1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 232 Professional matters require professional people

After the market was over, Ronan didn't have time to eat lunch and rushed back to the restaurant to find Luo Tianhai and Leah:

"Any ideas for pumpkin-related dishes?"

The festival focuses on an atmosphere.

It's not just the atmosphere of the environment. As a restaurant, it certainly cannot be separated from the dining atmosphere.

Two days ago, Ronan informed chef Luo Tianhai and pastry chef Leah of his idea of holding a node event around Halloween, and asked them to design some themed dishes in their respective fields.

Luo Tianhai, who had heard of Halloween, didn't ask why, and Leah, who didn't know about Halloween, didn't ask what Halloween was. They immediately took action according to Ronan's needs.

After seeing Ronan's publicity ability, there is no need to say more, just do it.

When it comes to publicity, Ronan is absolutely professional.

Now two days have passed, how is the progress?
Luo Tianhai took a sip of water and said calmly:
"Four cold dishes, six hot dishes, one staple dish and one soup. I'll make them for you to try this afternoon."

Leah wiped her hands on her apron:

"The time is too short. I have only developed four desserts according to your requirements. I wonder if they are enough?"

Ronan gave them a thumbs up sincerely:

"Enough, enough, absolutely enough. It's reassuring to work with professionals."

With such a solid backing, I dare to let go and do my best!

Ronan was completely confident about the dishes.

The next step is to prepare themed costumes and holiday games.

In order to save time, Ronan took his work meal and sat in a corner of the restaurant. While eating, he talked to some members of his "knife team" about what to do next.

Seeing Ronan gesturing at a big pumpkin, Marini came over curiously.

Zoe doesn't come to the restaurant every day, but Marini, who moved to Lourmarin, comes to the restaurant almost every day to sit for a while and listen to artists from all over the world exchange their experiences.

"What are you going to do?" Marini asked, looking at the pumpkin.

Ronan asked a waiter named Margot:

"Marini ordered wine again today? Didn't you quit drinking?"

This artist becomes a completely different person after drinking. He becomes very excited and will sit down and chat with anyone for a while, no matter if he knows them or not. He is like a 'green version' of Batty.

But yesterday Marini told Ronan that he had been drinking too much since moving to Lourmarin and was worried that his body couldn't take it, so he planned to quit drinking for a few days.

Where is my 'aphasic' Marini?
The waiters had already become familiar with this daily guest. Margot smiled and said:
"In the morning, a table of guests was discussing the topic of 'The Ladder of the Soul'. Marini couldn't help but order some wine to discuss it with them."

Ronan thought, so you also know who you are?
But he asked Marini with a complicated expression:

"You want to get involved in this topic too?"

Marini said disapprovingly:
"Of course, classical philosophy is what interests me most."

Ronan asked Margot to pour Marini a cup of thyme tea:
"This drink is on me."

Ronan remembered that yesterday Marini said that what he was most interested in was "Ode to Folly", and the day before yesterday he was most interested in "Human Dignity and Value".

Wake up, man.

The people of Provence love spices. Thyme can not only be used in cooking, but also can be made into tea and used to sober up.

Put some thyme and a little sugar in hot water. If it tastes astringent, squeeze some lemon.

Marini asked curiously:
"What the hell are you doing? Why are you digging these pumpkins like this?"

Ronan hasn't finished yet, so the pumpkin looks quite 'abstract' now.

He explained to Marini:
"I'm making Halloween decorations and I'm going to carve pumpkins into various 'devil' shapes."

Marini immediately became interested:
"Can you let me try?"

Ronan was stunned:
"Have you ever heard of Halloween?"

Without waiting for Ronan to reply, Marini picked up the knife on the table and started to create:

"This is what I'm most interested in, have you forgotten?"

Ronan frowned at first, and after a few seconds he suddenly shouted to Margot:
"No need to prepare thyme tea, pour Marini a glass of pink wine!"

How could I forget such an important thing?

Marini is a master of sculpture!
Marini replaced Ronan and took on the task of carving pumpkins.

Ronan believed that was indeed what he was most interested in, so he let him do it with confidence.

