From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

The first day of judging is over, and the second day will naturally be spent judging Jufengde and Taifenglou.

The masters also all abide by the rules, although Feng Zhengming did not stipulate that the masters could not go home.

But in order to avoid suspicion, Master Su and Master Sun did not go home at night.

Everything followed the previous arrangements and we stayed with Master Xia in the hotel arranged by Feng Zhengming.

Didn’t they take advantage of the first day when the review results came out to inform Jufengde and Taifenglou of some standards and remind them what they needed to pay attention to?
Near noon the next day, a professional review team consisting of Feng Zhengming's two grandfathers and master craftsmen came to Taifeng Building.

The other two groups of judges arrived early, and coincidentally, there was a wedding banquet at Taifeng Building today.

So the other two groups of judges were arranged to sit in the hall.

The masters were still invited into the private room of Taifeng Building.

This was obviously an intentional arrangement by Taifenglou.

Master Sun was a little dissatisfied with this matter.

This kind of special arrangement must be deducted points in the eyes of Master Sun.

"These guys, I told them to be flexible, but they still did this to me. They reserved a private room like this for us. Aren't they just pretending to be pretentious?"

Master Cui smiled and said, "Old Sun, you don't need to be so nervous. When judging, you will encounter various situations.

Besides, we didn't tell them in advance when we would come. Taifenglou reserved a private room for us to judge, but it might be reserved for other guests."

Master Yan agreed: "Yes, maybe they knew there was a wedding banquet, so they reserved some private rooms for other guests."

Mr. Situ also said that such an approach is understandable.

"I can still understand that Taifenglou has reserved some private rooms for other guests who may come. This is also common in some restaurants. Master Sun, don't feel it's inappropriate."

Then, Sun Fenggui, the current head chef of Taifenglou and the eldest son and disciple of Master Sun, came in.

"Hello, all the uncles and uncles, hello, both uncles."

When Master Sun saw his son coming in person, he was actually amused.

"You are really sworn brothers with Cheng Guosheng."

This immediately made everyone in the private room laugh.

“Hahaha.” Master Yan quickly tried to smooth things over, “Old Sun, don’t say that. If you say that, then after we finish judging the restaurants, if you go to my restaurant later, I won’t be able to let you go.”

After hearing what Master Yan said, the atmosphere in the private room immediately eased up.

Master Sun waved his hand at Sun Fenggui and said, "Don't be an eyesore here. Do you, the head chef, personally serve guests in every private room? Just see us and go downstairs to prepare your food."

There is a wedding banquet today. Can you withstand the pressure and prepare for the wedding banquet well? Do you understand?"

Master Sun couldn't help but remind Sun Fenggui a few words after all.

After just a few words, Sun Fenggui seemed to understand almost everything and quickly said goodbye and left the private room.

Then the waiter in charge of the private room came in and began to introduce the dishes to everyone.

Taifenglou’s specialty is cooking.

But the menu doesn't just include grilled dishes.

Some stir-fried dishes and traditional classic Shandong cuisine are also available.

After listening to the introduction of the service staff, several chefs ordered some of Taifenglou's more classic dishes, some classic Shandong dishes, and some original new dishes of Taifenglou.

Taifeng Tower is not like Huiquan Tower and Jubin Garden, which have too many things that deviate from tradition.

The service certainly cannot be compared with the meticulous service of Jubinyuan.

But these points cannot simply be used as points for deduction.

Even though there was a wedding banquet, they could only sit with the other two groups of judges in the first floor hall, so the experience was not bad.

The service staff will also inform them in advance that there will be some impact on the wedding banquet.

And when taking their order, the service staff will be very serious.

Even their serving efficiency was not delayed for long.

As for the quality control of the dishes, it is obviously because of the professional judges from the chefs upstairs.

Taifenglou’s overall quality control can still be very stable.

The final evaluation of Taifenglou is "average".

Compared with Huiquan Tower and Jubin Garden, Taifeng Tower does not have many eye-catching features.

But everything about Taifenglou is indeed worthy of its reputation as a time-honored brand.

Even if there is a wedding banquet, we can still guarantee the service that each table of individual customers needs, and there is almost no deviation in the quality control of the dishes.

After this meal, when walking out of Taifeng Building, Master Su couldn't help but sigh.

"This time, the pressure really came to us at Jufengde."

Taifenglou's performance was average, and since there's nothing wrong with it, it deserves five stars.

Jufengde is the most famous restaurant in Quancheng.

