gourmet food

Chapter 740
More than twenty people sitting in the conference room were arguing fiercely at this time. Two of the people who just spoke were well-known gourmets, and they were the two who objected the most.

An Zifang is fatter and has long hair, but he can't hide the crow's feet around his eyes. At first glance, he looks a bit like an artist. He likes to be called Mr. An.

And Si Yang is very thin, very thin, and it feels like a gust of wind can blow him away.

He looks much younger than Mr. An, probably in his 30s, but he wears a pair of black-rimmed glasses and has a straight face at all times, looking very old-fashioned.

Others present include international famous chefs, cooking masters, well-known gourmets, food researchers, senior users of Dianping, and the initiator of this event, Liang Haotian, the person in charge of Dianping.

There is also a third party, PricewaterhouseCoopers, who implements the agreed-upon procedures for the review phase.

There was also an uninvited guest who had just entered the conference room - President Hou.

The matter is very clear. It was of course President Hou who proposed going to Chengdu for evaluation. This time, the Chinese Cuisine Association was also a participant in the event organized by Dianping, and President Hou acted as a consultant.

What makes President Hou depressed is that he was scolded as soon as he brought it up, and the scolding was severe. Judging from the red faces of Fatty An and Fatty Si, it was as if he owed them money and hadn't paid back.

Dianping is an app that Chinese diners like to use after dining in a restaurant, where they can freely express their opinions about restaurants and hotels.

China’s catering market is vast, so naturally the influence of public reviews is also growing, and gradually everyone begins to have a voice.

That is, Chinese restaurants should also have their own evaluation system and dining guide. Especially some time ago, Michelin entered the country for the first time and evaluated restaurants in Shanghai. The results made many Chinese people feel unhappy.

Originally, everyone would think that with the breadth and depth of Chinese cuisine and the exquisiteness of the eight major cuisines, at least 10 3-star restaurants would be selected.

But what is surprising is that only one restaurant in Shanghai was selected, and it was a French restaurant. The Chinese restaurant was completely wiped out.

This moment caused an uproar.

Everyone is complaining about this bullshit Michelin. It is simply an insult to China’s extensive and profound food culture.

Is the exquisiteness of Chinese cuisine comparable to that of Western food?
Isn't it obvious that this is just for fun, and moreover, it's still a sideshow, and it doesn't give up any dignity or dignity.

But Michelin doesn't care. Faced with such strong public opinion, its response is very formal, that is, it will score in full accordance with international standard evaluation methods.

There is no cheating, because the evaluation method is common all over the world, which is beyond doubt.

Naturally, such a reply could not quell the anger of the Chinese people, but after everyone understood Michelin's scoring method, they understood why such a situation occurred.

This is because Michelin evaluates Chinese food entirely according to Western food evaluation standards, so there will naturally be a lot of ambiguities.

Two very different cooking styles will naturally not be recognized as convergent.

In particular, Western food thinks that Chinese food is too greasy, salty, spicy, etc. These are all factors that affect the rating, so it is no wonder that so many high-end restaurants have been wiped out.

Faced with this situation, many people have proposed to establish their own standards. Why do their own country's exquisite cuisine need this "tire" that is not accustomed to the local environment to dictate?

Therefore, with the efforts of relevant departments and personnel, Dianping finally took the lead and organized this evaluation group to conduct an evaluation of the restaurants in Shanghai using China's own standards.

This is the first shot to let everyone see what the restaurants evaluated by Chinese people are like. After getting everyone's feedback and support, it will slowly spread and evaluate other cities.

And the name of this review is called - Black Pearl.

The result of the evaluation is called the Black Pearl Restaurant Guide. Obviously, this is a direct challenge to Michelin.

The Black Pearl Restaurant Guide to be released this time pays more attention to the inheritance of food culture. It aims to promote the establishment of Chinese food standards, inherit and innovate and promote the "meaning and Tao" of Chinese food, and examines aspects such as cultural inheritance, innovation and integration, and ingenuity. .

Okay, the purpose is the same, so industry standards are also very critical.

Michelin has its own system for evaluating restaurants. Restaurants that want to appear in the Michelin Guide must first obtain at least a set of knife and fork marks.

This kind of mark is the basic evaluation standard of restaurants in the Guide, ranging from the highest 5 marks to 1 mark, indicating the comfort level of the restaurant.

