Siheyuan: Starting as a Chef Apprentice

As the opening date approaches, the preparations for the new branch are entering the final sprint stage. Wang Jianye once again organized a meeting with team members. He said: "Currently, all preparations are progressing in an orderly manner, but the more so at this time, the more we cannot relax. Everyone should carefully check the work they are responsible for to ensure that nothing is missed."

Xiao Liu, who is in charge of marketing, said: "Mr. Wang, we have developed a detailed opening promotion plan, including online and offline promotional activities, and we have also invited some local food bloggers to come and experience it."

Xiao Zhang, who is in charge of service training, said: "The training of service staff has been completed. They have a deep understanding of service processes and local customer needs and are ready to take up their posts at any time."

Wang Jianye said: "Well, everyone has done a solid job. Opening is just the first step. We will continue to adjust and optimize our dishes and services based on customer feedback. There are still many challenges waiting for us on the road to expanding our business in Mexico and even the entire Latin American region. But as long as our team maintains an innovative spirit, constantly adapts to market changes and meets customer needs, Wang's All-in-One Hotels will surely achieve greater success in this land."

Finally, the new branch opened. On the opening day, the store entrance was filled with congratulatory flower baskets, and the store was decorated with new decorations. Customers walked into the store one after another, showing great interest in the unique decoration style and novel dishes.

After tasting the new dish, a customer said to the waiter: "This seafood risotto tastes very special. It has both the freshness of seafood and the unique flavor of spices. It's delicious." The waiter smiled and responded: "Thank you for your recognition. This is a dish carefully developed by our chef team. I hope you will like other dishes in our restaurant."

Wang Jianye stood in the store, looking at the satisfied faces of the customers, and felt a sense of accomplishment. He knew that this was just another step in the extensive layout in Latin America, and there would be more challenges and opportunities in the future. He would continue to lead the team, moving forward step by step towards the goal, and working hard to achieve the extensive layout of all Wang's hotels in Latin America.

In the days after the new branch opened, Wang Jianye and his team did not relax. They paid close attention to customer feedback and continuously adjusted and optimized the dishes and services.

One day, a customer reported to the waiter: "Your restaurant environment and dishes are very good, but the music in the restaurant is a bit monotonous. Can you change to some richer music?" The waiter wrote down the customer's feedback and reported it to Wang Jianye in a timely manner.

After Wang Jianye learned about this, he immediately found the staff member in charge of music playing in the store and said, "Customers complain that the music is monotonous. You should collect some local popular music and various styles of music that suit the restaurant's atmosphere and make a richer playlist. Music is also part of the customer's dining experience. Customers should enjoy their food in a comfortable music environment."

The staff acted quickly and updated the restaurant's music playlist after a few days of screening and sorting. Customers who came to the restaurant again clearly felt the change. One customer said to the waiter: "This time I feel that the music in the restaurant is much richer and the dining atmosphere is better."

At the same time, Wang Jianye also encouraged team members to actively innovate. At a team meeting, Lao Chen, who was in charge of food development, said: "Mr. Wang, I recently came up with a new idea. We can launch some seafood-themed packages, which can be matched according to the number of diners and taste requirements. This can not only meet the diverse needs of customers, but also increase the sales of dishes."

Wang Jianye's eyes lit up after hearing this: "This is a great idea. You should work with your team to develop a specific package plan as soon as possible, including dish pairing and price setting. At the same time, you must take into account the taste preferences of different customers to ensure that the package is rich and attractive."

After the efforts of the chef team, a series of seafood-themed set meals were launched. Once launched, these sets were well received by customers. A customer came to dine with his friends and said to the waiter: "Your new set meals are very convenient. We don't have to worry about what dishes to order. The combination is very reasonable and the taste is great."

As time went by, the new branch gradually gained a firm foothold in the local area and the number of customers increased steadily. Wang Jianye was not satisfied with this and set his sights on the next target city.

