Gourmet: From a Stall in Northern Europe

Going to such a place isn’t really anything shameful, after all, bars like that are often opened in bustling shopping centers, they don’t shy away from attracting people. The busier they are, the better the business.

But most of the guests there are single men, usually going solo for some fun, it’s rare to see people going in groups, so being bluntly pointed out in front of everyone is a bit embarrassing for John.

As for the remaining wild game carcasses on the farm, of course, Maurice is responsible for finding people to deal with them, it’s none of their concern.

They weigh at least several hundred pounds, it’s nice that someone can help eat them, moving them is impossible, you have to drive to transport them.

"Let’s talk about the rabbits tomorrow, today isn’t a good time."

"Just had a thorough cleanup last night, the rabbits might be scared out of their wits, they won’t easily show themselves in the short term, but the little piglets might come out of the rabbit holes."

"With the gaps in the wire fencing, they might not be stopped, if they escape, all the better. If we come back tomorrow and they’re still here, we can still have another meal."

"I don’t have time tomorrow." Lin Chen refused without hesitation, "I’m going through a second round of recruitment these days, I have interviews, and I need to start planning next week’s menu, the restaurant has a lot of work waiting."

"No worries, no worries, we can bring the ingredients to you~"

"Yeah, you’re probably free in the afternoon and evening, we’ll pay you to help us process them."

"We’ll see then."

He didn’t give a definitive answer, leaving room for negotiation.

When they returned to the hotel, Wang Ziqin parked the car at the entrance, hurriedly marched into the hotel lobby holding his wife’s hand, and tossed the keys to him.

"Help me park this, thanks!"

"?"

Lin Chen instinctively caught the car keys, staring blankly at the two disappearing into the elevator, his mouth twitching.

"Damn it, treating me like a valet? Not even a tip, I’ll park it in the sea for you!"

Just as he was about to get back into the driver’s seat, a hand suddenly reached out in front of him.

"Leave the parking to me."

He looked up, turned out to be Meng Qi.

Lin Chen nodded with satisfaction, gently placing the key in his palm, "You’ve got a good eye, kid, you’ll be promoted sooner or later!"

"It’s my duty, it’s my job."

"How’s the food been lately, got any feedback or suggestions?"

Meng Qi chuckled, "No complaints, how could I have complaints, I’d give it a hundred out of ten!"

"I came for your culinary skills, being able to eat your cooking again is the best, I’m not picky, it’s all delicious!"

"What about others, don’t you guys have a group, heard anything?"

"Not important!"

Meng Qi shook his head decisively, "Individual opinions aren’t worth considering, especially for buffets like ours. As long as over eighty percent of a hundred diners are satisfied, the remaining twenty percent of opinions are just for reference."

"No restaurant can meet the needs of all diners, overall satisfaction is enough."

"Well, didn’t expect this insight from you, you’re quite perceptive!"

Lin Chen smiled increasingly satisfied, patting his shoulder, "Alright then, kindly park the car, I’m heading to my room for a shower."

Although he could help with breakfast at the restaurant, he really didn’t want to.

It’s not about being lazy; according to his future plans, sooner or later he’ll leave here for a holiday, and the restaurant will definitely need someone to manage its operations all day.

As the Head Chef, he only needs to ensure the quality of the menu dishes, and the staff’s character and skills are alright, everything else he can not worry about, and no upscale restaurant has the chef working every day in person.

Just taking advantage of this time to train the staff’s initiative, except for Lin, all the people recruited have at least a year of kitchen experience, and they were individually interviewed by him, they shouldn’t cause any trouble.

And after he steps back, the team’s focus will shift to Zhao Shun and Old Chen, one handling breakfast and retail, the other lunch, with mutual support they can meet business needs while enhancing both their reputations and influence.

Thinking back to yesterday afternoon, Zhao Shun pushed out a bunch of colorful, exquisite little breads and desserts from the kitchen, the service girls’ eyes glistening with stars as they looked at him, Lin Chen couldn’t help but smile.

"This kid, might really snag himself a foreign girl?"

"As long as he’s not just playing around, it’s fine, I wouldn’t feel comfortable specifically warning him, hoping the kid has some sense."

"With Lucas egging him on, the odds are pretty high, but speaking of which, people from Romantic Country seem pretty flaky, right? Under the guise of romance, one-night stands are common. Just about Lucas... whatever, observe and see."

Lost in thought, he had already returned to the hotel room, enjoyed a comfortable hot bath, and then sat on the balcony with his laptop open, starting to handle the nearly day’s worth of piled-up recruitment emails.