He then began to organize the waiters to make Halloween decorations for the restaurant.

This was a very complicated task, as the waiters had no idea what Halloween looked like, and Ronan had to tell them to do a step. If they weren't careful the whole thing would be ruined beyond recognition.

"Margo, replace the red gauze curtains with white ones. I want a spider web effect, not a wedding scene."

"Um, who brought that pink doll? That's not the toy I want."

"Isabelle, I mean to adjust a spotlight to the 'thriller angle', not to make the restaurant look like a dance hall."

Ronan slapped his forehead in annoyance:
"Forget it, forget it. You guys go back to work. I'll set it up by myself."

After teaching the people of Provence how to cut vegetables, Ronan encountered another challenge - teaching the people of Lourdes how to set up Halloween decorations.

"No, no, no, how long are you going to be busy alone?" Batty came to the restaurant door with a glass of wine in hand.

Ronan's eyes suddenly lit up and he asked him:

“Do you know Halloween?”

Batty showed a confident smile:

"Last year I attended a Halloween costume party in Saint-Remy with more than 300 people, and I personally participated in the decoration of the venue."

Ronan waved to him excitedly:
"Then come and help me, let's do it together."

Barty's flat hands:

"It will take a long time for the two of us to set up the place. Don't you have to go to the commercial street to set up some elements? That will require a lot of people, many, many people."

He suddenly smiled and said to Margot and the other waiters:
"Ladies, please stay and help us with the decoration. It will be easier with more people."

for the next hour.

"Dear Isabel, I swear you are the best lighting engineer I have ever seen. Why don't you try a different style, something less bright?"

"Margo, don't be discouraged, you've done a great job, it's just that the colors are mixed up, it's okay, I'll help you rearrange it."

"Look, which beautiful girl brought these flowers? They are so beautiful!"

Ronan suppressed his stomach discomfort and pointed to the restaurant:
"Bati, I'll leave this to you. Thank you."

Batty leaned forward like a gentleman:
"Ronan, please believe me, I am a professional in this area."

For the decoration part, Ronan found a very professional helper, and now only the last step needs to be prepared.

Since Ronan's restaurant opened, this has become a new gathering place for farmers.

He came to the table where the farmers were sitting:

"Pierre, help me find some guys. I need you to help me do something."

Pierre heard that Ronan was going to organize some Halloween event and thought that he would continue to hand out flyers. He said, smoking a cigarette, "Let's go back to the 20 people we had before? They have experience and can hand out flyers quickly."

Those people were selected by him and Ronan. They were good-looking and friendly, so it would not be easy to be rejected when they distributed flyers.

Ronan shook his head:

"No, no, no. All the people who are going to be 'losers' this time, the less friendly the better. And Henry must come."

Professional matters must be left to professionals!

The stall owner opposite Ronan is called Urbana, a mother of two children. She and her husband Urban make a living by selling handmade jams at the Mena Village Market.

They live in Ansouil, a small village of only 15 people, a 400-minute drive from Lourmarin.

Although Ansouil is only a 15-minute drive from Lourmarin, this is the Urbana family's second visit to Lourmarin.

Most of the residents in the Luberon Mountains spend their entire lives revolving around the dozens of kilometers around the village where they were born.

I live in Ansouil and set up a stall in the village of Mena. I go to Apt or Aix once or twice a year. I have never left the land of Provence in my life.

But the Urbana family has been coming to Lourmarin quite a lot lately.

More than a month ago, the family of four came together to participate in the wishing ceremony.

Let’s join in the Halloween event again on October 10th.

"Mom, are there circuses and amusement parks on Halloween?" asked Urbana's little daughter.

Urbana thought for a moment:
"I guess not, because we're in a restaurant this time, and there's no room for a circus."

Urbana's son snorted angrily:
"Why come? I'd rather play skittles at home. Besides, I get carsick and dad's driving makes me want to vomit!"

Urban mocked his son:

"You seldom take the bus. When I was your age, I could take the bus to Apt to buy clothes by myself."

The little girl said angrily:

"But you don't have time to take us to Apt now. I bought all my clothes at the market this year!"

