From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

The wedding banquet at Huiquan House ended just a few days ago, but it didn't seem to attract much discussion or attention.

It seemed like it was just an ordinary wedding banquet, and no one talked about it after it passed.

This situation also made Cheng Guosheng of Jubinyuan secretly relieved.

In the back kitchen of Jubinyuan, Cheng Guosheng even spoke frankly to his junior brother Lin Guofu and his apprentice Zhu Xu.

"I thought there would be a big fuss, but it turned out to be just an ordinary wedding banquet. Now that it's over, no one will mention it. It's not worth mentioning."

Lin Guofu is still a little strange about this?
"It's really strange. Why was there such a big news before but no one mentioned it after the wedding banquet?"

Zhu Xu was still somewhat curious about the wedding banquet: "I wonder what kind of dishes were served at the wedding banquet?"

Cheng Guosheng was quite dissatisfied with his apprentice's curiosity.

"What kind of dishes can be served at a wedding banquet? Isn't it just those big fish and meat? It looks very rich, but in fact most of the dishes are stewed in advance and then steamed and served directly."

Lin Guofu felt that things might not be as simple as his senior brother said.

"I'm afraid not necessarily. I heard that the dishes prepared for the wedding banquet at Huiquan House are very sumptuous and can be compared with the dishes at some banquets."

Cheng Guosheng still sneered at this: "How is it possible? If they do that, how long will it take for them to have more than forty tables of banquets?"

Zhu Xu couldn't help but remind his master: "I heard from people that Chef Feng prepared it for a long time in advance, and it seems that Master Li also went to Huiquan Building that day."

Cheng Guosheng was a little surprised: "Li Huidong has gone?"

Lin Guofu and Zhu Xu nodded almost at the same time.

Knowing that Li Huidong went to Huiquan Building to help that day, Cheng Guosheng was still a little worried.

Perhaps for Feng Zhengming, Cheng Guosheng could use his age and seniority to overwhelm him.

In addition, Cheng Guosheng has a senior technician certificate anyway, so he is still nominally superior to Feng Zhengming.

For Li Huidong, Cheng Guosheng did not dare to have any contempt at all.

Also a disciple of the old master, Li Huidong also has a senior technician certificate.

Although Li Huidong is only in the brewery canteen now, he definitely has the skills and qualifications of a master chef.

So when Li Huidong came forward to help, Cheng Guosheng really had to take it seriously.

However, Cheng Guosheng remained calm in front of his junior brother and apprentice.

"It's okay. It's just like that if Li Huidong goes to help. Don't you see that no one is talking about it now?
This already shows that Feng Zhengming's wedding banquet at Huiquan Tower was not very impressive. "

When Cheng Guosheng said this, Lin Guofu and Zhu Xu also thought it made sense.

But Lin Guofu and Zhu Xu were more curious, why no one talked about the wedding banquet in Huiquan Tower?
Also curious about this matter are several old chefs in Quancheng and people from the Culinary Association.

In fact, after the wedding banquet at Huiquan Building, everyone was a little looking forward to it. They wanted to see how everyone would talk about the wedding banquet at Huiquan Building?
Is it like how Feng Zhengming became famous several times before, further making Feng Zhengming and Huiquan Tower famous?
Or will someone start to question it? Do you think Feng Zhengming and Huiquanlou’s wedding banquet can’t be held well?
Or are some people beginning to accuse Feng Zhengming of being exaggerated?
No matter what the topic is, someone has to start it.

But now, it's been several days since the wedding banquet, and no one has mentioned it at all, and most people in Quan City don't seem to be talking about it either.

Is this situation really strange to those who follow Feng Zhengming and Huiquanlou?
Feng Zhengming didn't care about outside discussions. After the wedding banquet in Huiquan Tower, he found a time to gather all the people who participated in the wedding banquet and invited his senior brother here again.

He is going to let everyone discuss some good and bad things about wedding banquets.

Feng Zhengming spoke first: "We were very successful at this wedding banquet, and we were very satisfied with the groom's and bride's families, as well as their relatives and friends.

However, there are still some problems in the middle, so today I hope everyone can raise the problems they have discovered.

There is no need to hide it, you can express any opinions you have, including your opinions about me, you can also express them directly. "

Feng Zhengming's words were very straightforward. He wanted everyone to summarize some problems at the wedding banquet so that they could be corrected later.