Before heading to the next city for inspection, Wang Jianye told his team members: "We have achieved certain results in this city, but we should not be complacent. Every city has its own unique features. We must use the same enthusiasm and focus to understand the culture, market and customer needs of the next city and continue to build successful branches."

The team members agreed, packed their bags, and followed Wang Jianye on a new journey. On the plane, Wang Jianye and the team members discussed the inspection plan for the next city.

Xiao Li, who is in charge of market research, said: "Mr. Wang, I have learned about the basic situation of the next city in advance. The tourism industry there is relatively developed and there are many tourists. We can make some special designs in terms of dishes and services based on the needs of tourists."

Wang Jianye nodded and said, "This is important information. We can launch some snacks with local characteristics that are easy to carry, so that tourists can taste them during their travels. At the same time, service personnel should strengthen their understanding of local tourist attractions so as to provide relevant consulting services to tourists."

The team members carefully recorded Wang Jianye's instructions and made full preparations for the upcoming inspection. After arriving at the next city, they quickly started the inspection.

They visited local tourist attractions, hotels, restaurants and markets. When communicating with a local tour guide, the guide told them: "Tourists here come from all over the world. They are interested in the cuisine of different cultures, but they hope to taste the local characteristics in the dishes."

After hearing this, Wang Jianye said to his team members: "This requires us to integrate multiple cultural characteristics while highlighting local characteristics in our dish development. The chef team can think about how to combine local specialty ingredients with our hotel's traditional dishes to create new dishes that suit tourists' tastes."

The chef team members fell into thought. One chef said, "Mr. Wang, we can incorporate a local specialty fruit into the dessert and add some Mexican spices to create a unique flavor."

Wang Jianye agreed: "This is a good idea. You can try making samples first to see how it works."

The team encountered some difficulties in the process of searching for stores. Suitable stores either had too high rents or were not in ideal locations. Xiao Wang, who was in charge of site selection, said to Wang Jianye with some worry: "Mr. Wang, the few stores we have found so far do not quite meet our requirements. It is difficult to strike a balance between rent and location." Wang Jianye comforted him: "Don't worry, site selection is an important task and cannot be decided hastily. We will continue to search and expand the search scope to include some emerging commercial areas and tourist areas."

After a period of hard work, the team finally found a suitable store in an emerging commercial district. The store is located in a newly built commercial complex with complete surrounding facilities and close to many tourist attractions.

After inspecting the store, Wang Jianye said, "This location is great, with great traffic and consumption potential in the surrounding area. We need to discuss leasing matters with the owner as soon as possible. At the same time, the decoration team can start designing a decoration plan based on the structure of the store and the surrounding environment."

The head of the decoration team said: "Mr. Wang, we will combine the local architectural style and cultural elements to design a decoration plan that not only reflects the local characteristics but also integrates with the overall style of our hotel."

In the process of preparing for the new branch, Wang Jianye always paid attention to details. He told the trainer: "In addition to the regular service skills and food knowledge training, this employee training will also include some content about local tourism culture. This will enable employees to better communicate with tourists and provide them with more considerate services."

The trainer responded: “Okay, Mr. Wang. We will develop a detailed training plan to ensure that employees can master the relevant knowledge and skills.”

……

Wang Jianye's Wang's full-line restaurant in Mexico has grown to a considerable size, and several branches are doing very well. People are coming and going in the restaurant, waiters are shuttling between tables, serving customers skillfully, and the aroma of cooking is coming from the kitchen. Wang Jianye stands in the middle, watching this busy and orderly scene, but he has a longer-term plan in mind. He has set his sights on distant Japan, a country where Eastern and Western cultures blend and where there is a unique pursuit of food.

