Feng Yifan prepared three servings of the banquet in total, two of which he placed on the large round table outside to share with the diners who came to the ancient street to observe and celebrate New Year's Day together.
In order to ensure that everyone could get a share, Feng Yifan also made very detailed arrangements.
First, two dishes of “Braised Silver Carp Head” were served in small bowls and plates and distributed to everyone who lined up to receive them.
Then he asked Chen Xu to steam a lot of hollow buns, and took apart the two "Braised Whole Pig's Head" with a knife and fork, and distributed them to everyone by sandwiching them in the hollow buns.
Finally, Feng Yifan, his father-in-law and his uncles made a large number of small-sized braised lion's heads with wind-fried chicken, and distributed one to each of the people who lined up on the ancient street to receive them.
As for the various dishes on Su Ji’s other two tables, they were almost left to the people present to take as they pleased.
It's like a big buffet.
However, every ingredient in the buffet in front of Su Ji and Ruo restaurants is very fresh, and every dish is carefully prepared by every chef in the kitchen.
In the kitchen, Feng Yifan had almost finished the three-head banquet, and the next ones to get busy were Shi Jiahui and Catherine leading the team.
The chefs that Feng Yifan asked Chen Wei to arrange also arrived at the scene very quickly and joined the kitchen to obey the orders of Shi Jiahui and Catherine.
There are also four professional pastry chefs who work with Chen Xu and Luo Yu to make desserts.
Just as Feng Yifan had instructed, Shi Jiahui, Catherine, Chen Xu and Luo Yu must stick to their own ideas and not let anyone influence their control over the dishes.
The four of them were also carrying out their tasks very seriously, whether it was Shi Jiahui's Chinese food team, Catherine's Western food team, or Chen Xu and Luo Yu's dessert team, every dish and dessert was made according to the categories they reported to Feng Yifan in advance.
Moreover, many details of cooking are also controlled by Shi Jiahui, Catherine, Chen Xu and Luo Yu.
Feng Yifan, his father-in-law, and his uncles came out from the kitchen and gave the kitchen completely to them.
Watching Shi Jiahui, Catherine, Chen Xu and Luo Yu directing and dispatching things in the kitchen, Yanran already looked quite capable.
Zhuang Daozhong smiled and said to Feng Yifan, "Yifan, it seems that all the chefs in your kitchen are capable of working on their own. However, such a group of excellent chefs are willing to work in Su Ji and Ruo restaurants and under your command. This is enough to show your strength."
Feng Yifan smiled and responded: "Master uncle, what you said is not right. In fact, everyone is willing to stay in Su Ji and Ruo Restaurant because it allows them to be more free and try their own cooking methods according to their own ideas."
Zhuang Daozhong was a little surprised when he heard this: "Oh? You asked them all to cook in their own way?"
Feng Yifan nodded and said, "Yes, Su Ji originally had the idea of finding flavors and tasting flavors. In my understanding, Su Ji's ancestors hoped that customers could find their own flavors and taste their favorite delicacies at Su Ji, rather than just focusing on a certain dish or flavor.
Therefore, my idea is that Su Ji’s chefs must have their own characteristics and be able to create dishes that suit the guests’ tastes based on their preferences.
We want our customers to be able to find their favorite flavors at Su Ji and Ruo restaurants.”
Zhuang Daozhong, Feng Yifan, the other uncles present, including aunt Su Lanxin were all a little surprised when they heard this.
After a moment of silence, Zhuang Daozhong couldn't help but sigh: "Yifan is still young, daring to think and act, and he is also ambitious. Not only does he want to establish a set of restaurant ratings in our country, he also wants to open a private kitchen restaurant for customers to taste. It's really amazing."
Su Jinrong knew that these words were meant for him, so he smiled and said, "These are decisions made by Yifan, the chef. We, the disciples of Su Ji, will naturally give our full support."
As soon as Su Jinrong said this, Shi Jinbin was the first to express his opinion: "Yes, I definitely support the chef."
As soon as Shi Jinbin started talking, Sun Mingxing followed up by saying, "I support the chef, too."
Naturally, the other senior masters also expressed their willingness to support Feng Yifan as the chef.
