From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

Besides Feng Zhengming and his group, some of the private rooms at Jiang Chengzhe Restaurant also hosted other guests tonight.

When the guests arrived at the restaurant, they first saw a group of people sitting in the lobby making a lot of noise, and children playing around in the lobby. They couldn't help but wonder if these people sitting in the lobby were a bit rude.

But when they tried to remind the people in the lobby that this was a high-end restaurant...

Suddenly, I saw Feng Zhengming sitting in the hall.

Feng Zhengming is now a household name across the country.

In the past, everyone may have heard of Feng Zhengming, the champion of the National Culinary Competition.

But if you actually bump into him on the street, many people might not recognize him.

Things are different now; Feng Zhengming has truly become a household name.

Because of that international food association awards ceremony.

Thanks to various domestic promotions, and the fact that many people have already visited Feng Zhengming's old-style restaurant, it has become a popular destination.

There's also Feng Zhengming's reputation in Beijing, Shanghai, Shandong, and Hongcheng, Jiangxi.

Almost everyone knows Feng Zhengming, a top chef who has gained international recognition.

Seeing Feng Zhengming appear in the lobby of Jiang Chengzhe's restaurant, leading a group of people to sit around in the lobby.

The guests at Jiang Chengzhe's restaurant tonight understood that Feng Zhuangyuan had come here specifically for a meal.

So they immediately changed their tune and took the initiative to greet them.

"So it was Scholar Feng here. I never expected it."

"Did Scholar Feng bring people over to show his support today?"

"Haha, they must be here to show their support. The head chef of this restaurant used to be the sous chef at Feng Zhuangyuan's restaurant."

Feng Zhengming also smiled and stood up to greet the guests who had taken the initiative to greet him.

"Good evening, everyone. We apologize, but we're all rather rough around the edges, so we might be affecting your dining atmosphere. We'll try to keep our voices down."

Hearing Feng Zhengming's words, the guests in the private room all said it was no problem.

"It's alright, it's our honor to meet Scholar Feng here."

"Yes, yes, please don't be so polite, Scholar Feng. You guys are really genuine, no arguing."

"It's really okay. We'll go into the private room in a bit, then we won't be able to hear anything outside."

Feng Zhengming: "Hehehe, thank you all for your understanding. My former sous chef's skills are superb today. Please enjoy the food tonight."

Then someone asked, "Master Feng, when will your restaurant reopen?"

Feng Zhengming: "Oh, all my shops reopened on the sixth day of the Lunar New Year."

This answer surprised those who didn't know the situation.

"Is your restaurant going to be closed for that long?"

Feng Zhengming: "Yes, everyone has been busy all year and needs more time to rest."

The other guests at the restaurant were quite shocked after hearing Feng Zhengming's words.

Judging from the timeline, all of Feng Zhengming's shops were closed for almost 20 days.

This is clearly not typical of a restaurant.

As everyone knows, the Chinese New Year period is the busiest time for restaurants.

Especially restaurants like Feng Zhengming's old-style house restaurant, many people are willing to spend more money during the Spring Festival.

But Feng Zhengming completely gave up the New Year holiday, and he made all the stores close for the holiday as well.

This is something that many people find hard to understand.

Why give up a great opportunity to make money and take a break?

But that's exactly how Feng Zhengming arranged it.

His customers also know that all his stores close for the Chinese New Year every year.

Although I have explained it to many people, and even to reporters in public.

When he saw that some people were surprised, Feng Zhengming still gave an explanation.

"The Spring Festival is our most important holiday. I don't want the people in my shop to be unable to reunite with their families during the Spring Festival. You can make money anytime."

Furthermore, my shop was closed during the Spring Festival, which gave everyone more options, allowing them to visit other shops and try different kinds of food.

After hearing Feng Zhengming's explanation, the other guests at Jiang Chengzhe's restaurant that evening all agreed that it made sense.

Furthermore, everyone regards Feng Zhengming as a very good boss.

After exchanging words with Jiang Chengzhe's guests, Feng Zhengming watched them enter their respective private rooms.

At this moment, Feng Zhengming, who had finished eating, stood up and walked towards the changing room of Jiang Chengzhe's restaurant for the first time.

Jiang Chengzhe had given prior instructions, so Feng Zhengming was able to walk into the restaurant's work area instantly.

Upon entering the changing room, Feng Zhengming saw the brand-new chef's uniform hanging there.

It was obvious that Jiang Chengzhe had already prepared everything for Feng Zhengming.

Moreover, he waited for Feng Zhengming to walk into the kitchen of his restaurant.

