From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

Feng Zhengming, his eldest brother and his fifth brother came to the old Feng family restaurant together.

After Feng Zhengming's transformation, this place has now completely become a restaurant.

In fact, the old shop has long been known as an affordable canteen by some old customers in the surrounding area.

Now that it has been completely transformed into a restaurant, in fact nothing has changed much.

Old customers who are used to eating braised pork with pork belly or one or two stir-fried dishes still come here as usual every day.

However, after Feng Zhengming completely converted the old shop into a restaurant, the private rooms in the shop are now booked every night.

In the past, people regarded the old shop as a canteen for eating braised pork, so most of the time no one would sit in the private rooms in the old shop.

Now there are people sitting in the private rooms every night, and some working class families will consider coming to the old shop when entertaining guests.

Feng Zhengming led his two senior brothers in and walked into the warehouse behind the kitchen.

He also called the third senior brother from the kitchen to the warehouse.

After all the senior brothers arrived, Feng Zhengming began to express his thoughts.

"My three brothers, after I went out this time, I traveled all over our Qilu area, and I came up with a new idea, but my plan needs the help of several brothers, and maybe some of the masters like Master will also need to help.

So I want to talk to the three brothers first and let them listen.

If the three brothers think my idea is feasible, I hope they can help me. Together we can persuade the master and the old masters to start my plan. "

Feng Zhengming had a serious expression on his face, which surprised his three fellow brothers.

The three of them looked at each other, vaguely feeling that Feng Zhengming's plan might be a big plan.

Senior Brother Li Huidong looked at Junior Brother and said, "You said, as long as we can do it, we will definitely help you."

Feng Zhengming nodded and began to talk about a huge plan in his mind.

In fact, he had already told part of his plan in front of everyone in Huiquan Tower.

Now speaking privately with the three senior brothers, Feng Zhengming explained it more thoroughly.

Feng Zhengming wants to officially start transforming his company into a catering company.

Unlike most catering companies, his company has internal training.

The training within the company is not just about training chefs for local branches and future restaurants.

Some training for management personnel is also required.

In the past, the training of restaurant service and management staff was separate from the training of chefs.

But Feng Zhengming’s idea is to combine all of these together for training.

Improve the overall quality of personnel through training.

Then they will be distributed to branches in various places, starting with the dry rice shop branches in various places.

If you perform well and pass the promotion assessment, you can enter the restaurants opened in various places.

Feng Zhengming also hopes that masters and old masters can become consultants for the company.

Regularly rate branches and future restaurants across the province.

"We can launch a recommendation guide ourselves and distribute it throughout the province. Every year, we can rank the scores of local dry rice shop branches and restaurants from high to low and mark them in the recommendation guide.

This way, customers can more intuitively understand the quality of the craftsmanship of each of our stores, making it easier for them to choose. "

After Feng Zhengming finished speaking about his entire set of ideas, the three senior brothers looked at each other in bewilderment again.

The three of them had never expected that Feng Zhengming actually wanted to do such a big thing.

And according to Feng Zhengming, not only the branches of dry rice shops in various parts of the province should have their own characteristics. When he has enough staff in the future, when he opens restaurants in various places, each restaurant should also have its own characteristics, with local specialties on the menu.

“We brothers may have to work harder. Not only do we need to fairly judge the pros and cons of all branches, but more importantly, we need to train our staff, especially the chefs in the kitchens of each branch.

In addition, several brothers may need to help design dishes for each branch. If restaurants are opened in various places, brothers may need to take time out every year to go to restaurants in various places to provide guidance. "

After listening to Feng Zhengming's overall plan, the three senior brothers were really shocked.

The three brothers can probably imagine how difficult it is to actually implement this entire plan.

But once this is done, it will completely change the inheritance and development of Shandong cuisine.

To put it more simply and directly, Feng Zhengming's entire plan is equivalent to him setting a new set of standards for himself.

His set of standards includes a full range of standards from training to guidance on store opening to store rating.

Li Huidong almost immediately thought, if the junior brother's method could really be successfully implemented.

That means he has taken away the work of the Culinary Association and the department responsible for chef grading.

