Chapter 465 Lives up to his reputation
Ning Weimin never wastes time in doing things.
Having just eaten the Sophora Flower Lazy Dragon, early the next morning, he took the initiative to invite several major leaders of the Temple of Heaven, as well as Qiao Wanlin and his immediate boss to eat palace dishes together.
Speaking of which, the difference from home-cooked meals to top-notch delicacies is quite big.
And he suddenly came up with the idea of "on-the-spot investigation, eating and learning".
It does seem a bit rushed to others, catching people off guard.
After all, people in the capital care about etiquette and politeness the most when it comes to treating guests to dinner.
As the saying goes, it takes three days to invite someone and two days to greet someone. Those who greet someone on the same day can only be regarded as a present.
But the problem is, such an "urgent official business" is as good a job as the second senior brother being promoted to the "Pure Altar Envoy".
No one can escape this temptation, it is human nature.
There is absolutely no one who is unwilling to put aside what they are doing and try their best to cooperate.
Especially according to common sense, even the cadres of the Temple of Heaven Garden and the service bureau have no chance to taste those extremely expensive things that ordinary people can only hear about.
In other words, their positions and levels determine the level of banquets they can participate in. At most, they are in the category of ordinary restaurants such as Bianyifang, Laozhengxing, Duyichu, and One-stop.
Even Cuihua Building, Fengze Garden, and the popular "Judequan" are not very likely to be able to go.
It was really thanks to Ning Weimin that he used the French money to treat guests with the attitude of "riding a crane to Yangzhou with a hundred thousand guan in his waist".
Only then can everyone have such a rare opportunity to learn together what the emperor eats.
So it really doesn’t matter.
As long as you can experience those delicacies from the mountains and seas that are praised by the world and seem to best embody the pinnacle of Chinese cuisine.
No one would be happy about such a disrespectful etiquette.
On the contrary, they are all willing to dress decently, wishing they could "lift up" their collars and go there.
Without even being reminded, they each brought their camera film, ready to take some photos and bring them back for information discussion.
In this way, the first day was at Tingli Pavilion in the Summer Palace, and the second day was at Fangshan in Beihai.
We all sat together in the exquisite hall with carved beams and painted buildings, looking at the beautiful lakeside. We loosened our belts, opened our cheeks, ate happily, and drank and talked happily.
Since they were lucky enough to participate in it, everyone did not hesitate to sacrifice their spleen and stomach, and they were dedicated to contributing to the country's efforts to earn foreign exchange.
Just these two meals, it must be said that they were really not in vain!
That's a long-term experience and an eye-opener.
The calligraphy and paintings of famous people, the hardwood furniture, exquisite tableware, gorgeous dishes, ladies in ancient costumes, attentive service, the pomp of official banquets, and all aspects of the palace's royal meals.
These people understand what is going on, and it is not an exaggeration to say that they will never forget it.
But conversely, it must be said that because of this, everyone was greatly stimulated mentally.
Everyone came back a little vague about opening palace catering.
It seems that they are no longer so confident that the restaurant they jointly run can really compete with Tingli Restaurant and Beihai Fangshan.
Nothing else, "It is better to be famous than to meet, and to meet is worse than to be famous."
Whether it is the Tingli Pavilion in the Summer Palace or the Fangshan Restaurant in Beihai, it is indeed well-deserved! It’s so shocking!
Let’s talk about Tingli Pavilion first.
Before going there, Ning Weimin and Qiao Wanlin once mistakenly thought it was a place where the Qing royal family played with birds and teased parrots.
Thanks to the explanation given by several cadres at the Temple of Heaven Park, they found out that it was the theater of the Empress Dowager Cixi in the past.
It is an important place for this old lady and her favorites to enjoy music and entertainment.
The song of the oriole is used as a metaphor for the beauty of music, hence the name "Listening to the Oriole Pavilion".
When they went there, they drove in two cars from the northwest gate of the Summer Palace to the front of the Oriole Pavilion.
This feels really convenient.
For this reason, everyone discussed it optimistically, saying that if they opened a restaurant in Beishen Kitchen, they could learn a lot from it.
However, when they stepped up the stone platforms, they saw the words "Golden Branch Xiuhua" written on the plaque directly above.
The waiter responsible for leading them told them that this plaque was handwritten by the Empress Dowager Cixi.
They unconsciously felt the weight of history.
They all agreed that this red-painted pavilion shaded by green bamboos, a beautiful place surrounded by mountains and rivers, and the level of palace endorsement made the houses of Beishenchu a bit out of reach.
