Chapter 519: Building a Sign
Ning Weimin has never studied hotel management.
His academic qualifications were obtained through part-time work-study at a pheasant university in his previous life. In fact, they were not much different from a scrap of paper.
But he is scheming and has rich social experience, ability to survive, and means of speculation.
There is also the great knowledge of how to behave and treat others that I learned from Kang Shude in this life.
And unknowingly, because of collecting, we have developed hobbies and interests in our national heritage and traditional culture.
These things are far more practical than the knowledge in college.
What's more, he also caught up with the golden business opportunity of a lifetime in the early stages of reform and opening up and economic revitalization.
In the current market, the entry threshold is high, there are only a few truly high-end catering companies, domestic labor and technology costs are very low, and the demand for tourism and catering markets is surging rapidly.
He was able to use the name of the first foreign company in the country and rely on the resources of Pierre Carton Company as a backing.
It even received full support from the Chongwen District Service Bureau and the Temple of Heaven Park, two official partners with power, land and connections.
There are also masters of folk skills from all walks of life such as "Zhang Dashao", Master Pang, Master Chang Jing, Master Ai, Master Luo, Chang Yuling, and Liu Yongqing who sincerely help.
It can be said that the market environment he faced was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
The business advantages he occupies are also unique and unprecedented.
If under such circumstances, the restaurant he founded still cannot achieve great success, it would be really unreasonable.
It has become an extremely illogical thing that completely violates the laws of the market.
The probability of this unbelievable situation happening is probably about the same as him drowning in the washbasin or choking to death on a piece of tofu.
So in fact, the almost perfect opening ceremony held on August 27, 1983 did herald great success.
With the help of friends from various media, newspapers and TV have been fanned out, and the effect is remarkable.
It was like a second kick that resounded through the sky above the capital. Ning Weimin successfully launched the "Tan Palace" restaurant's sign almost overnight.
It happened on the second day of the opening ceremony, that is, August 28, when "Tan Palace" officially opened to the public.
Not only the Beijing TV station broadcast the news of the opening of the "Tan Palace" restaurant on the "Beijing News" program at 18:30 in the evening, allowing the people of the capital to see the lively scene of the celebration.
Several local newspapers in Beijing, including "Beijing Daily", "Beijing Evening News", "Beijing Youth Daily" and "Guangming Daily", also reported this news on important pages with pictures and texts.
In the days that followed, "Fashion" and "Modern Clothing", two magazines that jointly organized model competitions with Pierre Carton, published the "Tan Palace" opening ceremony using the T-stage show's photo.
Art magazine, which jointly organized the sculpture art exhibition with Ning Weimin, also published photos of the interior decoration and partial furnishings of the "Altar Palace" as an excellent example of the practical application of traditional art.
In addition, the documentary filmed by Beijing TV Station on the Temple of Heaven Park also included footage of tourist shops and the "Tan Palace" restaurant, which was soon broadcast on television.
Beijing Radio Station also produced an exclusive interview program for "Tan Palace". Ning Weimin personally participated in the interview to introduce the details of "Tan Palace" to the audience and popularize the palace food culture.
Thus, through this three-dimensional, bombing-style news soft advertisement, most of the citizens of the capital not only know that there is a third high-end restaurant specializing in palace cuisine in the capital, but also have a general understanding of this new restaurant. Distinctive operating characteristics.
For example, the "Altar Palace·Royal Dining Officer's Seat" uses bright yellow, peacock blue, and malachite green as the main colors, and the decoration and furnishings in the restaurant are also extremely gorgeous and exquisite.
Not only palace lanterns, murals, porcelain, classical furniture and various exquisite ethnic handicrafts can be seen everywhere, but there is also a luxurious and exquisite artistic atmosphere everywhere, looking more like an art museum than a restaurant.
There are also royal ritual vessels for worshiping heaven and Huang Zhou's "Picture of Fortune, Luxury, Longevity and Joy" as treasures of the store.
For another example, the "Tan Palace" not only restores the style and enjoyment of the old palace banquets as much as possible, but also successfully creates an aristocratic atmosphere where "the music returns to the courtyard and the lights go up to the balcony". Moreover, the business content and methods are also different from other restaurants.
Here you can eat first and pay later.
Looking at the banquet procedures, you can find casual banquets run by other restaurants here, and convenient snacks here.
However, the formal "official banquet" with complicated procedures and various dishes is the only one here.
Judging from the dishes, although delicacies from mountains and seas are also available here, "Tan Palace" does not use this as its main selling point.
