From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

Afterwards, Feng Zhengming, along with his second aunt, wife, children, Jiang Chengzhe, and Liu Fangyou, strolled around the newly opened food street.

Soon, local newspapers and television stations in Shanghai interviewed him.

The interview was essentially asking him if he was planning to open a new store in the new international food district.

Feng Zhengming admitted it very frankly in front of the interviewing reporter.

“I am indeed making preparations to open a new store in that neighborhood.”

Even with this news, the reporter had already learned some information before interviewing Feng Zhengming.

But hearing Feng Zhengming admit it himself still surprised them.

"Feng Zhuangyuan, you now have five stores in Shanghai, four of which are Chinese fast food restaurants, and you have won the love and praise of many people."

So, what kind of store are you planning to open this time in the new food street?

Feng Zhengming countered with a question: "What kind of new store would you like me to open over there?"

This question left the reporter speechless for a moment.

Another reporter thought for a moment and spoke up: "We naturally hope that you, Scholar Feng, can bring us some surprises."

The other reporters also expressed their agreement.

"Yes, yes, we know that your skills are superb, Feng Zhuangyuan, and we hope to see some surprises."

"Feng Zhuangyuan, your recognition as one of the world's top ten restaurants of the year by the Global Gourmet Association proves that you truly have exceptional culinary skills. We have also tasted the food at your various restaurants, and now we naturally hope that your new restaurant will bring something new."

"I wonder if Scholar Feng can bring us anything new?"

Feng Zhengming smiled and nodded: "This time, I really do intend to bring some new ideas to everyone."

The reporters were excited again and wanted to ask what the new idea was.
But before they could speak, Feng Zhengming had already cut off their questions.

"However, I can't reveal this new idea yet. I believe that once I officially open, everyone will see what kind of new idea my store will bring to everyone."

The reporters were all taken aback, not expecting Feng Zhengming to preemptively cut them off.

This prevented them from getting any answers.

The reporters were left speechless, finding the situation both amusing and exasperating.

Seeing the reporters' expressions, Feng Zhengming smiled and offered some explanations.

"Since these are some new things, I definitely have to keep them to myself. If I announce them in advance, wouldn't they lose their novelty?"
Moreover, I know that in recent years, many chefs and restaurant owners in China have been imitating some of my restaurants.

I wouldn't be angry if they copied my dishes; in fact, I'd hope they'd learn the style of all my restaurants.

After a brief pause, Feng Zhengming suddenly changed the subject.

"However, many shops are only imitating some of my superficial aspects, without actually learning the good things in my shop."

This time, I will run my new store in a different way. After I open, I believe many people will follow suit and imitate my new store.

Therefore, I cannot announce it now; I can only wait until after we open.

After hearing Feng Zhengming's words, all the reporters present couldn't help but feel that Feng Zhengming really knew how to whet people's appetites.

The reporters even felt that Feng Zhengming might have already made preparations for the interviews they were about to attend.

Otherwise, why would Feng Zhengming have put all the interviews with him together?

However, newspapers, magazines, and television stations are all well aware that Feng Zhengming is a very popular figure, and their interviews with him need to be released as soon as possible.

So soon after the interview, television stations, newspapers and magazines published the interview details.

They even compiled and leaked all the information that Feng Zhengming said during the interview.

However, this revelation still doesn't provide much specific information about Feng Zhengming's new store.

This makes many people even more curious?

What kind of store will Feng Zhuangyuan's new store be?
Meanwhile, at home, Feng Zhengming shared some of his ideas for his new store with his family.

"We want the new store to be stylish enough, so I plan not to design any private rooms, only the main hall. All the tables and chairs should have a certain style, and the entire restaurant should be a glass room that is completely transparent inside and out."

This allows customers queuing outside to clearly see everything inside, even the entire cooking process in the kitchen.

Hearing Feng Zhengming's design surprised both his wife and his second aunt.

They never imagined that a restaurant could be made like that.

Luo Qing: "But if there are no private rooms, doesn't that mean the restaurant can't accommodate customers who prefer to hold business banquets in private rooms?"