"Will the Culinary Association and the Chef Examination Department have any objections if you do this? After all, the assessment and management of chefs are originally their business."

Feng Zhengming heard the concern of his senior brother and responded with a smile: "Don't worry, our company recruits chefs who must have passed the chef level test and obtained a chef professional certificate first."

Li Huidong asked again: "What about the Culinary Association?"

Feng Zhengming replied calmly: "The Culinary Association has not organized anyone to supervise restaurants and hotels in various places, nor has it rated restaurants and hotels.

Besides, we are branches of our own company in various places, and restaurants under our company in various places, so there will be no conflict with the Culinary Association at all."

After hearing what Feng Zhengming said, third senior brother Yang Bin agreed with his plan.

"I think Zhengming's plan is very good. When Lao Si came back, didn't he say that foreign countries have a set of standards for rating their restaurants and hotels? And they will publish a list of well-received restaurants every year.

Zhengming started his own company and opened branches of his dry rice shop in various places, and then he ran his own restaurant.

The company then conducts its own internal ratings, and then rates its own stores in various locations to create a recommendation guide, which is then published for everyone to see.

Isn’t this our own internal business?
The Culinary Association shouldn't be able to intervene in our own company's affairs, right?"

After the third senior brother said this, the fifth senior brother immediately agreed.

"That's right. Zhengming has already said that his own company will do it. I think it's okay for Zhengming to do so, Senior Brother."

Seeing that his two senior brothers were very supportive, Li Huidong sighed helplessly.

“You think it’s simple. Maybe at the beginning, chefs, cooking associations and masters from all over the country will not have any objections. But once this method becomes bigger and famous, it will be sought after by many people.

Some chefs, cooking associations and chefs from all over the world will definitely have opinions.”

After listening to his senior brother's words, Feng Zhengming talked about his experiences in Qufu.

“Big Brother, when I went to Qufu this time, I found that the Xia family had participated in the restoration of Confucius Mansion cuisine and had always insisted on passing on Confucius Mansion cuisine, but the Xia family’s own restaurant was not allowed to hang the Confucius Mansion cuisine sign.

On the contrary, some restaurants and hotels that don’t even know what dishes Confucius Mansion cuisine includes can openly hang up signs of Confucius Mansion cuisine.

why is that? "

After asking this question, all the senior brothers fell silent.

why?
The brothers all knew why. It was because of some conflicts of interest.

If the Xia family is only allowed to hang the sign of Confucius Mansion cuisine, how can those who want to profit from that sign gain more benefits?

The Xia family was not allowed to hang up the sign of Confucius cuisine, but instead some restaurants and hotels that might not even serve Confucius cuisine were allowed to hang up the sign.

So if you want to hang up the sign of Confucius Mansion cuisine, do you have to pay more in other places?
As for what the price is?
Even without Feng Zhengming saying it, his three fellow brothers could probably guess it.

The signature dish of Confucius Mansion cuisine is just a microcosm.

Apply it to the entire Shandong cuisine, and even to cuisines from all over the country.

This approach may be tried and tested.

Ultimately, there is still no one with enough authority to come forward.

Establish a set of rules that everyone can believe in.

Feng Zhengming's current approach is not to directly challenge the power of certain people. Instead, he establishes a set of rules for his own company and uses his own standards to constrain the branches and restaurants under his company.

When Li Huidong heard his junior brother say this, he understood what he was thinking.

"Zhengming, your approach is very good. For the time being, you don't want to seize power from the Cooking Association. Just establish your own set of standards and promote them throughout the province in the form of branches."

Li Huidong raised another question: "But if you do this, there is another problem, that is, how to ensure fairness and justice?"

Feng Zhengming smiled and replied, "It's very simple. The internal review of the company may be biased, but the profits and reputation of each branch and restaurant cannot be faked.

If a store always gets high scores in internal reviews, but is not profitable and locals are reluctant to go there, doesn’t that indicate a problem?”

The fifth brother agreed with a smile: "Yes, there are also ordinary customers as judges."

Feng Zhengming went on to talk about another way to audit branches in various places.

