The story of a cook

Chapter 443 Drinking with Two Masters

When I got off work in the evening, Master Ma and Master Li asked me to go out for a drink. I haven’t had a drink for a week. It’s hard for a person who loves to drink for a week. Said it would find drinking buddies.

When I came out of the store, Fang Lin was waiting for me at the door after changing clothes. These days, I took her back to the dormitory after get off work every day, and it became a habit.Seeing her waiting for me there, I thought the child was quite obedient.But today I went out to drink with Master Li and Master Ma, instead of going back to the dormitory first, I told her to go back first, and I went out to drink with the two masters, and then went back after drinking.

"Take me one, I want to go too."

Fang Lin heard that I went out to drink with others, and she wanted to go too.Seeing her pitiful appearance, he wanted to take her out, but it was inconvenient for the three of us to drink and take her. Just as he was about to tell her to go back, Master Li said, "Let's go, let's go together."

Master Ma also said: "Let's go together, drink some wine and go back to sleep."

After seeing the two of them talking, I was too embarrassed not to take Fang Lin, so I told her, "Let's go."

There is a small alley between the old store and the dormitory, and there are many small restaurants in it, one of which is called "Hongfu Restaurant", which has the same name as "Hongfu Dumpling Restaurant" next to Huofenghuang in Fuxin. The food at his restaurant is delicious. I ate at his house when I came to Binhai last time, and I went to his house today.

The restaurants in Binhai are so good, no matter whether they are big or small, they don't have menus, they all order from open stalls.Hongfu Restaurant is not big, with six separate tables and three small private rooms. There are also open stalls for ordering. There are about thirty dishes on it, most of which are small seafood.

The four of us ordered four dishes and ordered white wine. We were going to ask for a bottle of drink for Fang Lin. She said that she could drink white wine, but not drinks.I told her what kind of liquor a girl drinks, and a bottle of drink is fine.She was very angry when she saw that I didn't want her to drink, and told me that she drank liquor when I was at home, and her father didn't care about her.Seeing that she didn't give up without drinking, she didn't insist, and told her to drink less and not to drink too much.

At that time, I thought that if Qiuping said nothing, she would not dare to drink, and if Qiuping drank like her, I would dare to talk about it.She is not my niece, so I can't talk too deeply, it seems that we are unreasonable.

Chat with Master Li and Master Ma before the dishes are served.Although they both came from HLJ, they didn't know each other before they came to Binhai, and they only got to know each other after they came here.The reason why the two of them were able to come to Qinghua Pavilion was introduced by their friends. Their friend was the head chef in Qinghua Pavilion before, that is, the one I introduced.In this way, the three of us have a little relationship.

Master Li is 30 years old and divorced. Before coming here, he was cooking in a small hotel in Harbin. The wages there were low, and he was in a bad mood because of the divorce a year ago. He wanted to go out to relax, so he went to Binhai.Master Ma, 34, worked in Daqing before coming here. The reason why he came to Binhai was that the wages here are high and he wanted to earn more money. His wife was laid off and set up a street stall to sell children’s toys. The child is nine years old and is in the second grade of elementary school. I came out for the same purpose, to earn money to support my family.

Master Ma asked me: "Master Tan, did you work in the provincial capital before?"

I said, "Yes, I did it in the provincial capital."

"Is it a big hotel?" he asked.

I said, "It's not big, it's similar to our store, and it's also a dumpling restaurant."

He said: "That's not too big, our store is big enough. I can't do it. The store I worked in Daqing is only about [-] square meters, and three chefs cook vegetables."

I said: "No matter the size of the store, for our chefs, the main thing is to stir-fry. If the stir-fry is not good, it is the same in a big store. It should be okay or not."

"When I was working in Daqing, I just ordered from the recipes, and I didn't have a stall. I have to put a stall here. I don't think I can do it." He said.

"Setting up stalls is just a form. To put it bluntly, it is to change the ordering method for customers. In the past, customers ordered by looking at the menu. It was convenient, but they couldn't see what the dishes were like. There is no intuitive way to order dishes at the stalls. You can see the dishes directly. What kind of food is it and what is it made of. Customers can rest assured that ordering food at a vegetable stall is better than ordering from a recipe, and it is also advanced. In the future, ordering food at a vegetable stall will gradually develop to Daqing, and this is a trend.”

