The Northern Stories of Chef Lao Tan

Chapter 42

On September 25th, the third day after the Mid-Autumn Festival, the hotel officially opened.

One week before the Mid-Autumn Festival, the hotel began its trial operation.The first ones to receive were merchants who leased stores, and people from the street and nearby villages also came to eat.The response is good. They all say that the food is pretty good, and the service is better than that in the street, but the location is a bit out of the way, so you have to drive here.

The most attractive thing is the multi-functional hall. Many people have fallen in love with it, and they come here when they say they want to do business. It is spacious, bright, clean and tidy.There is also an electronic version of the LD large screen, a stage, a dressing room, and a sound room. The equipment is well-equipped and the environment is good. It is a good place to hold weddings and celebrate birthdays for the elderly here, and the price will not drop.

The afternoon before the opening, Zhou Xiaomei brought three waiters over to help.Now that she's here, it's her job to be the host.

It is not necessary to find a host to open a restaurant, it mainly depends on the nature of the restaurant.For an enterprise like this, when the group leaders, factory leaders, and town, banner, and city leaders all come to the opening, the entire ceremony must be decent, and a host is required.

Zhou Xiaomei has practiced well in recent years. She hosted the group's internal annual meeting in Binhai. When the Oriental Food Research Group visited Qinghua Pavilion, she hosted the exchange meeting. The person in charge of the well-known catering company in the country was not the head chef. Either the manager or the boss.She is able to drive the car with ease, and presiding over the opening of a restaurant is naturally a no-brainer.

After a blast of firecrackers, the group leaders and leaders at all levels, as well as the guests who came to congratulate, sat down in the lobby one after another. Zhou Xiaomei stepped onto the stage gracefully with a microphone in hand.His slender figure, elegant temperament, charming smile, and crisp and sweet voice immediately attracted everyone in the audience.

At this moment, she became the focus of the entire hall.

First, the big leader spoke, then the banner leader spoke, then the factory director Gao, and finally Sister Yuan.After the big and small leaders finished speaking, Zhou Xiaomei ended the opening ceremony with a song "Today is a good day".

The singing was beautiful and won rounds of applause from the audience.

When the leader was speaking, all the staff in the kitchen were busy in an orderly manner under the command of Lao Tan.

There are a total of eight tables for the opening banquet. The menu was set a few days ago, and the preparations started yesterday.Everyone went to the kitchen at seven o'clock this morning to make final preparations.

Four cold dishes have been prepared and placed on the case.They are very delicate, including sauced beef and saliva chicken, grilled clam meat with bamboo shoots, blueberry yam, and lamb pudding.

The cold dish master finished the last plate of Fugui seafood sashimi, and the waiter slowly brought it out and put it on the dining car, waiting for the order from the front desk to start serving the dishes.

The four kinds of steamed vegetables in the steaming cabinet began to be put on the plate. They were steamed turbot, a good start, garlic tiles with open back shrimp, and a small piece of meat.

Master Bao's grilled lamb chops are already on the shelves, and the eight racks of grilled lamb chops are lined up very imposingly.The grilled lamb chops are charred on the outside, tender and oily on the inside, with a tangy aroma that tempts the appetite. The three chopping boards are smacking their mouths, and they can't wait to remove a piece immediately to eat.

Master Bao is also in charge of a dish - shredded milk tofu.This is a Mongolian dessert with local customs and characteristics. It is loved by adults and children. It is the favorite of women and it is also hand-picked by the leaders.

There are three dishes here in Huaqing, namely mutton in garlic red soup, veal in dry pot, and moonlight in lotus pond.The mutton in garlic red soup has been stewed and put into the Yulong pot. The alcohol paste underneath is ignited, and the pot is steaming, and the fragrance wafting out can be smelled in the whole kitchen.

Seeing Lao Tan coming behind him, he stood on the stove and said, "Master Tan, I have made up my mind. I will make this dish for my dad when I get home. My dad would like to drink, so this dish is just right."

Old Tan laughed and said, "I'll just give you some soup? How can I fry one?"

Hua Qing also smiled, and said: "That must be done." Then he said with sincere concern: "Master Tan, you are too scary to drink, drink less in the future, and pay attention to your body."

"I have to drink less, my stomach can't take it anymore." Old Tan said.

"My dad has a stomach ulcer now, and I don't tell him to drink it, and I don't listen to it. He has been drinking for a lifetime——taking medicine and drinking alcohol, and my mother is so angry that he can't help it."