The main thing here is actually flower and fruit dishes, barbecue dishes, and pure Manchu flavor that are not available elsewhere.
Even the dim sum, snacks and tea dishes here are different from others.
What we pursue is still pure flavor, well-established and well-documented.
Among other things, you can eat grape paste strips, jade dew cream, water dumplings, milk pastry, lala, glass powder, pigeon pine vegetable buns here.
Real Manchu people, people who really know something about palace life, or people who study palace life, all understand.
These things that have long been invisible in the market and rarely mentioned by anyone anymore are the real palace snacks.
It is far from comparable to pea yellow, ai wotou, minced pork sesame cakes and chestnut noodles.
Even here, they don’t sell “donkey rolling” which is eaten by ordinary people, but only “danancang” which is eaten by dignitaries.
(In the front menu, the word "Donkey Rolling" was written in the second-class seats. It was an oversight. It cannot be modified, so I can only comment and correct it here)
What's the meaning?
In fact, essentially, the two things are almost the same thing.
But in terms of materials and production, the difference is that "Donkey Rolling" uses steamed soybean noodles, while "Danmian Cang" uses fried and cooked sesame seeds.
The meaning of the names is also different. "Donkey Rolling" focuses on the folk interest of making fun of bionics.
The "beating the noodle warehouse" embodies the auspicious meaning of "the warehouse is full and there is plenty of food", which the upper class rulers long for.
All in all, the "Tan Palace" restaurant created by Ning Weimin has tried its best to restore the palace cuisine by removing the false and retaining the true, removing the unnecessary and retaining the essential.
It is also quite advanced and pragmatic, establishing a food theory and "luxury taste" that downplays the delicacies of mountains and seas, does not regard eating game as a beauty, and only values cooking level.
It has been relatively successful in creating the impression of a rising star in the palace cuisine, and has become another iconic representative symbol that reflects the ancient appearance and charm of the old capital.
Therefore, it was also talked about by many ordinary people, and became a topic of chat for many people during this period.
For example, those entrepreneurs who are also interested in opening restaurants and entering the catering industry can't help but praise the innovation of "Tan Palace".
For example, Guo Peiji and Liu Guixian of Cuihua Hutong Yuebin Restaurant, the first independent restaurant in Beijing, were founded as early as 1980.
“Hey, this place doesn’t look like a restaurant. If the place to eat is so high-end, then who would care about eating? However, this place is really beautiful, no Thinking of the traditional things put together, it looks so high-end. This is no worse than a high-end Western hotel..."
"No, look at these tablecloths. Westerners always use white ones. This one is made of bright yellow and decorated with flowers, which is definitely more advanced than the foreign ones. I think we can actually learn from it. It’s different when the tablecloth is laid out. It does look much more advanced than the one where you eat first and pay later. ...Tell me, why aren’t they afraid of guests wandering around after eating?”
Three days later, tablecloths were also laid out in Yuebin Restaurant.
Half a year later, medicines were prescribed and medicines were prescribed, and the rule was also changed to the rule of eating first and giving money later. Although in order to prevent dirt and reduce replacement, they put a layer of glass plate on the tablecloth.
Although they were afraid of losing orders, for a long time they were wary of strangers like thieves.
But these changes have never happened in the original history, and the impact is not small.
Of course, more people focus on the price of an "official seat" here and the taste of those palace dishes.
You must know that the beginning of life for ordinary Beijing residents in 1983 was when they got up in the morning and spent seven cents on a fried dough stick and five cents on a bowl of sweet soy milk.
This year, watermelons were sold for 7 cents per catty, Guoguang apples were sold for 47 cents per catty, fresh fish and eggs were sold for 1 yuan per catty, Grade A peony cigarettes were sold for 7 yuan and 8 yuan per box, and Huhai brand men's mechanical watches were sold for 7 yuan per catty. Ten yuan each, the retail price of the famous Yanshan brand bicycle at that time was 165 yuan.
According to Ning Weimin's radio program, there are only one dim sum shop in "Tan Palace" that adopts policies to benefit the people to ensure that people can afford it.
If you dine on the second floor of "Tan Palace" now, it is very expensive.
The approximate standard for a banquet is 200 yuan per person for first-class official seats and 120 yuan per person for second-class official seats.
The price of casual seats is about 100 yuan per person for first-class seats and 60 yuan per person for second-class seats.
This means that ten people can eat about ten watches at a formal official dinner, and five at a casual dinner.
