has to taste good. Snack shops and street restaurants mainly rely on good taste to gain popularity and have their own unique characteristics."

After a brief pause, Huang Tao continued to discuss the evaluation criteria for the restaurant and hotel recommendation guide.

"The evaluation criteria for restaurants and hotels are quite strict. They look at the overall interior decoration and furnishings of the restaurant and hotel to see if they can give customers a sense of atmosphere that makes it worth visiting."

You also need to look at the various utensils in the restaurant and bar. If you want to get a high rating, you can't have any pieces with chips or uneven sizes on the tableware.

Another factor is whether the service provided by restaurant and hotel staff makes customers feel comfortable.

Last but not least, we will evaluate the food at restaurants and hotels based on five aspects: color, aroma, flavor, presentation, and serving dish.

After hearing Huang Tao's answer, the reporter smiled and asked, "If you go to a restaurant or eatery, and they see you there, they will cook for you well and you will give them high marks."

"What will you do if they don't properly entertain the guests after you leave?"

Huang Tao: "They probably have no idea whether we went or not. We will have several groups of judges. In addition to me and a few well-known food connoisseurs, there are several other groups of judges whose identities we will not disclose."

When will they go? How will they get there? What will their experience be like? What kind of score will they receive?
We will not interfere with any of this, ensuring that they can give reasonable scores based on their most intuitive feelings.

Of course, we also accept reports from ordinary customers afterward. If we find any restaurants that have received a rating but haven't served their customers well, we will remove the rating plaque.

The reporter was quite surprised after hearing Huang Tao's introduction.

"Wow, I didn't expect your judging process to be so rigorous!"

Huang Tao: "After all, it was Feng Zhuangyuan who personally created this review mechanism. Our goal in launching this recommendation guide is to let people from other places who come to Shanghai know what to eat in Shanghai."
This can save out-of-town visitors to Shanghai time figuring out what to eat, providing a guide for those far from home to enjoy good food.

The reporter then asked, "So, you'll also be reviewing Feng Zhuangyuan's shop?"

Huang Tao smiled and said, "Originally, he didn't want us to participate in the review because he felt that it would be unfair to other stores if his store were recommended by our guidelines because of its reputation."

But after some discussion, I, several food connoisseurs, and some experienced chefs all felt that we should still review his restaurants.

The reporter was even more curious: "Why did Feng Zhuangyuan feel that it was unfair for his store to be evaluated together?"

Huang Tao answered very frankly: "Because his shops are almost impeccable. Not to mention his restaurant in the old mansion, just look at his four branches of dry rice shops in Shanghai and a restaurant on a Western restaurant street."

I think everyone knows what kind of business it is without me having to say it. Anyone who has eaten there knows how it tastes, right?

Therefore, Feng Zhuangyuan himself felt that judging his shops alongside others might set the bar too high.

These words stunned everyone present at the interview.

But on second thought, everyone felt it was indeed reasonable.

Everyone from the TV station who was interviewed had eaten at several of Feng Zhengming's restaurants.

They even split the bill together before going to eat at the restaurant in Feng Zhengming's old villa.

After actually eating it, it will give everyone a certain feeling.

"My goodness, isn't this price cheap?"

Almost everyone who goes there for the first time will have this feeling.

Because the prices at the old-style restaurant are not the kind of exorbitantly high that would deter people.

The key point is that any single dish on the menu, in terms of quantity, already puts all high-end restaurants to shame.

What does the food taste like?

That would indeed be even more impeccable.

Whatever your taste preferences, you can find satisfaction at Feng Zhengming's restaurant.

Feng Zhengming's old-style house restaurant truly boasts fresh ingredients, creative cooking methods, and a flavorful seasoning that will make everyone swoon.

Now that Huang Tao has said this, and after thinking about it carefully, everyone at the interview site does indeed feel that what he said is correct.

The fact that Feng Zhengming's old-style restaurant participated in the evaluation does indeed raise the evaluation standards a bit.

It also gives people the impression that other restaurants and eateries are not qualified to be reviewed alongside him.

Even Feng Zhengming's branches in Shanghai give people the feeling of crushing other stores of the same level.

Especially those four dry rice shop branches, which truly offer good quality at low prices.

In the simplest and most straightforward terms, those restaurants offer delicious food at low prices—that's the killer feature.

Indeed, there are prices that are cheaper than those at Feng Zhengming's branch.

But the taste is definitely worse than those branches.

And if you're talking about a restaurant whose food tastes better than those branches? The price will definitely be much higher.

Especially the chain store model like Feng Zhengming's.

There is no one else who can imitate it for the time being.

The key point is that the chefs in his kitchen can be transferred from his restaurants in Shandong.

If you all open so many branches, where are you going to find so many good chefs in the kitchen?
The reporter who conducted the interview also asked this question.

"Actually, we're probably all very curious about why Feng Zhuangyuan's kitchen has such excellent chefs? Why are those outstanding young chefs willing to work for Feng Zhuangyuan?" When the reporter asked this, Huang Tao countered with, "I think that's a question many people want to ask, right?"

The reporter smiled and nodded: "Yes, I think many people are curious about this. I wonder if your senior brother knows about this?"

Huang Tao: "Actually, the reason is very simple. He is the national culinary champion. Think about it, if you were a student who had just graduated from a vocational school or culinary school, and you had the opportunity to work in the kitchen of a restaurant run by the national culinary champion, wouldn't you be happy to go?"

The reporter was taken aback for a moment by the question, and couldn't help but sigh, "Then I would definitely be willing to go."