"People who drink are like that. When the doctor says you can't drink, you can take care of things. Others say it's useless."

Old Tan Xin said that he still talks about others, but he is a typical example.The doctor stopped drinking alcohol a long time ago, shameless, still drinking.When to vomit blood and when to be honest.

Sun Haicheng was in charge of two vegetables, one was boiled cabbage and the other was Kaiyang cabbage, which was relatively simple. His cooking skills were not good enough, so he was not asked to take too much responsibility.

Just after checking the preparation of the hot dishes, the front desk said that the dishes were served, and the two sisters who passed the dishes immediately pushed up the dining car full of dishes and walked to the hall with excited faces.

The opening was very successful, and the food, service, and atmosphere were well received by the leaders.The big leader praised Sister Yuan, and Sister Yuan was beaming, and went directly to the supermarket to get two Yuxi cigarette plugs for Lao Tan as a reward.

Zhou Xiaomei and the three waiters had to take the evening train back to the provincial capital. Lao Tan thanked them for their help and entertained them alone in a private room.

Working abroad is like this. Only by making friends with each other with sincerity and being honest can you gain word of mouth and make friends. When you need help, friends will extend a hand of friendship and make selfless dedication.

Restaurant workers live at the bottom of the society and are usually not respected and looked down upon, but they are the most loyal group of people.In this special group, if people do not behave righteously, do not pay attention, do not honor their parents, and do not respect teachers, they will not be able to get along.

In the eyes of many people in the world, they are vulgar, uneducated and incompetent rural migrant workers.Only these people will work in restaurants as cooks, waiters, and waiters.

But when you walk into this circle, you will find that they are very particular, and they retain the simplicity and mellowness, hard work and kindness of farmers.They do not have a high level of culture, but they know that they respect teachers and teach, and that there is a difference between old and young.

In the current industry, only chefs are the only ones who see the master salute.The relationship between master and apprentice is like father and son, the master takes care of the apprentice meticulously, and the apprentice respects the master very much.The boss may not be able to speak well, but the master will listen to him even when he coughs.

Among them, they can understand what it means for one party to be in trouble and all parties to support it.No matter where you are, if you encounter difficulties, just say a word, and various resources will be in place immediately.A chef is needed to introduce a chef, a manager is needed to introduce a manager, a pastry is needed to introduce a pastry, and sometimes they will go over in person to help unconditionally.

Of course, all of this is based on being a person. If your character is not good, no one will take care of you. Even if you have excellent skills and excellent management, you are the boss.

Looking at the workers in the restaurant as if they were scattered, in fact, the interior is very united, and the rules left by the older generation of craftsmen have always been there.

Up to now, the average working life of hotel employees in a restaurant is [-] years. Various subjective and objective reasons prevent them from having a long-term fixed work unit. The crisis of layoffs exists for a long time, and they may be laid off at any time and anywhere.

The mobility of employees is high, the labor intensity is high, and there are certain risks. This is the reality that every catering person faces.

As we said before, no one likes to use chefs after 45, and few people ask about it after 45. This is the status quo of chefs, and it has to be said that it is cruel.The same is true for the front desk staff. Although it is an indisputable fact that the waiters are getting older, relatively speaking, no one over [-] likes to use them.

To put it bluntly, before the statutory retirement age, catering practitioners retired early.There are old and young people in this age group. It is the most difficult time in life, and they can only find their own way out in order to survive.

Opening a small restaurant is their first choice. They are unfamiliar with other industries, but they are most familiar with restaurants. 80.00% of the small restaurants are run by restaurant workers, either chefs, waiters, or pasta cold dishes.

When opening a restaurant, I often use up all my savings, and if it is not enough, I will also use up the money of my parents, siblings, relatives and friends, and start the business with great pressure and difficulty.

According to incomplete statistics, the country's small and medium-sized restaurants grow at a rate of 3 million each year, and at the same time close at a rate of 3 million.Opening and closing are the same. On the surface, it looks like you are singing and I will appear on the stage, and it is lively, but it is actually a tear of bitterness, and the lack of real money.

After careful observation, it is not difficult to find that in the community where we live, there are at least ten or twenty or more small restaurants and restaurants in the nearby streets. There are only a handful of restaurants that are more than one year old, and some of them closed their doors within two months of opening.Often the restaurants we go to eat in the last few days may be closed after a week, and there is a sign of "exchange transfer" printed on A4 paper.

