The boss cooks, and the bankrupt company opens a state banquet restaurant

Chapter 256 Boss Su, stop talking, I understand

Big job?
Su Chen said, "What big job?"

Lu Yongliang was silent for a moment, and after organizing the conversation for a long time, he told Su Chen exactly what he had chatted with Wang Maolin before, and attached his own guesses.

"That is to say, the so-called banquet this time is most likely that. It is normal for a state banquet to be reported to the association, but judging from the information in the invitation letter."

"There are still many hotels that meet the conditions, and the final step of verification is still needed."

Lao Lu leaned over to support the table and stared at Su Chen, "Boss, this is the chance! If you succeed, you will become famous. If you fail, there will be no loss. You can do whatever you want!"

hiss.
Su Chen never expected that I was suddenly asked to take over this thing when I had done nothing!

He still had a question, "The so-called verification, what does it mean to verify?"

Lu Yongliang breathed a sigh of relief.

What he fears most is that Su Chen is not interested in this matter. If that is the case, the efforts of the chefs over the past six months will be basically in vain.

Lu Yongliang said, "It has not been made public at the moment, but there is a guess that it is the membership level. Mr. Maolin also talked about this last time, and the general meaning is that whoever has higher-level members will have more members. It’s easier to get recognition if you have a home. Of course, it all depends on many aspects.”

Membership level should be considered one of the assessment contents, but the decoration standard of the banquet hall, the popularity of the restaurant itself, and the acceptance of the restaurant's food in the hearts of the public are all assessment criteria.

In this way, it is not difficult to understand why when the association first launched the evaluation system, there were some messy standards such as capital verification.

If you don't understand even the most basic assets of a restaurant, how can it become a place to host such a large banquet?

If it is not even well-known among the people, then wouldn't it be a joke in the end to host the state banquet?
At this moment, Su Chen finally understood. Several leaders in the city reminded him time and time again that it was time to renovate a banquet hall. Even Wang Maolin from the association reminded him several times what it meant.

You may have probably guessed what the co-author is, am I the only one with a low level of understanding?
"Mr. Lu, the current situation is that we are still being recommended. If we want to become the final successor, we at least need to go to the association for a new round of verification and evaluation, and compete with other restaurants, and even Including hotels like the State Guesthouse?”

Lu Yongliang nodded, "There are also the Beijing International Hotel where Lao Cui worked before, and other hotels that you probably know."

Huh. Su Chen is a little confused.

How can our small business be compared to other hotels?

But no matter what, Lu Yongliang said something right.

The thing is, if it succeeds, you will gain fame and fortune, if you fail, you will not lose anything. Of course, there is another situation, and that is if you mess up during the banquet.

Of course, this scenario is unlikely.

Seeing Su Chen's silence, Lu Yongliang reminded, "Besides these, there is also very important content."

He has cooked in state hotels before and is quite experienced in this kind of thing. "Let me give you an analogy. For example, if there are leaders of country A among the guests dining this time, then there must be someone in our restaurant." He is very familiar with the various ethnic customs of country A and will never allow any taboo content about that country to appear during the meal.”

"Does that mean we have to cater to each other's tastes in terms of dishes?" Su Chen asked.

"It's not necessary." Lao Lu said slowly, "In terms of taste, generally speaking, we will choose more popular flavors. This is why our Hubei cuisine has not been on the table in recent years. Instead, Huaiyang cuisine and Sichuan cuisine have appeared on the stage. That’s why there are so many times.”

Su Chen nodded.

If that's the case, it would be better. If you really do it to cater to other people's tastes, it would be quite complicated.

But if it's just taboo, then there's no big problem.

After all, I still have a general history of world cuisine in my mind for reference. I can just extract the relevant content and leave it to Ling Shuyu and the others to handle it.

Right now, it's still about the association's evaluation, which is more important.

"That's alright. I'll seize the time to go to the capital in the next few days."

Lao Lu smiled happily, "We old guys can't accompany you to the capital this time. You have to take care of yourself. I'll tell Mingke and let him take care of you there."

Su Chen did not reject Lao Lu's kindness.

After Lu Yongliang left the office, Su Chen was lying on the chair with his mind in a mess. He didn't know what he was thinking about. There was still an unfinished task at hand.

It needs to collect eight restaurants to complete it. Now there are only five. There are still three left and I don’t know when they will be completed.

Why are you in a hurry?

The twentieth day of the twelfth lunar month.

There were still ten days left before the Chinese New Year. Su Chen finally bought a ticket to the capital. This time he went out without anyone accompanying him.