Everyone present looked at each other, and for a moment they didn't know what to say?
After a period of silence, Gu Zhicheng spoke first.

"Chef, I feel that we did not prepare enough for this wedding banquet in advance. On the day, our process of serving dishes was still a bit busy and chaotic."

Feng Zhengming nodded and motioned for Gu Zhicheng to continue.

Gu Zhicheng continued: "I think we should be more prepared next time. For example, stewed dishes should be prepared in advance and heated in a steamer on the same day. This can save a lot of time.

There are also cold dishes, which we should prepare first and serve on the table during the wedding. "

These questions and suggestions are all very important.

After Gu Zhicheng spoke, everyone started talking one after another.

To summarize, everyone’s problems and suggestions were concentrated on a few points.

First of all, the preparation is not enough.

Everyone thinks that many of the dishes at the wedding banquet should be prepared one day in advance, which can save a lot of time in serving the dishes on the same day.

There are also dishes that need to be cooked on the same day. They all feel that Feng Zhengming should be more hands-off.

Qi Jiale said: "Chef, you are the chef, you can't always cook it yourself, just leave those dishes to us."

Several other young chefs agree with this.

Yao Zhenhui agreed: "Yes, we can make stir-fried shrimp tails."

Bao Feng also said: "Chef, you should be the one commanding and dispatching us. You always do it yourself. It seems that we have nothing to do."

Feng Zhengming couldn't help but laugh at everyone's comments.

"I'm taking the lead in doing the work myself, but something went wrong?"

This statement also made everyone laugh.

Li Huidong said with a smile: "Everyone is right. Since you are the chef, you are more responsible for commanding and scheduling. You have taken away all the work of cooking, so how can everyone work on the cooking?"

Gu Zhicheng then said: "Chef, you have to give us more opportunities to practice."

This time, even Lu Chongshan, Sun Hai, Chen Anbang and the new apprentices all nodded in agreement.

Feng Zhengming could only agree: "Okay, I will let you go to the stove more often in the future."

After discussing the kitchen, Feng Zhengming asked the service staff in front to share some of their thoughts and opinions.

As a result, the service staff didn't have much opinion.

The head waiter even said: "Originally, we all thought that with more than 40 tables of banquets, it would be very busy, but it turned out that except for the last cleaning, we were the most relaxed."

The head waiter was really right about this.

Most of the guests at the wedding banquet were entertained by the groom's family who hosted the wedding banquet.

The service staff have nothing to do with most things except serving food.

Even the service staff in the private room upstairs said that they were more relaxed than usual when they were in charge of the private room.

Of course, after the wedding banquet, the cleaning work is still quite hard.

After all, even the tablecloths need to be replaced by service staff.

He Yunqing asked Feng Zhengming: "Are we going to recruit some dishwashers? We have a wedding banquet, and there are so many dishes that need to be washed." Feng Zhengming nodded and agreed: "Okay, Uncle He, you are responsible for recruiting people in this regard. , Mainly more diligent, only responsible for washing dishes.”

He Yunqing agreed: "Okay, I will arrange recruitment later."

After discussing internal issues, Huiquan Building has summarized a lot of experience, which can be regarded as laying the foundation for holding wedding banquets in the future.

At the end of this internal discussion, He Yunqing took out a notebook and said: "I have received many calls asking how to book a wedding banquet at our Huiquan Building, and some of my former friends are also asking."

The foreman also said: "Yes, I have relatives at home who asked me to help ask about the price."

Some other service staff also said that they had relatives and friends at home asking.

Feng Zhengming suddenly laughed. This was the effect he wanted to see.

"The price is the price of our three wedding banquet packages. It is impossible to discount the Huiquan Building. According to the size of our current Huiquan Building, if the wedding banquet is like 20 tables, we can accommodate two families at the same time.

If it's like the Zheng family this time, with more than 40 tables, we can only accept one restaurant.

When making a reservation, it starts with paying a deposit. Especially for wedding banquets on big days, whoever pays the deposit first will make arrangements. "

Feng Zhengming's attitude is still very clear. Huiquan Tower must ensure the quality of the wedding banquet.

Even if we receive fewer wedding banquet orders, we cannot lower our standards.

After hearing Feng Zhengming's request, He Yunqing and others said they would tell those who inquired about the wedding banquet these conditions.

While discussing inside Huiquan Building to optimize the wedding banquet.

Four or five days after the first wedding banquet at Huiquan Tower.

