From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

Although Feng Zhengming couldn't accompany his wife and sisters-in-law today, he still specially arranged a car to pick them up and drop them off.

Feng Nuanyou was still a little upset that her father couldn't be with her.

The little girl once wanted to go work at the restaurant with her father.

Feng Zhengming smiled and earnestly persuaded his daughter.

“Everyone is here in Shanghai for fun. Since you live in Shanghai, you should accompany everyone to have fun as a host. Dad has to work and can't come along, so you will represent Dad and play with everyone.”

After her father's persuasion, Feng Nuanyou realized that she was representing her father in entertaining everyone.

She finally nodded in agreement: "Okay, then Mom and I will definitely make sure everyone is well taken care of."

Feng Zhengming: "Youyou is great. Thank you, Youyou, for helping Dad entertain everyone."

Feng Nuanyou smiled and said, "Dad, don't be so polite."

Finally, the little girl hugged her father and said, "Dad, don't work too hard."

Feng Zhengming held his daughter and said, "Daddy will listen to Youyou and it won't be too hard."

After saying goodbye to his eldest daughter, and then to his wife and two children, Feng Zhengming walked out of the house first.

Watching Feng Zhengming leave, Feng Shengnan couldn't help but sigh, "Brother, you've worked so hard."

Third Aunt: "What do you think? All the honors your brother has received are earned through his hard work. They are the honors he deserves because he dedicates most of his time to the kitchen every day."

Feng Shengnan: "Brother is really a great and capable man."

Second Aunt: "Men are meant to bear more of the burdens of life, so often the family needs more care from us women. It's not that they don't want to take care of the family, it's just that they don't have the energy to do so."

Feng Shengnan: "I want to find a good man like my brother in the future."

Upon hearing this, Auntie San immediately became suspicious: "You haven't already started dating someone at school, have you?"

Feng Shengnan glared at her mother and retorted irritably, "Mom, what are you thinking? How could I possibly date at school? I have to prepare for college entrance exams, where would I find the time?"

Luo Qing smiled and spoke up for her, saying, "Sheng Nan has her own ideas and won't be easily fooled by those young boys' sweet talk."

Feng Shengnan nodded: "That's right. Compared to my brother, those boys are just a bunch of immature kids. I can't be bothered with them."

Second Aunt: "When looking for a man, you should mainly look at his potential, not just his looks."

Feng Shengnan: "So I want to use my brother as the standard and find a capable and good man."

Although my daughter has made it clear that she doesn't like the male classmates at school.

But Auntie San still felt uneasy.

"You must remember this well. Don't be fooled by the sweet talk of those male classmates. Right now, you need to study hard and master what you need to learn. This will make your senior year of high school much easier."

Faced with her mother's repeated instructions, Feng Shengnan had no choice but to agree.

"I understand, Mom. Don't worry, I will definitely study hard and won't date."

The daughter's repeated assurances finally put the aunt's mind at ease.

After that, the minibus arranged by Feng Zhengming arrived.

After picking up Luo Qing and the others, we went to the hotel where the sisters-in-law and children were staying.

The sisters-in-law also got up early and had breakfast together at the hotel.

After the minibus arrived, the women and their children boarded the bus together.

Then Luo Qing contacted a well-known makeup studio in Shanghai and took her sisters-in-law and children there to get their hair and makeup done.

Meanwhile, Feng Zhengming spent the morning checking on the situation at his various branches.

The overall situation at each branch is fine, and the staff who have returned to the stores are all back in work mode.

Several fast food restaurants, for example, prepare a lot of food a day in advance.

There will be no problems with the official opening today.

Xia Hui, who is in charge of the Western restaurant on the street, started preparing the ingredients yesterday so that things would be easier this morning.

Judging from the things Xia Hui had prepared in advance, Feng Zhengming was becoming increasingly satisfied with this apprentice.

Not only is her culinary skill getting better and better, but she is also very good at managing the kitchen.

Feng Zhengming was quite pleased to see his apprentice's progress.

He also gave his apprentice some encouragement.

"I believe in your abilities. Even though you are a woman, you can still manage the kitchen better and prevent any deviations between the kitchen and the store. Keep up the good work."

Xia Hui hadn't expected that her master would come to the shop she was in charge of so early in the morning.