Even the driver is no longer Zhang Jiayi.

"Didn't you say how many days you would stay?"

In the parking lot of the station, Ling Shuyu gave a white thermos cup to Su Chen, "This is the coffee I made in the morning. You can take it with you to drink on the road."

Su Chen was not polite. He opened the small lid and tested the temperature. It was still piping hot. "There are only ten days left to celebrate the New Year. We can't stay for a few days. I have contacted Mr. Maolin a few times in the past few days." Once, he said that it would be enough to do a simple evaluation after going there.”

Ling Shuyu looked forward and was silent for a while, "Where are you going to celebrate the New Year?"

Su Chen was asked suddenly.

Yeah, where the hell am I going to celebrate the New Year?
There doesn't seem to be anywhere to go.

"I don't know. Let's talk about it then."

Opening the car door, a blast of air-conditioning came in, "Go back quickly and be careful on the road."

Ling Shuyu looked at the boss's back through the car window. He put his left hand on the door handle and moved it, but never opened the door. It wasn't until Su Chen's back disappeared around the corner of the parking lot that he leaned on the seat weakly. He let out a breath on his back.

Hope everything goes well
Half a year ago, I took the risk of resigning and decided to join Meili. I went from an annual salary of nearly one million to a small employee with a monthly salary of 3,000. This may be a decision that is dumber than a fool in the eyes of many people.

But judging from today's results, it seems that Ling Shuyu's choice doesn't have much of a problem.

After coming to Meishilai, she did not become a member of the kitchen like she did at the beginning, but gradually found her own position in the work.

If Su Chen is the core figure of Meili, then Ling Shuyu is the helmsman of Meili.

Now that the company has the opportunity to hold a state banquet, for a workaholic like Ling Shuyu, the spiritual satisfaction it brings cannot be measured by money at all.

'come on. '

Ling Shuyu silently repeated the unfinished words in his heart, stepped on the accelerator lightly, and drove away from the station.

Thanks to the extremely developed transportation nowadays, Su Chen arrived at the high-speed railway station in Beijing in just three and a half hours.

As expected, Shang Mingke was already waiting outside the station.

After the two met, Shang Mingke looked at this "good friend" who was ten years younger than him and couldn't help but sigh.

"Every time I meet you, the feeling is always different."

It would be better if Boss Su hadn't become sworn brothers with Uncle Lu, at least we could be on friendly terms with him. The seniority hierarchy is so messed up now.

"What's the difference? I'm still me."

Su Chen got into Shang Mingke's car and they both sat in the middle row. This business car was really big.

"I asked around before I came here. Today is Monday and the association is busy. Should I just send it to you? You should take a rest first."

Su Chen said, "We are here to do things, so hurry up and do it. Otherwise, you won't be able to sleep well if you keep this matter in your mind."

Shang Mingke joked, "It's rare to see you still feeling stressed. Okay, let's go directly to the association."

Although Su Chen didn't say it, he was sighing in his heart.

What do you mean by feeling pressured? This time I am under extreme pressure.

Perhaps at the level of the association, or at the level of Lu Yongliang and others, this matter has been planned for a long time, and there were even signs early on.

But for Su Chen himself, this matter was really a bit sudden.

The reason why he felt so much pressure was that Su Chen felt that among the difficulties he had faced in the past, he could basically solve most of the problems with his own strength and skills.

But now it's different.

My level is so insignificant in this competition that it seems not worth mentioning.

While I was thinking randomly, the car stopped in front of a small building that looked a little shabby. The look here formed a sharp contrast with the bustling street right outside.

It seems like a village in the city.

"This area is not easy to renovate as it involves both cultural relic protection and air control management. Later on, no one cared about it and it retained its original appearance from the 1940s and 1950s," Shang Mingke explained.

"I see it."

Su Chen jumped out of the car and asked, "Do you want to go back first or come and see the excitement?"

Shang Mingke waved his hand through the car window, "I can't join in the excitement. I guess it will be late when you finish your work. Let me know in advance and I'll send a car to pick you up."

Su Chen nodded without refusing, "Okay, I'll go first."

Communication between men is very simple. They just talk about what they want to say. Especially for people with personalities like Su Chen and Shang Mingke, unnecessary greetings and politeness should be avoided if possible.

After the two parted at the entrance of the association building, Su Chen put his hands in his pockets and walked into the hall.

This relatively retro building has three floors in total. The floor of the hall is still paved with the small white-spotted tiles from many years ago, while the outside is covered with long strips of white tiles.