Feng Yifan clasped his fists towards all the senior masters and said, "Thank you, senior masters."
Then he bowed to his father-in-law and said, "Thank you, Dad, for supporting me."
Su Jinrong smiled and said, "Of course I will support you. You are my son-in-law, and you are the chef of Su Ji. Everything in Su Ji will depend on you in the future."
Feng Yifan nodded and said, "Dad, don't worry, I will definitely be a good chef."
Rodney also asked at this time: "Chef, what kind of rating is more suitable for a restaurant in your opinion?"
Feng Yifan looked at Rodney, smiled and said, "In fact, no rating is completely suitable for every restaurant, because a restaurant should not do it for the sake of those ratings. A restaurant is a place to eat and a place for guests to enjoy delicious food.
However, because of restaurant ratings and recommendations, many restaurants try their best to obtain high ratings, even at the cost of giving up and losing some of their own characteristics. I think this is actually unnecessary.
There is no point in getting a high rating if the restaurant loses its identity.”
Rodney was stunned when he heard this. He looked at Feng Yifan with a slightly complicated expression.
In fact, he could still hear that Feng Yifan's words were actually pointing out that many star ratings abroad were meaningless.
Seeing that Rodney was somewhat speechless, Feng Yifan continued, "I think that a good restaurant should still focus on its own characteristics, rather than simply doing things for certain judges, which would lose the restaurant's own independent characteristics.
It is impossible for a restaurant to be liked by everyone, so the restaurant must maintain its own characteristics. Maybe some customers don’t like those special dishes, but you cannot give up your special dishes just because the customers don’t like them.
The most important point is that a good restaurant does not care about how top-notch the tables, tablecloths, and cutlery it uses, nor does it care about how the service must make the guests feel at home. Instead, it is about making the guests feel comfortable as much as possible while being able to enjoy delicious food.
This is what makes a good restaurant, it must win with taste.”
After hearing these words, Rodney recalled the dishes in the Perovence restaurant.
Today, the classic set menu of Perovence Restaurant and the dishes that have always been loved by many people were almost all created by Feng Yifan in Perovence Restaurant.
After hearing what Feng Yifan said today, Rodney seemed to understand why those dishes have always been popular.
It can even be said that the Perovence restaurant can continue to survive by relying on those dishes.
Because each of those dishes has been carefully polished by Feng Yifan, it can be said that the taste has been blended very well.
So those dishes have stood the test of time and can become timeless classics in Perovence restaurants.
Looking at the Chinese restaurant in front of us, it actually doesn’t look very big.
And it is located on an old street.
However, this Chinese restaurant has its own characteristics, with its own unique flavor and restaurant-style dishes.
In Rodney's opinion, if someone knows Feng Yifan, as long as they step into this restaurant, they can quickly tell that this must be Feng Yifan's restaurant.
Because he might be the only one in the world who would run a restaurant like this.
After all, it is impossible for most restaurant operators to give up profits.
Perhaps under the pressure of profitability, many chefs are unable to act as freely as Feng Yifan, and still have to participate in some ratings to gain some rating advantages and recommendations so that their restaurants can become more famous.
However, in Rodney's opinion, since Feng Yifan is running Su Ji and Ruo restaurants, he really doesn't need any other fame.
Feng Yifan is well-known abroad, and his reputation may even be higher abroad.
In this case, he does have the capital to carry out various innovations and attempts.
Moreover, his insistence on cooking based on the customers' tastes will only help him gain more support from customers.
Rodney had to admit that Feng Yifan was indeed much better than other chefs in terms of attitude towards cooking.
Therefore, it seemed that Rodney felt that Feng Yifan's success was inevitable.
Rodney looked at Feng Yifan and said, "Chef, maybe I can only admire you in this life, because many of the things you do and insist on are indeed beyond my ability."
Feng Yifan smiled and said, "Rodney, don't be discouraged. We still have a long life ahead of us. If you don't try something, how do you know you can't do it? Now you are the chef of Perovence Restaurant. I hope you can cheer up and be a good chef."
Rodney looked at Feng Yifan with a complicated expression for a moment, and he didn't know how to respond.
