From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

Master Yan was indeed becoming more and more satisfied with his young apprentice.

The last time he visited this restaurant, which was about to be named one of the world's top ten restaurants of the year, he compared it to this one.

The most obvious difference is that this time, the young apprentice designed many dishes with a milder flavor.

Whether it's some very traditional Shandong dishes or some dishes that Feng Zhengming has designed based on his experience over the years.

The flavors of each dish blended perfectly, truly embodying the concept of "harmony" in Chinese culture.

You can taste a variety of flavors in every dish Feng Zhengming makes.

Every dish is salty where it should be salty, and sweet where it should be sweet.

When it's supposed to be spicy, you'll experience a stimulating sensation on your tongue.

Sour and bitter flavors also have excellent applications.

What is most commendable is that these flavors blend together, showcasing a unique inclusiveness.

It allows diners to truly experience the wonderful pleasure that taste brings.

It is then paired with various ingredients that may not be particularly expensive, but are all carefully selected.

The Shandong cuisine chefs were very satisfied with the meal.

After Feng Zhengming finished preparing the lunch for the guests, he went to the master chefs' room.

Upon seeing him enter, Master Xia spoke first.

"Zhengming, your dishes are really different. After seeing your skills today, I think you have absolutely surpassed us old guys."

Master Chef Sun chimed in, "Yes, you have indeed surpassed us. Your dishes are truly exceptional."

Master Su: "The dishes here all reflect your own thoughts, and we can't find any problems with them at all."

Master Cui: "And the service here is not like the deliberate service of Cheng Guosheng's Xinjubinyuan, but it provides us with the service that should be there."

After the other experienced masters finished their evaluations, Feng Zhengming thought his master wouldn't praise him to his face.

He wanted to say something.

But before he could speak, his master spoke first.

"Zhengming, the dishes you made for lunch today were excellent. Your master really thinks they were very good. Your dishes showcased the characteristics of Shandong cuisine, while also incorporating some of the new things you've seen in Shanghai."

Most importantly, you added your own understanding, which made each dish look different.

Do you remember saying before that, in your own understanding, the key word for Shandong cuisine is "harmony"?

Today, your dishes and the overall feeling of your restaurant perfectly embody the word 'harmony'.

"Very good, really very good. Your master is proud to have a disciple like you."

Feng Zhengming was deeply moved by his master's words.

For so many years, he has always hoped to gain his master's approval.

Today, I finally had this opportunity to gain my master's approval and become someone he can proudly acknowledge.

The other experienced masters looked at Master Yan, and then at Feng Zhengming.

Then they all burst into laughter.

Master Cui: "Old Yan is right. When Zhengming first mentioned this word, none of us really understood it."

Today, through the atmosphere of your restaurant and the dishes you serve, we truly felt that.

Master Su: "It's about family harmony and the harmony of flavors. It's clear that you've done a really great job."

Master Chef Xia: "Including your various controls in the kitchen, which enable everyone to follow your arrangements and do things according to your design, all of these are about achieving harmony."

Master Sun: "Zhengming, you are the pride of Shandong cuisine. You have enabled Shandong cuisine to once again step out of the land of Qilu."

Feng Zhengming was also somewhat moved by the words of his master and the other experienced masters.

"Thank you, thank you Master, thank you all my senior brothers and sisters. I am even happier to have your recognition than to have won the title of one of the top ten restaurants of the year."

Actually, all my skills were learned from my master and my fellow apprentices.

Furthermore, some of my restaurant management philosophies have been influenced by you.

In my heart, you are true masters, true masters who carry on the legacy of Shandong cuisine.

Thank you for your guidance over the years; I will continue to strive to do even better.

After hearing Feng Zhengming's words, all the experienced workers present burst into laughter.

The experienced craftsmen were all very happy.

For so many years, the veteran chefs have been waiting and hoping for the emergence of a young chef like Feng Zhengming.

Although Shandong cuisine chefs have won awards in every National Culinary Competition since the first one.

The performances of Shandong cuisine chefs in each cohort have always been excellent.

Furthermore, there are still many Shandong cuisine chefs throughout the country.

However, Shandong cuisine has always lost some of its refined elegance.

It was even criticized by many people at one point.

They say Shandong cuisine is all dark, sticky, oily, and salty.

Experienced chefs all know that those are misinterpretations of Shandong cuisine.