Apt is the world's candied fruit capital, and this small town has a sacred place in the hearts of children.

Children from Provence may not want to go to Paris, but they definitely want to go to Apt.

Urbana kissed her daughter on the head:
"But we've been taking you out to play a lot lately, haven't we?"

"But this is not Apt!" the little daughter grumbled in dissatisfaction.

"I want to go home, there's nothing fun here!" the eldest son shouted even louder.

Urbana and Urban looked at each other awkwardly.

Or go back?
Just as they were hesitating, a guy wearing a vampire cloak with two terrifying fangs in his mouth suddenly floated over from the side of the street.

Urbana's two children immediately hid behind their parents.

The vampire said in a sinister tone:

"My fangs are searching for the sweetest 'blood bag'! Let me smell your blood to see if it's sweet enough!"

He sniffed hard a few times, and Urbana's little daughter immediately let out a sharp scream.

"I don't smell any sweet scent on you! I'm going to find my next prey!" After saying that, the vampire shook his cloak and left quickly.

Urbana's son excitedly picked up two candies from the ground:

"What's left behind when a vampire shakes his cloak is sugar!"

His sister came over excitedly:

"Wow, it's candy, it's really candy!!"

More than ten meters away.

Henry chuckled twice:
"I'm perfect for this! Look how much these kids like me. Mr. Ronan really has a keen eye for talent."

On the way to the restaurant, the Urbana family encountered a zombie who deliberately dropped his "eyeballs" to let the children find out that they were candies.

We also met a strange wizard who held a magic wand, tapped the child's forehead and shouted, "I will give you the courage to not be afraid of the dark for a whole year!"

The two children no longer mentioned leaving or being bored, and started playing the game of 'Who can find more candy'.

And along the way, there are many families like Urbana's.

They seemed to have forgotten the purpose of their trip and were having a great time before arriving at the restaurant.

However, when the Urbana family finally passed through the crowded commercial street and arrived at the restaurant entrance, they found that there were many people waiting for a seat at the door.

Urbana looked at the two children:

"Let's go eat first. Uncle Ronan has reserved a seat for us."

The two children stood together with a group of children and shouted happily:

"No, it's so fun here. Look, there are so many lanterns made of pumpkins! I don't want to eat anymore. I want to play here forever!"

A young couple walked out of the restaurant, thinking that the Urbana family had trouble waiting for a table, and kindly reminded them:

"There are 29 pumpkin lanterns on the whole street. If you find all of them, you can go to the restaurant to exchange for free drinks. Take a number and take the children to find lanterns. It can take a long time. There are also many small games nearby. It will be almost your turn when you come back."

Urbana and Urban looked at each other and saw the shock in each other's eyes.

Is this Luberon?
Aix is no more than that, right?

No. Has Aix ever seen such an interesting activity?
"Urbana!" Boss Ronan squeezed out of the crowd and whispered, "Come in quickly, I've saved a seat for you."

Urbana looked at the children and said to Ronan with a complicated expression:

"Give my seat to someone else first. The kids might want to play outside for a while."

Ronan showed an expression that said, "I knew it would be like this." He ran back to the restaurant and brought some bread to Urbana.

"Give this to the kids and tell them that it's more fun in the restaurant. Don't worry, it will work. I used this trick to deal with more than a dozen kids."

Urbana sighed deeply:

"Ronan, I'm no longer envious of you for making money."

So what if I can’t leave Luberon?

Luberon also has its own 'Aix' and 'Apt'.

Lourmarin is the coolest place Urbana has ever seen, bar none!

After arranging everything for the Urbana family, Ronan took the time to go to the cashier to ask his mother Feng Zhen.

“How were the sales this morning?”

After the manpower optimization, the restaurant's efficiency has improved a lot, and the table turnover rate is much higher than the opening day, but now there are more people waiting outside than on the opening day.

How is the effect of this Halloween theme planning?

Feng Zhen bit her lips hard, fearing that laughing too loudly would scare the guests who were visiting the 'Corner of Terror' nearby.

"It's already 2. It might be 5 today. Son, which holiday are you planning to celebrate next?"

(End of this chapter)