Feng Yifan then continued, "Do you know why I insisted on opening a restaurant there? It's mainly to put some pressure on you and Perovence Restaurant. Don't you think that without competition, you and Perovence Restaurant have lost a lot of ambition and creativity?"
These words instantly awakened Rodney.
He realized it all at once, after all this time.
In fact, he didn't notice that he and the senior management of Perovence Restaurant had always wanted to get rid of the various influences brought by Feng Yifan.
But in fact, the various influences left by Feng Yifan are almost everywhere.
However, while they were trying every possible way to remove the influence, they also became lazy.
It must be admitted that the menu at Perovence has not changed for a long time.
Even though some new dishes have been added, the classic set menu left by Feng Yifan is still the most popular.
That set meal is almost irreplaceable, and it can be said that many guests who go to the Perovence restaurant go there just for that set meal.
It is indeed as Feng Yifan said, Perovence Restaurant has been going very smoothly in recent years.
It has almost no rivals and has been rated as the top restaurant by many well-known food magazines.
So whether it is the senior management of Perovence restaurant or the chef Rodney, in fact, most of the time they no longer seek breakthroughs and innovations.
Under such circumstances, the Perovence restaurant has not launched a new set menu.
Now Feng Yifan has made it clear that he wants to open a restaurant in the same neighborhood where the Perovence restaurant is located, and he has also made it clear that he wants to put pressure on them.
After a brief moment of hesitation, Rodney took this opportunity very seriously.
"Well, Perovence and I will certainly be looking forward to competing against your restaurant, Chef."
Feng Yifan then laughed: "Hahaha, okay, let's work hard together then."
After talking to Rodney, Feng Yifan ordered the last three-head banquet to be served, inviting the many relatives and friends present today to enjoy it together.
“First of all, I would like to thank all my friends and relatives for coming to support us today. This is the first time I have tried to prepare such a traditional and classic banquet in Su Ji since I came back from abroad and returned to my hometown and Su Ji.
Maybe there are still some flaws in what I do, maybe I have not yet reached the level of my grandfather, maybe I still have a lot of room for improvement.
Here I assure everyone that I will work hard to correct my mistakes and strive to make further progress.
As a chef, I will not stop here, I will continue to catch up with my grandfather.
As two restaurants, Su Ji and Ruo Restaurant will not stop here, and will definitely become a place where everyone can enjoy the delicious collision of traditional and innovative dishes. "
When Feng Yifan was speaking, not only the friends and relatives in Su Ji, but also the people queuing outside for the three-head banquet, all fell silent and listened to what Feng Yifan had to say.
Finally, Feng Yifan raised his glass and said to everyone inside and outside: "Thank you all for your support. Cheers."
Friends and relatives in Su Ji, as well as guests on the street outside, all shouted together: "Cheers."
Afterwards, everyone applauded Feng Yifan together, as a recognition of his three-head banquet.
In fact, everyone did approve of Feng Yifan's three-head banquet.
Especially the relatives and friends in Su Ji, who have witnessed Feng Yifan’s cooking process, naturally understand how complicated the cooking process of the Three-Head Banquet is.
So everyone is very clear that tonight's three-head banquet is truly full of Feng Yifan's sincerity.
Next, Feng Yifan asked his relatives and friends to start eating.
"Okay, everyone, hurry up and taste it together to see how this three-headed feast I prepared tonight is."
Friends and relatives also started to taste it.
In fact, everyone was already impatient. Before, they could only watch the guests outside eat. Seeing those guests, especially those eating the "Roasted Whole Pig's Head" with hollow steamed buns in big mouthfuls, really made the relatives and friends who were waiting in Su Ji very greedy.
Now we can finally taste it ourselves, and our relatives and friends can’t wait to eat the “Roasted Whole Pig’s Head”.
Even Feng Ruoruo brought her friends and gathered around her father, and the children were all clamoring for food.
Feng Yifan personally put the cut pork head meat between hollow steamed buns for each child.
Everyone inside and outside Su Ji was tasting the food, and everyone’s face was filled with joy, and their joy was also filled with satisfaction from the delicious food.