From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

After meeting Feng Zhengming, Cheng Guosheng went to visit several master craftsmen in Quancheng.

His own master, Master Wang, is now in Beijing, so Cheng Guosheng can only visit several other masters.

The first person to visit was naturally Master Cui.

As the former president of the Chefs Association, he is also the oldest and most senior chef in Shandong cuisine.

Cheng Guosheng also made some serious preparations for the visit.

Cheng Guosheng made some preparations in advance, including what to say to Master Cui.

When he met Master Cui, Cheng Guosheng first paid homage to Master Cui as a master and disciple.

This caught Master Cui off guard.

He quickly helped Cheng Guosheng up, and Master Cui looked puzzled.

"Guosheng, what are you doing? How can you be so polite to me?"

Cheng Guosheng said sincerely: "Master Cui, my master is not in Quancheng. You are the master of all the chefs in Quancheng. It is my duty to salute you."

Without waiting for Master Cui to speak, Cheng Guosheng continued.

"Master Cui, please don't be modest. We all know that you are an expert in Shandong cuisine and also understand cuisines from all over the country. You are a real living culinary encyclopedia.

Although I later became my master's apprentice, I also learned from you when I first started learning cooking.

So Master Cui, you really deserve this hundred from me, and you are still my master."

After hearing what Cheng Guosheng said, Master Cui had no choice but to accept it.

"Okay, Guosheng, come on, sit down."

Cheng Guosheng still didn't sit down, but showed the things he brought to Master Cui first.

"Master Cui, these are some specialties I brought back from other places. These are old recipes I found in other places. I would like to ask you to take a look. And this is a menu I am going to prepare for the reopening of Jubin Garden. Please give me your opinion on it."

Master Cui naturally didn't care at all about what specialties Cheng Guosheng sent him.

But Master Cui does attach great importance to the old recipes.

Master Cui was also very curious about the menu of Jubinyuan that Cheng Guosheng reopened himself.

After seeing the old recipe that Cheng Guosheng brought, Master Cui liked it very much.

"Guosheng, thank you so much. These cookbooks you brought are really rare. You must have spent a lot of effort to get them, right?"

Cheng Guosheng was quite modest: "It did take some effort, but as a chef, I have an obsession with these old recipes. When I see them, I really want to get them."

Following Cheng Guosheng's words, Master Cui put the two old cookbooks back in front of him.

"Then I can't take away someone else's credit. Take these two old cookbooks back and print a copy for me later."

Cheng Guosheng once again pushed the old recipe in front of Master Cui.

"No, no, Master Cui, I have already printed a set, and these two are specially brought for you."

Master Cui looked at Cheng Guosheng in surprise: "You, Guosheng, what are you doing?"

Cheng Guosheng then handed his new Jubinyuan menu to Master Cui.

"Uncle Cui, please take a look at my menu."

Master Cui took the menu and said, "Okay, I'll help you take a look."

After opening the menu, Master Cui saw that the entire menu was very exquisitely made, with photos of each dish. It was obvious that someone was specially hired to take the photos.

Master Cui looked through the menu and found that some of the dishes at the front were classic Shandong cuisine, but at the back of the menu were dishes from other regions.

There are also some original dishes that are believed to be Cheng Guosheng’s, interspersed among them.

I saw some of Cheng Guosheng’s original dishes on the menu, or should I call them fusion dishes.

Master Cui almost understood Cheng Guosheng's thoughts.

"Guosheng, I can see that you put a lot of effort into making this menu. There are quite a few fusion dishes here that you created yourself, combining some innovations from other cuisines."

Cheng Guosheng nodded: "Yes, Master Cui, I have spent a long time researching and verifying these dishes.

In the past few years, I have traveled to many places and done a lot of research. For example, some of the teppanyaki dishes here are ones I have eaten in Guangdong Province.

I combined some of our Shandong cuisine’s cooking methods, using the more refined knife skills of Shandong cuisine and pairing it with some of the seasonings of Shandong cuisine.

I think these innovations should bring more vitality to our Shandong cuisine.”

Master Cui smiled and nodded: "Your ideas are indeed good. It can be seen that you have not stopped learning in the past few years outside, and you have indeed learned something."

Cheng Guosheng said humbly: "Thank you, Master Cui, for your compliment. I just wanted to learn some skills while I was out there these past few years."

Master Cui: "You came back this time, probably because you still want to have a fight with Zhengming, right?"

