From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

Chapter 398: The attitude of the masters (please vote for me)

It was originally agreed upon by several large restaurants that after Feng Zhengming officially released the wedding banquet flyer, they all jointly released the news of discounts on the wedding banquet banquet.

It can be said that he wanted to kill Feng Zhengming and Huiquanlou by surprise.

But Cheng Guosheng, who was taking the lead, was somewhat anxious.

Perhaps it's because Feng Zhengming has almost always stepped on him and Jubinyuan to increase his fame since he first became famous.

Perhaps it was because Master Wang was very fond of Feng Zhengming after meeting him. He would often lament in the back kitchen of Jubin Garden, why is such an outstanding young chef Feng Zhengming not his apprentice?
Or maybe it was because the boss of Jubinyuan used Feng Zhengming to constantly put pressure on Cheng Guosheng.

In short, Cheng Guosheng was really a little impatient after his plan got support from several big restaurants and the culinary association Li Zhifeng. Whether he was cooking in the Jubin Garden or drinking with his fellow apprentices, he had no intention of hiding his plan. I mean, just tell me the plan directly.

Therefore, this also led to Li Huidong, senior brother of Feng Zhengming, and Tian Zhongfu, who had close ties with several large restaurants because he wanted to arrange graduates. They all heard about the plan.

Then the news reached Feng Zhengming's ears as expected.

Even Feng Zhengming knew it, so the matter was almost made public.

The Springs City culinary and restaurant community got the news.

Many people want to see if Huiquan Tower can withstand the pressure from several big restaurants.
There are also many people who are dissatisfied with Feng Zhengming for stealing the spotlight after taking over Huiquan House. They hope that this time several big restaurants will join forces to teach him some lessons.

It was only when all parties were paying attention to the open dispute between Huiquan Tower and several large restaurants.

Soon many people discovered that several large restaurants had already made some moves, but Huiquan Tower had no movement at all.

Feng Zhengming did not officially release the flyer for the wedding banquet.

Huiquan Tower also seemed to be completely silent.

There is a posture of Huiquanlou giving in in advance before the two sides start fighting.

This situation can't help but make many people who watch the excitement and don't take it too seriously are somewhat disappointed.

And it soon began to spread that Feng Zhengming knew that he could not compete with several big restaurants and had already begun to withdraw from Huiquan Tower.

Things continue to ferment, and it seems to be increasingly unfavorable to Feng Zhengming and Huiquan Tower.

In Yan's restaurant, Master Yan invited several Quancheng masters to come.

Everyone sat down and Master Wang said directly: "Lao Yan, we all know why you invited us here. I didn't know about this incident in advance. You know it. At that time, we were all accompanying Mr. Yuan and his party from Japan. ”

Master Su and Master Sun also said that they did not know about this beforehand.

Master Cui said: "Lao Yan came to me once before, and I also approached Li Zhifeng. At that time, Lao Yan and I had the idea that there is nothing wrong with letting the juniors compete with each other. Maybe a fierce collision can improve our Lu." The level of chefs is great, but I didn’t expect them to be so direct. ”

Master Yan watched as several old friends came up to directly explain their ignorance, and each of them felt a little guilty.

He smiled and said, "Brothers, you don't have to do this. Isn't the current situation pretty good? Business competition has always been cruel. You can use any means as long as it doesn't break the law."

Before several old friends could speak, Master Yan continued: "Didn't we compete with each other when we were young? Competition can promote progress. Zhengming has been going too smoothly in the past year or so. He should be put under some pressure to let him Settle yourself and run Huiquan Building well.”

Master Cui laughed: "Sure enough, Lao Yan still has confidence in his little apprentice."

Master Yan said with a smile: "It's not that he has confidence, but that he is still young after all. Why are these young people afraid of failure?"

These words immediately left the three masters Su, Wang and Sun speechless.

What Master Yan said is indeed correct.

Feng Zhengming and his chefs in the back kitchen of Huiquan Building are all young.

So what if they, a group of young people, lose this time?

The worst case scenario is that they will be temporarily overwhelmed by a few big restaurants, but they are still so young and there will still be many opportunities in the future.

Maybe one day, Feng Zhengming will take them with him and win a prize in a national cooking competition, or even an international cooking competition, and they will naturally get a chance to make a comeback.

Thinking of this, the three master chefs Su, Wang and Sun couldn't help but feel a little disappointed with their apprentices who were serving in several big restaurants.