Feng Zhengming changed into his chef's uniform and carefully washed himself at the sink before stepping into Jiang Chengzhe's restaurant kitchen.

Jiang Chengzhe's restaurant kitchen is quite different from Feng Zhengming's restaurant kitchen.

Because Jiang Chengzhe's serving style is more Western, the kitchen also appears very Western.

There were no stoves and woks like in Feng Zhengming's restaurant kitchen.

Jiang Chengzhe mainly uses electric stoves. Even when cooking dishes, he uses a small pot on the electric stove.

Feng Zhengming didn't disturb everyone, and quietly stood aside watching Jiang Chengzhe and the others work.

Here, the cooking process for a dish is simplified.

This is something I learned from Feng Zhengming.

To ensure efficient serving, Jiang Chengzhe also broke down the process of serving each dish.

However, it lacks the meticulousness of Feng Zhengming's method, resulting in fewer steps.

However, since most of the dishes in Jiang Chengzhe's restaurant are Western-style, they do not require many steps.

After watching for a while, Feng Zhengming had to admit that Jiang Chengzhe was indeed very good at manipulating certain wealthy people.

It seems that the dishes at Jiang Chengzhe's restaurant are all high-end.

However, in Feng Zhengming's eyes, Jiang Chengzhe's dishes required almost no skill.

Just like the dishes that Feng Zhengming and the others ate tonight.

Many of these dishes don't require much cooking at all; the ingredients themselves are good enough.

The saying goes: the more high-end the ingredients, the simpler the cooking method, or even the least cooking method.

Feng Zhengming could understand Jiang Chengzhe's actions.

After all, the rent for his restaurant is already quite high every month.

In addition, Jiang Chengzhe also needs to attract enough customers who are willing to spend money.

In this respect, his status as a chef in Hong Kong clearly gave him an absolute advantage. He also had the added prestige he gained from working alongside Feng Zhengming.

This gave Jiang Chengzhe the capital to attract more wealthy customers.

For some wealthy customers, dining at Jiang Chengzhe's restaurant is more about the atmosphere; as long as the ingredients are high-end enough, that's enough for them.

After Jiang Chengzhe finished his work, he asked his apprentices to deliver the dishes to the guests.

After cleaning himself up, he came to Feng Zhengming.

"Chef, you've been looking around for so long, are you perhaps a little disappointed with what I have here?"

Feng Zhengming: "No, this place is great. It suits your restaurant's business strategy. In this location, in this place, opening a restaurant like this is the right thing to do."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Chengzhe felt somewhat helpless.

“In the past, I might have scoffed at the current approach, but now I find myself with no choice. The customers who come here really only recognize the higher-end ingredients.”

Feng Zhengming: "This may be a trend in the future."

Jiang Chengzhe was stunned and looked at Feng Zhengming with some disbelief.

Do you think this approach will become the mainstream in the future?

Feng Zhengming: "Not everyone is willing to be like me, to treat cooking as a pleasure."

People are inherently lazy. If all you need to do is buy high-quality ingredients and then pile on the ingredients to sell a dish at a high price, naturally no one will want to put in the effort to cook it.

At this point, Feng Zhengming glanced outside through Jiang Chengzhe's semi-open kitchen.

"Moreover, it's clear that most people are willing to accept this approach."

Jiang Chengzhe understood Feng Zhengming's meaning.

The customers who come to his restaurant now are indeed able to accept his design.

It features a variety of high-end ingredients, and the cooking process utilizes modern techniques.

This approach, to put it bluntly, relies on having high-quality, fresh ingredients.

However, this approach would obviously be very popular with most wealthy people.

Many people don't understand cooking at all, or rather, they don't care to understand it.

But if you tell them that you are using fresh, high-quality ingredients imported from such-and-such place, they will accept any price you offer and will even naturally feel that the meal is great value for money.

Feng Zhengming: "Your choice is correct. Maintain the high-end feel here, and you will be able to retain these customers."

Jiang Chengzhe nodded after hearing this: "I'm relieved that you didn't look down on my method, Chef."

Feng Zhengming laughed: "Why should I look down on your approach? Does that mean simple cooking isn't cooking? Often, the simpler something is, the more difficult it is."

Upon hearing Feng Zhengming's words, Jiang Chengzhe immediately burst into laughter.

"Haha, Chef, you're right. The simpler something is, the harder it is to achieve."

Feng Zhengming: "However, you still need to have something special. You can't just rely on good ingredients. Otherwise, your restaurant will be easily replaced."