"That's true, I just haven't done it before, and I was a little confused at the beginning." He said.

I smiled and said: "Everyone is like that, and I was like that at the beginning." Then I said: "Didn't Lao Zhao tell you two to start cooking tomorrow at the regular meeting in the morning?"

Master Li said: "Yes, I asked the two of us to serve the dishes. We are thinking about a few dishes now, and we have opened the raw materials. We will start setting up the stalls when the raw materials come back tomorrow."

I asked, "How many dishes did you two serve alone?"

"Six Paths, we two go to Six Paths alone first." Master Li said.

"Six courses." I said, "But I suggest that you two each serve three courses first, because you can't set up the stalls at the beginning, and it takes a lot of effort to set up a dish. It takes about [-] minutes for each dish to be ready. , it would be nice if you two can put out three dishes tomorrow, and you have to prepare the ingredients in the rest of the time? Don’t put so many stalls at the beginning, and put one dish at a time. If there are too many dishes, it’s not good for guests to see the mess. If you don’t know how to point it, it’s better not to show it.”

After I finished speaking, the two of them didn't speak, and they were thinking about it.

The dishes began to be served, and the wine was poured. Master Ma suggested first, and the four of us took a sip.When I was drinking, I paid attention to Fang Lin, and saw how she behaved after taking a sip, and she was very skilled. I guess she drank a lot in the past.Children nowadays really can’t handle it. A 19-year-old girl dares to drink, which was unheard of in my time.

Putting down the wine glass, Master Ma said: "Master Tan, you are right. Let's not arrange six dishes, but three dishes. It is enough to arrange three dishes well, and it is not good to arrange too many dishes."

I said: "Yes, three courses and three courses. First, arrange the first three dishes and sell them for a few days to see what the customers say. If they are good, continue to serve them. If they are not good, then change to other dishes. Who cares? I can’t guarantee that the dishes sold will be good, and the customers will accept them. If I don’t sell a dish for a day, I will feel embarrassed. I’m a straightforward person, so don’t mind the two of you.”

"Look where Master Tan said, we both think you are honest, so we asked you for a drink because you have no airs. We want to learn from you. In our kitchen, we can count on your dishes to be well presented and sold well." Master Ma said .

I said: "This is the two of you chatting with me. I also studied it a little bit. There is nothing wrong with setting up the stalls. Be careful. After finishing the arrangement, you can look satisfied. If you are not satisfied with the look, then don't put it out, guest." Even after reading the guarantee, I am not satisfied."

"The two of us have already thought about the dishes, but we haven't figured out how to arrange them. When we arrange them tomorrow, Master Tan, please guide us." Master Li said.

"You're welcome. If you have any advice, you two will call me when the stalls are set up tomorrow. Let's put them together." I said.

That's what they meant when they asked me to drink, and asked me to help set up the stalls.They all come out to work, and working together is fate, and I can't help you with other things, but I can still help you with this job.

Seeing that I agreed to help set up the stalls, they were naturally happy, so they drank happily.

Drinking is my strong point. I haven't met any opponents except Zhou Xiaomei. They think they can drink quite well, but they are not as good as me.Even if you drink for the first time, you can't drink too much. See if the battle is almost over, and you have to go to work tomorrow.

Fang Lin also drank a lot, but she seemed to be fine, thinking that Beipiao people have a lot of alcohol, and women can drink too.

When walking back, tell her to wash her face, brush her teeth and go to bed when she returns to the dormitory, and don't go out to play again.She said with a resentful face that I was a bit like her mother, taking care of everything, as if she was a child.I said you are just a child, not as old as my niece, and you are just a child in my eyes.She saw that I was a bit unconvinced, but she didn't refute, and told me that if this is the case, she will call you uncle from now on.I said yes, otherwise I am more than ten years older than you, and I am also your elder.

She was fine, she gave me a contemptuous look, and then said that uncle is just a title, and you enjoy it very much.

There are three stores in the whole group.The old store is "Qinghuage Dumpling Restaurant", with an area of ​​[-] square meters, which is a mid-range hotel in Binhai. "Fashion Coarse Grain" is the second store, with an area of ​​[-] square meters, stylish and luxurious decoration, belonging to a high-end hotel.The third store is "Jinzhou Cake", with an area of ​​[-] square meters. It is a flavor restaurant and a specialty store.

