From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

Chapter 301: Planning for the future trip south (please vote for me)
After Yan Jianxing left, Feng Zhengming gave his senior brother a wink.

Li Huidong saw Feng Zhengming's eyes and understood what his junior brother meant almost instantly.

The two junior brothers walked out of the private room with a bottle of wine and their respective wine glasses, and walked together to the private room next door where the master was.

As soon as he opened the door and entered the private room, he was discovered by the sharp-eyed master.

"Hahaha, here we come, our top pick is here."

Upon discovering the two brothers, Master Cui was the first to speak.

Although Master Cui has not been in Quancheng in the past few years, his qualifications are not inferior to any of the masters in Quancheng.

Moreover, Chef Cui was once the head chef of Yanxi Restaurant, and he and Chef Yan witnessed the most glorious moments of Yanxi Restaurant.

Master Cui also has a nickname, known as the "living recipe".

Although Master Cui has retired long ago, like Master Yan, he is still active in cooking training.

As soon as these words came out, everyone present was stunned again.

Feng Zhengming said: “I will definitely insist on cooking Shandong cuisine, but I will not stick to Shandong cuisine. I will learn and integrate some things from other cuisines to create some dishes that can suit the tastes of more people.

Feng Zhengming and his senior brother had no choice but to go back to the original private room, pick up their own bowls and chopsticks, and then come back.

"I understand." Feng Zhengming responded calmly

Li Zhifeng spoke at this time: "Just now, several old chefs were talking about you, Zhengming. This time you are our top young chef in Quancheng. What are your thoughts on the future development of Shandong cuisine? Today in front of the old chefs, you Tell me."

Master Cui was a little surprised that Feng Zhengming had such a thorough understanding.

The two brothers toasted the wine, and the masters were very satisfied.

When Feng Zhengming saw President Li asking this, all the masters present, including the master, looked at him curiously.

"Are these your own thoughts, Zhengming? Are you planning to go south?"

Li Zhifeng saw Li Huidong and said with a smile: "Huidong, you should also be sitting here today? You are also the director of our city's cooking association now. How can you not entertain all the master chefs here?"

Especially Li Zhifeng and the others from the Culinary Association looked at Feng Zhengming a little differently.

Feng Jiandong sighed: "Master Yan still has face. I see that several masters from Quancheng are here."

Feng Zhengming quickly said: "I'll get it for Senior Brother."

As soon as Mr. Su opened his mouth, all the other masters naturally said that Feng Zhengming must also come and sit.

After listening to Feng Zhengming's words, the private room was as silent as before, and everyone's face was full of surprise.

As a result, before Feng Zhengming could go, Master Su stopped him: "Don't even think about running away, Number One Scholar. You go and get your own tableware. If you brothers don't sit here, where else do you want to sit?"

Then, Feng Zhengming went on to greet the other master chefs present, and also said hello to several members of the Culinary Association.

Master Su laughed: "Hahaha, you said it so easily."

After a long time, Master Cui spoke first.

Feng Zhengming respectfully greeted Master Cui first: "Hello, Master Cui."

Master Cui then said: "You went south to go to other people's places, which means you are going to steal their business. Do you still want people to communicate with you?"

Grandpa Feng said: "They should have been there. The people invited today are all figures in the culinary world of Quancheng. It is really inappropriate for their brothers and sisters not to be there to help with the reception."

Master Cui then asked: "Then do you know what you will face if you go south?"

Li Huidong responded with a smile: "With the president here, why do you need me to greet you? I brought my family members here today and I am staying with them next door."

He could only repeat what he had just said to his family next door.

Feng Zhengming nodded: "Yes, it is the direction of my future development."

At this moment, everyone suddenly understood the pressure that tonight's trial opening would put on Yan Jianxing.

"I know." Feng Zhengming answered very seriously, "Going south will face greater competition, not only from local cuisine in Shanghai, but also from Cantonese, Huaiyang, Sichuan, and even Jiangsu, Competition among some local cuisines in Zhejiang, Anhui and Fujian.”

Feng Zhengming and Li Huidong sat down in the private room on Master's side.

Feng Zhengming and Li Huidong looked at each other, and then Li Huidong stood up first and took the lead in toasting.

Seeing the two senior brothers going out with bowls and chopsticks, Lin Jiacheng smiled and said, "I know if those two brothers will come back."