A piece of news was published in the newspaper.

"New era, new wedding banquet. The rebirth of Huiquanlou, a time-honored brand in the past, opens up a young and fashionable wedding banquet theme."

When such a piece of news came out, the page contained an interview with Feng Zhengming and the Zheng family who were hosting the wedding banquet.

Among them are some comments from guests who attended the wedding banquet on the Huiquan Tower wedding banquet.

In particular, the newspaper also attached a photo of dragons and phoenixes presenting auspicious flower cakes at the wedding banquet.

Although the photo in the newspaper is in black and white, just looking at the shape on the plate is still quite attractive.

After the news came out in this newspaper.

The wedding banquet at Huiquan Tower, which originally seemed silent, instantly became a topic of conversation among many people in the streets and alleys of Quancheng after dinner.

The discussion triggered was even better than before during the publicity.

People who participated in the wedding banquet also gave their own personal opinions.

Everyone said that the food at Huiquanlou is really good.

"Even if it's a wedding banquet dish, those dishes are plated before they are served."

"It's not like many wedding banquets in big restaurants, where the dishes are just piled on the plate."

“And their dishes are all very fresh, almost all are freshly prepared on the same day.”

“The dishes are not only generous in portions and beautifully presented, but the most important thing is that they also taste really good.”

"Don't look at the photos in the newspaper. The pastry served at the end is just a shaped pastry. In fact, it has fillings inside and is very delicious."

Once the topic starts to be discussed, Huiquan Tower will naturally gain a lot of attention.

Soon the TV station came to visit and interviewed Feng Zhengming specifically.

Facing the cameras of the TV station, Feng Zhengming openly introduced Huiquanlou and his kitchen team for the first time.

More importantly, he explained his understanding of Shandong cuisine in front of the TV camera.

“I know that many people think that the dishes I cook at Huiquanlou cannot be regarded as traditional Shandong cuisine, and some even say that what we cook cannot be regarded as Shandong cuisine.

But I want to say that Shandong cuisine should not be represented by just a few dishes. Shandong cuisine should be a complete set of cooking techniques.

The techniques we use at Huiquan Restaurant are those of Shandong cuisine, and our innovative dishes also follow traditional techniques.

It is based on tradition, adding some ingredients that have not been used in the past, and some seasonings that were not available locally in the past.

Rather than saying that we are innovative, it is better to say that we have added more elements to Shandong cuisine. "

After hearing what Feng Zhengming said, the TV reporter felt that it made sense.

The reporter then asked: "Chef Feng, people are saying that under your management, Huiquan Restaurant has become a little arrogant, or a little young and energetic. What do you think of this?"

When Feng Zhengming faced this problem, he was quite direct: "Don't you think you should be energetic when you are young?"

Such an answer shocked the TV reporters.

Then Feng Zhengming said with a smile: "Just kidding, our current kitchen at Huiquan Building is a group of young chefs, with a group of younger apprentices. We are all young people, and we may not really understand the world at times.

But this does not mean that we have no respect for our seniors. We respect every senior in the kitchen.

We believe that the greatest respect for our predecessors is to hone our craftsmanship so that we can catch up with our predecessors in craftsmanship.

I feel that if our Huiquan Tower can defeat our seniors in craftsmanship, that would be the best respect for our seniors. "

Everyone who came to the TV station to interview looked at each other in shock.

Before coming, they knew something about Feng Zhengming.

I have interacted with him many times before, and I feel that Feng Zhengming is a very humble and low-profile person.

But they never expected that Feng Zhengming would be so outspoken today.

Every word he spoke sounded like an unceremonious provocation.

But if I really dig into every word he said, I can't find anything wrong.

As he said, the best respect for your predecessors is to defeat them in technology.

Can this be said incorrectly?
Green is better than blue and is better than blue. Isn't this what everyone hopes to see from ancient times to the present?

As the saying goes, "famous teachers give rise to great disciples."

In fact, many times, it is because of having a master disciple that the master truly becomes a "famous teacher".

So from the perspective of the future development of Shandong cuisine.

It is indeed necessary for young chefs like Feng Zhengming, who have the ability and determination to surpass their predecessors, to make Shandong cuisine develop better.

After some discussion, the TV station finally decided to broadcast this interview directly.

Sure enough, after the interview was broadcast, it immediately triggered a lot of discussion.

Feng Zhengming and Huiquanlou once again attracted a lot of attention. (End of chapter)