From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

After leaving Weifang, there are only a few cities left on this provincial restaurant review tour.

With Feng Zhengming's emphasis, everyone was more serious in the evaluation of subsequent cities and did not lower the standards for restaurant service.

Overall, probably because they received the news, restaurants in the next few cities have made significant improvements and adjustments to their services.

When they arrived in Dezhou, their second senior brother Chen Zezhi also came out to greet them.

Chen Zezhi has been running the Texas branch very well in recent years.

Among the branches in the province, among the several branches that have expanded their stores, the branch owned by the second senior brother Chen Zezhi is the one with the largest expansion.

The Fengjia dry rice restaurant in Dezhou is divided into two floors.

From the front, it looks like a restaurant.

In fact, Chen Zezhi is indeed running the Texas branch according to the standards of a restaurant.

The first floor is quite spacious and is divided into two areas.

One is a place that sells traditional braised pork with rice, and the other is a place that sells the Dezhou specialty Dalui noodles. It is a place where people usually eat fast food.

The area on the other side was transformed into the lobby of a proper restaurant.

There are not only large round tables, but also some booths for four people.

People can sit down and order food here.

Some family and friends gatherings can also be held here.

The second floor is filled with private rooms, each of which is designed to resemble Huiquanlou and features some local decorations.

There are also some photos hanging in the private room, showing the very distinctive scenery of Texas.

Feng Zhengming and his wife brought their daughter, two grandfathers and several master craftsmen to the Dezhou branch.

Grandpa walked into the store and said to Feng Zhengming's second senior brother Chen Zezhi with a smile.

"Xiao Chen's shop is decorated like Zhengming's Huiquanlou, right?"

Chen Zezhi smiled and nodded: "Yes, I think the decoration of Huiquanlou is very good. When the store here expanded, I decorated it according to the style of Huiquanlou."

As they were chatting, Feng Zhengming saw Grandpa Zhang coming out from the kitchen to greet him.

"Hey, what day is it today? Why are there so many people here?"

Feng Zhengming stepped forward and said, "Grandpa Zhang, I brought my grandfather and Master here to take a look this time."

Master Cui obviously knew Grandpa Zhang: "Old Zhang, you are also in Zhengming store."

Grandpa Zhang looked at Master Cui carefully and said, "Oh, it's Master Cui. We haven't seen each other for many years."

Master Cui: "It's you, Zhang, who's been avoiding me."

Grandpa Zhang smiled and said, "I'm not hiding from you. You're a Shandong cuisine master. How dare I show up in front of you? I'll be embarrassed."

Master Cui also laughed: "Hahaha, you are so good, Old Zhang, you are still so good at joking."

It is natural to be very happy to meet old friends.

Everyone sat together in the store, and everyone ate a bowl of Daliu noodles made by Grandpa Zhang himself.

Master Su slurped a mouthful of noodles and said with emotion: "Delicious, the taste of this Daliao noodles is indeed different."

Master Cui: "Mr. Zhang has good skills. This noodle is made with real skill."

Master Sun: "It is indeed different. I once came to Dezhou and had Da Liu noodles from another restaurant. The taste was different from this one."

Master Xia: "This is real kung fu."

Master Yan looked at Feng Zhengming: "Zhengming, how did you find Lao Zhang?"

Feng Zhengming: "It was also a chance encounter. At that time, I came to Texas to look for a shop to open a branch and a place to eat, and I accidentally found Grandpa Zhang's shop."

Listening to Feng Zhengming's description of his unexpected encounter with Lao Zhang, everyone felt that it was really destined.

Grandpa Situ: "This shows that maybe God knows everything. Zhengming appeared specifically to support Shandong cuisine and the specialties of Qilu, so he let you meet."

Even Feng Nuanyou ate a few mouthfuls of noodles after being fed by her mother, and the little girl actually liked it very much.

Chen Zezhi served pork with pork belly, four-happiness meatballs, and some special dishes he made in his restaurant.

After tasting it, several master chefs were all quite satisfied.

Master Su said without hesitation: "To be honest, I've been eating at restaurants all day these days, but this meal is not as comfortable as this one."

Master Sun: "Hahaha, the food in the restaurant is indeed a bit too greasy."

Master Xia: "Old Yan is really amazing. Each of his disciples is so capable."

