Chapter 24 Designing Packaging Bags and Boxes, Hand-made...
Around 8 p.m., Gu's Private Kitchen saw off its last table of customers and closed the wooden door, instantly becoming much quieter, and even the hustle and bustle of Suli Street subsided.
After cleaning up the dishes, Sister Zhou put them in the sink, then took out a rag and wiped each table clean before going to the kitchen to wash the dishes.
Gu Qingqiu leaned back lazily in a chair under the fan, her legs, which had been standing for a long time, finally getting a complete rest.
She was busy all afternoon, and only managed to take a short break by sitting on a chair in the kitchen, otherwise her legs would have been too tired.
She took out her phone, opened Weibo to see if there was anything new trending, and then read through all the new posts from the bloggers she followed.
After thinking for a moment, Gu Qingqiu opened the homepage of Ji Jian Chuntang, which she had been following. Ji Jian Chuntang had recently posted a new illustration, which received a lot of likes, shares and comments.
Gu Qingqiu knew nothing about this industry, only that the paintings were quite beautiful. Then, with a clear goal in mind, she clicked on the previous Weibo post recommending her own restaurant and selected the comments section based on the most recent ones.
The newly refreshed comments are all saying how tempting the food looks, and how it's a pity it's not in Jiang City. Occasionally, I see a few comments from people who happen to be in Jiang City excitedly saying they'll go to the restaurant to try it when they have time.
After reading it, Gu Qingqiu smiled, exited the Ji Jian Chun Tang homepage, and then directly searched for Gu's Private Kitchen in the Weibo search box. The first post that popped up was Ji Jian Chun Tang's Weibo post, followed by about ten other posts from customers sharing their heartfelt experiences.
[Raspberry and Redberry: @Jijianchuntang's recommendation of this restaurant is absolutely amazing. Since it's located in Jiangshi, I made a special trip there with my friends that very day.]
Look, even a casual snapshot of the dishes looks amazing in photos. They're practically identical to the ones posted by @既见春棠—both are so tempting, and they taste so delicious I almost swallowed my tongue.
The sweet and sour pork with pineapple is crispy yet tender, while the beef in the braised beef brisket with tofu skin is stewed until tender, and the tofu skin has a rich bean flavor.
Steamed scallops with garlic and vermicelli is my favorite dish. The vermicelli is full of the aroma of garlic sauce, and the scallop meat is quite large, delicate, and fresh. The shiitake mushrooms and bok choy are also delicious. I love the two-way way of enjoying coconut chicken soup. The chicken dipped in the sauce is savory with a hint of spiciness, while the coconut chicken soup is sweet and refreshing with a rich coconut flavor. Eating the chicken directly gives you a sweet coconut juice flavor, and the meat is very tender.
My friends and I have completely fallen in love with Gu's Private Kitchen. It's a pity they don't offer delivery, so we'll have to eat there in the future. This is truly a hidden gem in Jiang City; I have a feeling it'll become incredibly popular. I have to eat there as many times as possible before it becomes too famous.
[Attached are various pictures of the dishes]
[The freshest natural beauty: Checked in at Gu's Private Kitchen recommended by @Jijianchuntang. The food was really good. Although the store is a bit small, the service is very good. I will go there often when I have time.]
[Attached are various dishes.jpg]
[Can Meng not go to work?: Hehe, I couldn't resist asking a delivery person to buy Gu's Private Kitchen today. The restaurant recommended by @既见春棠 is really delicious. I ordered black char siu, passion fruit sour beef soup, hand-shredded cabbage, and handmade fish ball soup. Every dish was so delicious that it touched my heart.]
While eating in the cafeteria, two colleagues came over and asked which restaurant served the food. After sharing lunch with them, they also fell in love with Gu's Private Kitchen and made plans to dine in together on the weekend. The freshly cooked meat dishes should be even more delicious then, hehe, I'm already looking forward to it! (frantically giving a thumbs up)
[Attached are various dishes.jpg]
These Weibo posts sharing Gu's Private Kitchen recipes all have several comments. I don't know if they came from seeing Gu's Private Kitchen recipes on Ji Jian Chun Tang's Weibo or from random netizens recommended by big data.