Naturally, Li Huidong also joined in saying hello to everyone.

After hearing this, the master immediately said: "You are wrong. Since you are the director of the association, you should be here to help with the reception. Go, bring your tableware and sit down here."

Among the masters present today, Master Cui and Master Su are considered to be true masters.

Master Cui asked: "Aren't you afraid?"

After Li Huidong made a toast and sat down, Feng Zhengming then made a toast.

Moreover, Master Cui is also an assessment judge for the provincial cooking examination.

Feng Zhengming answered affirmatively: "I'm not afraid. We are all chefs and we all want to cook delicious food, so there is nothing to be afraid of. And I don't think we are in competition with other cuisines. It's like the master who taught me before." When going to other places to participate in cooking exchanges, I think everyone should communicate more and learn from each other."

Chef Cui was silent for a while and said: "The biggest competitors are Sichuan cuisine and Cantonese cuisine."

Master Cui said: "Okay, your fellow apprentices didn't come here just now. Do you want to toast us a glass of wine first?"

If you say I don't want to compete, it's definitely impossible. I just want to compete with them.

I want to use Shandong cuisine to compete with them and let more people see and understand Shandong cuisine.

We cannot let many people in the south continue to misunderstand Shandong cuisine, thinking that Shandong cuisine is heavy in oil and salt, and always makes the dishes dark.

I want them to see the real Shandong cuisine and know that our Shandong cuisine is as good as theirs in terms of color, flavor, utensils and shape. "

Such words made everyone present feel a little excited.

Especially several people from the Culinary Association such as Li Zhifeng.

Li Zhifeng couldn't help but cheered: "Okay, yes, we want them to know that our Shandong cuisine can also be made very exquisitely. Our Shandong cuisine also has one dish and one hundred dishes and one hundred flavors. It is not just dark, heavy oil and heavy salt."

The masters looked at each other, and Master Wang said to Master Yan, "You are a very high-spirited young apprentice."

Master Yan really likes his young apprentice's attitude.

"I think Zhengming's idea is very good. Shandong cuisine can't just be in the north. Today's economic development focus is in the south. So we should also get involved and push Shandong cuisine southward so that more people can understand and eat it. Shandong cuisine.

And Zhengming also said that he will make Shandong cuisine, but he will also learn and integrate other cuisines.

This is the attitude we chefs should have. Only by being able to draw on the strengths of each company and understand the essence of oneself and others can we truly be upright and innovative. "

Master Yan’s words also represent the voices of several masters present.

Master Cui said: "Zhengming deserves to be the number one scholar. His ideas are indeed very different."

After a slight pause, Master Cui continued: "Over the years, almost all of our Shandong cuisine chefs have gone north, and most of them go to the capital. There are actually very few chefs who go south.

Perhaps because it is not far from the capital, people always think that going to the capital and working in a big restaurant in the capital is the best place for a Shandong cuisine chef.

But in fact, the rapid economic development in recent years has been in the south, which has also led to the spread and positioning of southern cuisines becoming more and more advanced. On the contrary, our Shandong cuisine seems a bit out of place in the south.

But in fact, the prototypes of many southern dishes can be said to be derived from our Shandong cuisine. "

Master Cui’s words were recognized by everyone.

Master Su took over and said: "It is true that we should go south and communicate with the south. Only by communicating more and competing more can we keep up with the times and truly advance with the times."

Master Sun said: "It is indeed a good way to sell the meat to the south first. You can start from some small aspects. You can't think of doing it all at once. You can try the taste of the meat first." The so-called small boat is easy to turn around, so you can make a fuss about the taste of your meat first."

Feng Zhengming smiled when he heard this and said: "Masters and uncles, I will take note of everyone's suggestions, but it is still far away to think about for the time being. I still have to run the shop in Quancheng well first, and at least try to open one in Quancheng. Only if the branch is successful can we promote our successful experience to Shanghai in the south."

Everyone laughed after hearing this, and all said that Feng Zhengming could just follow the steps.

Master Yan gave a rather bold idea.

"You have your advantage. You have experience in setting up a stall. If that doesn't work, you can even go to Shanghai to set up a stall first, continue to use your push cart of meat, and build up the reputation of the meat first. "

Feng Zhengming was stunned by the master's words. After thinking about it, he realized that what the master said was indeed right.

