At the end of the exhibition stall, there is a completely open farmhouse earthen stove. A man about fifty years old and dressed in homespun clothes is adding firewood to the stove. The large pot has no lid, and inside is glutinous rice porridge that is about to be boiled.
It was spitting out bubbles and exuding a rich rice fragrance.
"This is the biggest highlight of our family, rice soup, which is free for guests to drink," Wang Zheng said.
"Rice soup? Isn't this porridge?" Zhang Li asked curiously.
"Yes, it is indeed porridge, but here we call it rice soup. Especially in the countryside, every family cooks a pot of porridge during festivals and the whole family drinks it. There is something special about cooking this porridge. The porridge cooked with a rice cooker or gas fire is tasteless.
Son, it can only be boiled in a big pot with firewood and has a drinker.
People in the city live in high-rise buildings and don’t have big pots or firewood. They don’t have time to go back to the countryside. If you want to drink, you can come to our house. One pot for each meal, and it’s over after drinking. We like to drink rice soup, so we drink it with
You Northeasterners love to drink millet porridge, you grew up drinking this." Wang Zheng explained.
"Is this why your family calls rice soup?" Lao Tan asked with a smile.
"Yes, it's down-to-earth, sounds warm, and brings back memories." Wang Zheng said.
"Okay, that's great." Lao Tan nodded and praised: "You have put in a lot of effort, you look earthy, but you are actually refined, cultured and connotative, full of human touch, like a mother, great!"
"Mr. Tan praised me."
After generally viewing the first floor, Wang Zheng led him up to the second floor.
The second floor was full of private rooms, and Wang Zheng led him into one.
This is a middle class for 16 people. The style is more like the Republic of China and has the atmosphere of a water town. There is a calligraphy and painting hanging on the wall. Next to the calligraphy and painting are several framed old photos, all of which are local countryside scenes. The pastoral scenery flows in the elegance.
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There was a small door next to the window. Wang Zheng opened it. Inside was a small family kitchen. A sister-in-law in home clothes and an apron was busy. She saw the three of them smiling and saying hello.
"This is a small kitchen. It is the same as at home, and the seasonings are the same. My sister-in-law is not a chef, but a housewife who knows how to cook. Nowadays, people are tired of eating restaurant food and like to eat home-cooked dishes. Our kitchen sister-in-law will cook eight dishes.
, serving a room. It’s all home-cooked food, family recipes, and the guests like it very much. You have to book a private room in advance, and you can’t book it late,” Wang Zheng said.
"Okay, this is a good idea." Lao Tan praised.
"It has the taste of a private restaurant, but it's different," Zhang Li said.
"Are all private rooms like this?" Lao Tan asked.
"There are five larger private rooms like this, but there are no small ones, and there is no cook." Wang Zheng replied.
"The kitchen sister is responsible for the hot dishes, and the cold dishes are served downstairs?" Lao Tan asked.
"Yes, the cook's wife is only responsible for the dishes at home. The chef will cook the hot dishes when the guests order downstairs." Wang Zheng said.
"Okay, it's indeed good." Lao Tan said.
Wang Zheng led him to look at two more private rooms. It was already eleven o'clock. It was not good to bother Wang Zheng to accompany him. He was the general manager and had a lot of things to do. Lao Tan told him to go and get busy. He and Zhang Li
Visit slowly.
Wang Zheng did have something to do, so he handed Lao Tan and Zhang Li to the store manager and went about his business.
Lao Tan and Zhang Li returned to the first floor, found a small table, sat down, and rested for a while.
"His style is definitely popular. Let's see, it will be available in the provincial capital within a year at most." Lao Tan said.
"Almost." Zhang Li agreed, and then asked: "Can our family change it to this?"
"It's possible, but the project is too big------" Lao Tan said.
"Isn't it just a matter of renovating the kitchen? Our house is open now, so we just need a stall, and we need to move out the hot dishes."
"What you think is simple. Just spend money to renovate the kitchen. That's not a problem. It's mainly a conceptual issue. It's not that we have never used physical food stalls in hotels in the provincial capital, even ice stalls. What's going on? It's been new for a few years, isn't it all?
Replaced by electronic photos and vegetable models?
We northerners like to save things as much as possible. We are afraid of trouble. We just returned to the photo from setting up the stall. If you set up the stall again, all the people in the kitchen will be gone." Lao Tan said.
"I think it doesn't take much for people to set up stalls."
"People are used to it, the foundation is good, and employees recognize it."
"I think this situation is good, we should rectify it." Zhang Li insisted on her opinion.
"It needs to be renovated, otherwise what's the point of coming here to inspect? I'll stay here for a few days and visit all four of his stores. I just got a rough look, and I haven't looked at the details yet."
"That is."
At 11:20, the first table of guests came in.
Lao Tan and Zhang Li stood up and followed the guests, observing while watching the guests order.
The two have different focuses. Lao Tan is on the kitchen and Zhang Li is on the service.
Customers first come to the cold dish stall.
"Hello, welcome to Rice Soup Taste. This is our family's cold dish. This dish is our specialty. It is very refreshing and the best seller. Please try it." There was a man with a mouth in the exhibition stall wearing clean and tidy work clothes.
The chef enthusiastically introduces the dishes to the guests.