This is based on the restaurant's facilities, furnishings, services, cleanliness and maintenance of the surrounding environment.

Michelin's stars, from one star to the highest three stars, mainly focus on cooking standards.

The meaning of one star: It is a restaurant that is "worth" visiting, a restaurant that is particularly outstanding in the same type of food style, and a restaurant that is worth stopping to try.

The meaning of two stars: first-class cooking, excellent food and wine pairing, a restaurant "worth the detour" to visit, but not cheap.

The meaning of three stars: It is a restaurant "worthy of making a special trip" to visit. It has unforgettable delicious food. It is said that it is worth taking a "flying" trip to eat there.

Some people also define three stars this way: perfect and top-notch cooking skills, worthy of a special trip. You can enjoy superb food, a selection of fine table wines, flawless service and an extremely elegant dining environment, but it will cost a fortune. money.

This is the Michelin style!
Since it is to be tough, then Black Pearl will naturally have its own set of standards, but it does not use star ratings to evaluate, but uses "diamonds" to grade.

Compared with Michelin's lengthy star introduction, Black Pearl appears to be much more streamlined.

Similarly, according to different social scenes, the Black Pearl Restaurant Guide divides the restaurants on the list into three levels, from one diamond to three diamond restaurants.

One Diamond Restaurant: A must-have restaurant for parties.

Two Diamond Restaurant: A must-eat restaurant on anniversary.

Three Diamond Restaurant: A restaurant you must eat once in your life.

Although this standard seems very brief, the connotation it represents is different.

Because for the first time, the Black Pearl Food Guide proposed Chinese food standards covering three dimensions: cooking level, restaurant level, inheritance and innovation.

It includes not only general evaluation standards such as taste experience, food combinations, and environmental atmosphere, but also health and wellness, food quality, and other evaluation standards that cater to the needs of consumer upgrades.

In particular, evaluation criteria with Chinese characteristics such as cultural inheritance and innovation integration were proposed.

Today is the day when the organizing committee is about to conclude its evaluation in Shanghai. After evaluating hundreds of shortlisted restaurants, a total of 55 restaurants were selected.

Judging from the current scoring results, there are 5 restaurants with three diamonds.

The one with the highest score is a local dish with local characteristics in Shanghai. The No.2 restaurant is the French restaurant that was previously rated three stars by Michelin.

From this point of view, Black Pearl still maintains a fair and objective attitude.

No.3 is a vegetarian restaurant and has the reputation of being the best vegetarian restaurant in Asia, while No.4 is a Japanese restaurant.

The last place is a Cantonese restaurant, which mainly specializes in Chaoshan cuisine. It is very innovative and is known as new trendy cuisine.

Therefore, at this time when the summary and program review are about to be carried out, and the guide is about to be released, many people do not understand the sudden proposal to evaluate a restaurant in Chengdu.

As the person in charge this time, Liang Haotian also felt a little embarrassed. President Hou's suggestion came very unexpectedly, disrupting the normal review process, and it seemed that there were many people who objected.

If you think about it for a moment, you will suspect that President Hou is obviously using power for personal gain. Many people know that he has a close relationship with the store called Yipin, and he wants to help the other party use the back door.

If this is the case, then it is a stain on this event. It is obviously a place in Shanghai to be evaluated, but the published guide also includes a restaurant in Chengdu?

Isn't this just exposing your face to be beaten by others?
Is it difficult to imagine that someone would question the fairness and impartiality of the organizing committee?

Are you prepared to increase China's voice in this regard?Isn’t this a joke for Michelin?

Are the so-called Chinese standards just for fun?
President Hou was also very depressed. When he was designing the evaluation route, he proposed to add a few more cities and choose 4-5 first-tier cities, so that the scope would be larger and the impact would be deeper.

But in the end it was not adopted. Many people's opinion was that since it was the first battle, it should be placed in Shanghai, because Michelin's first stop was also here.

There were many supporters of this idea, so after a show of hands, we decided to use the Magic City as a breakthrough point, and then seek external expansion.

President Hou thought there was nothing wrong with such a steady and steady strategy, but after Chu Yunfeng called him in the morning, he had another idea to help this event.

Because I had discussed Michelin with Mr. Li and Chu Yunfeng before, and I felt very indignant that such standards were in the hands of others.

