Feng Yifan constantly makes adjustments to the restaurant based on customer feedback, which has helped the restaurant's reputation continue to rise, and the hot discussions on the Internet have remained high.
Diners who have eaten at this restaurant can’t wait to post on WeChat Moments or Weibo when they get home.
Everyone has to praise Ruo restaurant.
Whether it is the interior decoration of the restaurant or the services provided by the restaurant.
The most important thing is of course the dishes in the restaurant. From the presentation of the dishes to the taste of the dishes, they really make all diners rave about them.
“Ruo Restaurant is truly the most attentive restaurant I have ever eaten at.”
“That’s right. We can’t say that Ruo Restaurant is the most expensive, or the best restaurant, but it can be said to be the most attentive restaurant.”
“If you go to Ruo Restaurant, you will find that every service they provide is very attentive.”
"When you enter, they will guide you to reserve a seat and prepare a variety of snacks and drinks for you. Before you order, they will carefully ask about your taste and whether you have any dietary restrictions. They are really attentive."
"If you go with friends and you and your friends have different tastes, you'll definitely have a very intuitive feeling."
"Yes, I went there with my husband. He prefers spicy food, while I prefer lighter food. I cannot eat spicy food, so after the food was served, even though it was the same dish, it tasted different to me and my husband."
"That's true. Chef Feng will make detailed adjustments to the taste of the dishes based on the receptionist's feedback and each person's different tastes."
"Wow, is it that amazing?"
"Isn't that incredible?"
"In fact, it is so incredible. This is something that only top chefs can do. They can adjust the taste of their dishes according to the different taste preferences of diners without affecting the overall flavor of the dishes."
"If someone with a strong taste for spicy food goes there, it won't be that easy to adjust, right?"
"How could that be? I'm from Sichuan Province. I went there once specifically to eat there. It tasted really good."
"Yes, it can be done."
…
These discussions on the Internet can be said to have made everyone even more curious about Ruo Restaurant.
In addition, it is difficult to book a table at Ruo Restaurant, which adds a sense of mystery to the restaurant.
Because of this sense of mystery, it attracts many people. Even if they don't have a reservation, they will come to the restaurant specifically to see if they can get in.
There are also some people who are not short of money and come here specifically with money ready to pay a large sum of money to buy the seats reserved by others.
Feng Yifan never thought that he would encounter such a thing in front of the restaurant door.
Judging from the appearance of the person who wanted to buy him with a large sum of money, he must be a wealthy man indeed.
But Feng Yifan still warned him rudely: "If someone sells the seat you reserved, it will be considered as deliberate hype and disrespect for the rules of my restaurant. Then I will not allow you to reserve a seat in the future."
After hearing this, those who had already begun to be tempted by the fact that the other party offered a lot of money suddenly hesitated.
Soon, a more courageous customer said, "Chef Feng, since I have already reserved the table, then it should be my own freedom to let anyone in to eat, right? Isn't your forceful interference an infringement of my rights?"
Feng Yifan looked at the other person and said, "If you feel that I have violated your rights, then you don't have to come to my restaurant. This is the rule of my restaurant. You can cancel your reservation. I will refund it for you now, but if you want to transfer it, I'm sorry, I can't agree."
At this time, someone asked, "Chef Feng, if the seat is cancelled, will you book it again?"
Feng Yifan shook his head: "Our restaurant only releases so many reservations every day. If someone cancels, I will refund the money in full, and I will not release the seat for others to reserve. I will just assume that no one has reserved that seat today."
Hearing this, there was an uproar at the scene.
If Feng Yifan releases the seat for other people to reserve after someone cancels the reservation on the same day, this would seem reasonable to many people, and many restaurants would do the same.
But people are really shocked by Feng Yifan's current behavior, where he would rather lose an order than allow anyone to transfer it.
The diners who had previously clamored and felt that Feng Yifan's rules violated their rights are now speechless.
Naturally, no one among the diners gathered in front of the restaurant dared to ask for permission to give up their seats.
