From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

Chapter 964 Restaurant Opening, Delicious Enjoyment
The first group of guests were the first official customers served before the old-style house restaurant opened.

Among the invited guests were family members, including Feng Zhengming's fellow apprentices.

Some of them are renowned chefs in the industry, including master chefs of Shandong cuisine, as well as famous chefs from various regions and some well-known figures in the culinary world in Beijing.

Another group consists of business people, including Hong Kong businessmen and mainland bosses who are familiar with Feng Zhengming.

Bao Guofeng and his family of three were also on the first list of invited guests.

The last group of people were invited by Feng Zhengming's uncle and aunt, and they were guests that only Feng Zhengming, as the national culinary champion, could invite.

Bao Ruiheng, who came to the old house with his father, was also taken aback by the scene.

"Dad, how come Scholar Feng was able to invite so many people?"

Bao Guofeng: "You think those labels on him are just labels? You bunch of kids usually idolize celebrities and think they're so amazing, but did you see that in this scene today?"

You idolize those celebrities; you weren't even qualified to be among the first customers here.

Bao Ruiheng immediately understood.

He suddenly realized that Feng Zhengming was truly an extraordinary chef.

As Bao Ruiheng followed his parents inside, he looked at the invited guests and felt so afraid he didn't dare to breathe.

Feng Zhengming, dressed in a white chef's uniform, stood in front of the old house to greet the guests.

He was very polite to every guest who came, shaking hands and greeting them.

Upon seeing Bao Guofeng and his family of three enter, Feng Zhengming greeted them with a smile.

"Welcome, welcome. Thank you for your presence, Mr. Bao."

Bao Guofeng: "Haha, how could I possibly refuse an invitation from one of the top chefs in the country like you?"

Feng Zhengming: "Thank you, Mr. Bao and Mrs. Bao, please come in. Once the dishes are served, I will personally toast you."

Bao Guofeng and his family of three did not linger at the door and went straight into the old house.

Mrs. Bao looked at the interior decoration and couldn't help but praise, "The decoration here is really exquisite."

As soon as she finished speaking, Mrs. Bao heard several familiar voices.

"Oh, Mrs. Bao, you've come too."

"Mrs. Bao and Mr. Bao both came to show their support; Scholar Feng has a lot of influence."

"It's been such a long time since I've seen Mrs. Bao."

Looking in the direction of the sound, I saw several domestic bosses with similar net worth to Mr. Bao, all accompanied by their wives.

Bao Guofeng and his wife walked forward together to join the wives of these domestic business owners.

The couple then realized that the bosses Feng Zhengming had invited were indeed some of the more influential business owners in China in recent years.

The key issue is not just some business owners from the north, but also many business owners from the south, and even those from the port city.

Through their conversation, Bao Guofeng couldn't help but realize that he had underestimated Feng Zhengming.

He and his wife felt that Feng Zhengming was gradually gaining control of the Shanghai catering industry.

However, from conversations with several business owners from the South...

Bao Guofeng discovered that Feng Zhengming's influence extended far beyond Shanghai.

Some of the business owners from the south who were invited this time came with specific purposes in mind.

They wanted to discuss cooperation with Feng Zhengming so that he could open branches in the south.

Another crucial point is the hope to collaborate with Feng Zhengming to publish a recommendation guide in their province.

This shows that everyone has already accepted Feng Zhengming's recommended guidelines and the standards he set.

He is already considered a true catering tycoon in China.

Bao Guofeng, one of the invited business owners, felt that some of them were also considering visiting Feng Zhengming's old-style restaurant, wanting to learn from his methods, and some even wanted to open their own similar establishments.

Bao Guofeng and his business associates were chatting.

Mr. Cai and Mr. Weiling from the port city, along with several master chefs from the domestic culinary industry, also arrived one after another.

Bao Guofeng could tell that these people all had very close relationships with Feng Zhengming.

It is not difficult to see that Feng Zhengming already held a very high position in the culinary industry.

After welcoming his master and other senior chefs into the room, Feng Zhengming invited the guests to go in and prepare the private rooms.

The private room that Bao Guofeng and his group entered was a large private room located on the second floor.

A rather large round table was set with clearly custom-made tableware and various fresh flowers.

After some polite refusals from Bao Guofeng, everyone took their seats.

After sitting down, I could clearly feel that the backrest of the chair was quite comfortable.

Then several waiters came in, carefully confirmed the number of people present, and then brought out prepared towels so that all the guests could wipe their hands clean.

Then place the chopsticks, knives, forks, spoons, and other utensils in front of the guests.