This naturally makes ordinary people whose monthly salary is only a few dozen yuan speechless, and their attitudes are also polarized.
Some people said, "This restaurant is too shady. It doesn't serve the people at all. The Price Bureau doesn't care about it. It should be made affordable for the common people. I think this is a shabby restaurant." No, who will eat it if it’s so expensive? It will become yellow soon...”
And more people are full of yearning. "Hey, you can't say that. Officials can spend public funds. So people still have to pursue an official career. Whenever we want, we can go to a restaurant like this and have a meal. We will not lose money in this life..."
Especially those who know Ning Weimin, they talk about it endlessly.
For example, the neighbors in Shan'er Hutong all envied Ning Weimin behind his back.
The first thing that almost everyone thinks of is that if he opens this restaurant, he will have enough to eat and drink in his life.
So whoever wants to see Ning Weimin has to ask carefully, what kind of delicacies and palace dishes are you eating today? How is the business going? Who are the people who come to such a place?
As for Ning Weimin’s colleagues who worked at the Chongwenmen Hotel in the past, some were tempted to ask Ning Weimin to treat him, and some were thinking about the high wages in foreign companies and wanted to embrace Ning Weimin. This thigh needs to change jobs.
On the contrary, Zhang Shihui and Liu Weijing, who were actually invited, rejected Ning Weimin's kindness after careful consideration.
Their reasons were also very reasonable. They were planning to have a child, and they didn't want the couple to be tied to Ning Weimin and live a busy life all day without even having time to spend money.
There are also the four flowers arranged by Ning Weimin at the Jianguomen specialty store. They are somewhat panicked about Ning Weimin's restaurant.
I am afraid that their manager will become more distant from them and not take the store seriously.
For this reason, when a few people were in a mood, they simply paid their own money to be a guest and went to the "Tan Palace" to check out the experience and show off their presence.
I would like to take this opportunity to talk to Ning Weimin about their future.
But unfortunately, they didn't get to see Ning Weimin, but they were conquered by the delicious food here.
As for Qu Xiao’s parents, their reaction to the news was both surprise and excitement.
No one expected that Ning Weimin, whom they had not seen for several months, would handle such a big event quietly.
Especially when Qu Xiao got back four hundred yuan of consumer coupons from Ning Weimin.
This made the couple unavoidably suspicious of the extent of Ning Weimin and Qu Xiao's relationship.
It's a pity that it's hard to ask about this fact. God knows how much of what my daughter said to them is true and how much is false.
What’s more, Qu Xiao’s training and competition tasks have become increasingly heavy recently, and they don’t want their daughter to be distracted by mood swings.
So I had no choice but to suppress the urge to explore and wait for a better time to ask.
Huo Xin, who had just returned from a business trip abroad, was very happy to hear the news.
Although she was still angry because of the quarrel, she did not call Ning Weimin to express her congratulations. She only waited for him to take the initiative to talk to her.
But he couldn't help but praise Ning Weimin in front of his parents.
It’s just that Director Huo and his wife don’t have the heart to love the house and the bird.
In their eyes, a restaurant manager's future is too limited, not as bright as a firefly.
So I can only deal with it on the surface, and secretly worry about my daughter's vision behind the scenes.
The Lan Lan family should be the ones who reacted the coldest to this matter.
Although Lan Lan is happy for Ning Weimin's career progress and achievements.
But due to the disdain of her father and brother, my mother was even disgusted and disgusted.
She had no choice but to hide her joy and did not dare to touch it.
The Mi Xiaoran family is just the opposite.
In their letters to Mi Xiaoxu, Aunt Mi and Master Mi talked about this incident and praised Ning Weimin for his kindness.
But Mi Xiaoran had a grudge.
I have only read this letter once and don’t want to read it again.
And in her reply to her parents, she also emphasized her request, saying that she did not want to know any more news about Ning Weimin in the future.
Of course, there are those who want to be distant and those who want to be close.
For example, the gang of Jiang Hao, Li Zhong, and Wu Shen began to think that Ning Weimin was a friend who should be paid special attention to.
Obviously, Ning Weimin holds such a big restaurant in his hands, and the benefits it can bring to them can be said to be countless.
They have begun to consider how to utilize such resources.
There are also the heads of the handicraft factories who have business dealings with Ning Weimin. Because of their related interests, they are also happy about the unusual momentum of "Tan Palace".
Ning Weimin's good start and Tan Palace's prosperity are what they are happy to see.
(End of this chapter)