From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

Chapter 919: First Day Review Summary
Cheng Guosheng's judgment was not wrong. The three groups of judges had a very good experience at Jubin Garden.

So when they met, they almost made the same judgment at the same time and gave Cheng Guosheng's Jubin Garden five stars.

Master Cui sighed: "It seems that we really have the same views this time."

Then Master Cui looked at Master Su and Master Sun.

"Lao Su, Lao Sun, tomorrow the pressure will be on you. We will go to Jufengde and Taifenglou tomorrow."

Master Su was quite open-minded: "It doesn't matter. If those guys from Jufengde can't get five stars, Jufengde will accept it and we will improve and catch up."

Master Sun was not as open-minded as Master Su, and his expression still looked a little serious.

"Taifenglou shouldn't have a big problem. Maybe its service is not as good as Jubinyuan, but our service is not bad either. Besides, the chefs in Taifenglou's kitchen have been chefs for many years and have some experience. I believe we can win."

Master Sun spoke very calmly, but there was a hint of weakness in his words.

Master Yan smiled and said, "Old Sun, Old Su, just treat it as checking your own apprentices' homework to see if there is anything that can be improved. Just correct it in the future."

As soon as Master Yan opened his mouth, the elderly people naturally laughed along.

The atmosphere relaxed and was no longer so tense.

The other two judges smiled and took the initiative to say goodbye to the elderly people.

They had a very good meal at Jubin Garden tonight.

It can be said that the dining experience at Jubinyuan is indeed better than Feng Zhengming’s Huiquanlou.

I can only say that Huiquanlou’s dishes do need to have better quality control.

The service at Jubinyuan is more meticulous than that at Huiquanlou.

Comparing the two, they are really evenly matched. It’s hard to say which one is better.
I heard the other two groups of judges say goodbye on their own initiative.

Feng Zonghe expressed his gratitude to everyone on behalf of Feng Zhengming.

"Thank you, everyone. You have worked hard. Go back and rest early. There is no need to go so early and so eagerly tomorrow. We can just take it step by step. Everyone should also take it slow and not try so many delicacies at once, right?"

This statement made the other two groups of judges smile and nod in agreement.

The leader of another group of judges said, "Don't be polite, old man. It is our honor to be selected by Feng Zhuangyuan as a judge and to taste so many delicious foods."

Another team leader quickly followed up: "So we will definitely take it seriously and make the judgment as fair and just as possible."

Mr. Situ stood up with a smile and said: "Fairness and justice are relative. You don't need to be too nervous. Just follow your own true feelings.

After all, Zhengming has already invited these professional judges, and you are more likely to make judgments on behalf of ordinary people.

So don’t just follow the ratings given by us old guys. If you think it’s good, you can give it full marks. If you think it’s not good, you can give it 0 marks.”

Feng Zonghe took over again: "Yes, this is why Zhengming asked you all to be judges."

The two groups of judges thought about it carefully and felt that the two old men were indeed right.

Since they are the judges, they should follow their own heart and experience. Good is good, bad is bad.

The judges understood and said goodbye to the old men again.

After watching them leave, several masters looked at Feng Zonghe and Mr. Situ.

"How are you two going to get back?"

Just at this moment, a minibus slowly drove over.

The car stopped in front of the elderly people. After the door opened, Feng Zhengming led his wife Luo Qing and daughter out of the car.

"Good evening, Grandpa Situ, Master, and all the uncles and aunts. Did you enjoy the dinner tonight?"

Everyone was a little surprised to see Feng Zhengming's sudden appearance.

Master Yan: "Zhengming, you two are back so soon?"

Feng Zhengming: "The little girl had a lot of fun at her great-grandfather's and great-grandmother's in the countryside. If they don't come back, she won't want to go home."

As soon as these words came out, everyone looked at Feng Nuanyou in her mother's arms.

Feng Nuanyu was not afraid of people in her mother's arms. She stared at the old people with her big eyes.

Then I looked around again and finally saw my great-grandfather.

Feng Nuanyou burst out laughing immediately.

Seeing the little girl’s smiling face, the elderly people present also laughed happily.

The lovely Feng Nuanyu's smile is really like the warm sun that melts the ice and snow.

No matter how unhappy you are, it will all disappear when you see her smile.

