Siheyuan: Starting as a Chef Apprentice

As Xiao Li spoke, his face was filled with confidence, and his eyes revealed his optimism about this shop. As he spoke, he pointed to the surrounding landmark buildings, indicating to Wang Jianye the advantages of the surrounding environment.

After hearing what Xiao Li said, Wang Jianye stopped, raised his head slightly, and began to carefully observe the shop in front of him and its surroundings. The appearance of the shop was quite modern, and the overall architectural style was simple and elegant. The decoration materials on the facade looked high-quality, showing a refined style. The door of the shop was spacious and bright. Through the glass door, you can see that the space inside was open, the layout was regular, and there were good lighting conditions.

Looking around, the eye-catching sign of a large shopping mall stands not far away. Customers are coming in and out continuously, many of them holding shopping bags. It is obvious that they have just finished a shopping trip and are in need of a meal and rest.

In office buildings, office workers often look out the window to the street outside during their busy schedules, looking for a suitable place to eat. In residential areas, elderly people take a leisurely stroll, and young parents play with their children in the small square on the street. Such residential areas can undoubtedly provide a stable source of family customers for restaurants.

Wang Jianye observed and nodded slightly, and his initial impression of this location was very good. However, he knew that the location selection could not be easily decided based on the superficial prosperity, and he needed to have a deeper understanding of the actual situation.

So he turned to his colleague who was in charge of business negotiations and said, "Go find out about the rent, area and other details of this shop. We need to carefully evaluate the rationality of cost and space utilization."

The colleague responded immediately, walked into the store quickly, found the person in charge, and began to ask about the details. Not long after, the colleague came out with a document, handed it to Wang Jianye, and said:
"Boss Wang, this is what I understand. In terms of rent, according to this location and the size of the shop, it is at a medium level in the market. However, the landlord said that if it is a long-term lease, preferential terms can be discussed appropriately.

In terms of area, the two floors together are about 500 square meters, which is enough for us to create a comfortable and fully functional restaurant space.”

Wang Jianye took the information and read it carefully, thinking silently in his mind. He considered the store's geographical advantages, potential customer base, and compatibility with the hotel's brand positioning, and felt that this store really had great potential and was a rare location for opening a store.

After some thought, he decisively said to his team members: "This place is worth fighting for. I will contact the landlord to negotiate. Everyone should also get ready and organize the information about our hotel's advantages and business plans, and strive to successfully take over this shop."

Afterwards, Wang Jianye contacted the landlord through various channels and expressed his intention to rent a shop to open a branch of the restaurant. The landlord heard that it was the famous Wang's Hotel in Paris and also showed some interest, but in business negotiations, he naturally hoped to gain the greatest benefits, so the two sides agreed on a time and started multiple rounds of negotiations.

At the negotiation table, the atmosphere was sometimes tense and sometimes relatively relaxed. Wang Jianye always arrived on time with his professional team members. They prepared a detailed business plan, from the hotel's brand concept, past operating performance, and food features to the market prospect forecast, marketing strategy, and the idea of ​​integrating with the local catering culture after opening a branch in Lyon. They explained everything clearly and systematically to the landlord, trying to let the landlord see the strong strength and development potential of Wang's entire hotel chain.

The landlord put forward many requirements and considerations regarding key issues such as rental price, lease term, and shop usage rules. The two sides went back and forth, expressed their opinions, and continued to negotiate and adjust.

Sometimes, the two parties will discuss the details of a clause for a long time, each stating the pros and cons, and looking for a balance that both parties can accept.

During one of the rounds of negotiations, the landlord looked at Wang Jianye, frowned slightly and said, "Mr. Wang, the rent you proposed is indeed lower than I expected. You also know the advantages of this location. The rents of surrounding shops are not low. And I also have some concerns about the later maintenance and use of the shop. After all, this is related to the long-term value of the shop."