Gu Qingqiu was quite happy to see them sharing that they liked eating Gu's Private Kitchen. She had just seen the Weibo post about using a delivery service to buy things, which was posted today, and she knew it was one of the delivery orders for today.
According to Sister Zhou, we received two delivery orders, quite a lot of them. There were also two or three other orders from customers who came in to order takeout to eat at home. In addition, we served about twelve tables of customers in the dine-in service, so our income today was quite good.
Gu Qingqiu excitedly opened WeChat and went to the merchant page to check today's revenue. Adding the merchant's revenue from Alipay, the store's daily turnover was nearly seven thousand yuan.
Basically, customers who come to the restaurant order all five dishes, or they only order one meat dish; it's rare for them to order just one meat dish and one vegetable dish.
In addition, after opening for business in the afternoon, we sold five jin of fish balls separately. They sold out instantly at sixty yuan per jin, earning us an extra three hundred yuan.
Even after deducting the profit from purchasing ingredients, and taking into account all the expenses such as water, electricity, kerosene, etc., the net profit earned from such a turnover is still quite considerable.
After roughly calculating the number, Gu Qingqiu felt much more energetic, her eyebrows curved, and a smile spread across her face.
She had previously seen comments under Ji Jian Chuntang's Weibo post recommending her restaurant, with some netizens saying it was a pity that Gu's Private Kitchen didn't have an official Weibo account. They said it would be great if they could post the dishes for the day on the official account, as opening blind boxes every day was a bit of a hassle.
Other netizens chimed in, saying that if an official account posted the menu for the day, they could decide whether or not to go for a meal based on the dishes on the menu.
Actually, some netizens on Xiaohongshu have also mentioned this. They like restaurants updating their menus every day, but they don't want it to be all blind boxes.
Ever since Gu Qingqiu learned that netizens on Xiaohongshu and Weibo were recommending her restaurant, she has been paying attention to their comments from time to time.
She has also been considering opening an official restaurant account.
As more and more netizens learn about Gu's Private Kitchen, running an official account would allow them to better understand Gu's Private Kitchen, know what dishes it usually serves, and see more food photos. Information such as opening hours could also be posted in a timely manner, since not everyone goes to Dianping (a Chinese review platform) to check.
As some netizens have said, you can also publish a daily menu so that people who want to eat here can decide whether to come based on whether the menu suits their taste.
However, it seems that the discussion about her own restaurant is slightly higher on Xiaohongshu. Gu Qingqiu also often sees notes about Gu's Private Kitchen in the local food topics.
The comments on Weibo are mainly concentrated in the comment section of the post by Ji Jian Chun Tang recommending her own restaurant. Just now, a direct search for her own restaurant only yielded about ten results.
Although the restaurant's current capacity is such that customers attracted by word of mouth and repeat customers have to wait in line to be served, and sometimes they even have to turn away some of the customers who are waiting in line.
But who would complain about their restaurant being too well-known?
Gu Qingqiu, who runs her own small restaurant, also has a dream: to let more people know about Gu's Private Kitchen, to let more people eat Gu's Private Kitchen, to praise her cooking skills, and to say that her restaurant is worth coming to eat at often.
However, this cannot be rushed. The key to running a restaurant is to make every dish well, and everything else will fall into place naturally.
If she were to run a self-media account, Gu Qingqiu felt she needed to find time to plan it properly.
She also studied media operations in college, and lately, she's been scrolling through various videos and tweets not only for relaxation and entertainment, but also to gain a general understanding of current copywriting styles and media promotion.
She'll study it more thoroughly when she has time to rest.
Gu Qingqiu believes that the most urgent task is to redesign the packaging boxes and bags.
The takeout boxes she ordered were simply printed with the words "Gu's Private Kitchen" on them, and the takeout bags were just ordinary white transparent plastic bags.