This scene surprised Lao Tan. This was the first time he saw the chef introducing dishes to the guests in person.
Not only was he surprised, Zhang Li was also surprised. In her understanding, it was the waiter's job to introduce the dishes to the guests, and the chef didn't care about it at all. Now the previous understanding has been broken. In addition to surprise, there is also appreciation.
After listening to the chef's introduction, the guest looked at the dishes on display and immediately ordered a plate.
Continuing to watch, a female customer walked up to the clay pot stall.
"Hello beauty, welcome to Taste of Rice Soup. This is our specialty casserole vermicelli. It is salty, slightly spicy, fragrant but not greasy. It is most suitable for ladies. I made it myself. Please try it."
The casserole chef gave a warm introduction, and the female customer smiled and ordered one. After ordering, she did not leave, but stood there to watch the chef make it on the spot, while taking pictures with her mobile phone.
The casserole chef's two chopsticks flew up and down, and the vermicelli fell down together, exuding fragrance and luster.
After two minutes, the vermicelli is cooked. The chef quickly cooks the prepared sauce, and an attractive aroma immediately floats out of the casserole, followed by a cloud of white mist. When the white mist dissipates, sprinkle in chopped green onion and cover it.
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Then the chef lifted the casserole with a casserole fork, placed it on the casserole holder on the stand, picked up the gong hammer and knocked it on the gong.
As the gong sounded, a waiter came over immediately, picked up the casserole, and guided the female guest to the table with a smile. Before turning around, the female guest smiled at the casserole master and said, "Thank you, thank you for your hard work!"
This scene touched Lao Tan and he knew that this inspection was the right one.
Scenes like this happen in the steamed vegetable stall, noodle stall, and hot vegetable stall in sequence. The chef introduces the dishes to the guests enthusiastically and thoughtfully. The waiter behind the guest hardly needs to open his mouth, he only needs to take the ordering treasure and write it down.
This ordering method greatly shortens the ordering time for customers - compared to the waiter's recommendation of dishes, guests trust the chef's introduction more. What's more, the dishes are right there, the ingredients inside are clear at a glance, and they are genuine. You can also see how they are made.
, it can’t be adulterated or adjusted, it’s clean and sanitary, can it be faster?
Having said that, the chef introduces the dishes himself and pays attention to them when making them. The quality is guaranteed and the occurrence of good and bad quality is also reduced.
This is a good form. The restaurant relies on selling vegetables to make money, so it must be displayed for people to see. Also, it allows the chef to talk and recommend his own dishes to the guests. This is more effective than the waiter's recommendation.
Lao Tan thought to himself, and felt more and more the correctness of this investigation.
Soon, as customers entered the store in large numbers, the entire ordering area and lobby became lively and bustling with people.
At twelve o'clock, the place was full and the wait for tables began.
By this time, there was already a long queue in front of the big pot of rice soup. Those who had received the rice soup were all smiling, while those who had not received the rice soup were waiting patiently. Some customers just stood there and drank it. It seemed that they wanted to have a second bowl after finishing the rice soup.
Zhang Li and Lao Tan stood not far away and watched.
"Old Tan, do you think our family can give guests free millet porridge?" Zhang Li asked.
"Okay." Lao Tan nodded.
"I think that's okay too."
"In our dumpling restaurant, many people don't order anything but just order a plate of dumplings and then leave after eating. It would be better if they had a bowl of millet porridge."
"What do you mean? You mean it's not possible."
"It's not impossible, you have to think carefully before trying it." Lao Tan said: "You can try it in the Hohhot store first. Millet porridge is attractive to Hohhot people."
"People in provincial cities also like to drink it."
"People in provincial cities like to drink in the morning, but not at noon and evening." Lao Tan corrected.
Zhang Li thought about it for a while, felt that this was the case, and said, "You are still very observant."
At this time, two very high-end luxury cars stopped outside the store, and four fashionably dressed, graceful, elegant and elegant middle-aged women got out of the cars.
Four women pushed open the door and entered the store. Under the leadership of a cheongsam woman, they walked straight to the stall of Chef No. 2. They first said hello to the chef, and then said to their three best friends: "My old Zhao loves to eat stir-fried yellow beef."
It's oily and stale. This master is good at frying. I've come here to learn how to fry it three times, but it still doesn't taste that good. I'll learn from it today."
The master inside said: "Sister, I will fry slowly today. If you don't understand anything, just ask me."
"Master, tell me, how tough is the beef I fried?" the cheongsam woman asked.
"The beef you bought is not good. It's not the same old yellow beef." The master said.
"Oh, how can I tell if it's from that year?"
"The tender ones back then were rarely available in the market. My family bought them at a high price in the countryside and slaughtered them right away. I will leave a few kilograms for you when I kill the cows next time."
The woman was very happy. She reached out and took out a business card and handed it to the master and said, "That's great. Call me when you kill the cow. Thank you in advance."
The chef started making stir-fried yellow beef and oil residue. The woman and her best friend were watching outside, asking questions from time to time, and the chef answered them one by one.
After the two dishes were fried, the woman held the dishes and said thank you with a smile on her face, and began to look for an empty table.
The three best friends who came together said that this place is good, not only can you eat, but you can also learn. For the sake of my husband's stomach, he will come here often.