Wang Jianye smiled and responded calmly: "Mr. Landlord, we highly recognize the value of this location, so we sincerely hope to rent your shop. However, although our hotel is doing well in Paris, we are just starting to expand our business in Lyon, and we are also facing a lot of pressure in terms of cost investment and market cultivation in the early stage.

The rental price we proposed is a reasonable quotation after comprehensive consideration of various factors. In terms of the maintenance and use of the store, we will strictly follow the contract agreement to ensure that no damage will be caused to the store. At the same time, we will actively cooperate with your management requirements to make this store more dynamic and valuable under our management. This is a win-win situation for both of us. "

After rounds of difficult negotiations, both parties constantly weighed the pros and cons and made concessions to each other, and finally reached a consensus and successfully rented the shop. At that moment, Wang Jianye and his team members all showed gratified smiles on their faces, and everyone knew that this was a solid and critical step in the expansion of Wang's full range of hotel brands.

After the shop was rented, the intensive preparation work for the branch store was fully launched. The first thing to be determined was the decoration style, which should not only continue the French-Chinese fusion characteristics of the Paris headquarters so that old customers can feel the familiar brand atmosphere, but also make some clever fine-tuning based on the local cultural elements of Lyon to make it more in line with the preferences of local customers, showing respect and integration of local culture, so as to attract more Lyon citizens to enter the store.

To this end, Wang Jianye specially invited a professional team of interior designers to conduct several discussions with the core members of the hotel.

The designers first studied the decoration style of the Paris headquarters in depth, extracting the iconic Chinese-French fusion elements, such as the combination of Chinese carved screens and red lanterns with French retro wallpapers and crystal chandeliers, to create an elegant and romantic dining environment. Then, they came to Lyon to learn more about the local history, culture, folk customs and architectural features, and drew inspiration from them to integrate into the decoration design of the branch.

During the design process, the designer showed Wang Jianye and his team members the preliminary renderings and explained: "We plan to create a welcoming area with both Chinese and French characteristics at the entrance of the restaurant. The floor is made of tiles with traditional Lyon patterns, surrounded by Chinese cloud marble frames, and a chandelier that combines the shape of Chinese palace lanterns and French candlesticks is hung above, so that customers can feel the unique atmosphere as soon as they enter the door. For the partition of the dining area, we refer to the wooden structure of the local ancient buildings in Lyon.
Simplified and artistic processing, combined with Chinese hollow carvings, can not only divide the space, but also add a bit of refinement and mystery. In addition to continuing the practice of displaying pictures of Chinese and French food culture in the Paris headquarters, the wall decoration will add some hand-painted murals of famous local food and landmark buildings in Lyon, so that customers can feel closer and more at home during the dining process. "Wang Jianye looked at the renderings carefully and put forward some of his own ideas and suggestions from time to time, such as the proportion coordination of Chinese and French elements, the rationality of color matching, and the practicality of certain decorative details. Team members also participated in the discussion and expressed their opinions from different angles. Everyone hopes to create a unique and charming restaurant space through this decoration.

After repeated revisions and improvements, the decoration plan was finally determined, and the construction team entered the site to start the decoration work. The workers carried out various construction operations in an orderly manner according to the design drawings. From wall construction, wiring, to pipe installation, every link strictly controlled the quality to ensure the solidity and reliability of the basic project.

Then, the decorative materials were installed and arranged. The carved screens were installed one by one, the wallpapers were carefully pasted on the walls, and the chandeliers, wall lamps and other lighting equipment were also installed and debugged one by one. The prototype of the entire restaurant gradually emerged.

While the decoration was in progress, the food development team was also busy. They wanted to ensure that the menu of the Lyon branch would retain the classic dishes of the Paris headquarters, and at the same time, appropriately introduce some new dishes or improve and optimize the dishes according to the local taste preferences and food characteristics of Lyon. The chefs went deep into the local vegetable markets and food suppliers to select fresh ingredients with Lyon characteristics, and brought them back to the kitchen for repeated experiments and taste adjustment.