Takeout packaging is undoubtedly the first impression a restaurant gives to its customers, and to some extent, it even represents the restaurant's level of quality.
If the takeout box is a bit more upscale and exquisite, and even the outermost packaging bag looks and feels high-quality, it will give customers the feeling that the restaurant is very upscale, even if the food is actually quite cheap.
For new customers who come specifically for the restaurant, the meat dishes at Gu's Private Kitchen are not cheap. They often spend extra money to have the food packed up by a delivery person. When they receive the food, they are surprised to find that Gu's Private Kitchen only uses a simple transparent box with the restaurant's name printed on it and a white transparent plastic bag. Their first impression is definitely not very good.
Of course, the key factor in deciding whether to return to this restaurant is the taste and quality of the meat and dishes.
However, if you can make the takeout packaging as perfect as possible, you should try to do it well.
Thinking this way, some ideas vaguely popped into Gu Qingqiu's mind.
She got up, went to the kitchen, greeted Sister Zhou, and told her that once Sister Zhou was done, she could simply close the wooden door from the outside and go back inside, while she went upstairs to take care of her own business.
Back in her room, Gu Qingqiu immediately turned on the air conditioner, then opened the computer on her desk that hadn't been used in a long time, opened Photoshop, created a new canvas, and began designing takeout packaging bags.
She plans to order takeout bags this time that have insulation and good adhesive closure, which will require designing the overall pattern to be printed on the takeout bags.
When she was in college, it was the time when self-media was booming. In addition to learning how to operate self-media, she also taught herself Photoshop and Premiere Pro. Now, after opening Photoshop and becoming familiar with most of the basic functions, Gu Qingqiu started operating it.
The first thing to design was the restaurant's name, using a slightly calligraphic font. Then, the five characters "Gu's Private Kitchen" were cleverly arranged into two lines and saved as a seal.
Gu Qingqiu took out her tablet, opened the drawing software, and began to draw some simple patterns with the provided pen.
Considering that customers who call for delivery to pack food might not have been to Gu's Private Kitchen before, and more importantly, she didn't have any novel or creative inspiration, she simply drew a cartoon based on her own restaurant's facade.
The color scheme is also very simple, based on reality and directly using the natural wood color scheme. Even the wooden signboard on the restaurant is painted on it. The pink and white petals of the peach tree next to the restaurant flutter, creating a soft and peaceful atmosphere.
Gu Qingqiu's painting skills are only passable, certainly not comparable to those of professional painters, but perhaps because he paints the place where he grew up with emotion, the strokes he makes are quite beautiful.
She added a small white spotted dog that came to the restaurant from the aroma of the food, instantly adding a touch of life to the whole scene.
On the restaurant's business premises, she used large artistic fonts to arrange the four characters "色香香全" (color, aroma, and taste all perfect) in the four corners of the picture.
Because the main body of the drawn pattern uses the natural wood color, Gu Qingqiu chose a refreshing mint green for the background color of the outer packaging bag. The two colors are quite harmonious and pleasing to the eye.
Save the overall design of the outer packaging, export it from the tablet and send it to the file transfer assistant in WeChat, then save the file from the computer and import it into Photoshop.
Gu Qingqiu placed the restaurant name she had previously designed into the overall pattern, and only after confirming that it looked harmonious enough and even aesthetically pleasing did she breathe a sigh of relief and save it.
The design of the lunch boxes is relatively simple. This time, I plan to order the kind of lunch boxes that are relatively sturdy with a slightly frosted exterior. The lids of the lunch boxes will all be the same mint green color, and the restaurant name that I designed earlier will be incorporated into them. It will be done quickly.
After completing these two designs, Gu Qingqiu stretched her shoulders and checked the time, only to find that two hours had passed and it was already past ten o'clock.
She got up, grabbed her clothes, and went to take a shower. After washing up, she came back, wrapped her head in a towel, wrung out her hair slightly, and used a hairdryer to blow-dry her beautiful hair until it was half-dry. She then let it hang loose to air dry.