It is also a time-honored brand that has been regarded as the number one restaurant for Shandong cuisine for many years.

The pressure of accepting the review now is naturally full.

Of course, among the four major restaurants in Quancheng today, Jufengde can be regarded as the most solid old brand.

Both Jubinyuan and Taifenglou have gone through restructuring and are no longer the same as they were in the past.

Although the craftsmanship is still preserved, it cannot be compared with the two restaurants during their heyday.

Huiquanlou is no longer what it used to be.

Under the leadership of Feng Zhengming, his two senior brothers followed his lead and combined their own understanding of craftsmanship to make Huiquanlou go beyond the scope of traditional Shandong cuisine.

Therefore, Jufengde can be regarded as the flagship of the most authentic traditional Lao Shandong cuisine.

Therefore, putting Jufengde last in the review is a kind of pressure, but also a respect for Jufengde.

Master Su finally smiled calmly: "Okay, everyone has worked hard at noon, have a good rest in the afternoon, and we will gather at Fengde in the evening."

Feng Zhengming, his wife and daughter once again took a minibus to pick up the two grandfathers and the masters.

At noon today, the other two groups of judges were also picked up by another car arranged by Feng Zhengming.

Everyone returned to the hotel together, and Feng Zhengming gathered everyone together in a specially rented conference room.

"Let's gather everyone here first because I want to remind you of something."

After Feng Zhengming said this, everyone was really curious about what he had to say?

"It's like this. Today, there are two restaurants, Taifenglou and Jufengde. Both are time-honored brands that serve old-school Shandong cuisine and are time-honored restaurants that inherit the traditional craftsmanship of Shandong cuisine.

So what I want to say is that in some aspects, we should follow the standards of traditional Shandong cuisine.”

These words stunned everyone present.

Soon the old masters understood and realized that Feng Zhengming was trying to save some face for the two old brands.

After all, if we compare some services and food innovations, the two old restaurants are indeed a little worse.

At the same time, Feng Zhengming's actions put considerable pressure on the two restaurants.

Since tradition is the standard, the requirements that the two restaurants need to face are actually not low.

Moreover, there were old chefs present at the meeting, and many of the other two groups of judges were Shandong cuisine connoisseurs. They were very familiar with the traditional standards, and it was not easy to make them feel that the food was good.

Master Su and Master Sun looked at each other.

The two of them immediately realized that Feng Zhengming's change in standards, although seemingly giving preferential treatment to the two time-honored brands, actually gave the two time-honored brands a lot of strength.

Because they are going to Jufengde in the evening, even if Master Su wants to inform them in advance, it will be too late for him to do it.

"Zhengming, you really know how to increase the intensity for us."

Master Sun laughed: "Old Su, what you said is true. We at Taifenglou were not notified until after the food was eaten."

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "Master uncle, Master uncle, please don't say that. This is not to strengthen your two families. I hope that you two families can show the characteristics of traditional Shandong cuisine."

Without waiting for everyone present to speak, Feng Zhengming expressed some of his own ideas.

"Tradition is the foundation of Shandong cuisine. Whether I am in Shanghai or in Huiquanlou and Jubinyuan in Quancheng, we create new things based on the foundation of Shandong cuisine."

Once this is said, how could anyone disagree with it?

It is absolutely true that the foundation of Shandong cuisine must be passed down well, and restaurants must persist in making it.

Not only the masters and the two grandfathers are a professional team.

The other two groups of judges also agreed with Feng Zhengming's statement.

“So tonight, I hope everyone can take a critical look at traditional Shandong cuisine and take a serious look at Jufengde.”

These last words made Master Su look helpless.

"Why do I feel like I've finally fallen into your trap? I always feel like you're targeting us at Jufengde. Are you blaming me for tripping you up when you were trying out for the national competition?"

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "No, Master Su, I just want to put some pressure on the new chef of Jufengde."

Master Su was stunned, and it took him a long time to come back to his senses.

"Well, then I can only applaud and let Zhengming and the others seriously test Jufengde."

How could Master Su not understand the meaning of Feng Zhengming's words?
What Feng Zhengming meant was that the new chef of Jufengde should demonstrate his ability as soon as possible and become famous in Quancheng and even the entire province.

Otherwise, how could he suppress Kong Xingli who had already left?

In Feng Zhengming's opinion, Kong Xingli's new restaurant in Shanghai will definitely be recommended in the Shanghai guide.

So Jufengde must get five stars in this recommendation guide ranking, or in other words, Jufengde must get five stars.