Bao Guofeng and his colleagues couldn't help but feel that the service alone was far superior to most of the restaurants they had ever eaten at.

Next, ten cold dishes were served.

Feng Zhengming had made a careful plan, and the number of cold dishes arranged would vary depending on the number of people in each private room.

For bosses like Bao Guofeng, whose private rooms are quite large, ten cold dishes were served.

And each cold dish is presented with great care.

There was beef arranged in the shape of a peony, smoked fish arranged like a jade pavilion, and amber pig trotters piled up like a fan.

Just looking at the presentation of each cold dish surprised all the restaurant owners present.

Bao Guofeng leaned close to his wife's ear and whispered, "This first 'color' of Feng Zhuangyuan has been done very well."

Mrs. Bao responded: "This is not just about 'color'. In China, cuisine emphasizes 'color, aroma, taste, presentation, and shape'. These ten cold dishes have already achieved perfection in 'color, aroma, presentation, and shape'."

After hearing his wife's words, Bao Guofeng looked at the cold dishes on the table and had to admit that his wife was right.

Of course, when you taste it next, the flavor is also impeccable.

Among the cold dishes on the table, one particularly unique dish aroused everyone's curiosity.

"What is this? Is it a cherry?"

"It looks like a cherry, and it tastes like a cherry when I eat it, but I don't think it's a cherry. It tastes like chocolate."

"Yes, yes, I also think it should be cherry-flavored chocolate."

"Cherry-flavored chocolate? Shouldn't this be considered a dessert? How can it be considered a cold dish?"

Hearing everyone's curious guesses, Bao Guofeng, his wife, and son were also very curious about this cherry-shaped dish.
The waiter quickly provided an answer.

"This dish is called cherry foie gras, and it's a dish created by the chef using French foie gras."

This answer surprised everyone present.

They all stared wide-eyed in disbelief.

"Is it French foie gras?"

"This, this doesn't taste like foie gras at all."

"Yes, is this really foie gras?"

"This is amazing! You can make French foie gras like this?"

However, someone who knew Feng Zhengming pointed to another sweet cold dish on the table.

"If our top scholar Feng can make yams like this, what about foie gras?"

Everyone looked at the plate of blueberry and yam puree and could only marvel at Feng Zhengming's exquisite skills.

The cold dishes are arranged in a circle so that each guest can have a serving.

Next, the waiter cleared away all the cold dishes and then served a variety of hot dishes. The first dishes served were various steamed and stewed dishes.

Each dish was also carefully designed and plated.

When served in the right tableware, it will amaze everyone.

The taste of the dishes was also different from the previous cold dishes.

In the private room where the master chefs were serving dishes, they conducted a very detailed analysis of Feng Zhengming's creations.

After the hot dishes were served, the experienced chefs compared them with the cold dishes and quickly recognized Feng Zhengming's unique design.

"Zhengming's design is excellent. His cold dishes seem plentiful, but the seasoning is quite mild and there is almost no greasiness. The portion is just one bite per person, and the sweet and sour flavors are just right to whet the appetite."

"That's right. After having a cold appetizer to whet your appetite, it feels much more comfortable to eat a hot dish."

"This over-design is really excellent."

"The cold dishes did not steal the spotlight from the hot dishes."

"It seems that Zhengming has made very thorough preparations for the opening of his restaurant."

"His design for serving dishes is something many restaurants simply can't match."

The teachers then evaluated the work from a professional standpoint.

They then realized that the standards set by Feng Zhengming's recommendation guidelines, whether in Shandong or Shanghai, had actually been relaxed considerably.

If we were to evaluate it according to the standards used by Feng Zhengming's restaurant today...

The way the dishes are presented is something that many large restaurants can only dream of.

Master Cui looked at the several state banquet chefs who had been invited from Beijing.

"This standard is probably only something that state banquets can achieve."

The chefs who had prepared state banquets looked at each other.

One of the oldest masters spoke up.

"Hahaha, Lao Cui, have you forgotten? Zhengming was also a state banquet chef. He was in charge of the return of the state banquet, and the platter he designed with the landscape of the motherland is still a pinnacle of state banquets."

After the state banquet chef said that, Chef Cui and several other chefs from Jinan laughed.

Meanwhile, the master chefs from other regional cuisines present also felt that Feng Zhengming was somewhat beyond their ability to judge.

These are things that Feng Zhengming considered and designed, things that many chefs would never even consider.

It's like if you can't even cut potato shreds evenly, how can you possibly stir-fry a good plate of potato shreds?