Huang Tao: "Feng Zhengming's real strength lies here. They don't treat the chefs in the kitchen as employees; they treat everyone in the kitchen as an apprentice."

Young people who graduate from vocational schools and culinary schools can learn real skills by working hard and being willing to learn in the kitchen of Feng Zhengming's shop.

You only see that the kitchen staff in his restaurants are all young chefs with excellent skills.

But those young chefs were all trained by them; they weren't hired out of their own pockets.

With the broadcast of the TV program, Huang Tao answered many people's questions.

Some restaurant owners who also wanted to start a business finally realized the problem after listening to Huang Tao's words.

In the catering industry, even if they have good culinary skills, they can often support a restaurant.

However, once they expand and open branches, they will inevitably face the problem that the chefs at the branches cannot guarantee their skills.

The main reason is that their branches may need to spend money to hire some chefs with a certain level of skill.

But these chefs often already have their own set of habits.

Therefore, it's impossible to make some things from the old shops very authentically.

Huang Tao's explanation made these restaurant owners realize...

The seemingly talented young chefs in Feng Zhengming's restaurant were actually trained step by step by Feng Zhengming and his team.

Those people graduated from vocational schools and culinary schools and went to Feng Zhengming's restaurant for an internship in the kitchen.

It can be said that each of them was trained under Feng Zhengming's set of requirements.

Then they were assigned to the kitchens of different branches.

They will naturally reproduce the dishes exactly as they were supposed to be.

Huang Tao made this public on television.

After seeing this, Feng Zhengming's family members were worried that others might follow Feng Zhengming's example and do the same thing.
Luo Qing wasn't worried: "It's not so easy for others to learn. First of all, they need to have good enough skills. They don't know that Zhengming's greatest strength is that he can break down the details of the skills so that people in the kitchen can learn them."

The key to maintaining a consistent flavor across his various restaurants lies in meticulously breaking down those details.

Auntie was somewhat surprised to hear Luo Qing's words: "Oh? It seems you're quite knowledgeable, Qingqing?"

Luo Qing smiled and said, "I don't know. I just heard it from him."

Feng Nuanyou raised her little hand: "Grandma, I understand, Youyou understands too."

When the little girl raised her hand and shouted that she understood, everyone was immediately amused.

Feng Suying hugged her granddaughter and said, "Tell your great-aunt, how could you possibly understand?"

Feng Nuanyou: "I've seen it with my dad in the kitchen. He always tells this person to do this and that person to do that. Everyone does their own thing, and then my dad puts everyone's work together in the end."

As the little girl described the situation, she made various hand gestures.

It really made the whole family laugh uncontrollably.

Grandma: "Oh my, it looks like our Youyou will grow up to be a chef like her dad?"

Feng Nuanyou shook her head: "Grandma, I don't want to be a chef. Youyou likes to play the piano. The piano played by her kindergarten teacher is so beautiful."

My great-aunt asked, "Does Youyou want to learn piano? How about I buy you one?"

Luo Qing quickly said, "No need, Aunt. If she really wants to learn, we'll buy it for her."

The second aunt looked at Luo Qing: "What's wrong? Do you think your aunt can't afford it?"

Luo Qing: "No, it's...it's because she hasn't even started learning yet."

The great-aunt looked at Feng Nuanyou in her arms: "Tell your great-aunt, do you want to learn the piano?"

Feng Nuanyou looked at her great-aunt and thought about it seriously for a long time.

In the end, the little girl nodded.

"I want to learn."

The great-aunt smiled and said, "Okay, if our Youyou wants to learn, then great-aunt will buy it for Youyou."

Luo Qing tried to dissuade her again: "No, Auntie, it's one thing for her to want to learn, but we also need to find a teacher to see if she's suitable for it. We can't just buy it for her because she wants to learn."

Feng Suying originally wanted to say that since the child wanted to learn, she should buy it.

However, Grandpa Situ beat him to it.

“Suying, Xiaoqing is right. We can’t spoil the children too much. We should see if the children can learn, especially whether our Youyou will really study hard.”

"And your great-grandfather told you that learning piano is very hard work, so you should think it through."

This time, Feng Nuanyou did not answer directly, but sat on her great-aunt's lap and began to think seriously.

This is probably what makes Feng Nuanyou different from many other children.

Perhaps because I spent most of my childhood traveling around with my parents.

Having seen a lot, she learned to think more from a very young age.

If it were other children, they might just shout that they want to learn it.

But Feng Nuanyou wouldn't do that; she would think for herself whether she really wanted to learn.
Feng Suying also calmed down: "It's okay, Youyou, don't think too much about it. We'll find some time to take you to see how piano is learned, okay?"

Feng Nuanyou looked up at her great-aunt and said, "Okay, I'll go take a look."

The topic then returned to the television interview.

Feng Zonggu: "Was this TV interview with Huang Tao a warm-up for the release of the recommendation guide?"

Feng Suying laughed when she heard this: "Hahaha, my dad is getting more and more fashionable now, he even knows the word 'preheat' now."

Feng Zonggu laughed along: "Living with you guys in the metropolis every day, I'm getting more and more fashionable, aren't I? Your Uncle Situ even wants me to get a set of old-fashioned gentleman's clothes made."

Almost everyone in the family agreed, and they all clamored for Feng Zonggu to have a set made to wear.

Feng Suying: "Dad, you and Uncle Situ both had no major problems with your physical examinations. We should celebrate and go order a set."

Luo Qing chimed in, "Yes, yes, let's get one made."

Finally, when Feng Zhengming returned home, he also agreed to have both grandfathers get a set made together.

Feng Zonggu had no choice but to agree to do it. (End of Chapter)