Feng Zhengming asked everyone to get in the car first.

After getting in the car, Feng Zhengming began to talk to everyone about his experience in the two stores today.

In front of Feng Zhengming, everyone spoke directly about their experience.

"From the perspective of service experience, Huiquanlou is indeed inferior to Jubinyuan. Jubinyuan's service is really first-class. No wonder many big bosses like to book Jubinyuan's private rooms."

"But in terms of the quality control of the dishes, Huiquanlou is more stable. When there are more customers at Jubinyuan, there will be a noticeable delay in serving the dishes, and the quality control cannot maintain a certain level."

“Yes, some dishes have obviously declined in quality.”

When Feng Zhengming heard this, he smiled and helped Jubinyuan make up for it a little.

"It may also be that there are fewer customers in the restaurant at noon and more customers at night, which puts more pressure on Jubinyuan."

When the old masters heard that Feng Zhengming wanted to help make up for it, they looked at each other in bewilderment.

Master Cui was the first one to burst out laughing.

"Hahaha, Lao Yan, your disciple is truly selfless. He has really put in a lot of effort to promote our Shandong cuisine restaurant."

Master Yan: "He also wants to be as fair as possible."

Feng Zhengming waited until the other masters laughed before he continued speaking with a smile on his face.

“I think that in terms of quality control, it’s enough to do a good job generally. After all, it’s impossible for the head chef to make every dish himself. There will always be some deviations when other chefs take over the dishes.

Since we are going to recommend Shandong cuisine restaurants this time, we have to introduce our best restaurants to everyone.

So as long as the quality control is above the standard, I think it is acceptable.”

The old masters all nodded in agreement.

Master Yan looked at Master Su and Master Sun again.

"Lao Su, Lao Sun, don't feel pressured by this."

Master Su: "No pressure, Zhengming has already said that it is above average. If Jufengde can't do this, I will go back and take all the notebooks of those guys."

Master Sun nodded; "Yes, you must be able to do the basic skills well. If you can't do it well, you are not worthy of being a chef." Master Xia, who had been silent, spoke at this time.

"The standards Zhengming gave can be considered to have taken care of most restaurants. If they are more stringent, I'm afraid our restaurant may not be able to meet the requirements."

Feng Zhengming smiled: "Master Xia, don't say that. I always feel that we chefs are supposed to make delicious food for others to taste, so we should be worthy of this job.

I created this recommendation guide and established a set of standards, not because I wanted to suppress other restaurant peers with better craftsmanship.

My original intention was to hope that by setting such a standard, other restaurants would be able to do better.

Only if we manage the restaurant well and cook the dishes well can our Shandong cuisine gain more praise, which will also be conducive to the dissemination and inheritance of our Shandong cuisine.”

After hearing this, the old masters really agreed.

"Not bad, not bad. Zhengming's speech is getting better and better now."

"Hahaha, that's right, Zhengming is also a big boss now."

"Zhengming is both the boss and the chef. He has two jobs and can better understand the state of the industry."

“This is also Zhengming’s advantage over some other chefs.”

This point was also agreed by Feng Zhengming and his two grandfathers in the car.

Feng Zonghe: "That's true. It's clear that he runs so many stores himself, so he considers things from a business perspective.

At the same time, he is a chef and will consider cooking issues from a chef's perspective. This combination will enable him to make delicious dishes that many people are willing to eat."

After hearing his grandfather's long speech, Feng Zhengming was a little amused and helpless.

"Master, don't praise me like that in front of my master and the others."

The minibus was suddenly filled with laughter from the old men.

When little Feng Nuanyu saw everyone laughing, she started to laugh too.

We sent several masters home or to hotels to stay.

In the end, Feng Zhengming, his wife and their daughter sent the two grandfathers back home.

Asking the minibus driver to drive back first, Feng Zhengming, holding his sleeping daughter in his arms, went home with his wife and the two grandfathers.

After entering the house, Feng Zhengming first carried his daughter into the bedroom and put her down.

Then he asked his wife to take care of their daughter in the house, and Feng Zhengming sat down and chatted with the two grandfathers.

Some things should be discussed behind closed doors between family members.

Grandpa Situ spoke first: "For the restaurant recommendation guide you are making this time, how many restaurants are you going to include in the first issue? Have you thought about the quota limit?"