Feng Zhengming can adjust the flavors of each dish, both cold and hot, in his restaurant, ensuring that each dish provides customers with a very good experience.

The premise is that he has absolute confidence in his skills and can make the seasoning of each dish very delicate.

This ability to season ingredients alone is something many chefs might not be able to achieve.

This makes it impossible for master chefs in other restaurants to learn.

Some dishes have been steamed, stewed, or boiled.

Next up are some stir-fried dishes, including various classic Shandong stir-fries and some small stir-fries.

When these dishes are served, their flavors take another step forward.

The customers in each private room enjoyed their meal immensely.

Especially for the veteran chefs, tasting authentic Shandong cuisine again left them frequently amazed by Feng Zhengming's culinary skills.

"Zhengming's craftsmanship is truly remarkable."

"Yes, this stir-fried pork kidney is absolutely textbook-level."

"And this stir-fried double crispy dish is cooked to perfection."

"Whether it's stir-fried tripe with coriander, the coriander has been carefully removed, so there's no tough string in it, and it's very tender."

"The materials are really good, and combined with Zhengming's excellent craftsmanship, there's nothing to criticize."

In the private room where Bao Guofeng and his group of bosses were staying, they were amazed by the dishes that Feng Zhengming served, such as "Searching for Dragons in the Snow".

"This Scholar Feng can actually cook Cantonese cuisine?"

"This 'Searching for the Dragon in the Snow' dish is excellent."

"I think this dish is also found in Shandong cuisine, right? I think it's called something like 'Hibiscus Crab'."

"Yes, yes, it's a dish that's somewhat similar."

"I've noticed that even though I've eaten quite a lot of food since I started eating, I don't feel thirsty at all, and the flavors of these dishes are all quite bland."

"I never imagined that Shandong cuisine could be so light and refreshing."

"It should be said that Feng Zhuangyuan made some changes, and it is not the seasoning of Shandong cuisine in the past."

"Yes, but his changes really made the dishes more delicious."

The meal served to the first group of guests had not yet reached its climax.

The real climax of the banquet was yet to come.

After stir-frying the vegetables, the next thing to do tonight is to cook the main course.

This includes delicious braised cabbage with prawns.

It also includes classic Shandong dishes such as braised sea cucumber with scallions and braised pork intestines.

In addition to these, there are also some dishes created by Feng Zhengming.

When these dishes were served, they truly surprised all the guests in each private room.

The experienced chefs know that these elaborately prepared dishes are the real stars of the show.

To prepare these main dishes, Feng Zhengming presented them in a progressive manner, starting with cold dishes and then moving on to steaming, boiling, stewing, and stir-frying.

It can be said that it has whetted everyone's appetite.

When the final dishes were served, it really felt like everyone had a release point.

You can fully unleash your pent-up appetite with these elaborately cooked dishes.

As each dish was served, even the experienced chefs couldn't resist taking a few more bites.

The flavors progress in layers, and when it comes to cooking, the richness of the taste becomes a pleasure.

At this point, almost all the dishes in front of us had been eaten.

All the plates were removed, and the final dish served became the climax of the grand concert.

When these dishes are served, the waiter will ask the guests if they would like to have a main course with them.
To the surprise of all the guests, the main dishes in the restaurant were specially designed.

From steamed buns, sesame seed cakes, and dumplings to noodles, rice, and fried rice, they are all quite distinctive.

At Bao Guofeng's table, even one of the restaurant owners couldn't help but ask, "Isn't this Scholar Feng a bit too versatile? Can't anyone do anything without him, whether it's a serious case or a simple one?"

One of the restaurant owners who had worked with Feng Zhengming said, "Haha, Feng Zhengming's kitchen isn't just run by him alone. There must be a dedicated pastry chef there as well."

In fact, the various white-pasted staple foods were not made by Feng Zhengming himself, but were all made by Lü Chongshan.

This was the pastry chef who initially approached Feng Zhengming with his exceptional pastry-making skills.

Thanks to Feng Zhengming's deliberate cultivation and instruction over the years, the art of making white dishes has undergone a transformation.

In the kitchen of Feng Zhengming's restaurant, he makes all sorts of steamed buns, sesame cakes, dumplings, and noodles in various styles.

Therefore, when the main course was served, it also surprised the guests who had ordered it.

This grand food and music concert has finally come to a real end.

Finally, Feng Zhengming and Jiang Chengzhe, along with Xia Hui, Lü Chongshan, and the apprentices, made the desserts together.

After dessert, the guests knew that the banquet was over, but everyone was still a little reluctant to leave.

(End of this chapter)