Seeing that everyone was silent and seeing that many people had gathered on the ancient street to watch, Feng Yifan simply repeated his rules carefully.
“I hope that everyone who makes a reservation at Ruo Restaurant is a friend who truly loves food. I don’t want the reservations at Ruo Restaurant to become a tool for some people with ulterior motives to make profits.
So if the restaurant's rule is that whoever makes the reservation can only enjoy the meal. If you want to transfer the seat at a high price, please forgive us for declining to receive you, and we may not receive you again in the future."
After hearing what Feng Yifan said, the crowd watching on the ancient street immediately started talking.
Everyone felt that Feng Yifan's spirit was truly strong.
But on second thought, it seems that they do have such strong capital.
At this time, someone else asked, "Chef Feng, what if I want to reserve a seat and invite others to eat together?"
Feng Yifan replied: "You and your friends need to register with your real names, and you need to pay a deposit for multiple people."
At this point, Feng Yifan continued, "Everyone, if the restaurant is just an ordinary small restaurant, we just want to dedicate the delicious food to those friends who like delicious food, so please let go of a small restaurant like us.
Those who want to use our restaurant seats to make a profit, please think carefully, is it worth it for you to do so? "
When the onlookers heard this, they all began to wonder whether it was worth it to rush to book a table at a restaurant.
Feng Yifan looked at the man who wanted to buy a seat with a large sum of money.
"My friend, if you really want to taste the food at Ruo Restaurant, you can wait until after the National Day holiday when there are fewer people, and then take the time to come and taste it. Ruo Restaurant welcomes you at any time, and you don't need to pay a penny more."
The financial sponsor who came specially for the trip felt helpless after hearing what Feng Yifan said.
He had no choice but to say to Feng Yifan: "Chef Feng, it is indeed our fault for disrupting the business and rules of your restaurant. I am really sorry."
As he spoke, the other party took the initiative to extend his hand to Feng Yifan.
Feng Yifan also extended his hand and shook hands with the other party.
"Thank you for your understanding. We are actually a very ordinary small restaurant. To be honest, we can't even be considered an authentic Western restaurant. So we really don't deserve your kindness. You really don't have to go to such great lengths for a meal."
From the perspective of the onlookers, Feng Yifan's words were also directed to them.
Many people listened and thought about it carefully, and it seemed to be true as Feng Yifan said.
If the restaurant is not about to close at any time, you can book a table when there are fewer people. That way you will be in a better mood when you come to enjoy the food.
What's more, as Feng Yifan said, buying scalper orders at high prices just for a meal is really a bit too exaggerated.
The sponsor who came specially asked again: "Chef Feng, if I want to book your restaurant and come here for a special meal, is that possible?"
Feng Yifan smiled and said, "Sure. If you book it, you have to book all 22 tables in my restaurant. And our rule is that we don't allow bookings on any holidays."
The crowd was shocked when they first heard Feng Yifan agree to book the entire theater.
Everyone more or less feels that, despite all the talk, Chef Feng still has to bow to money in the end.
But after hearing him say that private screenings were not allowed on any holidays, everyone thought about it carefully and immediately understood Feng Yifan's intention.
The reason why we don't allow the restaurant to be booked out during holidays is because many people may be free during holidays, so they can book a seat and invite three or five friends to come and enjoy the food together.
If private booking is allowed during holidays, ordinary guests who have time to come during holidays will not be able to come.
From this point of view, everyone can understand Feng Yifan's approach.
The rich man was stunned at first, then he laughed: "Hahaha, Chef Feng is really principled. In this case, I have no choice but to abide by your rules. I will take my leave today. After the National Day, I will definitely come back to taste it."
Feng Yifan smiled and responded: "You are most welcome."
After everyone left, Feng Yifan also invited the diners who had made reservations to come in.
Under the envious gazes of the crowd, diners also entered the restaurant one after another.
