Siheyuan: Starting as a Chef Apprentice

In the operation of a restaurant, everyone's minds and efforts are united.

Whenever they encounter difficulties, they no longer hold their own thoughts or blame each other, but instead work together to come up with ideas and overcome them.

Once, a large-scale tourism and cultural festival was held locally, and a large number of tourists flocked to Lianyungang.

The restaurant welcomed an unprecedented peak in customer traffic, and orders came in like a tide.

The employees were not at all panicked, and the Xuzhou and Lianyungang employees worked closely together.

In the kitchen, the chefs from Xuzhou skillfully control the temperature of the stove, while the kitchen helpers from Lianyungang quickly and accurately prepare the ingredients and deliver the seasonings; in the lobby, the waiters from Lianyungang greet customers with warm and thoughtful service, while the waiters from Xuzhou efficiently coordinate the order of serving the dishes to ensure that every table of customers can eat on time.

Although everyone was busy and sweating, no one complained.

After a whole day of hard work, the restaurant successfully received a large number of customers and not only received high praise from customers, but also achieved a new high in turnover.

At the celebration party, Wang Jianye said excitedly: "This time, we relied on the strength of the team to complete a seemingly impossible task! This is the power of unity! Whether it is brothers and sisters in Xuzhou or family members in Lianyungang, we are all one family and we created this miracle together!" The employees raised their glasses to celebrate amid laughter, with pride shining in their eyes.

They all knew that this experience not only allowed them to grow and gain friendship, but also turned this team, which was originally full of contradictions, into an indestructible big family.

From then on, no matter what difficulties and challenges they encountered, they had the confidence and strength to move forward hand in hand and create a better future, allowing this restaurant that combines the culture and cuisine of the two places to shine even brighter in the catering industry... With the stabilization of the team and the continued improvement of the business, Wang Jianye did not stop.

He realized that in the highly competitive catering market, continuous innovation and improvement are the keys to staying ahead.

So he encouraged his employees to come up with more innovative ideas about dishes and services.

During a brainstorming meeting, the atmosphere was extremely lively.

"I think we can launch themed dining events, such as taking traditional festivals in Xuzhou or Lianyungang as the theme, designing special dishes and decorating the restaurant environment."

A young employee from Lianyungang suggested excitedly.

Wang Jianye's eyes lit up and he asked, "Tell me more about it, for example, how to design the dishes and arrange the environment?" The employee answered confidently, "Take Xuzhou's Fuyang Festival as an example, we can launch a series of special dishes based on mutton, such as Xuzhou's traditional hand-pulled mutton and roasted whole lamb.

In the restaurant environment, some Xuzhou folk art paper-cuts and New Year paintings are hung to create a strong festive atmosphere. "

"That's a good idea!" Wang Jianye nodded in agreement, "What about the festivals in Lianyungang?" Another Xuzhou employee continued, "Lianyungang has the Fishermen's Net Drying Festival.

We can create a fisherman-style environment and decorate the restaurant with fishing nets, shells, etc.

In terms of dishes, we mainly use a variety of fresh seafood, and make some fisherman's specialties, such as fisherman's one pot of fresh seafood, steamed grouper, etc. "

Everyone was talking at once, and all kinds of new ideas emerged one after another.

Not only do the employees innovate in dishes and theme activities, they also actively explore services.

They designed some unique service details to bring a different experience to customers.

For example, customers with children are provided with children-specific tableware and aprons printed with characteristic cartoon patterns of Xuzhou and Lianyungang; during the meal, waiters will tell customers the stories behind the Xuzhou and Lianyungang delicacies.

"Sir, do you know this dish of braised pork with salted fish? This dish combines the characteristics of Lianyungang's salted fish and Xuzhou's braised pork.

In Xuzhou, the pork is fat but not greasy, lean but not dry; plus the salted fish from Lianyungang is specially pickled and salty and fragrant. The two are cooked together, which is a wonderful combination of two cultures. "

The waiter Xiao Zhao introduced it to the customers with a smile.

After hearing this, the customer said with great interest: "It turns out that one dish has so many stories. This meal is so interesting."

As these innovative initiatives were implemented, the restaurant's reputation grew.