There was nothing in the lobby on the first floor, and the corridors on both sides exuded a strong smell of toilets. Obviously, the toilets also retained the characteristics of that era: squat toilets.

Following the instructions given by Mr. Mao Lin, Su Chen came to the fifth office at the corner of the third floor. As soon as he reached the door, he heard loud noise inside.

"What! Why didn't your association tell you earlier? Now that we are fully prepared, you are adding conditions at the last minute? This is too much!"

"Yes, we agreed that as long as there is a top-level member, it will be fine. Our hotel has a fourth-level member, so how come that doesn't meet the standard?"

"That's right! Aren't the people in the State Guesthouse also a bunch of Level 4 members? Why can they do it but we can't?"

Mr. Mao Lin's voice also spread into the corridor through the noise.

"It's not impossible! Please take a look at the standards. This is not a temporary condition. It was set in the previous document. Membership is just one of the standards and does not represent all! The reason you don't meet the standards is mainly because the specifications of the banquet hall do not meet the requirements. It has nothing to do with membership!"

Then there was another burst of noise.

Zhang Maolin impatiently kicked several people out of the room. Su Chen watched these bosses in suits and ties walk past him angrily.

"Damn it, you didn't tell me earlier that it was not going to work, and I spent more than a thousand taels on the renovation!"

"Who said it wasn't true? Damn! It would be fine if I failed in the competition, but now they won't even issue me an admission ticket. This is too much!"

Looking at the several small bosses leaving, Su Chen began to have doubts in his heart.

It seems like I have invested more than 3,000 dabuluo in my own banquet hall?
The detailed accounts are not calculated, and all the money is with Liu Shengnan, but it is also a huge investment. If it were not for the guarantee of the city secretary and the district leaders, Su Chen would really not be willing to pay this money.

Push the door open and go in.

Zhang Maolin was fanning his face with a plastic fan. On the fan was an advertising slogan about men's health.

"Mr. Mao Lin?"

"Hey!" Zhang Maolin threw his fan, "Boss Su! Haha, I finally got you here. I've been wondering why you haven't shown up in the past few days since I sent out the invitation letter."

Su Chen looked around the office and sat down casually on a chair opposite Zhang Maolin's desk.

"Something happened at the company and I was delayed. It's not too late to come now."

"Not too late, not too late. I just sent a group of people away."

Su Chen glanced at the door and lowered his voice, "What's going on?"

Zhang Maolin picked up the teacup and took a sip of water. "Stop talking. You are a bunch of old-fashioned people who believe everything they hear. They invested because they thought they had some inside information. Now they don't meet the requirements at all. They blame the association for not providing clear documents. Can they blame us? Otherwise, you, Boss Su, are the most stable! You don't make any moves without actual information."

Su Chen:.
It’s not that I won’t do anything, it’s just that I don’t know anything!
"So what's going on now? Why did you ask me to come here this time?"

Zhang Maolin stood up and closed the door, then returned to his desk. "It's already the last stage, why are you still asking?"

Boss Su really doesn't care about anything.

"It's just a competition. I was the one who suggested reporting Delicious to the company. You now have four Level 4 members as a base, plus the banquet hall is newly renovated and invested in. In addition, your company has good public opinion in the local area and even on the entire Internet, so it can be considered to be preliminarily qualified."

Su Chen always thought that the so-called online reviews were related to popularity or something like that.

But I only understood it after Zhang Maolin's explanation.

This refers to the evaluation system that major restaurants have installed on the official website of the Culinary Association after the membership system was launched.

Before, only Lu Yongliang had made a few comments.

Later, after the famous cuisine was established, the number of reviews has increased over the past month, and without exception, all of them have received full-star reviews.

This undoubtedly adds a lot of points to Delicious in the preliminary evaluation process.

'It turns out that I hit it by mistake.'

Su Chen laughed dumbly.

"It has to be you, Boss Su. You didn't do anything on the surface, but you were actually preparing everything clearly behind the scenes. I also watched your variety show! You brought a lot of customers to the company, right?"

Su Chen waved his hand, "Don't talk about this, those are all tasks from the city, just kidding."

Zhang Maolin showed an expression that I understood, "It's getting late, and people from other restaurants should be here by now. Let me first tell you what we're doing today."

After Mao Lin's explanation, Su Chen roughly understood what he meant.

The initial evaluation is conducted directly by the association. According to the standards currently set by the association, there are really few restaurants that meet the requirements.