Feng Zhengming: "Our restaurant is going to be more fashionable. If you need business reception, you can make a reservation for my old-style house restaurant."

Hearing this, Luo Qing couldn't help but laugh.

Auntie Er laughed too: "Hahaha, Zhengming was right. If you need a business banquet, you can choose his old-style house restaurant. The private rooms on the second and third floors are very private."

Luo Qing: "So, with this kind of restaurant design, who are your main target customers?"

Feng Zhengming was very straightforward: "Foreigners and some young people in China who pursue fashion."

Before his wife and second aunt could speak, Feng Zhengming added another sentence.

"Moreover, my restaurant will have a fixed menu every day, and you are not allowed to order from other restaurants. You can only choose one of the menus that I prepare every day, and the price of one menu is fixed."

Each dish on the menu can be supplemented with other dishes according to personal preference.

This additional sentence left both his wife and his second aunt somewhat bewildered.

My aunt asked curiously, "What do you mean? Can't I order the food myself?"

Luo Qing: "You can't order food yourself, you can only choose from a fixed menu, and you can add more dishes on the menu separately, right?"

Feng Zhengming: "Yes, there is no extra charge for adding dishes."

My aunt exclaimed in surprise, "Free refills? This... I don't think any restaurant has ever offered this before!"

Feng Zhengming: "Then I'll be the first to try it. Each dish on the menu can be refilled five times for free, but you have to make sure you finish all the refills and don't waste any."

"Five free refills per dish? Is this really feasible?" Luo Qing found it hard to understand.
Feng Zhengming: "Why not? What if there are some big eaters who think every dish is delicious, but our menu doesn't fill them up? We have to make sure our guests are full."

Second Aunt laughed: "Zhengming's words make a lot of sense. We should make sure the guests are full."

Luo Qing was also amused.

"Okay, we definitely need to make sure the guests are well-fed."

Feng Zhengming: "Our menu is fixed, but I make some adjustments every day. I then make purchases based on these adjustments to reduce the pressure on the kitchen."

Hearing Feng Zhengming's arrangement, his wife and second aunt both felt that it was quite reasonable.

Even if Feng Zhengming were in Shanghai, he still had the old-style restaurant to run and couldn't possibly stay at the new location. Besides, the new location and the old-style restaurant were quite a distance apart, making it impractical to travel back and forth every day.

Therefore, Feng Zhengming simply focused on fashion as the main theme of the new store.

It should have the fashionable style that young people like today.

At the same time, the menu is fixed, with two to three different menus every day.

Each menu item has a fixed price.

"This design also saves customers some ordering time and can alleviate their anxiety about what to order. If they don't know what to eat, they can just order a menu that they can afford."

My second aunt thought for a moment and said, "Isn't this somewhat similar to the style of Western food?"

Luo Qing: "This is the way Western restaurants operate, and it's often the way high-end Western restaurants operate."

Second Aunt: "A fancy Western restaurant?"

Luo Qing explained: "I asked Mr. and Mrs. Kaufman, and they told me that in general, in high-end Western restaurants, the head chef will provide a fixed menu."

Some head chefs change daily, some weekly, and some may not change for years.

After hearing this, Auntie looked at Feng Zhengming and asked, "So, Zhengming, you're planning to change every day?"

Feng Zhengming: "It doesn't have to be changed every day. We can change it once a week or once a month."

After careful consideration, Feng Zhengming made a decision: "Let's change it every month. That way, we can also launch some menus that are closer to the month and season, depending on the different months and seasons."

So Feng Zhengming stayed at home and discussed the design of the new store with his family.

His design was truly unexpected.

After watching the interview, the general consensus was that Feng Zhengming would definitely open a restaurant.

The most likely explanation is that it's the same as the one on the street with the Western restaurant.

It's a combination of fast food and restaurant, a combination of Chinese and Western cuisine.

As for Feng Zhengming's statement in the interview that he wanted to open a restaurant with innovative ideas,

No one really took it seriously, thinking that Feng Zhengming wouldn't give up what he was good at.

However, after the news reached Jinan, Feng Zhengming's master and fellow apprentices knew that he was definitely going to come up with a very special design this time, which might surprise everyone.

