Siheyuan: Starting as a Chef Apprentice

Mr. Jacques first leaned in to smell it. The unique scent of mellow beef mixed with fresh vanilla scent filled his nose. He couldn't help but raise his eyebrows slightly, and a look of surprise and expectation flashed in his eyes.

Then, he picked up the cutlery, cut a piece of beef and put it into his mouth, chewing it gently. As his teeth bit, the soft and mellow taste of the beef immediately emerged, melting easily in his mouth, and the rich meaty aroma instantly filled his entire mouth.

Then, the fresh fragrance of rosemary and thyme was released just right, blending perfectly with the aroma of beef, forming a rich and memorable taste. Mr. Jacques's face gradually showed a satisfied expression. He tasted a few pieces in succession, nodding slightly while eating, as if he was making a detailed evaluation of the dish in his mind.

Then, the Chinese-style Thousand Layer Pastry was served. This dessert was served on a fine porcelain plate, and it looked like a fine work of art, with a golden and crispy crust, sprinkled with a thin layer of sesame powder, exuding an enticing aroma, and the red bean paste filling inside was faintly visible, making people salivate at the sight.

The waiter introduced: "Mr. Jacques, this is our Chinese-style puff pastry, which combines the production process of French puff pastry with Chinese red bean paste filling. It has a unique taste and is sweet but not greasy. Please try it."

Mr. Jacques looked at the dessert in front of him with a hint of curiosity in his eyes. He picked up a piece of puff pastry and took a bite. With a "crack", the puff pastry's crust was crispy and delicious, and then the delicate and sweet bean paste spread in his mouth. The sweet but not greasy taste made people linger.

Mr. Jacques' face suddenly showed a smile of surprise. He savored the taste in his mouth carefully. After a while, he put down the dessert in his hand and exclaimed:
"This taste is so amazing. It has the crispy texture of French puff pastry and the rich sweetness of Chinese red bean paste. The combination of the two is so perfect that it is really unexpected."

After tasting all the new dishes, Mr. Jacques sat down with a satisfied and savoring look on his face. He said to Wang Jianye who was standing beside him:
"Mr. Wang, your new dishes really opened my eyes. Take this beef stew with herbs, for example. It has the mellow taste of Chinese stew and the fresh fragrance of French herbs. The two complement each other. It's amazing. And the Chinese-style puff pastry is sweet but not greasy. It combines Chinese fillings and French cooking methods so perfectly. It's rare in the catering industry in Paris."

When Mr. Jacques spoke, his tone was full of appreciation and his eyes revealed his high recognition of these innovative dishes. He gave a thumbs up while speaking to emphasize his evaluation.

Wang Jianye smiled with satisfaction and bowed slightly, saying, "Thank you very much for your recognition and praise, Mr. Jacques. We have been committed to deeply integrating Chinese and French food cultures and creating unique dishes. It is a great encouragement for us to receive recognition from a professional food critic like you."

After Mr. Jacques returned, he sat in his study. The desk lamp in front of his desk emitted soft light. He spread out a pen and paper, recalled his experience of tasting new dishes at Wang's Full System Restaurant, and began to write a review article about Wang's Full System Restaurant.

His expression was focused and serious, the pen in his hand rustled on the paper, and every time he wrote a sentence, he would pause and think for a moment to ensure that the words were precise and could accurately convey his feelings about the dishes.

At the beginning of the article, he first introduced the unique position of Wang's entire chain of restaurants in the Paris catering industry and the efforts it has made to integrate Chinese and French food cultures. He then described in detail each new dish he tasted, emphasizing the dishes' clever attempts and successes in integrating Chinese and French flavors.

He wrote: "In Paris, a city that brings together cuisines from all over the world, Wang's full range of restaurants has always attracted much attention for its unique French-Chinese fusion style. This time, I had the honor of tasting several of their new dishes, which made me marvel at the restaurant's ability to innovate and its grasp of the integration of food culture.