The service team was busy formulating a comprehensive service process and training plan, with detailed specifications and requirements for each link, from the waiter's reception etiquette, ordering service, to the dish serving process, customer feedback processing, etc. At the same time, a group of excellent employees were selected from the Paris head office to support the Lyon branch. These employees were the backbone of the hotel who had been trained in the head office for a long time and were familiar with the hotel's brand culture, food characteristics and service standards.

During the selection process, Wang Jianye personally participated in the interview and said to each employee who signed up: "Going to Lyon to support the branch this time is a big responsibility. You represent the level of the head office. You must bring our food quality and service level to Lyon to ensure that the branch can provide customers with a high-level dining experience like the head office. Do you have confidence?"

The employees all responded in unison: "We have confidence, Boss Wang, don't worry!"

And so, after months of careful preparation, the Lyon branch finally opened.

On the opening day, before dawn, all the staff of the branch arrived early to make final preparations. The chefs were busy in the kitchen checking the preparation of ingredients, ensuring that the ingredients needed for each dish were fresh and complete, and that the stoves, ovens and other kitchen utensils were adjusted to the best condition.
Delicious food can be cooked at any time. The waiters will do the final cleaning and tableware placement in the restaurant. They will wipe every table spotlessly clean, place the tableware neatly, and adjust the distance between tables and chairs to the most appropriate position, creating a spacious and comfortable dining environment.

Outside the store, a festive opening banner has been put up, and flower baskets are placed one after another. The ribbons on the flower baskets flutter gently in the breeze, exuding bursts of floral fragrance. Special etiquette personnel have also been arranged at the door to welcome guests and customers who come to congratulate and dine.

As time went by and the sun gradually rose, more and more people came to the street. Many passers-by were attracted by the lively opening scene and stopped to watch, with curious expressions on their faces, asking each other what kind of restaurant this was.

At around 10 am, the opening ceremony officially began. Wang Jianye invited some local business people, partners, relatives and friends to attend, and the atmosphere was very warm. The guests signed in one after another, and everyone's face was filled with smiles, shaking hands and greeting each other to celebrate this important moment together.

At the ceremony, Wang Jianye walked onto the makeshift stage, picked up the microphone, and said in fluent French: "Dear guests, dear friends, hello! Today, our Wang's All-Series Restaurant Lyon branch is officially opened! We came to this beautiful city of Lyon with our love for food and our passion for the exchange of Chinese and French food culture.

Here, we will continue to provide you with the best quality dishes and the most thoughtful service, hoping to bring the unique Chinese-French fusion flavor to every customer, so that everyone can feel the charm of the fusion of two cultures while tasting the food. Thank you for your support and love, and hope that everyone will patronize our restaurant more in the future! "

As soon as Wang Jianye finished speaking, warm applause and cheers broke out from the audience. The guests applauded to express their congratulations, and the atmosphere on the scene reached a climax.

Then came the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Several important guests were invited to the stage. Holding scissors, they cut the red ribbon that symbolized a good start to the business in the expectation of everyone. Colorful confetti floated in the air, like a gorgeous rain, implying that the Lyon branch will usher in a colorful and prosperous future.

After the ribbon-cutting ceremony, the restaurant officially opened for business, and customers who had been waiting at the door walked in in an orderly manner. For a moment, the restaurant was bustling with activity, and the waiters enthusiastically guided customers to their seats, handed over exquisite menus, and introduced the restaurant's special dishes and opening promotions in detail.

The customers looked at the unique decoration environment with curiosity and admiration in their eyes. They flipped through the menu and chatted in low voices.

"The decoration style is so special. It has both French romance and Chinese charm. I feel like eating here will be a very different experience." A lady said to her companion.

"Yes, and looking at the menu, the dishes are very rich, many of which are special dishes that combine Chinese and French cuisine. I really want to try them and see how they taste." The companion responded. (End of this chapter)