Cheng Guosheng was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect Master Cui to ask so directly.

After a brief hesitation, Cheng Guosheng nodded in acknowledgment.

"Yes, I came back this time because I really wanted to compete with Feng Zhengming again."

Master Cui asked: "Do you know that he has opened four restaurants in Shanghai, and his restaurants in Shanghai are loved by people from all over the world, even people from overseas countries like his dishes very much?"

When asked this question, Cheng Guosheng hesitated for a moment and nodded.

"I know all this, but I think in Quancheng, in Shandong cuisine, I won't necessarily lose to him."

Master Cui gave a helpless smile.

"Guosheng, if you think so, you have actually already lost to him."

As for Master Cui, he does not favor anyone.

This is the same pattern that almost every master craftsman has.

What the old masters hope is that more good young chefs will emerge and make Shandong cuisine even better.

So when Cheng Guosheng came to visit, Master Cui hoped that he could come up with some new ideas.

Looking at Cheng Guosheng's menu, one does see some new ideas.

For example, he introduced some iron plate cooking methods from the South.

In fact, the cooking method of teppanyaki is very similar to the stir-fry in Shandong cuisine.

Jubin Garden was originally famous for its "explosion".

Therefore, Cheng Guosheng's introduction and integration can be said to be a very clever combination.

And the introduction of iron plate can cook quite a lot of small seafood.

It should also be very popular and become some of the signature dishes of Cheng Guosheng’s Xinjubinyuan.

However, Cheng Guosheng said that he wanted to compete with Feng Zhengming in Shandong cuisine.

But he has so many fusion dishes on his menu.

Only then would Master Cui feel that he had lost from the very beginning.

"If you really want to compete with Zhengming, you should compete with him in all aspects. Obviously, you don't have that confidence. Some of the dishes on your menu are not Shandong cuisine. How can you compete with Zhengming simply in Shandong cuisine?"

Master Cui's words made Cheng Guosheng feel a little powerless.

In the past few days since he came back, Cheng Guosheng has already eaten at several of Feng Zhengming's restaurants in Quancheng.

Although he has not yet eaten at Huiquanlou, Cheng Guosheng has already been greatly impressed by the dishes at several other restaurants.

Even though Feng Zhengming is not the one cooking in the kitchen, the dishes in each restaurant are still quite good.

Cheng Guosheng couldn't even believe that the chef in charge of the kitchen was the young chef trained by Feng Zhengming and his team. This shock made Cheng Guosheng want to give up before the competition even started.

So when he went to Huiquanlou to visit Feng Zhengming, it seemed like he was going to issue a challenge, but he could hardly say anything harsh.

Now when he visited Master Cui and had the problem pointed out by Master Cui, Cheng Guosheng felt helpless.

"Master Cui, I really don't have confidence, because Feng Zhengming is too strong. Not only is his own cooking skill great, but the skills of the young chefs in his several restaurants are also top-notch."

Master Cui nodded: "Yes, it is clear that he is a very skilled chef, and so are the young chefs in his several restaurants.

This may be because those young chefs know that they are in Feng Zhengming's shop, so they dare not slack off and just want to keep up with the pace of the top chef. "

After saying these words, a look of dejection appeared on Cheng Guosheng's face.

Master Cui suddenly changed the subject.

"What's wrong? Are you going to give up competing with him?"

When Cheng Guosheng heard this, he looked up at Master Cui.

"Master Cui, do you have any advice for me?"

Master Cui smiled and said, "I can't say I'm giving you advice, but I think you shouldn't be discouraged. You must have suffered a lot in the past few years in other places.

This time when you returned to Quancheng, you must want to show what you have learned in the past few years.

In this case, we must not easily admit defeat to Feng Zhengming, but must show the courage to fight him head on."

After hearing what Master Cui said, Cheng Guosheng suddenly became more motivated.

"Master Cui, you are right. I should not admit defeat. I should show my fighting spirit."

Master Cui then gave Cheng Guosheng some suggestions for the new Jubin Garden.

“Since you want to make some dishes that are a fusion of Shandong cuisine and other local cuisines, just be straightforward and bring out what you have learned outside and showcase the most representative characteristics of each place.

If we combine our Shandong cuisine and make some innovative dishes with new ideas, maybe you can compete with Zhengming."

Cheng Guosheng suddenly felt confident.

He had never dared to create completely innovative fusion dishes before.