The dish "Vanilla Stewed Beef" perfectly combines the profound flavor of Chinese stew with the unique flavor of French vanilla. The beef is stewed to the perfect softness and melts in your mouth.
The fresh aroma of rosemary and thyme permeates the dish, adding a special freshness to this traditional Chinese dish. Every bite is like a wonderful journey for your taste buds. The Chinese-style thousand-layer puff pastry is a masterpiece from its appearance to its taste.

It draws on the exquisite craftsmanship of French puff pastry to create a golden and crispy crust, while the inside is filled with rich and sweet Chinese bean paste, which is sweet but not greasy.
Two completely different food culture elements blend together in this small dessert, creating a stunning spark. When people taste it, they can feel the delicacy of French desserts and appreciate the charm of Chinese cuisine. "

After writing the article, Mr. Jacques read it carefully several times, polished and adjusted some sentences. After confirming that it was correct, he submitted the article to an influential local newspaper.

Not long after, the review article was published in the food column of the newspaper. On the morning of the day when the newspaper was published, many people in the streets and alleys of Paris bought the newspaper and opened it to read. When seeing Mr. Jacques's high evaluation of the new dishes of Wang's Quanxi Restaurant, many people who didn't know much about this restaurant became very interested.

At the entrance of Wang's full-line restaurants, you can often see this scene: some passers-by are standing outside the restaurant with newspapers in their hands, reading the articles in the newspapers while looking up at the restaurant's sign and appearance, with expressions of curiosity and anticipation on their faces, and they are whispering to each other about the descriptions of the new dishes in the articles.

The number of customers dining in the restaurant has also increased significantly. During lunch and dinner time, long queues formed at the door, and customers patiently waited for the waiter to arrange seats. Everyone wanted to try these new dishes that were praised by food critics.

In the restaurant, the waiters are busier than usual. They move hurriedly but methodically between the tables, always with warm smiles on their faces, providing thoughtful service to customers.

In the kitchen, the chefs are busy in an intense and orderly manner. The flames on the stove are roaring and the dishes in the pot are emitting bursts of aroma as the chefs stir-fry them skillfully. In order to meet the needs of many customers, they dare not stop for a moment.

After tasting the "herb stewed beef", a French lady who came to dine said to her companions: "This dish is really delicious. I have never tasted this kind of flavor before. The beef is stewed very soft and the flavor of the herbs is also very special, which makes the taste of the whole dish very fresh. It is really a very novel experience."

After tasting the Chinese-style puff pastry, her companion responded excitedly: "Yes, this puff pastry is also great, the crust is crispy, and the bean paste inside is sweet. The taste is particularly good, and it feels very creative. The combination of Chinese and French methods is so clever. The chef of this restaurant is really amazing."

The hotel is becoming more and more prosperous, like a bright new star shining more and more in the catering sky of Paris, which naturally aroused the vigilance and further suppression of surrounding peers. On this prosperous street, the competition in the catering industry is like a battlefield without gunpowder. Every restaurant is trying to compete for customers and occupy market share. The rise of Wang's full-line hotel has undoubtedly broken the original competition pattern and made surrounding peers feel unprecedented pressure.

That old French restaurant has been operating in this neighborhood for many years. It has always been well-known in the Paris catering industry for its traditional and authentic French cuisine and stable customer base.

However, since the emergence of Wang's full range of restaurants, the situation has gradually changed.

Customers who were used to coming here to taste French cuisine began to be attracted by the unique Chinese-French fusion dishes of Wang's Full System Hotel, and customers continued to flow to Wang's Full System Hotel like a trickle.

This phenomenon made the owner of the old French restaurant extremely anxious. He often sat in the restaurant's office with a frown on his face, his eyes revealing anxiety and uneasiness.

Seeing the dwindling number of customers in the restaurant, he knew that if he didn't find a way to turn the situation around, the brand he had worked so hard to build up over the years would probably be lost. So, after careful consideration, he decided to adjust his strategy again, trying to turn the tide and regain the lost customers.