Wang Jianye and his core team set foot on the land of Japan. The plane slowly landed, the cabin door opened, and the prosperous atmosphere of Tokyo hit us. Walking out of the airport, high-rise buildings stood in front of us, and the streets were busy with cars and pedestrians. Wang Jianye said to the team members around him: "Tokyo looks very vibrant, and the business potential here is not small. We must investigate it carefully."

They first came to Tokyo, where Wang Jianye and his team began a detailed investigation of the streets and alleys of Tokyo. They shuttled through various blocks, constantly observing the flow of people, consumer groups, and existing restaurants in different areas. In a busy block, Wang Jianye stopped and said to his team members: "The Japanese restaurant market is highly competitive, but also full of opportunities. We have to find a suitable location that can attract enough customers and showcase the characteristics of our hotel."

Xiao Li, who is in charge of market research, responded while recording data: "Mr. Wang, I found that young people in Tokyo are very interested in novel food, especially dishes that combine different cultural characteristics. But they also have high requirements for food quality and dining environment."

Wang Jianye nodded and said, "This requires us to focus on quality and environment while maintaining our own characteristics. Let's find a suitable store first."

The group continued to search and found a store in a new commercial district in Tokyo. The store was located on the ground floor of an office building, surrounded by many young office workers and students, and people were coming and going. Wang Jianye looked at the store and said to the team members: "This is a good location. The people around it meet our target customer positioning. The next step is to adjust the decoration and menu."

After returning to Mexico, Wang Jianye immediately organized a meeting for the chef team. In the meeting room, the chefs sat around the conference table. Wang Jianye stood in front and said, "This time we are going to open a store in Japan, and we must make some adjustments to the dishes. We must retain our original characteristics while integrating Japanese food culture. Everyone can speak up for any ideas you have."

Chef Lao Zhao pushed up his glasses and spoke first: "Boss Wang, I think we can add Japanese specialty ingredients to some dishes, such as sashimi-grade seafood, and pair them with our special sauces to create a unique taste."

Chef Xiao Zhang went on to say: "There is also Japanese Wagyu beef, which has fresh and tender meat. We can cook it using the American barbecue method and combine it with French seasoning. It should be very popular."

Wang Jianye nodded and said, "These are all good ideas, but we need to pay attention to the balance of flavors and not let one style stand out too much. In addition, Japanese cuisine focuses on refinement and presentation, so we should also work hard in this regard. Lao Zhao, how do you use sashimi-grade seafood with special sauces?"

Old Zhao leaned forward slightly and said, "Boss Wang, for example, our signature salad, the original vegetable base remains unchanged, and we add fresh sashimi-grade salmon and tuna, and then drizzle our improved Mexican-style hot and sour sauce on top. This will not only retain the freshness of the salad, but also highlight the deliciousness of the seafood. Coupled with the unique flavor of the hot and sour sauce, it should have a good effect."

Wang Jianye thought for a moment and said, "It sounds good, but the taste of the hot and sour sauce can't be too strong, so as not to cover up the freshness of the seafood. Xiao Zhang, you said that you would use the American barbecue method to make French-style seasoned Wagyu beef. Can you tell me more about that?"

Xiao Zhang sat up straight and said, "Mr. Wang, we can first grill the Wagyu beef in the American barbecue way, until the surface is golden brown to lock in the gravy. Then, sprinkle French vanilla seasoning evenly on the surface, and pair it with a small dish of special red wine sauce so that customers can dip it according to their own taste. This way, it has both the smoky flavor of American barbecue and the exquisiteness of French seasoning."

Wang Jianye said: "It's a good idea, but we need to pay attention to the tender taste of the beef itself and not overcook it. Let's think about it again. In addition to these two directions, what other dishes can be integrated and adjusted?"

Chef Xiao Li scratched his head and said, "Boss Wang, can we add some Japanese fried foods, such as tempura, to our burritos, and pair them with Japanese sweet and spicy sauce? This way, we can have the fullness of burritos and the crispness of Japanese fried foods, and we can also try something new in terms of taste." (End of this chapter)