However, as the veteran chefs get older, they can no longer leave Shandong to venture out and try their luck elsewhere, or to redefine Shandong cuisine for others.

The younger generation of chefs, after leaving Shandong, are mostly forced to learn and adapt to other regional cuisines.

Many even had to learn other cuisines after leaving Shandong to find work.

This is of no benefit whatsoever to promoting Shandong cuisine.

The experienced chefs have been waiting for outstanding young chefs to emerge.

They will train together and are willing to share their skills.

However, no outstanding young chef has yet emerged.

This once left even the experienced craftsmen quite helpless.

All we can do is continue to support Shandong cuisine, using our past experience and those traditional classic Shandong dishes to continue proving its existence to everyone.

However, as times change, the old dishes eventually fall behind.

More and more people are choosing other dishes, opting for the more stimulating flavors of Sichuan cuisine, particularly the "Jianghu" style.

Alternatively, you can choose Cantonese cuisine, which uses more high-end ingredients, or seafood dishes such as Fujian cuisine.

Fewer and fewer people are actually going into a Shandong cuisine restaurant these days.

At this critical moment, Feng Zhengming appeared.

Feng Zhengming's appearance immediately reversed the downward trend.

First, he built a good reputation for Feng Family Braised Pork within the province based on his own ideas.

Then, after overcoming numerous challenges, he truly distinguished himself in the national culinary competition.

It can be said that in that National Culinary Competition, Feng Zhengming truly outshone everyone else and won the title of champion, which was established for the last time in the national competition.

Next, Feng Zhengming made excellent use of his reputation as the top scholar.

First, he opened branches of his rice shop all over the province.

Then, he proved his skills again by relying on Huiquan Tower.

Then he left Shandong and did not choose to go north to the capital.

He chose to head south to Shanghai.

At the time, many of the experienced craftsmen didn't understand.

Because in the eyes of experienced chefs, going to Beijing is the best choice for a Shandong cuisine chef.

However, Feng Zhengming did not choose to go north to Beijing; instead, he chose to go south to Shanghai. He wanted to experience the real market impact in Shanghai.

Feng Zhengming truly established himself in Shanghai by relying on his own ideas and abilities.

Before he came to Shanghai, there were almost no real Shandong cuisine restaurants, let alone Shandong cuisine restaurants.

But Feng Zhengming opened four branches of Feng Family Rice Shop in one go.

Furthermore, they opened a branch of a dry rice shop on a street in Shanghai that was full of Western restaurants.

He used that store as a model for upgrading, which not only made many domestic people accept the taste of his branch, but also attracted many foreigners to his store.

This is something that many experienced craftsmen probably never imagined.

The experienced chefs have always felt that some aspects of Shandong cuisine might not be to the liking of foreigners.

However, Feng Zhengming absorbed many of the unique flavors of foreign tastes.

They managed to make Shandong cuisine taste like something foreigners would enjoy.

The key is that those flavors are not only loved by foreigners, but also by many Chinese people, especially gourmets in Shanghai.

The gourmets in Shanghai started with that branch on the street lined with Western restaurants.

They followed Feng Zhengming all the way to the old-style restaurant.

When Feng Zhengming bought the old villa and opened such a restaurant, it really seemed like he had achieved a kind of sublimation.

His cooking is becoming more and more amazing, and many people will love it.

Just like the dishes the master chefs ate at the restaurant for lunch today.

These dishes are actually not very technically demanding to prepare.

But these dishes are quite unique in their flavor.

The taste is pleasant and there isn't any one flavor that's overpowering.

Just like the veteran chefs say, Feng Zhengming's restaurant has truly achieved perfection.

The atmosphere, service, food presentation, and taste were all perfect.

The veteran craftsmen could hardly imagine that anyone could do better than Feng Zhengming.

Therefore, in the eyes of the veteran chefs, it is truly well-deserved for such a restaurant to be named one of the world's top ten restaurants of the year.

After lunch, Feng Zhengming went downstairs to see some guests off.

Whether you book a private room for lunch or sit in the lobby on the first floor, you will receive a small snack as a gift at the end.

This was also one of Feng Zhengming's little designs, which is why the restaurant attracts a large number of customers at lunchtime.

After seeing off the other customers, Feng Zhengming arranged for people to start cleaning the restaurant.

The experienced chefs also came out of the private room and went downstairs to find Feng Zhengming.

"Zhengming, we should be heading back soon too. Thank you for your hospitality at noon; we're all stuffed."