It is no longer just the delicious food that attracts customers; unique cultural experience and thoughtful service have become the new signature.

Tourists from surrounding cities come here to eat, and the restaurant is often packed.

And within the team, the tacit understanding between employees is becoming increasingly deep.

They encourage each other, learn from each other and make progress together.

Whether employees in Xuzhou or Lianyungang, they all regard the restaurant as their home and run this common business with all their heart.

……

On Xinpu Street in Lianyungang, the business of Wang's branch is becoming more and more prosperous, with crowds of people coming and going every day.

The restaurant was bustling with people; the laughter of diners, the warm greetings of waiters and the clatter of pots and pans in the kitchen intertwined together to form a prosperous melody.

In the restaurant, every table was filled with guests, who were feasting on the delicious seafood and special dishes.

There was also a long queue outside the store, with people eagerly waiting to taste the delicacies here as soon as possible.

However, this prosperity has aroused jealousy and envy among peers.

Several local restaurant owners gathered in a hidden teahouse, where the light was dim and the atmosphere was depressing.

Several bosses with gloomy expressions were sitting around a large carved round table.

"The Wang branch is doing incredibly good business right now. It's taken away a lot of our customers. If it continues like this, we'll all be out of money!" One of the fat bosses was so angry that his face turned red. He slammed the table so hard that the teacups on the table began to shake.

"Yes, we have to think of a way to deal with them."

A tall and thin boss echoed, with a sly gleam in his eyes.

After a long discussion, everyone came up with a seemingly "brilliant" idea - jointly launch low-priced packages in an attempt to squeeze out the living space of Wang's branches with price advantages.

Not only that, in order to further discredit Wang's branch, they also planned to spread rumors, claiming that "Wang's Restaurant uses frozen seafood, which is not fresh."

Soon, some mysterious people began to appear on the surrounding streets and neighborhoods, handing out flyers.

These flyers clearly stated: "Shock! Wang's Restaurant uses frozen seafood, which is not fresh at all. Please be careful!" After receiving the flyers, pedestrians stopped to look at them, with expressions of surprise and worry on their faces.

For a time, the rumor spread rapidly, hanging over the Wang branch like a dark cloud.

When Wang Jianye heard the news, he was angry and anxious, and his brows were tightly furrowed into the shape of the Chinese character "川".

He paced back and forth in the store, thinking about how to deal with the situation.

"How can these people be so unscrupulous! But I can't let them disrupt my rhythm."

Wang Jianye thought to himself, "Lowering prices may attract customers temporarily, but this is not a long-term solution. Instead, it will make customers think that our dishes are of low quality." After careful consideration, Wang Jianye decided to adopt a more direct and transparent approach to deal with this crisis.

He first set up a transparent kitchen at the entrance of the store.

Within a few days, the originally enclosed space in front of the store was transformed into a bright and transparent area. The huge transparent glass was not only clean enough to reflect the pedestrians on the street, but also clearly displayed every move in the kitchen in front of everyone.

The seafood pool is right next to the transparent kitchen, and the seafood inside is full of life.

Crabs waved their hard claws, as if showing their vitality to people; shrimps swam happily, moving flexibly in the water; fish swarmed in groups, flashing silver light.

Wang Jianye stood next to the transparent kitchen, watching the workers' final decoration work, and finally felt more confident.

He knew this was the first step in responding to the rumors.

"See how they say our seafood is not fresh!" Wang Jianye muttered to himself with a firm look in his eyes.

In order to reassure customers, Wang Jianye also requires employees to mark the source and purchase date of ingredients in detail on each menu.

"This squid was freshly caught at Ganyu Fishing Port this morning."

A waiter held the menu and explained carefully to a table of customers.

After hearing this, some customers were skeptical, while others showed expressions of approval.

An old man stared at the menu and asked in confusion: "How do you prove that this information is true? There are too many fakes now."

Wang Jianye happened to walk to this table and replied with a smile: “Old sir, don’t worry.

We keep records of all our food purchases. If you don’t believe us, you can come and check at any time.

Moreover, we welcome everyone to supervise the quality of our ingredients.”

Despite these measures, Wang Jianye knew that this was not enough to completely eliminate the impact of the rumors.