I never thought about innovating some dishes and Huiquanlou went to the front.

They actually want to use discounts to attack Huiquan Tower.

The method is obviously not very clever.

Master Su sighed: "I never expected that Jufengde, which originally incorporated the essence of Shandong cuisine and was full of pioneering and innovative spirit, has become conservative and lacks the courage to innovate."

The two masters present here, Wang and Sun, also had the same feeling.

Nowadays, whether it is Jufengde, Taifeng Tower or Jubinyuan, they are indeed a bit too conservative, and they all lack the courage and initiative to innovate like Feng Zhengming and others in Huiquan Tower.

Even if they wanted to suppress Feng Zhengming and Huiquanlou, the solution that several big restaurants came up with was to jointly offer discounts.

This approach seems to be very effective, but it is also very embarrassing.

It is tantamount to saying: The craftsmanship is not as good as others, so we can sell our reputation through discounts.

Master Cui thought for a long time and said: "It seems that we need more exchanges. No matter what, Zhengming must go to this year's National Cooking Skills Exchange Competition."

This statement was recognized by Su, Wang and Sun.

Master Yan smiled and asked, "Wouldn't it make the disciples dissatisfied if we let Zhengming go?"

Master Su said: "What's the point of dissatisfaction? At worst, let them compete with each other before going to the competition."

Master Wang was more direct: "They are all busy with discounts, so why bother to participate in the national cooking competition?"

Having said this, Master Wang was obviously very dissatisfied with the method proposed by Cheng Guosheng this time.

Masters do not object to apprentices competing with each other.

But what everyone hopes to see is that each restaurant can come up with some innovative dishes, or work harder on restaurant service, and compete with each other by improving themselves.

Master Sun said: "I think, let Zhengming lead people for future cooking exchanges with Japan."

This proposal was unanimously approved by several old masters.

It’s not that the old masters deliberately favored Feng Zhengming.

In fact, in the previous exchanges, they were not very satisfied with the performance of the apprentices.

Even Mr. Yan arranged for his eldest son to participate in the exchange.

It cannot be said that there is something wrong with the dishes cooked by Yan Jianxing during the exchange.

However, in the eyes of the masters, the performance of the apprentices was too mediocre and lacked some imagination, making Shandong cuisine a bit old-fashioned in the eyes of others.

Of course, there is no problem with the taste, and the Japanese also praised it.

However, after the exchange, when the Japanese were interviewed, they would still mention Huiquan Tower and Feng Zhengming, indicating that they got more amazing feelings from Feng Zhengming. Next, there will be a cooking exchange, and there will also be chefs from Japan cooking.

Although the master chefs don’t think that Japanese dishes can surpass Shandong cuisine, they don’t want to. When the time comes, they will still use traditional classic Shandong cuisine to communicate with each other.

It was decided to let Feng Zhengming participate, hoping that Feng Zhengming would bring something new.

As for several large restaurants, in order to compete for private room orders, they decided to let the master chefs cook.

Cui and Yan also supported three old restaurant masters to take action personally.

Master Cui said: "Lao Su, Lao Wang, Lao Sun, you should also take action appropriately. If you take action, let young people see how traditional cooking should be done? You can correct some things by correcting them." Let the younger generations learn and improve.”

Master Yan also agreed: "Yes, it's time for us old guys to take action and keep the traditional craftsmanship."

Su, Wang and Sun thought for a while and understood that they really needed to take action.

Nowadays, some of the younger generations have some deviations in cooking. Maybe if they don't take action, the younger generations will really get used to the deviant methods. In the future, people may forget the orthodox cooking methods, or even forget the taste of the dishes that have been passed down for many years.

Master Su said: "Okay, we will do what needs to be done. We will only cook a few classic dishes so that the classic taste can be passed down."

Wang and Sun also nodded in agreement.

Master Yan invited several other masters to discuss it privately, and it was over after a few things were determined.

After the incident, Yan Jianxing also found his father.

"Dad, I think our Yan's Restaurant should not make any changes. We should continue to stick to the craftsmanship you passed down. If we can maintain it well, we will be worthy of the brand name outside."

After listening to his son's words, Master Yan nodded.

"I'm very pleased that you can think so. Zhengming's innovation is a path, and your persistence is also a path. In fact, there were originally two development routes between several traditional restaurants and Huiquan Building. There was no life-or-death struggle between us. Fierce competition.”

Yan Jianxing also nodded seriously, agreeing with what his father said.