She leaned back in her office chair at her desk, holding her phone and browsing links for customized takeout bags and boxes on shopping apps. She selected the materials and styles she wanted, chatted with a well-reviewed merchant about the details, and after confirming everything was okay, placed the order, made payment, and sent the two designed documents to the other party.
The merchant replied "OK" and quickly sent her the renderings. Gu Qingqiu was very satisfied and replied that there was no problem.
The other party said they could ship the goods tomorrow afternoon.
Gu Qingqiu exited the chat page, feeling quite pleased with herself for having accomplished another important task. She had only ordered one hundred takeout boxes and fifty takeout bags for the time being, to test the quality and effectiveness first.
These takeout boxes and bags are a bit more expensive than the previous batch, but at the price of one yuan per box, there's almost no profit. However, they help improve the restaurant's image, so it's worth it.
She opened a short video app and started scrolling through various entertainment videos. The faint sounds of different popular trends gave her a brief moment of relaxation. Only after her hair was completely dry did she lie down in bed to sleep.
Earlier, Old Wang's Home-Style Restaurant on Suli Street closed for business a little after nine o'clock. The staff were cleaning the restaurant, and Wang Zhiguo was sitting at one of the tables in the dining area, calculating the day's revenue.
He had a slight smile on his face, which became even more pronounced after calculating today's revenue, and three wrinkles even appeared on his forehead from laughing.
Today's turnover is a little over three thousand, and it has been at this level for most of the week. On weekends, the turnover can reach three thousand five.
This level of quality, while not a new high, has at least returned to the state it was in before Gu's Private Kitchen opened for business, and his heart is finally at ease.
He recently gave Xiao Chong money every other day to go to Gu's Private Kitchen for a meal, and to bring back half of the meat and vegetables for him to eat.
Wang Zhiguo enjoyed the meal, and in his heart, he gradually began to admire the girl he had never met. Her father's cooking skills had been inferior to his own back then, but her cooking skills were simply enough to send Xiao Chong to the North Pole.
And let me tell you, if I were just an ordinary customer, or if I owned any other shop, I would definitely become a loyal customer of Gu's Private Kitchen and eat there often.
But since he opened a restaurant, serving similar home-style dishes, Wang Zhiguo would never eat at Gu's Private Kitchen.
He has recently gained a lot of inspiration from Gu's Private Kitchen. When others sell sweet and sour pork with pineapple, he learns to make sweet and sour pork with pineapple. When others sell fried pork ribs with mint, he learns to make fried pork ribs with mint.
Wang Zhiguo learned to find instructional videos online and practice making the dish in his kitchen. Once he felt ready to graduate, he started serving the new dish at his restaurant.
And it worked really well. Some regular customers said, "Old Wang, your restaurant has finally come up with a new dish after all these years. That's rare!"
"We had a good meal today. Your sweet and sour pork with pineapple was especially good. You can try to come up with more new dishes in the future."
"Old Wang, your mint fried pork ribs are pretty good. Although they're not quite as good as Gu's Private Kitchen's, my granddaughter brought some back for me the other day and they were delicious. Yours are quite good too."
Wang Zhiguo chose to ignore the praise for Gu's Private Kitchen and only listened to the affirmation of his own cooking skills. He felt that his new dishes tasted good and were cheaper than Gu's Private Kitchen, so they were quite competitive.
And just like that, the shop's daily revenue has rebounded beautifully. If I work hard and learn a few more dishes, I'm sure I can increase revenue even further.
Wang Zhiguo looked at the figures in the ledger with satisfaction, picked up his brewed Dancong tea, took a sip, and let out a satisfied sigh.
The shop assistant, who had just finished cleaning the restaurant, approached the boss with a smile when he saw his expression and said, "Boss, business has been good lately. I heard from a friend who works at the noodle shop up ahead that his boss often sends people to Gu's Private Kitchen to solicit customers. There are always a lot of people queuing up for lunch and dinner there."