Xia Hui was in a very good mood after receiving encouragement from her master.

After seeing her master off, Xia Hui continued her preparations diligently.

When Feng Zhengming finished looking at all the shops and returned to the old-style restaurant, it was already 10 a.m.

In the kitchen of the old-style restaurant, Fu Jun and Cai Tao were already busy preparing ingredients with their team.

Inside the restaurant, the staff were all busy preparing for business.

Even though Feng Zhengming didn't come to the restaurant immediately in the morning.

Everyone continued to perform their assigned tasks as before.

In terms of process, Feng Zhengming hardly needed to provide any guidance.

This can be considered a case of practice makes perfect.

After all, some of the restaurant's owners have been there since the restaurant opened.

Even Fu Jun and Cai Tao, who worked in the kitchen, had been with Feng Zhengming for more than half a year.

Feng Zhengming had taught them many things, over and over again.

Under Feng Zhengming's guidance and strict requirements.

They have actually developed a kind of mental inertia.

Therefore, even when Feng Zhengming is not around, they will strictly follow his instructions.

Upon arriving at the old-style restaurant, Feng Zhengming first went to the dressing room to change his clothes.

Instead of immediately going into the kitchen, he started by checking the rooms on the third floor.

Feng Zhengming would carefully inspect each room one by one.

Check if the room is clean, and wear white gloves to check if it is spotless.
You also need to carefully examine the various furnishings in each room to ensure that the placement and angle of the furnishings are just right.

The windowsills and curtains in the room also need to be thoroughly inspected.

After checking each room one by one, we also need to check the restaurant's garbage disposal to make sure that all the garbage that was cleaned up in the morning has been removed and that the storage room is also kept clean.

After checking everything, Feng Zhengming changed back into his chef's uniform, washed his hands, and stepped into the kitchen.

Upon seeing Feng Zhengming enter the kitchen, Fu Jun and Cai Tao immediately led everyone in greeting him.

"Good morning, Chef."

Feng Zhengming: "You're welcome. Have you prepared everything you need for today?"

Fu Jun and Cai Tao quickly began to report to Feng Zhengming.

According to the menu Feng Zhengming gave yesterday, Fu Jun and Cai Tao had already prepared the ingredients for most of the dishes on the menu.

Next, Feng Zhengming conducted a more thorough inspection of the prepared materials.

Feng Zhengming was fairly satisfied with the inspection of the prepared materials.

Although there were some minor flaws, overall Fu Jun and Cai Tao led their team to make excellent preparations. "Good job, Fu Jun and Cai Tao, you've made great progress. You've done everything you were supposed to do very well. However, there are a few minor issues I've pointed out that you should pay more attention to in the future."

Remember, the key to kitchen work lies in the preparation beforehand; only with good preparation can the cooking process be done better.

Fu Jun and Cai Tao agreed earnestly, their faces radiating confidence.

In the following time, Feng Zhengming led everyone to start preparing in the kitchen.

Feng Zhengming originally thought that there wouldn't be many customers at the restaurant during lunchtime.

After all, the restaurant only officially reopened today.

Moreover, Feng Zhengming only notified some of his more familiar old customers.

But he didn't expect that news travels very fast in Shanghai. Around noon, wave after wave of customers came to the restaurant, and it really did fill up the entire place.

Although it was the first day of reopening, it did attract some regular customers.

But the fact that so many people came at noon made Feng Zhengming somewhat surprised.

Fortunately, Feng Zhengming had made the necessary preparations; otherwise, the sudden influx of so many customers would have exceeded the capacity of the old-style restaurant.

This lunchtime may have been the first time since the old-style restaurant opened that it experienced consecutive table turnovers.

During a break in the queue, Feng Zhengming chatted with some of the young people in line.

Ask the young people how they knew about the old-style restaurant reopening.

Upon asking, Feng Zhengming learned that most of the young people who came to the restaurant at noon had gotten the information from the internet.

“Chef Feng, we are college students. We came back to school early after the Spring Festival. We saw someone introducing your restaurant on campus.”

"We saw it on the forum."

"I saw someone chatting about this in a chat room in Shanghai and came here specifically for that purpose."

"Yes, yes, we also saw the message in the chat room."

Feng Zhengming then understood.

We realize that we have now entered the information age.