The survival and life of restaurant workers is difficult.

Survive even if it is difficult, just for the simple two words - to live.

During the meal, Old Tan asked Zhou Xiaomei and Wang Gang how things were going, and Zhou Xiaomei said it was okay, the relationship between colleagues.

"Colleague relationship? Just a simple colleague relationship? Didn't it develop further?" Old Tan asked half-jokingly.

Zhou Xiaomei said: "Then there's no need to worry. Let's have a look first. I've been here for more than [-] years and it's not bad for two days."

"My impression of Wang Gang is not bad, he is more affordable, and he will develop in the future," Lao Tan said.

"Under consideration."

Old Tan doesn't care much about making friends with others, because he and Zhou Xiaomei are both classmates and relatives, so ask.

In his heart, he felt that Wang Gang and Zhou Xiaomei were a good match.You have to look at the essence of a person, Wang Gang is not bad in essence, he is not the kind of playboy, and he can live a good life.

There is no problem with her character. Although she is a little narrow-minded, it is not a problem.

Who is careless?It's all the same, and so is myself.Don't say that men are careless, they are stronger than women when they are young.

Zhou Xiaomei told him that people in Kanto now pay 40,000 yuan a day, and it takes a lot of effort to sell [-] yuan, unless it is on the weekend, or there is a wedding package.It seems that Mr. Xu regretted dismissing Lao Tan, and meant to ask him to go back.

"Impossible. I can't see anything in just over three months. I don't lose money if I sell it for [-] yuan, but I earn less. I don't know how many years he signed the contract. If it is five years, the capital will not be recovered." Old Tan analyzed.

"The kitchen is in chaos now, and Wang Gang also wants to ask you to go back." Zhou Xiaomei said.

Old Tan smiled, lit a cigarette and said, "Silly girl, he didn't mean to ask me to go back. He said that because of you. If he wanted to ask me to go back, he wouldn't fire me. Mr. Xu has to stand up now because he's in the way of face." Look, it will take years for me to go back, and now he still can't get rid of this face."

Zhou Xiaomei nodded, and then asked, "Are you planning to stay here forever?"

"No, how can anyone eat here? You looked at it today, except for leading a table of individual customers. My task is to open the hotel and hotel, and then follow it for a period of time. After straightening out, it will be withdrawn after normal operation. The provincial capital." Old Tan said.

"You are here to open up wasteland for others."

"That's right. I guess I can do it until the Spring Festival, and I won't come after the Spring Festival."

It was already five o'clock after sending the four of Zhou Xiaomei and the others to the car. Sister Yuan was thoughtful and thanked each of them with two bags of beef jerky and two boxes of toffee.

The evening market was not empty, there were three tables of guests.Director Gao had a table, Bart had a table, and Master Bao's cousin-in-law Director Wu had a table.

Lao Tan first had a few drinks with Bart and his friends, and then accompanied Director Wu.Director Gao doesn't need to worry about it, as long as his family is accompanied by Sister Yuan.

Accompanying Director Wu at this table let him see how domineering Mongolian women drink.

There are four people at Director Wu's table. Besides him, there are three women who are colleagues in the unit, one head nurse and two nurses.The head nurse is in her thirties, about the same height as Lao Tan, but fatter than Lao Tan, which should be described as burly.The two nurses are petite compared to the head nurse, but they are better than the scholar man.

The head nurse drank like drinking water, and didn't care at all. A bottle of wine went down in less than half an hour.The two nurses were quite reserved at the beginning, but when they were halfway through the drink, they regained their spirits, and the swishing was quite scary.

In the end, Lao Tan did the math, and he drank a catty and a half catty, the head nurse two catties, two nurses each eight taels, and Director Wu one and a half catties.

Drinking happily, the four of them were not drunk and were sober.

Later, Lao Tan concluded that there are two reasons why the Mongolian people can drink alcohol. The first is that the alcohol content is not high, and they do not drink high alcohol.The second is to drink for a long time. When you get excited, you start to sing and dance. The singing sings out the alcohol, and you sweat after dancing, which is no different from sobering up.

Six or seven hours is equivalent to drinking two meals of wine, and it is impossible to get drunk if you drink a lot.

It is good to be able to drink, and to make friends everywhere, and became sisters and brothers with the head nurse that day.

In addition, Director Wu has decided on the Naadam Conference in October, and the hospital team will have all meals and accommodation here for a total of three days.

(End of this chapter)