Feng Zhengming: "I want to put all the restaurants in the province that can get stars on the recommended guide, with no quota limit."

Grandpa Situ: "That's easy. We'll be ranked by the stars we get."

Feng Zhengming nodded: "Yes, that's right, because this recommendation guide, to put it bluntly, is a recommendation of restaurants for those who come to Qilu from other places, so that they can know which restaurants in various places in Qilu have good reviews and are suitable for them to try."

Grandpa Feng reminded: "Zhengming, you need to be careful not to let the restaurants on the recommended guide raise their prices after they get stars."

Grandpa Situ: "Yes, you should also pay attention to this and don't let others take advantage of you."

Feng Zhengming: "I have thought about this. When the listing is made, we will inform the restaurant that the prices of dishes cannot fluctuate significantly within at least one year."

He then added: "And if anyone complains about the restaurant, we will send someone to take the stars off."

These two points made the two grandfathers feel very good.

"This is good, as it prevents restaurants from deliberately raising the prices of dishes too high."

"Yes, the stars can be hung on them, and naturally they can also be taken off. We must put some pressure on them."

Feng Zhengming: "The reason why I launched this guide is to put pressure on them. I didn't make a restaurant recommendation guide before. I wanted to conduct a trial first and let those restaurants see the effect of my recommendation guide.

This way they understand the benefits of following the recommended guidelines and will naturally do their best to meet them.”

Grandpa Situ praised: "This open plot shows that you have done a good job. There is no need for any shady dealings. Everything is out in the open.

If they are unwilling to join, then they are doomed to be eliminated. If they want to join you, then they must follow your standards, and cooking well is the most important thing.”

Feng Zhengming: "That's right, making the dishes well is the most important thing, service and other things are secondary."

Speaking of service, Grandpa Feng couldn't help but think of the service in the private room of Jubin Garden tonight.

"The service in the Jubinyuan private room is really good. I never thought about those services before. They are really thoughtful and really give people a very enjoyable feeling."

Feng Zhengming smiled: "That can be regarded as an advantage of Jubinyuan. I don't think every restaurant has to do that.

The service provided by the waiters is also based on the dishes. They prepare the dishes well and provide good service to give customers a delicious meal.

If the food is not good, simply using good service to make up for it is a bit putting the cart before the horse.”

Grandpa Feng laughed: "Hahaha, it seems like you look down on Cheng Guosheng?"

Feng Zhengming shook his head: "Sir, I really don't look down on Cheng Guosheng. His cooking skills were very good at the beginning. Later, he worked hard outside and learned other cuisines.

To be honest, he has done the best a chef can do, and I still admire him very much."

Grandpa Situ vaguely understood Feng Zhengming's opinions on Cheng Guosheng?
"Zhengming thinks that Cheng Guosheng could have relied on his good cooking skills to integrate the techniques of different cuisines from different places, so that he could have made the dishes more refined, instead of being like now, where many things are just superficial."

Feng Zhengming looked at Grandpa Situ and said, "Yes, some of his creative dishes are too creative."

Grandpa Feng had the same feeling on this point.

In fact, not only the two grandfathers, but also several masters felt the same tonight.

Do you think the experience of Jubin Garden is good?
That is probably the best one can find in the whole Quancheng and the whole Qilu.

But when the creative dishes ordered are served, the combination gives people a sense of gaudy emptiness.

It seems like you ate something?
When you savor it carefully, it leaves little impression on your taste buds.

On the contrary, after having lunch at Huiquanlou, I was more impressed by many of the dishes at Huiquanlou after comparing the two.

Feng Zonghe said seriously: "If I have to describe the feeling, it's uneasy."

Grandpa Situ laughed and said, "It's not down-to-earth, it's not like Shandong cuisine, it's too creative."

Feng Zhengming sighed: "I hope that Brother Cheng can gradually realize it and make some changes. Don't really indulge in those frivolous ideas. You should still make good use of the serious old skills."

Grandpa Feng asked: "Will you give him five stars this time?"

Feng Zhengming: "Yes, as long as you give him a five-star rating, I will definitely give it to him."

Grandpa Situ laughed and patted Feng Zhengming on the shoulder.

"Okay, that's the kind of boldness I want."

(End of this chapter)