The path Feng Zhengming took was different from that of several major restaurants, including Yan's Restaurant.

It is a path of innovation, integration and development.

It is necessary to constantly introduce new things so that Shandong cuisine can gradually keep pace with the times.

Jufengde, Taifeng House and Jubinyuan, as well as Yanjia Restaurant, stick to the traditional route.

The reputations of several of them are loud enough, and customers come here just to eat authentic, traditional and classic Shandong cuisine.

Therefore, we can ensure that the skills are passed down well and the taste of classic dishes remains unchanged.

Keep the taste of traditional classic Shandong cuisine.

This is something that Yan’s Restaurant must do well.

Master Yan continued: "It is difficult to innovate, but it is equally difficult to persevere. What we are holding on to is the root of Shandong cuisine. Zhengming is making innovative breakthroughs and development based on this root. Only if you join hands can we make Shandong cuisine better." Inheritance and development are better.”

At this moment, Yan Jianxing suddenly understood that the old masters like his father were still much bigger than them.

Old masters no longer stick to the natural stereotype between tradition and innovation.

What they are thinking about is how to better inherit and develop Shandong cuisine.

Stay true to our roots and continue to make breakthroughs and innovations.

Both aspects can be grasped, and combining them is the best.

Yan Jianxing asked with a smile: "Dad, are you really not going to help Zhengming this time? Jufengde, Taifeng Tower and Jubinyuan all offer discounts at the wedding banquet, which puts a lot of pressure on Huiquan Tower."

Master Yan also laughed: "Hahaha, didn't I tell you before? I want Zhengming to suffer a little loss this time."

Seeing his father's relaxed expression, Yan Jianxing couldn't help but said: "Dad, why do I feel that you don't think Zhengming will suffer a loss? On the contrary, you are very optimistic that Zhengming will win?"

Master Yan said: "In fact, there is no winning or losing. I think this incident can make Zhengming understand their path."

After hearing what his father said, Yan Jianxing thought for a moment and understood.

"Dad hopes that Zhengming can stick to his path of innovating Shandong cuisine."

Master Yan nodded: "Yes, in the future he will go out of Quancheng, out of the land of Qilu, and go to the whole country, or even the world, so there must be more innovations to support him to go longer and further."

At this moment, Yan Jianxing thought of himself again, when he was sent to learn cooking from other chefs.

Later, his father did not allow him to enter Yanxi Building for internship.

Also, he wanted to open Yan's Restaurant in Quancheng, and his father was a little opposed to it at first.

Looking back on this now, Yan Jianxing suddenly understood what his father had expected of him.

Master Yan originally hoped that his son could learn from various schools, and then embark on the road of innovation, and go beyond Qilu to the whole country.

After understanding this, Yan Jianxing felt that he had failed his father's expectations.

"Dad, I'm sorry, I didn't understand your thoughts before."

Master Yan smiled and patted his eldest son and said, "You don't have to say sorry, didn't I? Your perseverance is also very important. Since you have not gone out, you must stick to your roots."

Yan Jianxing nodded solemnly: "Dad, don't worry, I will definitely stick to the traditional craftsmanship."

It was also after the father and son had a frank conversation.

Yan Jianxing is more attentive to the kitchen at Yan’s Restaurant, especially the many classic dishes passed down by Mr. Yan. He cooks almost all of them himself, and is slowly building up the reputation of Yan’s Restaurant.

Many onlookers look forward to when Feng Zhengming takes action.

Feng Zhengming is actually very busy every day.

On the one hand, he needs to lead the young chefs to deal with the banquet in the private room every night. On the other hand, he is still making some preparations for taking over the wedding banquet.

Although several large restaurants clearly wanted to offer discounts on wedding banquets, Feng Zhengming felt that since they had already planned it, Huiquan Restaurant would still take over the matter of wedding banquets publicly.

Since the discount may not be comparable to that of several large restaurants with strong financial resources and reputation.

Feng Zhengming felt that he could put more effort into the wedding banquet.

Not only must the dishes be cooked well, the ingredients used must be suitable for banquets of different prices, but also some wedding banquet programs must be organized to make the wedding banquet at Huiquan Building more prestigious.

So Feng Zhengming found some companies that organized weddings and planned to cooperate with them on the wedding banquet.

He even had the idea of ​​getting married to Luo Qing first.

The first wedding banquet in Huiquan Tower was held by myself, just to show off to the people in Quancheng.

(End of this chapter)