The old man used to be the leader of a government department. After retiring, he started to do catering. He is familiar with some government department leaders in Binhai City, so the restaurant business is very good.

Any business needs a background, and it is easy to do things with a background.

The whole group is managed by the old man, and the old man's wife manages the logistics.That is to say, the old man is responsible for administrative operations, and the old lady is responsible for purchasing and accounts.The entire office area is located in Coarse Grain, with finance, cashier, purchase and storage.

The business of the three stores is very good, and the catering industry in Binhai is also relatively good.The entire group is still in its infancy, with rough and crazy management, without standardized management, or in other words, it has not yet formed corporate management, it is just a family-style business.

The one responsible for purchasing is the old lady and younger sister, everyone calls them old aunts.The old aunt has three drivers and one is a full-time buyer.The old aunt is very powerful. Regardless of whether the things she buys are good or bad, no one will tell them.So the chefs of the three restaurants are very afraid of her, and sometimes they don't say anything when the raw materials they come back are substandard, and they don't bother her if they don't need them.

The chief accountant is the old man's old subordinate, surnamed Cui, everyone calls him Accountant Cui.Accountant Cui seldom talks, and likes to drink a few sips of wine when he has nothing to do.His daughter-in-law is a very capable woman who is purchased by the old aunt.

Each of the three stores has a manager and a chef, who manage their own stores.Coarse grains have the best benefits, with an average of 150 million to 180 million per month.The blue and white pavilion is next, with a monthly price of between 70 and 90.The cake shop is small, and the monthly cost is between 30 and 35.

The dishes of the three restaurants are different. Except for the seafood, there are obvious differences in Northeast cuisine.The coarse grains are high-grade, the blue and white pavilion is home-cooked, and the bakery is a small fry.The main technical force is concentrated in coarse grains.But the three stores also have several of the same dishes, such as the current popular dishes, each store has it, but there are differences in the quality of the dishes.

Each of the three stores has its own characteristics, and there is no competition between itself and itself.

There is no competition between stores and stores, but there are open and secret struggles among the top management, which is also a weakness of human nature.To put it bluntly, there is competition between the three chefs and the three managers, and they are fighting each other secretly. They all want to show themselves in front of the old man, let the old man pay attention, so that they can give themselves a raise.

The chief chef of Coarse Grains is Master Wei. He has been working in Binhai for just half a year and has managed several large kitchens. It's the regular army.

The manager of Coarse Grains is surnamed Feng, female, in her 30s, tall, very temperamental, giving people a very cool impression, similar to Zhou Xiaomei, not as beautiful as Zhou Xiaomei.She is very good at front desk management. I didn't have much contact with her when I was working in Coarse Grain, but the old man spoke highly of her.

Manager Zhang of the Dumpling Restaurant opened here. He works diligently and is a hard-working manager.

Manager Chen of the cake shop has never met before, but I heard that he is very capable and good at speaking, and he has won the trust of the old man.

The entire group is in the stage of capable man management, which is the so-called rule of man, and has not yet reached the stage of system management.This was also the status quo of many catering companies at that time. They were using capable people to manage, but did not establish their own management system and process standards. When the capable people were gone, there would be a short-term gap in the entire management. If the connection is good, continue to develop, and if the connection is not good It will collapse and eventually die.

Only after the enterprise has transitioned from capable person management to system and standard management can it form its own management system, so that it can enter the stage of healthy development.After entering the benign development stage, it needs to be further strengthened, perfect the management system, and form a corporate culture, so that the enterprise will have vitality and continue to develop.

Every restaurant owner hopes that his restaurant will be good at the beginning, and it will become better and bigger, and finally form a chain group and become a century-old enterprise with an everlasting foundation.This is also the dream of Chinese private restaurant owners, but few of them have really achieved it.It's not that it's difficult to do, it's just that it can't be persisted and there is no systematic management.

It is an axiom that management produces benefits, and every boss knows it.At the beginning, the restaurant competes for dishes and services, and when it grows, it strives for management.Unified management of dishes, services, personnel, operations, workflow and standards, etc. Only when all these are done well can a competitive Management system, at this time, the enterprise will have the motivation to develop and grow healthily and benignly.

When enterprises attach importance to management, they strive for talents. Whoever has talents will develop, and no talents equals zero.This is true for high-tech companies, as well as for catering companies.

(End of this chapter)