Only by getting five stars can it be shown that Jufengde’s foundation is still there.

Even if the chef has changed, Jufengde can still maintain its reputation with its craftsmanship.

After the meeting, Feng Zhengming asked everyone to go back and rest.

He chatted with Master Xia alone for a few words.

"Uncle Xia, I'm going to call you Uncle this time. I want to ask you seriously, do you need to let Xia Mingye go back?"

Feng Zhengming's question was very straightforward.

He was worried that the Xia family's restaurant would fail in the rating this time.

That's why he asked Master Xia whether he needed Xia Mingye to go back to help?
Master Xia was stunned for a moment, but soon understood.

"Hahaha, I didn't expect that you, the top scholar, would take the initiative to help me through the back door? Now that Xiaoye is allowed to go back, isn't that the same as helping us cheat?"

Feng Zhengming shook his head: "No, if we call Xia Hui back, that would be cheating."

These words immediately choked Master Xia.

If Xia Hui came back from Shanghai now and went back to the Xia family's restaurant, she would indeed be able to crush other opponents in the ratings.

Because Xia Hui was regarded as the true disciple of Feng Zhengming, the top scholar in Shanghai.

Whether it is from the cooking skills in the kitchen or from the operation of restaurants and hotels.

If Xia Hui comes back, she will definitely be able to completely renovate the Xia family restaurant in a short period of time.

Master Xia sighed: "It seems that Xiaohui is really valued by you."

Feng Zhengming was very evasive: "Yes, I have decided. At the end of the year, I will publicly accept disciples, and Xia Hui will become my disciple."

Master Xia was shocked: "You, you want to publicly accept a disciple?"

Feng Zhengming: "Yes, everyone is looking forward to it, so I just open it to everyone."

"Okay." Master Xia smiled, "I want to thank you in advance for Xiaohui."

Feng Zhengming: "You're welcome, Master Xia, you know that when I accept a disciple, I definitely don't look at the person's birth, but mainly at the person's ability.

Xia Hui has followed me for so many years, and I have seen her progress. She has been working hard and strictly following what I teach her.

I am lucky to have a disciple like her."

Master Xia: "If this is the case, our Xia family certainly cannot embarrass Xiaohui. We don't need them to come back. Our Xia family can handle it."

Feng Zhengming looked at Master Xia seriously and said something very bluntly.

"The Xia family's Shili Restaurant should only be rated four stars at most now."

Master Xia smiled and said, "Four stars is four stars. We are indeed obviously inferior to the other hotels in Quancheng."

Feng Zhengming nodded: "Master Xia, you can rest assured. The Xia family's restaurant may be one of the highest rated restaurants outside of Quancheng."

Master Xia was a little surprised: "Are you saying that there are no restaurants outside Quancheng that can get five stars this time?"

Without waiting for Feng Zhengming to answer, Master Xia became a little worried.

"If that's the case, aren't you worried that people in other places will say you favor Quancheng?"

Feng Zhengming did not hide anything.

"To be fair, there is some bias. After all, Huiquanlou is in Quancheng, so it will naturally provide a reference standard for other restaurants in Quancheng. They can follow suit and make various upgrades more quickly."

Master Xia immediately understood what Feng Zhengming meant.

The reason why the four famous restaurants in Quancheng are all five-star.

Or it is because Huiquanlou, a restaurant led by Feng Zhengming, is located in Quancheng.

Jufengde, Taifenglou and Jubinyuan are all time-honored brands.

Over the years, these three companies have almost always been able to keep a lid on Huiquanlou.

But because of Feng Zhengming's appearance, Huiquanlou's reputation in Quancheng has surpassed the other three.

In the eyes of many people, Jubinyuan was believed to have closed down because it could not compete with Feng Zhengming and Huiquanlou.

Therefore, with Huiquanlou around, Jufengde and Taifenglou naturally dare not slack off at all.

Only then was Cheng Guosheng able to study abroad and then come back to reopen Jubin Garden with such seriousness.

All of this can indeed be called "favoritism" given to other restaurants in Quancheng.

If they cannot catch up with Huiquanlou, other restaurants will face closure.

Other places in Qi and Lu do not have this kind of pressure, so it is naturally impossible to force comparison and progress.

Master Xia said with emotion: "I hope that after the publication of this restaurant recommendation guide, restaurants in other places can learn from it and one day they can all get five stars."

Feng Zhengming smiled: "Yes, I believe everyone will gradually realize that we should work harder." (End of this chapter)