He decided to take the initiative and contact Lianyungang TV station, hoping to use the power of the media to clarify the facts.

Wang Jianye personally dialed the TV station's news hotline.

A friendly female voice came from the other end of the phone: "Hello, this is the Lianyungang TV News Hotline. Do you have any news clues to provide?" Wang Jianye hurriedly said: "Hello, I am Wang Jianye, the owner of the Wang's branch on Xinpu Street.

Recently our store encountered malicious competition from our competitors. They spread rumors that we used frozen seafood and it was not fresh.

I hope the TV station can come and interview us to help us clarify this rumor and restore the truth.”

The person on the other end of the phone paused for a moment, then said, "Boss Wang, don't worry.

We need to verify the situation. If it is true, we will arrange reporters to interview and report.

Can you tell me the details?" Wang Jianye quickly explained the whole story, including the series of measures he took to prove the freshness of the ingredients.

After verifying the situation, the TV station quickly arranged for reporters to come for an interview.

It was a sunny day on the day of the interview, and the entrance of the Wang branch was bustling with activity.

The reporter carried a camera and filmed carefully at the store entrance and in the kitchen.

Wang Jianye accompanied the entire process and introduced in detail the process of purchasing and making ingredients in the store.

While filming, the reporter asked: "Boss Wang, why don't you choose to follow the trend and lower the price, but take these measures to deal with it?" Wang Jianye smiled and replied: "Lowering the price may attract customers temporarily, but it cannot solve the fundamental problem.

I believe that only quality and integrity can win the long-term trust of customers.

We always insist on using fresh ingredients so that our customers can eat with peace of mind.”

Meanwhile, the situation is getting worse at restaurants that offer low-priced meal plans.

In order to control costs, they had to lower the purchasing standards of ingredients. The original fresh seafood was replaced by frozen products, and the vegetables were no longer as juicy.

In a restaurant involved in malicious competition, the chef frowned, looking at the poor quality ingredients in front of him, and said helplessly to the boss: "Boss, the quality of these ingredients is so poor, the dishes made are not good either."

The boss waved his hand nonchalantly: "We'll save as much as we can. Now everyone is competing on price, so we can only think of ways to improve the ingredients."

Soon, the quality of the food in these restaurants declined significantly, and customers began to notice something was wrong.

After finishing his meal, a customer said to the waiter in dissatisfaction: "What's wrong with your dishes? Not only does it taste bad, but the seafood doesn't seem fresh either.

It wasn’t like this before!” The waiter replied helplessly: “I’m really sorry, we don’t know what’s going on, we will report it to the higher-ups.”

Slowly, these restaurants began to lose customers.

After experiencing them firsthand, customers' trust in them dropped sharply.

The restaurant, which was once packed with customers, has now become deserted, with empty seats everywhere.

The waiters stood listlessly by, looking at the few customers, feeling full of disappointment.

The Wang branch gradually won the trust of customers through measures such as transparent kitchens and menu labeling, as well as TV reports.

The day after the TV report was broadcast, Wang's branch welcomed many new customers.

A young mother walked into the store with her child. Seeing the seafood jumping around in the transparent kitchen, she said to her child happily, "Baby, look how fresh the seafood here is. I didn't bring you to the wrong place!" The child clapped his hands excitedly, "It's so fresh. I want to eat a lot!" Wang Jianye was very pleased to see this scene, "It seems that our efforts have not been in vain."

An old customer smiled and said to Wang Jianye: "Boss Wang, you are really honest. Those rumors really hurt people a lot.

But now it’s good, everyone believes in your quality.”

Wang Jianye responded gratefully: "Thank you for your support. We will always adhere to operating with integrity."

As time goes by, the business of restaurants involved in malicious competition is getting worse and worse, and some are even facing the dilemma of bankruptcy.

However, the business of Wang's branch is getting better and better. Not only does it have more and more customers, but it also has an excellent reputation and many people recommend it to their relatives and friends.

In the bustling restaurant, a tourist from out of town excitedly said to the waiter: "I saw a lot of people recommend your restaurant online, saying that you are very honest and your ingredients are fresh.

I tried it today and it really lived up to its reputation! I will definitely let my friends try it when I get back." (End of this chapter)