"Yes, yes, the lunch was really delicious, and we ate quite a lot without even realizing it."

"Zhengming, your restaurant seems to be very busy at lunchtime. Is it because the food prices are cheaper at lunchtime?"

Feng Zhengming replied with a smile, "Yes, we will offer some special dishes at noon, so the prices will be cheaper."

Hearing Feng Zhengming's design, the veteran craftsmen all felt it was quite reasonable.

After all, more customers make reservations in the evening, while many may not make reservations specifically for lunch.

To ensure a certain number of customers at lunchtime, it's appropriate to offer some discounted dishes.

The master thought for a moment and said, "Your special-priced dishes must also guarantee the quality of the dishes."

Feng Zhengming nodded seriously: "Don't worry, Master. We purchase fresh ingredients every day, so there will absolutely be no stale ingredients."

Master Yan was very satisfied with this answer.

"That's right. We need to act in our own conscience and cook the food well."

Feng Zhengming instructed Fu Jun and Cai Tao to arrange for cleaning, and he personally escorted the experienced workers back to the hotel.

After sending the experienced chefs back to their hotel, Feng Zhengming returned to his restaurant.

Now that the awards for the top ten restaurants are about to be presented, he still needs to personally oversee many details.

The experienced craftsmen returned to the hotel and soon encountered other experienced craftsmen from other places who had been invited to attend the awards ceremony.

They gathered together and had a chat.

Experienced craftsmen from other places all offered their congratulations to Master Yan.

"Old Yan is truly remarkable; he's taught such a wonderful apprentice."

"That's right. We didn't know before that Feng Zhengming was Lao Yan's apprentice. No wonder his skills are so good."

"This has brought honor to our domestic restaurants. You should know that no domestic restaurant has ever been awarded one of the world's top ten."

"Yes, even in Hong Kong, there are still no restaurants that can make it into the top ten."

Everyone was indeed happy that Feng Zhengming's restaurant was among the top ten.

After all, such achievements bring honor to the domestic catering industry.

To let more foreigners know that Chinese cuisine has its own unique characteristics and that it can also have its own place in the world.

Master Yan: "Thank you all for the praise. It is partly due to luck that Zhengming's restaurant was selected as one of the top ten restaurants this year, and partly due to the strong support of our motherland."

Master Yan was quite polite, unlike when they were in the restaurant, where he almost always praised his apprentice.

"This year we successfully bid for the Olympics and we also successfully joined the WTO. This is the key to our country’s true path to prosperity and strength. It is because of our country’s prosperity and strength that Zhengming was given the opportunity to strive for it."

The experienced craftsmen are well aware that many of them have participated in international exchanges over the years.

It can be said that there were once many countries and people abroad who admired Chinese food.

In the years that followed, those who worshipped him gradually fell silent.

Western cuisine still dominates the mainstream dining scene abroad.

Therefore, in recent years, almost all of the world's top ten restaurants of the year have been Western restaurants.

This has always made the veteran craftsmen somewhat resentful.

However, they were both dissatisfied and helpless because the country's strength was not enough to gain more recognition for their cooking techniques.

Finally, this year, they got their chance.

Feng Zhengming seized this opportunity.

Looking back now, it seems that only Feng Zhengming could have seized such an opportunity.

Because of the overlap of the successful bid for the Olympics and the successful accession to the WTO, it is probably impossible to have both happen at the same time for many years.

Without these two major events, it would be impossible to enhance the country's international influence.

Others might not value Chinese food either.

Even though Kaufman recommended Feng Zhengming's restaurant to the International Gastronomy Association.

The International Gastronomy Association probably wouldn't give him the honor of being one of the top ten restaurants.

The experienced workers all sighed with admiration, feeling that Feng Zhengming was a product of years of hard work and gradual accumulation.

"It just goes to show that he has accumulated enough experience."

"That's right, Zhengming's cooking skills and his restaurant are indeed excellent, otherwise he couldn't have achieved such success so quickly."

"Haha, with Zhengming here, I believe more restaurants will gain international attention in the future."

"That's right, Zhengming has set a very good precedent for us. More and more restaurants will emerge on the international stage in the future."

"The key point is that in the future, when our chefs go to compete internationally, they shouldn't need to learn how to cook Western food."

The veteran chefs were getting happier and happier as they talked, feeling that they had finally witnessed the rise of Chinese cuisine. (End of Chapter)