Based on what his master and fellow disciples know about Feng Zhengming, since he has publicly stated that the new store will have a special design.

Then it must be true, otherwise Feng Zhengming would never have said that publicly.

The master and his fellow disciples were also somewhat curious about how Feng Zhengming would design his new store.
After the interview, Feng Zhengming finalized the design of the new store and immediately rented the store he had his eye on.

The fact that they had to rent a storefront was already beyond many people's expectations.

Most people thought that if Feng Zhengming wanted to open a restaurant of the same size as the one on the street, he would have to rent a larger shop. However, Feng Zhengming only rented one of the smaller remaining shops.

However, even at this point, no one thought that Feng Zhengming might want to open a small shop to test the waters.

Soon after renting the shop, Feng Zhengming contacted the construction team in Liujia Village.

They rushed over immediately and began renovating the entire store.

At the same time, Feng Zhengming also had a special talk with Zhu Xu and Zhang Lei.

Zhu Xu and Zhang Lei were somewhat surprised to learn that Feng Zhengming wanted to transfer them to the new store.

Both of them are doing very well in their respective shops.

Therefore, they are not keen to move to a different place easily.

Feng Zhengming patiently had a long talk with the two of them.

"For this new store, I hope to bring something different and innovative. Our menu will change every month, and there will be three set meals every day. You two just need to follow the fixed menu and prepare the ingredients and cook the dishes every day."

Zhu Xu and Zhang Lei were both somewhat surprised to hear this arrangement.

Zhu Xu thought for a moment: "If that's the case, Uncle-Master, isn't it just like a Western restaurant?"

Zhang Lei: "Yes, isn't this way of serving food just like Western food? It's different from Chinese food."

Feng Zhengming: "You could say that our ordering and serving of dishes are modeled after Western cuisine."

However, unlike other restaurants, our restaurant takes a trendy approach, and you might be cooking dishes for your guests in an almost completely open kitchen.

Moreover, the new store is generally very open and airy, so passersby can see the cooking process inside.

Hearing this, Zhu Xu and Zhang Lei were both taken aback.

The two of them really didn't expect that Feng Zhengming would have such a design.

"Uncle-Master, isn't this putting too much pressure on us?" Zhang Lei couldn't help but ask first.

Zhu Xu agreed: "That's right. What if we make a mistake while cooking in front of so many people?"

Feng Zhengming: "I will come over and train you for a while. I hope you will not be nervous or think that you will make mistakes. You should believe in your skills."

Of course, by then, all the staff at our new restaurant will have their uniforms redesigned to make you all look even more handsome.

These words brought a wry smile to Zhu Xu and Zhang Lei's faces.

Zhu Xu: "Uncle-Master, we're not being models."

Zhang Lei: "We've become more handsome, but even if the food isn't delicious, the customers will still say so."

Feng Zhengming chuckled: "You two are really something. Why make you even more handsome and your appearances better? It's to change everyone's preconceived notions about chefs."

We want everyone to see that our chefs are also clean and presentable, and that we can be very handsome.

In particular, you should appropriately showcase the muscle definition in your bodies.

Feng Zhengming's words surprised Zhu Xu and Zhang Lei, as neither of them had ever thought of it that way before.

Seeing the two of them standing there dumbfounded, Feng Zhengming gave a straightforward explanation.

"The street where our new store is located is a specially planned international food street by the city. Since it is international, we want to show our best side to people all over the world."

Upon hearing Feng Zhengming's words, Zhu Xu and Zhang Lei were instantly alerted, and they understood what their martial uncle meant.

Feng Zhengming continued, "You don't need to worry. I've already thought it through. I'll arrange for Lu Haisheng, along with Tang Yong and Sun Decai who were transferred back from Beijing, to work with you."

As for the other kitchen helpers and apprentices, you can choose the best from each restaurant.

Zhu Xu and Zhang Lei exchanged another glance, and almost simultaneously told Feng Zhengming that they would definitely work hard.

"Don't worry, Uncle-Master, we will definitely run the new restaurant well and showcase our chefs' talent and skills." (End of Chapter)