What's more, they didn't expect that when they really crossed this threshold, this feeling of gradually becoming more and more dirty would be even worse.
Because from this time on, they were exposed to "the lifestyle of the Empress Dowager Cixi", and they couldn't help but admire the great place where the Empress Dowager Cixi had food, drink and fun.
It covers an area of more than 6,000 square meters, and the business area is almost 3,000 square meters.
In addition to a two-story theater facing south and north, there are eight large and small restaurants such as "Shou Shan Hall", "Fu Shou Hall", "Guishu Hall" and "Medicinal Food Hall", which can be used at the same time. Received more than 500 people for dinner.
The key is that the interior is extremely luxurious, with carved beams and paintings in the restaurant, high-hanging palace lanterns, and antique mahogany furniture, showing a magnificent royal style.
Let’s take a look at the thrones, screens, clocks, palace lanterns, and fans used exclusively by the Queen Mother and the Emperor, as well as the special tables that have hosted many Chinese and foreign historical celebrities.
In such a scene, accompanied by waiters wearing imitation Qing Dynasty clothes, walking by one by one, it makes people feel like they have traveled back in time.
In a trance, it seemed as if I was witnessing the emperor and his concubines having a family banquet together.
But when the menu was actually brought and everyone sat down to order, it was even more amazing.
Because no one expected that in addition to the well-known palace dishes, Tingli Restaurant also has its own unique "medicinal diet" and "whole fish feast".
This restaurant not only prepares royal dishes and the Queen Mother's health-preserving medicinal diets, but also uses the Kunming Lake in front of it as its own freshwater fish farm.
Carp, herring, grass carp, silver carp, mandarin fish, bonito are actually raised there...
You can even kill and cook them right away, using live fish raised in Kunming Lake. More than 200 kinds of extremely delicious dishes are produced, which is called "whole fish feast".
Of course, if you want to eat so much, you must make a reservation in advance, otherwise there will not be enough fish and people will be too busy.
But even if you only order "Dragon Boat Live Fish", you can probably know how good the fish cooking here is.
For this dish, the chef must first cut a live carp or grass carp from the belly.
After removing the internal organs, cut the four corners of the back with a knife, then turn the fish body over to make it into a bin shape. Mix the pureed chicken with egg whites, salt and wine to taste, then stuff it into the boat bin, and mix with fish soup, green onions and ginger. , salt and steam together for about fifteen minutes.
Finally, boil the foamed egg whites and spread them flat on the fish soup.
Sprinkle rape leaves and ham on the egg whites, and put steamed fish - dragon boat fish on top. The clever thing is that the bubbling egg whites of the steamed fish float on the soup.
When the soup moves, the dragon boat fish also moves, just like the dragon boat swaying with the waves, which is wonderful.
In addition, Tingli Restaurant also has a four-color main dish called "Longevity without Borders", which is also worth ordering.
The dishes from these four seas have beautiful colors, aromas and unique flavors.
The best part lies precisely in what Kang Shude once said about writing and decorating with vegetables.
Ten thousand-character agarwood rolls, decorated with the legendary figure Cao Guojiu.
The ginseng duck with the character "Shou" is decorated with "Shou Weng".
Wordless scattered flower fish, decorated with scattered flower fairies.
The word "Xiang" is "Nao Hai Xia" and is decorated with "Nao Hai Gong" Nezha.
With the blessing of these decorative characters, the four dishes of Wanshou Wujiang look particularly lively.
Of course the taste is also good. There may be a big difference in the various methods of frying and frying in the four dishes, or maybe the cooking skills have improved and developed.
Mr. Song once commented that the disease of "the taste is too similar" does not seem to be very obvious.
With such a banquet, we have to admit that the internal and external environment is too exciting.
You know, the Oriole Pavilion is built at the southern foot of Wanshou Mountain. It is separated by a long corridor in front, facing the rippling blue waves of Kunming Lake, and backed by the famous "Painting Middle Reaches" on Wanshou Mountain.
In the place where they eat, if you open the window, you can see green bamboos, a gentle breeze, and a pleasant scenery.
Especially when the sun's rays shine on the beautiful Kunming Lake, the sparkling water waves can easily relax people's mood.
It is really rare to find such an elegant world. This is the charm of Tingli Pavilion.
If Tingli Restaurant is like this, the famous Beihai Fangshan is even more astonishing.
Perhaps because of its strategic location, Fangshan has a longer history than Tingliguan Restaurant.
Beihai Fangshan Restaurant has top-notch software and hardware facilities as well as customer level.