So I also mentioned the black pearl matter to Chu Yunfeng, so that he must cooperate if he has the opportunity and contribute to establishing China's dietary standards.

When he learned that a Michelin reviewer had entered the store, President Hou decided to ask Chu Yunfeng to cooperate in rejecting the Michelin score and adopt the Black Pearl standard.

This will naturally set off the authority of Black Pearl and thus undermine the prestige of Michelin.

If it were an ordinary restaurant with little influence, of course it would have no effect, but Chu Yunfeng's restaurant was different, it would definitely have a sensational effect.

Then he hurriedly came to the conference room and made such a suggestion.

But I just proposed to go to Yipin for evaluation, and before I could finish what I said, I was immediately yelled at. Would you say I am depressed?
Liang Haotian saw that President Hou's expression was depressed but serious, and he understood that he had not finished speaking. Otherwise, how could a person like him use power for personal gain so blatantly?
"President Hou, haven't you finished what you just said? Can you tell us in detail why you need to add extra places to review this restaurant?"

After all, Liang Haotian is the person in charge. After he said this, the venue suddenly became quiet.

Seeing the friendly assist sent by Liang Haotian, President Hou would not let go of this opportunity, but he took his time and scanned everyone's face.

Then he picked up the tea cup and took a sip, coughed slightly, cleared his throat and said: "One of the Michelin reviewers came into the store today.

The boss of Yipin has made it clear that he will not accept Michelin's standards, but he wonders if Black Pearl will take advantage of this to expand the influence of the topic and pave the way for the release of the guide? "

Huh~?

President Hou's additional explanation immediately made everyone present become interested. It seemed that such an operation was feasible.

Not only is it feasible, but it is also very useful. It is simply a divine assist.

However, some people who don't know Yipin began to question: "What is the quality of this restaurant called Yipin? Can it be rated by Michelin?"

If you can’t even get listed in Michelin, is there any point in doing this? "

This question was very topical and received nods of approval from many people present. Everyone looked at President Hou suspiciously, wondering where his confidence came from.

"It makes sense. If it can't even get a star rating, it means nothing at all. If this restaurant can get a three-star rating, then the effect of this contrast will definitely be amazing."

Mmm~!

This was immediately recognized by everyone, so they started asking each other, what is the style and cooking skills of this restaurant like?
"I heard that this restaurant is on a snack street. Most of the dishes sold in the store are snacks and home-cooked dishes. Can such a restaurant be selected by Michelin?
And it’s a Samsung?

Do you think it is possible? "

Mr. An snorted softly, gave President Hou a subtle roll of his eyes, and then said in a somewhat sinister tone.

"What? A shop in the snack street? Isn't this funny?"

"That's right, this is obviously messing around. The shops in the snack street can't even make the shortlist for our Black Pearl, let alone be selected."

"Are we going to get snacks and home-cooked dishes to challenge Michelin? Are we digging a hole for ourselves?"

The venue became excited again, and voices of doubt arose one after another, startling both Liang Tianhao and President Hou.

President Hou also became depressed again. Can't he wait for himself to finish his words at once?

Liang Tianhao's face turned blue when he saw the president. He knew that these people are used to being loose, but they don't care who you are and whether you are the president or not.

Liang Tianhao raised his hand to silence everyone again. President Hou also began to show his momentum and stood up directly. Then he walked to the front desk, copied the photos on his mobile phone to the computer, and immediately cast them on the screen.

These photos were some of the traditional Sichuan dishes restored by Chu Yunfeng, and some were newly prepared dishes. This immediately shocked the people present.

"These dishes look really good."

“The presentation style is very novel, and the chef’s cooking skills are very deep.”

"This dish has been lost for a long time, but you didn't expect to see it again?"

“Oh my God, the creativity of this dish is incredible.”

Seeing that everyone immediately changed their attitude, when President Hou was about to speak, he suddenly received a message on his mobile phone, and he was shocked when he saw it.

He made a "hiss" sound involuntarily.

The sound was loud, so everyone naturally heard it, and everyone became even more curious when they saw the sudden change in President Hou's face.

"Let me tell you the latest news. Michelin has dispatched 10 of the top reviewers from all over the world to Chengdu, which is the restaurant in the snack street that I just told you.

Okay, everyone can give their acceptance speeches."

(End of this chapter)