The internet is becoming increasingly widespread.

Because of the internet, the speed of information transmission has become much more convenient and faster.

Especially for these college students, they tend to use the internet more frequently.

Therefore, they can obtain a lot of information much faster through the internet.

For example, the reopening time of Feng Zhengming's old-style restaurant after the Spring Festival.

These college students can quickly find relevant information online.

Furthermore, they learned some specific details about the old-style restaurant through the internet.

They knew that the old-style restaurant was opened by Feng Zhengming, the national culinary champion.

I also know that the Old House Restaurant was named one of the world's top ten restaurants last year.

Furthermore, these college students also learned through the internet that the prices at the old-style restaurant are relatively low at lunchtime, and that it offers many affordable or even low-priced dishes.

That's why they choose to flock to the old-style restaurant at noon to try Feng Zhengming's cooking.

Having learned all this, Feng Zhengming was also thinking about whether he should make good use of the internet.
Create a website for your restaurant company.

Then I can better introduce my catering company to people all over the country and even the world.

Moreover, Feng Zhengming felt that perhaps he could create a website in advance to publish his recommendation guide in China online.

Having these ideas, some technical support is still needed for their actual implementation.

Feng Zhengming felt that perhaps he could not limit himself to the catering industry in the future.

We need to keep up with the times and try to get involved in all other industries.

Of course, Feng Zhengming is not actually going to cross over into other industries.

He simply felt that we should make better use of all kinds of resources.

Feng Zhengming remained calm and continued to talk with some college students.

"How did you feel about the food I served?"

A group of college students praised it.

“It’s delicious. It’s really delicious.”

"This is truly the best dish I've ever eaten."

“I used to think that the dishes served at the banquets in my hometown were already the best, but compared to what you, Scholar Feng, have prepared, their skills are really not good enough.”

"Scholar Feng, the dishes here are not only delicious, but also very beautiful."

"That's right. I studied fine arts, and this dish perfectly embodies a sense of beauty."

“In the past, I thought that the perfect combination of color, aroma and taste was just an exaggeration in TV shows and movies. But after eating Feng Zhuangyuan’s dishes, I realized that it is actually possible to achieve this.”

"I also found out online that you seem to have attended many state banquets."

Feng Zhengming: "Oh, I have indeed participated. Being able to participate in state banquets is probably the greatest honor for any chef, but that shouldn't be something to be proud of."

The college students were naturally very curious: "What was the state banquet hosted by Scholar Feng like? Was it particularly delicious?"

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "The dishes at the state banquet can't be said to be particularly delicious. Many of the dishes at the state banquet may taste like home cooking, but the preparation of state banquets is indeed more rigorous."

A crucial point, especially regarding state banquets, is that the dishes must be prepared strictly according to a set standard.

After hearing Feng Zhengming's description, the college students felt that state banquets were not so mysterious after all.

"Standard? Feng Zhuangyuan, the dishes in your restaurant are almost identical on every table. Is this what you mean by standard?"

Feng Zhengming looked at the college student who had said those words with some surprise.

He was a male student dressed in a relatively simple manner.

It's not hard to see that he did make some preparations for this meal.

However, judging from his clothing, it's not hard to tell that his family background is not very good.

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "You're right. My restaurant also has its own set of standards, so we can make the same dish almost exactly the same."

Upon hearing this, the college students looked at the tables around them and quickly realized that they were indeed almost all the same.

Wow, this is amazing!

"Truly amazing, no wonder he's the national culinary champion."

"No wonder Feng Zhuangyuan was able to win one of the top ten restaurants of the year last year."

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "Actually, it's not that difficult. As long as the standards are strictly followed, it's easy to do. Don't exaggerate it."

The college students then laughed, finding it very interesting to chat with Feng Zhengming.

"Scholar Feng is really down-to-earth; it's very comfortable chatting with you."

"Yes, Scholar Feng, do you chat like this with all your guests?"

"Probably not? Scholar Feng is usually very busy."

Feng Zhengming: "When I'm not busy, I'll come out and chat with the customers, mainly to understand their feedback on the dishes, so I can make adjustments in a timely manner."

In fact, no matter how skilled a chef is, they all need to communicate more with customers.

Only by understanding customer needs and preferences can we cook dishes that satisfy the majority of customers. (End of Chapter)