Master Cui also agreed: "Yes, Chen Zezhi, the second apprentice of Master Yan, is indeed very skilled in these skills."

Master Yan looked at Feng Zhengming and said, "It's because they have Zhengming leading them. With Zhengming, this powerful junior brother, around, they have to work hard."

Feng Zhengming couldn't help but laugh: "Master, you can't say that. My brothers and sisters have been working very hard. I think they are better than me."

Master Yan: “It depends on how you compare it.”

"If we are only talking about individual cooking skills, then they should be on par with you. If we are talking about teaching apprentices, your brothers may be more experienced than you.

But when it comes to running a store and promoting Shandong cuisine, they are still far behind you.”

Master Yan's words were unanimously agreed by several masters present.

Almost all the old chefs agree that Feng Zhengming is much more capable than all the other chefs in terms of management and promotion.

If it weren't for Feng Zhengming's promotion, Shandong cuisine might have declined long ago.

Even with the influx of cuisines from other overseas countries into the country, Chinese cuisine may not be able to achieve its current status.

But because of Feng Zhengming, he got some publicity.

Many people began to notice the beauty of Chinese cuisine, and also noticed chefs including Feng Zhengming.

In the past, everyone was chasing after various celebrities, but Feng Zhengming made many people start chasing after him as a chef.

Especially the high-profile publicity after he won the national cooking competition.

It really makes more and more people start to pay attention to Chinese cuisine, some of their local special snacks, and some very capable chefs from all over the country.

In the past, chefs were all in the kitchen. Even if they were valued, most of them were spotted by some big bosses who asked them to cook for them at home.

But Feng Zhengming packaged himself and turned himself into the nation's top chef.

Through television programs, newspapers, and various media communications.

Feng Zhengming made himself known to people from all over the country, and they also knew many unknown details of his cooking skills.

In the past, people might have eaten vegetables without knowing what made a good dish good.

But after Feng Zhengming disassembled the food on a TV show.

It made many people realize that the dishes they thought were delicious were actually made that way. They also realized how difficult it is for a chef to make a delicious dish.

Once you see how difficult it is for a chef, you will naturally be able to empathize with his hard work.

The appearance of Feng Zhengming really changed the status of chefs.

In the past, many people looked down upon chefs.

Especially in the period before and after the closure of Yan Xilou, if the food in a restaurant was not good, it was considered the chef's problem. If a restaurant satisfied customers, everyone would think that the owner knew how to run it.

In addition, many overseas restaurants have flocked to China, making many people feel that overseas food is more delicious.

The various traditional cuisines in China are simply out of date and should be abandoned.

The most direct manifestation is that a large number of chefs from Hong Kong have gone to various places to teach various Hong Kong-style cooking methods.

As a result, chefs from Hong Kong and Taiwan can get salaries many times higher than chefs of other cuisines no matter where they are.

In such an atmosphere, Feng Zhengming's sudden emergence can be said to have slapped many people in the face in the national competition.

Afterwards, Feng Zhengming once again distinguished himself at a state banquet with his cooking skills.

Especially his competition with the famous overseas chef Kofman in Hong Kong has confirmed the absolute status of Shandong cuisine.

Since then, Feng Zhengming has truly become a representative of famous Chinese chefs.

Because of Feng Zhengming's rise, Shandong cuisine has regained attention, and many Shandong cuisine chefs have also benefited from it.

Therefore, the old chefs know very well that Feng Zhengming’s existence is really the key to the development of Shandong cuisine and he is the most indispensable figure in the domestic culinary industry.

Master Cui said with emotion: "Zhengming is really the key to leading our Shandong cuisine back to its peak."

This statement was unanimously agreed by the old chefs, and everyone truly felt from the bottom of their hearts that the appearance of Feng Zhengming was a blessing for Shandong cuisine.

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "Master Cui, you are exaggerating more and more. Our Shandong cuisine is such a classic, and it is the essence of our thousands of years of traditional cooking.

I think even without me, there will be great chefs in the future who will carry forward our Shandong cuisine.”

After a short pause, Feng Zhengming looked at the other chefs again and said, "What's more, it's you, Master Cui. You are the real foundation of our Shandong cuisine. With you here, the foundation of Shandong cuisine will not be distorted."

Feng Zhengming's words made the old masters smile.

At the same time, Grandpa and Grandpa Situ also agreed with Feng Zhengming's opinion.

