Chapter 549: Let You Open a Gourmet Restaurant, You Open for Business at Three in the Morning

·

·

·

Protagonist:

Lu Feng

The office fell quiet, leaving only the sound of Yang Zhenguang flipping through the feedback forms.

Zhou Li held her teacup and took a sip, her gaze landing on Yang Zhenguang's face as she quietly observed his reaction, calculating how to bring it up later.

Yang Zhenguang had been flipping through them composedly at first, but soon his movements slowed, and his brow furrowed tighter and tighter.

"Swedish meatballs? Aren't they just meatballs? To be honest, the taste is mediocre, with a strange flavor—is this what they call exotic cuisine? I can't appreciate it. Excuse me."

"They're both meatballs, but the taste of these compared to Boss Lu's Lion's Head is worlds apart! I can't even bring myself to say they're delicious against my will."

"To be fair, these meatballs are passable eaten on their own, but after tasting Boss Lu's Clear Stewed Lion's Head at noon, the gap became obvious. Compared to Boss Lu's, they really can't be called delicious."

"I suggest the Western Restaurant stop making this dish in the future. I can guarantee that anyone who has tasted Boss Lu's Lion's Head won't think these Swedish meatballs are delicious!"

"This is tonight's featured dish? Eating it gives no sense of surprise at all—too disappointing. It simply can't compare to what Boss Lu makes!"

"……"

One negative review after another, almost all of them inevitably mentioning the Lion's Head made at the neighboring Lu Family Restaurant.

Yang Zhenguang's fingers gripped tighter and tighter, and his originally calm complexion turned displeased.

"What is all this nonsense written here?"

Yang Zhenguang flipped through a few more pages, unable to bear looking any longer, and threw the folder in his hand onto the coffee table.

His face was iron green, his expression full of anger, and his tone brimming with doubt as he asked, "Manager Zhou, are you sure these are all feedback forms written by tonight's customers?"

He had been in the Western cuisine industry for over twenty years, and the international awards he had won could fill an entire bookshelf. This was the first time anyone had questioned him like this.

The Swedish meatballs he specially launched tonight were his proud masterpiece, which had once conquered judges from various countries at the International Culinary Competition.

Whether it was ingredients, heat control, or seasoning, he had tempered them countless times—a work he was very satisfied with.

How could it be that in these customers' mouths, the taste couldn't even compare to Lion's Head?

"Chef Yang, it's absolutely true."

Zhou Li sat upright on the sofa and said calmly, "The lobby manager organized and handed these to me just now. Every single one was filled out by the customers themselves, with no alterations whatsoever."

Yang Zhenguang looked at Zhou Li with sharp eyes, his tone carrying the sharpness of someone offended: "Manager Zhou, you're making me look at these things—do you mean to say I'm not as good as that chef named Lu Feng in the neighboring small restaurant?"

In his view, the customers on the feedback forms who said his Swedish meatballs weren't delicious were just a bunch of unsophisticated amateurs who didn't understand authentic Western cuisine.

They probably had never been abroad, didn't even know what authentic Swedish-flavored meatballs tasted like, and what right did they have to judge his culinary skill?

"The customers' opinions tonight can be roughly divided into two categories."

Zhou Li ignored Yang Zhenguang's agitation. She reached out and divided the feedback forms in the folder into two piles, pointing to the thinner stack and saying, "This part praises Chef Yang's culinary skill, saying your technique is flawless. I've carefully analyzed both kinds of reviews. Chef Yang, do you know why there's such a difference?"

"I don't know, and I don't want to know!"

Yang Zhenguang sat down again, crossed his arms tightly over his chest, and said somewhat sulkily.

He didn't care about these customers' opinions at all, feeling these reviews were meaningless to him.

His Swedish meatballs had already received unanimous recognition from international judges—how could he tolerate these amateurs pointing fingers here?

"Chef Yang, after my analysis, those who say your dishes are delicious are all people eating at Food Street for the first time, and they have never gone to the neighboring Lu Family Restaurant to eat."

Zhou Li's tone was objective and calm. She didn't care about Yang Zhenguang's mood right now and simply stated the conclusion she had drawn from her analysis.

Immediately after, she pointed to another stack of feedback forms that was clearly much thicker and continued clearly: "As for the customers on this side, they have all tasted the food made by that chef named Lu Feng. Many on them clearly advised you not to make this Swedish meatball dish in the future. They feel that compared to the Lion's Head made by that chef named Lu Feng, your Swedish meatballs are far inferior in taste."

Yang Zhenguang fell silent. From Zhou Li's analysis, he seemed to have caught onto something.

"Manager Zhou, what exactly do you mean to say?"

Yang Zhenguang's expression eased somewhat. After a while, he slowly opened his mouth to ask.

"Chef Yang, before I came to find you, I personally tasted the meatballs you made and those from next door. At first I thought your Swedish meatballs tasted really good, but after tasting the Lion's Head made next door, that thought was gone."

Zhou Li didn't answer directly but changed the subject, looking at Yang Zhenguang and asking, "How do you think the culinary skill of that chef named Lu Feng is?"

Yang Zhenguang's body stiffened slightly, and he involuntarily recalled the taste of the dishes he had sampled at noon.

He fell silent again. After a long time, he said in a low voice, "Top-notch."

"Chef Yang, before I came to find you, I personally tasted the meatballs you made and those from next door. At first I thought your Swedish meatballs tasted really good, but after tasting the Lion's Head made next door, that thought was gone."

Zhou Li said slowly: "And have you noticed that in these feedback forms, the most negative reviews are for your Swedish meatballs? Because customers who have tasted next door's Lion's Head will unconsciously compare the taste of these two dishes."

Yang Zhenguang looked up at Zhou Li, a hint of bewilderment in his eyes: "Manager Zhou, do you mean I took a wrong step? I shouldn't have gone head-to-head with similar dishes from next door?"

"Chef Yang, you are an international famous chef that both I and General Manager Guo think highly of. In terms of Western cuisine culinary skill, we have never doubted your ability."

Zhou Li said sincerely: "I know you want to win honor for the restaurant and don't want to be surpassed by next door. But the restaurant's long-term development isn't something you can do as you please just by acting on impulse. I just hope that in the future, whatever decision you make, you can consider it carefully."

After speaking, she stood up, turned around, and walked out of Yang Zhenguang's office.

The office fell quiet. Yang Zhenguang leaned weakly against the sofa, feeling an indescribable weariness rising in his heart.

He gazed blankly at the ceiling, his tone full of self-mockery: "I never thought that I, Yang Zhenguang, after gallivanting in the international culinary world for so many years, would today lose to a chef in some unknown small restaurant..."

A heavy sigh came from the office, carrying a touch of unwillingness and loss, as well as a sense of defeat.