Indeed, you can first go to Shanghai and try selling meat on the street from a cart.

That way the investment can be smaller.

And with a small cart, you can go to some places with the most people and try to sell.

It will definitely be better to gradually let more people know and taste Baozi Meat. It will definitely be better to build a reputation first and then open a store.

Several old masters also felt that this was indeed a good idea.

Of course, no one urged Feng Zhengming to do it immediately.

Everyone also hopes that Feng Zhengming can stabilize the current good situation in Quancheng and work hard to build the Feng Family Restaurant. If he can bring some funds to go south, it will be much safer.

In fact, everyone couldn't help but start to imagine the future when Fengjiagang Restaurant's Baozi Rou opened branches all over the country.

After talking for a while, Master Cui couldn't help but sigh: "In all these years, only Zhengming has such a systematic promotion idea."

This sigh made everyone fall silent, and several old masters couldn't help but feel a little regretful.

Li Zhifeng could understand the regret in the words of the old masters.

That’s not to say there aren’t Shandong cuisine chefs heading south.

But most Shandong cuisine chefs who go south can only bow to reality and enter the back kitchen of other people's restaurants. They can only learn some dishes from other cuisines, or even abandon Shandong cuisine altogether and go to other places. dish.

This has led to many Shandong cuisine chefs moving south, but Shandong cuisine is still rare in the south.

Naturally, some people in the south have some misunderstandings and stereotypes about Shandong cuisine.

Feng Zhengming's more systematic plan to advance southward really made the old masters feel that they could see hope.

Because if you want to stop following others and stick to your own things, you can't work in the kitchen of other people's restaurants.

You must have your own restaurant or restaurant to truly stick to cooking authentic Shandong cuisine.

But the premise of all this is that the restaurant or restaurant must be profitable.

If you just open a Shandong cuisine restaurant and you can't make considerable profits, it actually doesn't make much sense.

Feng Zhengming had his own systematic plan, and everyone agreed that it was indeed feasible.

So in Feng Zhengming, what the master chefs saw was the future of Shandong cuisine.

Li Zhifeng said a little excitedly: "Do what you want. Remember, if you need any help, our Culinary Association will definitely support you fully. When you want to go south to Shanghai, be sure to tell us."

The old masters also expressed that they would support Feng Zhengming in what he did and asked him to speak out when he went south.

Feng Zhengming thought for a while and said, "In a year or two, I should go south to Shanghai."

After chatting about Feng Zhengming’s future plans, everyone naturally started talking about Yan’s Restaurant.

Several senior chefs expressed their high opinion of Yan's Restaurant.

"This restaurant is really good. The interior decoration is very good, and the quality of the food is also very high. It can be seen that Jianxing has learned the skills of Lao Yan."

"Yan's Restaurant is different from big restaurants, and it's also different from some small restaurants. It's quite unique."

"This kind of specialty private restaurant may gradually become a good model."

"Yes, in a private restaurant like this, it is really good for a small group of friends to have a drink together, or for family members to have a small family gathering."

Although several senior chefs are in different restaurants, they don't feel that Yan's Restaurant is taking away their business.

Several senior chefs think this model of Yan's Restaurant is quite good.

The old masters also had some ideas in mind that they wanted to imitate.

After Yan Jianxing toasted with wine, he returned to the private room where the old chefs were.

Seeing Yan Jianxing's return, everyone naturally began to directly express their views and opinions to him.

Although Yan Jianxing drank a lot, he still tried to stay sober when he heard the advice from the old masters and carefully wrote down the various suggestions from the old masters.

That night, Yan's Restaurant announced to the entire Quancheng that it was officially open for business.

The next day on the night of the 27th, many customers who had made reservations for Chef Yan were also very satisfied with the dishes at Yan's Restaurant.

Although it has only been in trial operation for two days, Yan's Restaurant has already gained the attention it wanted.

Many people who did not catch up with the trial opening are looking forward to the time when Yan's Restaurant officially opens and can come and taste Yan's cuisine as soon as possible.

Time unknowingly came to the last few days of the twelfth lunar month, and Feng Zhengming finished delivering gifts to Luo Qing's family on the 28th of the twelfth lunar month.

Grandpa and I started preparing seriously on the 29th of the twelfth lunar month, and only waited until the 30th to go to my second uncle's army.

(End of this chapter)