"It is still necessary to have masters like you in charge to prevent Shandong cuisine from going astray."

"Yes, if a cuisine is to be passed down well, it needs a master chef to guard the tradition."

Even Chen Zezhi said: "Yes, uncle, uncle, and master, you are the most precious of our Shandong cuisine."

Grandpa Zhang: "Hahaha, that's right, you guys are truly the masters of Shandong cuisine."

The old masters looked at each other in surprise, and then laughed at the same time.

"Hahaha, Zhengming, why don't you stop praising each other here."

“That’s right, everyone is working hard to inherit and develop Shandong cuisine.”

"We are all contributing, there is no need to judge who contributed more."

"Yes, let's work together to make Shandong cuisine better."

"As long as Shandong cuisine can be inherited and developed well, everyone has contributed, and there is no need to distinguish between high and low."

After having noodles at the Texas branch and settling down in the hotel, talented people from the Texas Chefs Association came to visit us.

President Song Jinsheng did not greet Feng Zhengming immediately, and when he came to visit, he showed obvious resistance to Feng Zhengming.

In fact, everyone knows what’s going on behind this.

When he met Song Jinsheng, Master Cui gave him a direct warning.

"Xiao Song, you can be considered my apprentice. You learned a lot from me, but there are some things you didn't learn well, that is, how to be a human being. You are not qualified as the president."

Song Jinsheng looked at Feng Zhengming who was present.

He simply risked his life: "Teacher Cui, I know you are definitely biased towards Feng Zhengming, but I still have to say that I am not convinced. Feng Zhengming is the national champion and the president of our provincial chefs association, but he has no right to manage our affairs."

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "Song Jinsheng, what you mean is that Dezhou no longer belongs to Qilu?"

Song Jinsheng was stunned by what he said, and he quickly explained: "That's not what I meant."

Feng Zhengming interrupted him: “Since Dezhou is Qilu, then as the president, I can manage the chef associations in various places.

I know you think you are jealous of me because of Liang Xiaocheng's incident, but I still want to make it clear that Liang Xiaocheng's incident has touched my bottom line, so I can't use him anymore."

Song Jinsheng: "It doesn't matter. He is doing well in the South now. He doesn't need you as the president to use him."

Seeing that Song Jinsheng was still unconvinced, Feng Zhengming smiled.

"It doesn't matter where he is. In Qilu, since I am the president, my words still count."

Before Song Jinsheng could speak, Feng Zhengming reminded him: "You don't have to be polite to us. It doesn't matter if you don't want to receive us. I will call a meeting of Texas chefs later. Don't blame me for dismissing you as the president then.

In addition, we don’t have to review your restaurant, and of course your restaurant won’t be included in the recommended guide.”

When Song Jinsheng heard this, his expression changed several times, but he finally had to give in.

It’s not that Song Jinsheng doesn’t want to continue fighting with Feng Zhengming.

Because he knew very well that the restaurant owner would not allow him to do so.

"I am willing to resign as president of the Texas Chefs Association, but our restaurant will still participate in this review, and we do need to be included in the recommended guidelines."

Song Jinsheng couldn't help but add: "I hope I can get a fair review opportunity."

Seeing Song Jinsheng like this, Feng Zhengming and the masters were a little amused.

Everyone originally thought that Song Jinsheng would argue with Feng Zhengming.

I didn't expect Song Jinsheng to give in so quickly.

He was even willing to resign from his position as president of the Texas Chefs Association.

Feng Zhengming: "President Song, there is no need to do this. Since we are going to judge, we will definitely judge seriously and will not favor any side because of personal emotions, so President Song just needs to go back and prepare well."

Master Cui finally spoke up for his apprentice.

"You should continue to serve as the president, but you must remember that the president of the association should consider the development of the association and the local chefs, not just yourself."

Song Jinsheng raised his head and looked at Master Cui, then looked at Feng Zhengming.

Feng Zhengming just smiled calmly: "President Song, you did nothing wrong. We will not remove your position as president. You will continue to be the president. Remember to consider your fellow chefs in Texas more."

Song Jinsheng was not very grateful, but he also understood that his position as president could be removed with just a word from the other party.

So he finally had no choice but to lower his attitude and promise: "I will do a good job in the Chefs Association." (End of this chapter)