There are a total of fifteen large and small restaurants in the three courtyards including Daoningzhai and Yilan Hall, with more than 500 dining seats.
First of all, the quality and area of the house are not inferior to those of Tingli Pavilion, and they are also close to mountains and rivers, with a beautiful lake and mountain scenery.
In terms of the antiques, calligraphy and paintings displayed here, they are even more numerous and more precious than those in the Tingliu Hall.
The utensils, tableware and furniture used here are also better than those in Tingliu Hall.
The decorations in the hall are all themed with dragons and phoenixes, with large painted palace lanterns, bright yellow tablecloths, napkins, and chair covers. The tableware is made of imitation Qing palace porcelain or silverware marked with the words "Wanshou Wujiang", and the furnishings are simple. Elegant and rich in palace characteristics.
Not to mention the dishes, including abalone, bird's nest, shark's fin, sea cucumber, venison, and bear paws.
In addition, there are "Four Grapes", "Four Sauces", "Four Crisps", as well as Minced Pork Shaobing, Chestnut Noodle Steamed Buns, and countless other famous palace delicacies.
Therefore, the various types of royal banquets are more numerous than those in Tingli Hall.
Even the number and level of people hosting banquets here are higher than those of the customers at Tingli Pavilion.
Many of them are ministerial-level banquets, and there are more people from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs than Ministers across the Yangtze River.
It can be said that during this special period, this place has been playing an important role in entertaining foreign guests.
It almost covers part of the functions of Diaoyutai State Guesthouse.
So if Tingli Restaurant is already full, Beihai Fangshan is almost overcrowded.
For people like Ning Weimin, they didn’t get seats when they went there.
As soon as they entered the restaurant, they were stopped by the smiling usher.
Inform them that there are no large tables for more than four people and they need to wait in line for a while.
However, ten minutes later, they saw two people acting as translators and a few foreigners coming in and being arranged into a private room ahead of them. They also did not dare to express any objection.
For no other reason than because the people from Fangshan told them that these people were here to discuss the purchase of aircraft with the civil aviation company and were invited by the director of civil aviation.
They all consciously recognized this arrangement, giving way to national affairs at the expense of convenience.
As for the meal they had at Fangshan, it was worth 250 yuan per person.
Although it is more expensive than Tingli Restaurant, whether it is desserts such as lotus seed soup, clear soup and snow fungus, or palace snacks such as pea yellow, kidney bean rolls, small steamed buns, thousand-layer cake, etc., they are all exquisite and exquisite. , fresh, sweet and delicious, amazing.
The royally regulated four-sea bird's nest cooking dish brings the skill of using vegetables to make characters to the extreme.
Together with those "pictographic dishes" with both color and flavor - Oolong spitballs, phoenix lying on the nest, goldfish and duck feet, Luohan prawns, toad abalone...
The color is as bright as wearing it. Girls in colorful clothes, singers with graceful and graceful dancing figures, fresh and shy girls with pear blossoms...
Every one of them is lifelike, and the dishes live up to their names.
In short, Beihai Fangshan is like an all-round upgraded version of Tingli Restaurant.
Not only is it full of royal luxury, but the food is also extremely attractive.
So after challenging the visual, auditory and tongue tolerance of the host and guests, generally speaking, the effect of "host and guest enjoying themselves" will be achieved.
Then if we talk about how much Tingli Restaurant can make everyone want to compare various aspects of Northern Divine Chef.
Fangshan simply makes everyone unable to have such thoughts. It is an absolute disparity in strength.
Even Ning Weimin is the same.
Even if his soul comes from thirty years later and has seen many luxurious dishes and lively scenes, he is still dazzled by this kind of royal nobility and palace gimmicks, thinking that such a grand banquet must cost so much money.
Even if he did agree with Mr. Song's evaluation as quoted by Kang Shude, he finally felt the phenomenon of "a hundred dishes with the same flavor and similar taste" to a certain extent in the dishes with similar cooking techniques.
But he has to admit that at least the palace flavor of Fangshan is well-deserved as the highest level of decoration and decoration skills in our country's food culture.
Every dish presented here is like a work of art.
The so-called food in the palace can really be said to be food in Fangshan.
Even if nothing unexpected happens, this will not change for a hundred years.
So the most critical question is, what exactly should the palace restaurant they want to offer compare with these two outstanding restaurants?
Even to divert the business that originally belonged to these two restaurants? To take away other people's guests?
If you try to imitate cats and tigers reluctantly, I’m afraid you’ll make a fool of yourself.
To put it bluntly, the quality of these two restaurants is too high!
Can all of you here not feel guilty?
(End of this chapter)