“Once all branches are opened in various places, we can also include an evaluation form with the recommendation guide every year, so that customers can give us feedback after evaluation. We can make appropriate adjustments based on customer feedback.”

After listening to Feng Zhengming's plan, the three senior brothers also felt that it was indeed feasible.

If Feng Zhengming wanted to do this nationwide, his seniors might not have confidence.

But when it comes to making Shandong cuisine in the province, these brothers and sisters are not inferior to anyone.

Feng Zhengming saw that his three senior brothers were willing to support him.

He earnestly asked his three senior brothers: "Since you three are willing to support me, I feel relieved. It's just that it may be hard for you three brothers, and I need your help to train the kitchen staff."

These words made the three brothers look at each other first, and then they all laughed almost at the same time.

Li Huidong expressed his opinion on behalf of his two junior brothers: "Don't worry, Zhengming, the senior brothers will definitely support you with all their strength. It is our duty to train the kitchen staff."

The third and fifth senior brothers also nodded and said they would definitely help.

Feng Zhengming felt more confident after gaining support from his three senior brothers.

He told his three senior brothers about his plan to open a branch.

"The first store must be in Yancheng. I have already discussed this with Brother Liu. He will open the first branch in Yancheng. After that, I want to open it in many places at the same time.

We will open branches in Daocheng in the south, Dezhou in the north, Zibo and Taicheng first.”

Feng Zhengming's idea made his three senior brothers feel that it was indeed feasible.

Although it seems that he opened branches all over the province.

But in fact, his plan was very good.

Because he has suitable people in charge of each location where he opened branches.

Either there is someone local who can help, or people can be transferred from Huiquanlou.

Of course, Feng Zhengming’s most crucial plan is that he plans to find suitable personnel at the provincial youth chef cooking competition at the end of the year.

The competition plan he was going to submit to the province was actually based on this selfish motive.

In his competition plan, he plans to allow young chefs from all over the province to freely sign up to participate.

First, let all the registered young chefs go through an audition.

Through some basic skills auditions, Feng Zhengming can also screen out some suitable young chefs.

After that, they will go through the next rounds of screening.

Feng Zhengming does not need to recruit those top young chefs. He only needs to screen out young chefs who are worth training and bring them under his command.

Even if their foundation is a little weak, as long as they are diligent and willing to learn and practice.

In the future, Feng Zhengming believes that under the guidance of his senior brothers, master and old masters, he will definitely become a qualified chef.

Perhaps someone will discover in the future that Feng Zhengming used the province-wide young chef cooking exchange competition to find reserve chefs for his company.

But after they discovered this, Feng Zhengming felt that he should be able to establish a more complete training system.

By then, there may be no need to select people through the provincial youth chef cooking competition.

After Feng Zhengming finished chatting with his three senior brothers, he went home in the evening and started writing the competition plan to be submitted to the province.

It is impossible to write it completely in one night.

So, in the next few days, Feng Zhengming made some careful revisions.

Finally, a complete set of competition plans was perfected.

Wait until he submits the plan.

The province asked the cooking association to discuss the issue with several master chefs from Quancheng.

As the vice chairman of the Culinary Association, Feng Zhengming should also participate in the discussion of the plan.

However, Feng Zhengming declined to attend the meeting to discuss the plan on the grounds that he was the writer of the plan.

He was doing the preliminary preparations for some of his own things.

The first thing he did was to buy himself a car, and then he recruited a group of new apprentices for the Huiquanlou and Fengjia Ganfanpu shops.

These are all preparations for opening new branches.

After all, when the branch opens, Huiquanlou and the old shop will have to transfer a group of people.

In order to ensure that Huiquanlou and old shops are not affected, a group of new people must be recruited in advance.

For many students majoring in cooking in vocational schools today, being able to work as an apprentice in old shops like Huiquanlou and Fengjia Ganfanpu is something they have always dreamed of.

So when the news of Feng Zhengming's recruitment was released, many people came to sign up from several culinary training schools in Quancheng alone.

Soon after, people began to sign up for other vocational schools in the province, including Yancheng Vocational School.

Feng Zhengming and his three senior brothers organized an examination to conduct a strict screening of those who signed up to be apprentices. (End of this chapter)