Of course, he didn't mention that his friend complained that the customers queuing up at Gu's Private Kitchen were like they were under a spell, sticking to that particular restaurant even if there were many people ahead of them and refusing to move to the noodle shop, which infuriated his boss.
Wang Zhiguo frowned after hearing this and said seriously to the shop assistant, "Xiao Wang, for the sake of our possible kinship from five hundred years ago, I'm reminding you not to have any inappropriate thoughts. I don't care about the reputation of a noodle shop owner. With my excellent cooking skills, even if I don't compete with Gu's Private Kitchen for customers, I can still run the restaurant well."
He has his own pride; what's the point of soliciting customers in front of other people's shops? He disdains doing such things.
The shop assistant immediately slapped himself and said with his head down, "Yes, yes, boss, I was too narrow-minded. Just look at how good business has been in our store lately, and I know it will definitely get better in the future."
Wang Zhiguo waved his hand: "Alright, go home as soon as you're done."
After the shop assistant left, Wang Chong, who had returned sometime earlier, patted his father on the shoulder from behind and laughed, "Dad, what you said just now was excellent. You're fifty years old, the perfect age to strive for success. I have high hopes for you!"
Wang Zhiguo was startled by him and couldn't help but roll his eyes: "Go away, you think I'll work my ass off while you lie around collecting money?"
"You can't say that. I've been doing pretty well lately. I often get up early and go home early at night. Do you usually see me at this time?" Wang Chong said casually, leaning against the edge of the table.
Wang Zhiguo thought about it and agreed. Although he lost two hundred yuan each time he sent his son to Gu's Private Kitchen, he and his son enjoyed delicious meat dishes. His son was able to get up before 11 a.m. the next day and come home early in the evening.
He still made a profit on this deal.
Looking at the ledger in his hand, Wang Zhiguo proudly shared the recent revenue situation of the store with his son: "I told you your father is amazing. Nothing can stump me. So what if Gu's Private Kitchen is doing well? I can still keep the revenue stable and climb to the next peak."
Wang Chong nodded, somewhat pleased: "Impressive, impressive, no wonder you're my father. How about you pay me to go to Gu's Private Kitchen tomorrow?"
Wang Zhiguo waved his hand and said, "Go ahead, I'll get the money for you right now."
He stood up and went to the cashier to get two red bills for his son.
"Thanks, I'll definitely pack some for you to eat early tomorrow morning." Wang Chong took the money, put it in his pocket, turned around and went upstairs. "I'm going upstairs to play for a while."
Wang Zhiguo called out to his son as he watched him go, "Go to sleep early, don't stay up too late."
"Okay."
The following evening, when Yang Liu got home from get off work, her mother had already prepared dinner and was waiting for her.
She lives with her parents, who are now retired. One advantage of this is that she can have a hot meal as soon as she gets home.
After washing her hands and sitting down at the table, Yang Liu's eyes lit up when she saw a seaweed and fish ball soup on the table: "Mom, is this soup made with the fish balls from the first freezer compartment?"
Yang's mother nodded: "Yes, the fish balls you bought are actually quite delicious. Your father and I cooked a few for lunch and ate them all."
Mr. Yang also said, "Yes, where did you buy these fish balls? They are quite bouncy and have a strong fish flavor. I estimate that they are at least 99% fish paste, unlike the ones sold in the market that have too much flour."
Yang Liu smiled and said, "Yesterday, I went out to eat with my colleagues after get off work. They insisted that a certain restaurant had delicious meat dishes, so we went there specifically to eat. Who knew that the meat dishes there were really good, even better than the one where my younger brother had his wedding banquet last time. I saw that they were selling handmade fish balls separately, so I bought a pound of them, thinking that I could cook them anytime."
Her parents had gone on a picnic with a group of old friends yesterday, so she went out to eat with her colleagues while they were away. Little did she know she would discover a hidden gem of a shop.