Jiang Chengzhe agreed: "Yes, I know we should have some unique features, and I'm preparing for that seriously."

Feng Zhengming offered his advice: "Bring out your best Hong Kong-style Cantonese dishes."

Jiang Chengzhe: "Wouldn't that lack a sense of novelty for some of the wealthy people here?"

Jiang Chengzhe was still aware that there were indeed many Cantonese restaurants in Shanghai for a long time.

Among them are restaurant owners who specifically hire renowned chefs from the port city at high prices.

Therefore, Jiang Chengzhe felt that for some people in Shanghai, Hong Kong-style Cantonese cuisine was no longer anything new.

Feng Zhengming: "This requires you to make some changes yourself, to change in the areas you are good at, to create something different, and to attract those wealthy people."

Hearing this, Jiang Chengzhe couldn't help but nod.

Then Jiang Chengzhe looked at Feng Zhengming with some confusion.

"Chef, I feel like you're deliberately teaching me how to scheme against rich people?"

Feng Zhengming: "Hehehe, since they have the money to spend, of course we can't let them go. Besides, I have a 20% stake in your restaurant. If you make money, won't I get a bigger share of the profits?"

Jiang Chengzhe was amused by Feng Zhengming's words.

"Okay, since you've said so, Chef, I feel even less guilty. I'm quite experienced in dealing with these rich people. I'll make them an abalone dish later."

Feng Zhengming: "Your master's method of cooking abalone is excellent, but you can also try some new methods, such as combining it with the scallion sauce of our Shandong cuisine to make a braised abalone with scallions."
Alternatively, you could prepare an abalone dish with Western international flair. Feel free to brainstorm ideas on how to do it.

Reminded by Feng Zhengming, Jiang Chengzhe suddenly had a flash of inspiration and many ideas came to mind.

Especially the braised abalone with scallions; Jiang Chengzhe suddenly remembered the fried scallion recipe that Feng Zhengming had used before.

Abalone is used in the kind of braised sea cucumber with scallions, but scallion segments don't seem to go well with abalone.

But if you fry the scallions into crispy scallions and serve them on top of the abalone, and then prepare a unique scallion sauce.

Jiang Chengzhe thought this was a good approach.

If I succeed in developing this dish myself, it will become a signature dish of my restaurant.

Feng Zhengming: "We're going back tomorrow. It looks like you probably won't be able to rest during the Chinese New Year?"

Jiang Chengzhe: "Chef, my restaurant has only been open for a short time, how can I possibly take a break?"

Feng Zhengming: "It's okay to take a break. During the Spring Festival, you need to spend time with your family, and Liu Fangyou also needs your company. Don't just focus on making money."

Jiang Chengzhe: "I know. I've already talked to her. She'll go home for the New Year first, and then she'll bring her parents and grandparents to Shanghai. I'll treat them well."

Feng Zhengming: "You just need to make arrangements, but remember not to let my sister suffer any losses."

"Don't worry, brother-in-law, I definitely wouldn't dare to bully her," Jiang Chengzhe immediately changed his tune.

Feng Zhengming smiled and nodded, then said goodbye to everyone in the kitchen before leaving.

After Feng Zhengming left, Jiang Chengzhe's apprentice approached him.

"Master, it seems that Scholar Feng doesn't like some of our methods?"

Jiang Chengzhe: "How did you figure out he didn't like it? Let me tell you, don't make wild guesses. He approves of our business methods. Don't try to sow discord between us in the future."

When Jiang Chengzhe said this, he made no attempt to restrain himself and shouted it out loud in the kitchen.

This was meant to let everyone in the kitchen hear it, and also to warn them not to make wild guesses.

When Feng Zhengming came out of the kitchen, everyone had almost finished eating.

Everyone was very satisfied with the meal.

Feng Zhengming finally raised his glass with everyone.

"Tonight is our pre-Chinese New Year gathering. I'd like to wish everyone a Happy New Year in advance, and I hope we can all work hard together to make our restaurant even better next year."

Everyone raised their glasses and toasted Feng Zhengming one by one, offering him New Year's greetings.

After finishing their drinks, Feng Zhengming led everyone to pay the bill and leave.

Jiang Chengzhe originally didn't want to accept the money, but Feng Zhengming insisted on paying.

"Even close brothers should keep clear accounts. We must collect what we owe. We can't just open this door to anything. You've all worked very hard tonight, so we must cover your expenses."

In the end, Jiang Chengzhe listened to Feng Zhengming and had the cashier deduct the service fee and accept Feng Zhengming's money. (End of this chapter)