There is no doubt that it is the State Guesthouse. It is an old hotel and has unique strengths in this regard.

There is no need to say much about the International Hotel, a restaurant that serves all major cuisines from across the country, and the chefs are basically veterans who have experienced many state banquets.

These are two hotels in Beijing, and they are very powerful.

On the contrary, there are two hotels that Su Chen has never heard of.

One is a hotel from Shanghai, named Peace II. It is said to be a new hotel invested by Peace Hotel. After getting the news, they recruited a group of very capable chefs to serve it, hoping to directly win this big order and make a big hit!
The other one is the Tianhe Hotel in Yangcheng.

From the name, we can tell that the capital behind it is mostly with the participation of the government, and they are also determined to win. They want to return to the position of big brother by making Cantonese cuisine and take this opportunity to get a share of the hot pie during the economic winter.

The last one is this one.
"No." Su Chen felt a chill on his back, "Teacher Mao Lin, why do I feel like..."

"It's like a bunch of big guys are fighting, and suddenly a little kid pops out and wants to fight with them, too?"

Let’s not even talk about who is the capital behind them.

Just talking about the geographical location.

Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai are undoubtedly the three largest cities in China.

Delicious food comes to Jingzhou.

There's a world of difference between them!
Look at the name of the restaurant.

State Guesthouse, International Hotel, Peace Building II, Tianhe Hotel.

What we mean is that these names are mainly simple and unpretentious, but full of style. Then look at your own names.

Delicious.
Su Chen suddenly felt a little regretful.

We should have re-registered and changed the name, it would have been better to change it to Jingzhou Hotel!
Oh, yes, Jingzhou Hotel has been registered.

Let’s talk about the issue of strength.

Both the State Guesthouse and the International Hotel are old-established hotels and have an unparalleled advantage in hosting state banquets, and that is experience!
Maybe they are not necessarily the best, but there is one bottom line for the banquets of these two hotels: there will be no mistakes.

Not making mistakes is the strongest strength!

And the other two.

They are all newly built restaurants. They have recruited many famous chefs from all over the world and have strong backing, so they can definitely do their best in all aspects.

On the contrary, delicious.

'I only have a bunch of stupid employees!'

Zhang Maolin also felt a little embarrassed when he saw Su Chen's expression.

"To be honest, this time it's a bit of a what. Or maybe we didn't make the rules comprehensive enough, and your company seems to have taken advantage of the loophole."

"For example, our rule is that we must have no less than four chefs with the highest membership level in the industry. Isn't it a coincidence that the highest membership level right now is level four, and your company happens to have four of them."

The other four big hotels have far more level-four members than Delicious.

The restaurants that were driven away before were stuck with this condition.

"For example, the rule is that from the launch of the membership system, the official website must have no less than 1,000 positive reviews, and the negative review rate must not be higher than 1%. Isn't that a coincidence? You participated in a variety show, and after you came back, the positive reviews kept increasing, but every negative review was gone!"

Damn! The variety show did bring some traffic, but at that time the famous cuisine department had just been renovated. Isn’t it normal for a restaurant with five chefs to have no negative reviews?

"For example, the decoration of the banquet hall must meet the standards. If you say that you, Boss Su, didn't get the news in advance, I don't believe Zeng Guofeng. He has decorated the People's Auditorium in Jingzhou before, and he also participated in part of the design of the State Guesthouse's renovation. You can convince him to design and decorate for you, isn't it for a banquet of this level? If you say that you didn't get the news, who would believe it!"

Su Chen:? ? ?
Isn’t Uncle Zeng a small contractor?
When I visited him some time ago, he was still squatting on the ground in his work clothes, laying tiles. I even bought him a bucket of green tea to quench his thirst.

How does this have anything to do with him?

"Look, taking everything into consideration, your company just meets the standards. It seems like every item is specifically designed to meet the standards, hehe."

Looking at Zhang Maolin's "I understand" expression, Su Chen really had a puzzled feeling.

I really didn't do anything!
"Okay, Boss Su, although you are just qualified, you still have to compete, right? The evaluation will start in a while, so don't be nervous. There is absolutely no inside information here, so just wait for the results."

"Wait for the results?" Su Chen asked puzzledly.

"Yes!" Zhang Maolin said, "We have all your information here. Each standard will be re-scored by the association, and the average score will be taken. Whoever has the highest score will do it! It's that simple."

Huh.
Su Chen suddenly wasn't nervous anymore.

I came here by accident, how could I possibly get a high score?

Right.

(End of this chapter)