After the diners entered, Su Liancheng approached Feng Yifan and said, "Brother-in-law, I actually think that since so many rich people like it, the restaurant should just become a high-end restaurant, raise the prices, and accommodate those rich people."
Feng Yifan turned his head and looked at Su Liancheng and said, "Why? Are you afraid that I can't afford your salary?"
Su Liancheng was stunned for a moment, then said, "No, that's not what I meant."
Feng Yifan continued, "Don't worry, if you are not satisfied with the salary here, you can leave at any time. I won't stop you."
Su Liancheng could only say: "I'm sorry, brother-in-law, I really didn't mean that. I just feel that if the restaurant is like this, the profit will definitely not be very good. If we only entertain those rich people, we can make more money."
Feng Yifan sighed and asked, "You think we are short of that money, right?"
Su Liancheng was stunned.
Feng Yifan said: "I can tell you that we are not short of that little money. Even though we only serve 22 tables of guests every night, we are still profitable after deducting the costs, so I don't think we need to rely on high prices to make more money."
In fact, the restaurant has gained a good reputation during this period.
This is also because the prices in the restaurant are not very high.
Perhaps for some people, the price of each meal in the restaurant is indeed not low, but compared with similar Western restaurants, the price is still much lower.
One of the reasons is that Feng Yifan uses domestic ingredients to reduce some costs.
Of course, more importantly, Feng Yifan did not think about making a lot of money from diners at one time.
He is well aware that the restaurant has a lot of reservations nowadays because the restaurant is still a hot topic and popular, so many people will come to the restaurant out of curiosity to try it.
But if a restaurant wants to maintain its business for a long time, it cannot rely solely on curiosity.
Moreover, in Feng Yifan's opinion, relying solely on hype to maintain the popularity and customer attendance of the restaurant is an insult to his cooking skills.
He wants to gain word of mouth so that diners will want to come back a second time after eating there once.
He also hopes to make his restaurant a restaurant that diners from all over the world can plan a special trip for, a restaurant that they must visit many times in their lifetime.
Feng Yifan feels that a restaurant that can do all these is a truly good restaurant, and it is also the best recognition of his cooking skills.
Looking at the anxious look on Su Liancheng's face, it was obvious that he was worried that his previous words would anger him.
Feng Yifan said helplessly: "Brother, do you think that for a restaurant to survive for a long time, reputation is more important? Or is the gimmick more important?"
Su Liancheng hesitated for a moment and said, "Then word of mouth should be more important."
Feng Yifan nodded: "Yes, why are there so many restaurants in China, big and small, unable to survive for a long time? It is precisely because people do not cherish their reputation and do not care about word of mouth, so so many time-honored brands have become obscure, or even closed down."
Feng Yifan said this and pointed to the old plaque of Su Ji next door.
"Don't forget that old plaque. Grandpa and the ancestors of the Su family are watching over us."
Su Liancheng said ashamedly: "I was wrong. I shouldn't have just thought about making money and ignored the responsibilities we have to shoulder."
Feng Yifan said, "It's okay, brother-in-law. The people you recruit in the future also need to understand this. We want people who really want to serve delicious food to customers, not people who are just tools without a passion for cooking."
Su Liancheng nodded seriously: "Okay, Chef, I understand."
At the same time, as soon as Su Liancheng finished speaking, applause suddenly broke out on the street.
It turned out that the conversation between Feng Yifan and Su Liancheng was heard by many people on the street, and everyone spontaneously applauded Feng Yifan.
“Chef Feng is awesome, we support you.”
"Chef Feng is right. We can't just do it to make money."
"That's right. Good reputation is the key to a restaurant's long-term operation."
“We believe that Chef Feng will make the restaurant a world-renowned restaurant.”
"Wow, won't it be even harder to book a seat then?"
No one knew who said the last word, but it instantly caused laughter among the crowd.
Amid everyone's laughter, Feng Yifan and Su Liancheng said goodbye to their supporters on the street outside the door, then turned and went into the restaurant to start their busy day.