I was worried that if I did that, I would be criticized by the senior masters.

Now he has confidence in his heart, thinking that since Master Cui approves of him, he can do it boldly.

"Okay, thank you Master Cui for your encouragement. I will definitely do a good job of innovative design."

Master Cui smiled and nodded: "That's right, don't be afraid, be bold and do it. If you want to challenge Zhengming, you must be even bolder and use what you learned outside."

Cheng Guosheng became more confident and had already made some plans for the future.

After visiting Master Cui, Cheng Guosheng also visited several other masters.

He even used the time for renovation to visit Master Xia.

It can be said that Cheng Guosheng has made sufficient preparations for him and Jubinyuan to return to people's attention.

After all of Cheng Guosheng's efforts, his reputation had spread to many people before the business even opened.

Finally, before opening the business, Cheng Guosheng actually made a trip to Beijing to invite Master Wang back.

Feng Zhengming was also a little surprised when he heard the news.

"It seems that Cheng Guosheng really has bad intentions."

Sitting together with three senior brothers and young chefs to have a midnight snack.

Feng Zhengming couldn't help but sigh when he saw the news in the newspaper.

Third Senior Brother Yang Bin followed up and said, "Are you afraid of him? Didn't Jubinyuan lose to you before? You don't have to be afraid of him this time."

The fifth brother nodded immediately: "That's right, we don't have to be afraid of him."

Feng Zhengming: "It's not that I'm afraid of him, it's just that he's making such a big fuss that it's really a bit confusing. It feels like I can't see how strong he is."

Everyone was really surprised to hear Feng Zhengming say this.

Senior brother Li Huidong still understands what junior brother means better.

"Zhengming is unable to see clearly how much funding Cheng Guosheng has received when he returns this time, right?"

Feng Zhengming nodded: "Yes, from the decoration to the various publicity before the opening, he has already demonstrated a strong capital, so I am still very curious, who is the support behind him?"

Fifth brother Cao Zhiguo's expression became serious.

"Could it be that the old signboard of Jubin Garden has actually been sold to someone else?"

Third Senior Brother Yang Bin: "Isn't this a sure thing?"

Feng Zhengming and the eldest senior brother also nodded.

Cheng Guosheng should have given the old signboard of Jubin Garden to someone else.

Otherwise, the people who invested behind him would not have given him so much money.

The fifth brother sighed: "Don't mention it, Cheng Guosheng is quite courageous. He used his former identity as the chef of Jubinyuan to get the old sign of Jubinyuan, and then sold it to someone else."

He Yunqing suddenly became a little excited: "What he did is really a disgrace to the old brand."

Feng Zhengming and the others could understand He Yunqing's excitement.

So everyone came together to offer some words of comfort.

Feng Zhengming: "Uncle He, in fact, the time-honored brands in Quancheng have changed hands countless times over the years, and only a few of them are still preserved.

Now I own Huiquanlou and Yanxilou, but I haven’t put up the sign of Yanxilou again.”

After a brief pause, Feng Zhengming felt a little helpless.

"I'm worried that once the Yanxilou sign is put up, if my fellow apprentices and I can't make a name for ourselves, we'll bring disgrace upon the brand."

After hearing this, He Yunqing fell into deep thought.

The young chefs present may not understand.

But He Yunqing, Feng Zhengming and three other senior brothers all knew it.

It is not easy to run a time-honored brand well.

If you want to cook traditional dishes, there are so many restaurants and hotels to choose from in Quancheng.

If you make some innovative fusion dishes, the old brand name will become a constraint.

Others will say that they came here because of the old sign and wanted to try the old dishes, but you turned out to serve all kinds of innovative fusion dishes that are totally unworthy of the name.

In the end, you will really end up pleasing neither side.

It’s hard to make an old brand bigger and better again.

Feng Zhengming had the signboard of Yan Xilou, but he never reopened it.

He is also considering it and needs to find a good opportunity.

In addition, the location of the new Yanxi Building also needs to be confirmed.

Only with a suitable positioning can Yan Xilou be run well.

Otherwise, the reopened Yan Xilou might end up going back to its old ways.

"I think Cheng Guosheng's approach is very good. He can use the old Jubinyuan brand in exchange for investment. He can also reopen Jubinyuan and he doesn't have to just serve the old dishes."

After Feng Zhengming said this, He Yunqing calmed down and accepted the reality. (End of this chapter)