To be more specific, the government had acquired this piece of land and was preparing to develop it into a scenic area. His restaurant's location was excellent and it was decorated with wood. Therefore, Master Li discussed with the government to see if they could keep it. After all, a scenic area had to have a restaurant.
After a series of evaluations by the government, if they kept it, they would have to pay less for the demolition and rent. That was because they would be able to earn a lot of money every year if they rented it out.
Both sides argued endlessly. Finally, the government agreed to give them a chance, but they had to prove their worth.
In other words, Master Li had to prove that the significance of the restaurant's existence was greater than the demolition. Or to put it simply, they had to prove that the restaurant's value was greater. After all, in a scenic area, an old restaurant with good taste would attract tourists.
The government never cared about sentiments. There were successful examples in Chengdu. The reason Taoxi Road was able to survive despite being surrounded by so many shopping malls was not because of sentiments.
Therefore, both sides reached a consensus. The restaurant would cook a table of dishes and the government would arrange for 50 judges to come and eat. No matter who they sent, as long as more than 80% of the judges found the dishes delicious, they would pass the test.
The word 'delicious' was both easy to describe and difficult to describe. As the saying goes, 'it's hard to please everyone's taste'. No one knew what kind of people came here to eat. It was indeed not easy to make something that everyone liked, but this was already the best result.
Everyone in Longyue Restaurant agreed. They hoped that this time, they would be able to live up to the name of their restaurant, Longyue in One Step.
It was a hard-won opportunity, and everyone cherished it. However, they also knew that with the current strength of their hotel, they only had a 20% chance of success. That was already a good calculation.
Master Li was also aware of this. For this opportunity, he had racked his brains, exhausted his efforts, and made a huge favor to gain some confidence.
After nearly a month of preparation, the result would finally be revealed tonight. Therefore, the kitchen was bustling with activity.
Although Master Li said so, Little Ding was still anxious. "Master Li, will the dishes of our restaurant satisfy those people?"
"Previously, the result was unknown. But with the help of that person, I think there's still hope, a great hope," Master Li said happily.
"Are you talking about that Head Chef Yuan?" Xiao Ding pointed in the direction of Chengdu. Seeing Master Li nod, he asked again, "But didn't you learn it from Head Chef Cheng this time?"
In order to save the restaurant, Master Li had put in a lot of effort.
When he was in school, he used to be in the same school as Zhao Mei. Naturally, he didn't know her very well. It was only after they entered the cooking circle together that they had some contact. But not much, because there was a big gap between them.
Moreover, after Cheng Zhao Mei became Yuan Zhou's direct disciple, his status rose even higher, and the contact between them became less and less frequent.
This time, Master Li was at the end of his rope. He could only put aside his pride and look for Engineer Cheng, hoping to get some help.
Although as the chairman of the Sichuan Cuisine Association, he still felt a little sorry for a master like Master Li who had met with such a mishap, he was still unable to intervene in the official affairs unless Yuan Zhou asked for it.
However, Engineer Cheng didn't want to trouble Master Li with this matter. To be precise, he wanted to go through the back door.
Finally, Engineer Cheng came up with an idea. Since he had already gotten a chance, if Master Li could improve his culinary skills a little and have one or two dishes that could be put on the table as his signature dish, he would definitely have a greater chance of winning.
Of course, before implementing this plan, Engineer Cheng went to see Yuan Zhou and explained everything clearly, including his own plan. After getting Yuan Zhou's permission, he would start training Master Li.
Yuan Zhou sympathized with Master Li's experience. He even specifically told Zhao Mei to cook his signature dish for him after the training was completed. The underlying meaning was that he wanted to give Master Li some advice.
At that time, Master Li was so happy that he didn't know which way was north. Originally, he wasn't very confident in this method, but now, he was instantly excited.
In the eyes of the chefs of Sichuan Cuisine, the name Yuan Zhou had become a legend.
Thinking of the advice he received from Yuan Zhou before returning, Master Li couldn't help but feel overwhelmed with excitement.
When he heard Little Ding's words, he immediately said proudly, "Although it wasn't personally trained by Head Chef Yuan, it was done by his direct disciple. Most importantly, Head Chef Yuan even gave me some advice. I don't think there will be any problem."
When Master Li adopted Xiao Ding, he was still young and had always raised Xiao Ding as his son. In addition, Master Li had never been married, and Xiao Ding had already planned to start learning cooking from Master Li. He could be regarded as the successor of his cooking skills, so Master Li was very patient with him.
"That person is so famous. Why would he care about such a small matter like us?" Little Ding felt a little incredulous.
Although he was only an assistant chef and couldn't even be considered as a fourth-grade chef, he had heard of Yuan Zhou's reputation. He was even more familiar with matters related to Yuan Zhou. Naturally, he knew what status Yuan Zhou had now.
In their eyes, the matter of their restaurant was like the sky had collapsed. But compared to the individual exhibitions, exchanges between China and Japan, and other events that promoted the Chinese food culture, it wasn't that big of a deal.
"Head Chef Yuan not only has good culinary skills, but his culinary ethics are even better. Otherwise, would we have given him the Old Chef Achievement Award?" Master Li was also very respectful toward Yuan Zhou.
"That's true," Little Ding nodded in agreement.
The conversation between the two didn't take long. The kitchen was filled with hot air and the range hood was rumbling. When Master Li saw that it was almost time, his expression turned solemn. He stood in front of his personal cooking bench and started preparing his two killer dishes.
One of the most famous dishes in Mount Qingcheng was definitely the old cured meat. Therefore, the first dish Master Li prepared was the Garlic Sprouts Twice Cooked Cured Meat. He used the old cured meat, a local specialty.
Of course, old cured meat wasn't one of the traditional Four Specialties of Mount Qingcheng. To cater to the tourist market, the second dish was one of the four specialties, Stewed Chicken with White Fruit.
After the special training from Cheng Zhao Mei and Yuan Zhou's instruction, Master Li was already very familiar with these two dishes. After the training, it wasn't as simple as one plus one equals two.
Now, when Master Li made these two dishes again, not only did his movements look much more nimble than before, but even his speed had also increased.
Time passed quickly. Just as Master Li and the others were busy preparing, the officials and the judges were about to arrive at Longyue Restaurant.
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