Perhaps because the hotel had been hosting too many activities recently, coupled with the official opening of the restaurant, the buzz was several notches higher than the previous weeks, and more and more people were noticing Radisson’s existence.

Out of habit, Lin Chen casually opened all of Lucas’s social media platforms for a quick glance, and when he saw the numbers on the homepage, a flicker of astonishment flashed in his eyes.

The last time he clicked on this page was only two or three days ago. In just a few days, under the operation of the hotel’s PR team, Lucas’s follower count had surprisingly surpassed the 500,000 threshold, skyrocketing to 670,000.

"Something’s not right; the following of a foreign blogger shouldn’t grow this fast. Could it be domestic traffic diversion?"

With hundreds of thousands of followers, he naturally couldn’t go through the list one by one, so he directly opened the latest uploaded video and then the comments section.

This video uploaded just after 9 PM last night, had already garnered over 100,000 views in just eight hours.

He estimated that the numbers should multiply once more people woke up and checked their feeds.

"As expected, the top-liked comment in the section is from our own folks."

Seeing that familiar line of snarky text, Lin Chen couldn’t help but shake his head with a smile, "Lucky are the family members who stumbled upon this at night?"

"No, it’s just 9 PM, how is that late? Posting at midnight would be more interesting, right!"

After browsing through the ten or so top-liked comments, he found that half of them were made by Great Xia people, with quite a few users located in Europe.

"This is a bit tricky now; if our folks are getting in on the action, what’s left for these foreigners?"

"When it comes to enjoying buffets, we Great Xia people are absolute pros. No, I need to slightly adjust the strategy to prevent certain dishes from being snatched up."

At this moment, he deeply felt just how troublesome being a head chef was, no wonder there wasn’t much time to hang around the kitchen.

"Luckily, there’s Jonathan. Although that guy likes to slack off, he’s generally okay with the big picture. If something happens at the restaurant while I’m not around, he can still handle it, I just need to help out with the menu."

After skimming through the comments section to grasp the trends of these days, he turned his focus back to the emails.

"Wow... it’s not even a full day, and there are over 300 job application emails? If I have to process all of this, with more coming in gradually, can I finish it today?"

Thinking of this, he quickly called Zhao Shun.

"Old Zhao, I’m a bit busy here, still need to handle the job application emails, might not be able to rush over to help with lunch, can you guys manage on your own?"

Technically, without him holding down the fort, the efficiency of dish preparation would at least drop by about a quarter, and the overall team pressure would significantly increase.

Yet, Zhao Shun not only didn’t complain but sounded somewhat... delighted?

"What? You go on, keep busy, bring more people back, don’t worry about us here. Many of the toppings for breakfast were braised last night, this morning it’s just making some noodles to finish up, lunch is similar to yesterday, simple enough."

Even though the tone sounded quite normal, Lin Chen’s keen senses detected a hint of strangeness.

This guy wasn’t worried about extra work being more tiring and was even pleased about it?

Something’s up!

With a quick flash of insight, he soon figured out the reasoning behind it.

As a head chef, and also the creator of the restaurant’s buzz, he naturally carried an aura similar to that of a celebrity.

As long as he was present, no matter how hard Zhao Shun tried to make his presence felt, the effect would be very limited; everyone’s focus would unconsciously be on him.

Only in his absence would Zhao Shun’s importance be magnified, especially since he was also responsible for making retail products, like little pastries and buns, women’s favorite things.

"Goodness, hasn’t been here long enough to get settled, already thinking of taking over?"

Lin Chen chuckled mildly in his heart and didn’t take it seriously, but rather considered it a positive development.

As they say, a soldier who doesn’t want to be a general is not a good soldier, and a cook who doesn’t aspire to be a head chef isn’t a good cook.

Only motivation brings passion for work, leading to endless inspiration pouring out from one’s mind, otherwise with the dullness and heft of a cook’s work, no one could endure it for long.

He acknowledged this guy’s work ability and his upright attitude, working tirelessly from early morning to late at night without a single complaint, but the only problem they currently face is... he can’t communicate with the employees.

Sign language communication, though manageable, is not enough for promotion.

Whether it’s teaching Zhao Shun and Old Chen French, or having the employees learn Chinese, it’s not something that can be achieved quickly.

"Forget it, let’s put the language issue aside for now, no need to rush, better focus on the emails, and hope this time brings me more pleasant surprises."

This time, the recruitment wasn’t only advertised on foreign websites but also domestically, just to recruit a few more Chinese chefs to help out.

Otherwise, when dinners are also up and running, it would really be too much to handle without him.