He first urgently convened a meeting of the restaurant's marketing team and chef team. The atmosphere in the meeting room was solemn and everyone could feel the boss's urgency at the moment.

The boss sat at the main seat at the conference table, holding the armrests tightly with both hands, leaning forward slightly, and said in a serious tone: "Everyone has seen that our restaurant business is getting harder and harder. The Wang's All-System Restaurant has taken away a lot of our customers. We can't just sit there and wait for death. We must take action!"

The head of the marketing team quickly responded, "Boss, we have made some preliminary plans. We plan to increase our advertising investment. Not only will we post more posters in the surrounding communities, but we will also place advertisements in newspapers and magazines. We may even consider doing some promotion on the radio so that more people will know about our restaurant and our special dishes."

After listening to this, the boss nodded slightly and motioned for him to continue.

The marketing director continued, "In addition, we are also preparing to launch a series of low-priced packages. Nowadays, price is also an important consideration for many customers when choosing a restaurant. By launching low-priced packages, we can attract customers with price advantages and make them feel that they can spend less money to eat the same delicious French food here. This should be able to attract some lost customers back. What do you think?"

After thinking for a while, the boss thought that this plan was feasible, so he decided: "Okay, let's do it as you said. The advertising must be done well, and we must highlight the traditional advantages and special dishes of our restaurant. The dishes of the low-priced set meals must also be carefully designed to ensure cost control and make customers feel that they are getting value for money. Everyone, hurry up and act, time is running out!"

In the following days, the old French restaurant began an intensive promotional campaign. The restaurant staff took to the streets and posted colorful posters in nearby communities, office buildings, commercial streets and other places with high traffic.

The poster is printed with pictures of the restaurant's signature dishes. The French baked snails, pan-fried foie gras and other dishes in the picture look tempting, and there is also a striking slogan next to it: "Authentic French cuisine, super value low-priced set meal, welcome to taste!"

At the same time, the promotional content of the old French restaurant began to appear frequently in the food sections of newspapers and magazines and during the advertising time of radio stations. For a time, it seemed that the whole of Paris was surrounded by the advertisements of this restaurant, and many citizens noticed the low-priced set meal activities they launched.

One day, in a park in Paris, several French customers who used to frequent Wang's All-Round Hotel were sitting on a bench to rest, enjoying the afternoon sun and chatting.

One of them, named Louis, suddenly remembered something and said to his companions, "Hey, have you heard? That old French restaurant is now offering a very cheap set meal. It seems quite cost-effective. Should we try it?"

His companion Pierre raised his eyebrows slightly, a hint of interest appeared on his face, and responded: "Oh? Really? The price is really tempting. I remember going to that restaurant before. The French cuisine is quite authentic. But we have been going to Wang's Restaurant recently. Their dishes can't be found anywhere else. The taste is really unique."

Another lady, Anna, also agreed: "Yes, the dishes at Wang's Restaurant are indeed very unique. Every time I go there, I am always surprised. Moreover, the fusion of Chinese and French styles is really attractive. But the low-priced set meals at the old French restaurant are also a bit tempting. After all, we can save some money. Why don't we go there another day and try and compare them?"

Everyone was discussing the matter. Although they were tempted by the low-priced set meals at the old French restaurant, they were still obsessed with the unique flavors of all Wang's restaurants.

On the other hand, when Wang Jianye learned that the old French restaurant launched a low-priced set meal in an attempt to attract customers, he immediately realized that this was an inevitable competition and that he had to respond actively to stabilize the restaurant's business situation. So he quickly organized a meeting of the management to discuss countermeasures.

In the conference room, everyone sat around the conference table with a serious expression, knowing the importance of this meeting. Wang Jianye sat at the head of the table, looking at everyone calmly, and spoke first:
"Everyone knows that the old French restaurant is now offering low-priced set meals. This is obviously aimed at us, and they want to take back our customers. We need to discuss and see how to deal with this situation. Everyone, please share your ideas." (End of this chapter)