Yang's mother was a little skeptical: "Really? The restaurant where your younger brother got married was a five-star restaurant that your uncle and aunt booked at a high price. Was the restaurant you ate at yesterday really that delicious?"
"Really, I'll take you guys to the restaurant for a meal this weekend. I'm still thinking about it." Yang Liu wasn't angry about being doubted; she would have been suspicious too if she hadn't eaten there.
Mr. Yang nodded: "Okay, then let's go try it this weekend. To be honest, I'm somewhat convinced. Just the taste of those fish balls at noon was impressive. No wonder they're so delicious, since they're handmade."
Recalling the fish balls she ate at noon, Yang's mother was starting to believe it: "Okay, then let's go eat some this weekend, and I won't have to cook."
Then, not forgetting to ask, "By the way, Xiao Liu, how much do you pay per pound for your handmade fish balls? Why don't you buy more?"
I'm afraid you'll feel bad if I buy too much, and besides, the restaurant only sells five jin in total. Yang Liu said truthfully, "These handmade fish balls are sixty yuan a jin."
Upon hearing this, Yang's mother raised her voice: "Sixty yuan? That's so expensive!"
Yang Liu nodded without hesitation: "Yes, it's sixty yuan a pound. Tell me, is it worth it or not? Every bite of these handmade fish balls is so firm and delicious, with a bouncy and tender texture. The shop mainly sells handmade fish ball soup for 58 yuan. If it weren't for the customers' strong request to buy fish balls to cook at home, the shop wouldn't have made extra to sell. There are only five pounds in total. It's not that I didn't want to buy more, but I'm already lucky to have bought even one pound."
"Judging from the taste and texture of the fish balls we had at noon, sixty yuan is a bit expensive, but it's still worth it. Before, we bought fish balls at the market for twenty-two yuan a pound, and they tasted like flour all the time. That was a real waste of money. Luckily, Xiaoliu, your mother and I were able to eat such delicious fish balls," Yang's father chimed in, agreeing with his daughter.
After regaining her composure, Yang's mother smiled and said, "These fish balls do taste good, but they're a bit pricey at sixty yuan. However, it's okay to save up and eat them occasionally."
She was just too shocked when she first heard it.
Yang Liu knew her mother was used to being frugal, so she gave her a heads-up: "At Gu's Private Kitchen, meat dishes and soups are 58 yuan each, and vegetables are 28 yuan each. Compared to some ordinary restaurants, it's a bit expensive, but compared to the meat dishes at those big restaurants, it's incredibly cheap. And the taste is even better than those restaurants."
She concluded, "Anyway, Mom and Dad, you'll know once you've eaten it this weekend."
Yang's mother was a little skeptical, but also a little expectant: "Okay, then I'll have to give it a good try this weekend."
Mr. Yang then picked up a fish ball with his chopsticks: "Hurry up and eat it after you finish talking. I've been thinking about these fish balls all afternoon."
He ate two fish balls at noon, and his wife ate two more; they were so happy with them. But even if they wanted more, they couldn't very well cook some more fish balls, so they had to wait until evening.
He opened his mouth wide and stuffed a whole fish ball into it. It was bouncy and refreshing, with a rich fishy aroma. The sweet and fresh fragrance filled his mouth, and even the seaweed wrapped around the fish ball made it taste delicious.
Yang Liu also picked up a fish ball to eat. It still tasted familiar. Sure enough, as long as the fish balls made by the owner of Gu's Private Kitchen are made by hand, they taste just as good when cooked at home.
As Yang's mother ate the bouncy, sweet fish balls, each bite filled with firm fish paste, she gradually accepted the high price of sixty yuan per pound. She even thought that if possible, buying a few more pounds wouldn't be a bad idea.
The seaweed and fish ball soup made with Gu's private kitchen handmade fish balls not only has the aroma of seaweed, but also the sweetness of fish balls, and even the soft and tender seaweed has a touch of sweetness.
This dish was undoubtedly the best one at dinner that night; it was completely devoured in no time.
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