Chapter 216 Participating in the Exchange Meeting
Paul had heard of Yue Ning before. His subordinates told him that this girl was as popular in Hong Kong and Japan as the local top stars. She taught people how to cook on TV, which greatly increased their foie gras sales. Later, Lucas told him that this girl was an excellent chef and the owner of the most popular restaurant in Hong Kong. She even opened a chain of fast food restaurants in Japan.
Paul thought that their descriptions could not fully demonstrate Yue Ning's excellence, and he wanted to see it with his own eyes. Originally, Paul's plan was just to have lunch with Yue Ning, but now it has been extended to dinner.
In order to improve communication efficiency, Qiu Chunming became Yue Ning's exclusive translator, and HTV's French translator served Paul.
Yue Ning is familiar with catering, and knows a lot about food and agriculture, which is fine. This young lady even talked to him about the 1950s, when the development of the world economy promoted the liberalization of trade and investment. Japan rose rapidly against this background, followed by South Korea, Taiwan, China's Hong Kong and Singapore. She focused on the Han River miracle in South Korea, and then extended it to the consumption potential in East Asia, and then mentioned the hot discounts on luxury goods in Hong Kong. People who have just become rich have a strong desire to consume, but they do not have sufficient funds on hand.
France has developed rapidly since World War II, and Durand Group has also grown and developed these business units under this background. However, after the second oil crisis, the French economy slowed down significantly, or the whole of Europe and the United States faced high inflation and high unemployment. Their products for the high-end market have become weak in Europe and the United States. It is not that they do not value the Asian market, but the difference in eating habits made them think that the Asian market can only be used as a supplement. However, the sales volume of foie gras has increased threefold in a short period of time, which gave Paul hope. The market potential is huge, but their production also has bottlenecks.
Now that Yue Ning had made this analysis, coupled with Lucas's high praise for Hong Kong's roast goose and the unique foie gras, as well as Yue Ning's redefinition of the consumer group, Durand immediately decided to arrange a trip to Hong Kong and Japan.
After staying at the Durand family's manor for one night, Yue Ning went to Lyon with Lucas as Lucas's special guest the next day. After meeting up with the team members of Lucas' restaurant, they went to the exhibition center. This exchange meeting was one of the activities of the Lyon International Catering, Hotel and Food Exhibition.
Arriving at the entrance of the exhibition hall, Yue Ning, wearing a chef's uniform, carried a suitcase and walked into the exhibition hall where the exchange meeting was held with the Lucas team under the attention of everyone. There was a huge sign-in wall at the entrance of the venue. Yue Ning took the pen handed by the staff, signed his name, and then took a photo with the Lucas team.
The exhibition hall is divided into a rest area and an operation area. There are still two hours before the opening, so they go to the operation table to prepare. There are twelve operation tables in the operation area. The chefs and their teams of twelve restaurants will show their cooking skills to visitors with professional invitations. The Durand Group logo is printed in front of their operation table, and other booths also have their own logos.
Yue Ning now understood that this exchange meeting was actually a product promotion meeting for each group. As expected, Lucas' assistant took out a ham and placed it on the shelf. Yue Ning opened the box and placed the seasonings and special tools she brought in her operating area. She also brought a set of two casseroles, one for stewing soup and the other for making clay pot rice.
Lucas walked over and said, "When you take out this kitchen knife later, they will be surprised." The translation conveyed this to Yue Ning, who smiled and said, "Just like when you were in Gangcheng." This guy was in the kitchen of Baohua Building in Gangcheng, and was surprised to see that they could solve most problems with just a kitchen knife.
Other chefs were also preparing, and someone who knew Lucas came over to say hello. Lucas enthusiastically introduced that the big-nosed chef in front of him was the chef and owner of a three-star Michelin restaurant in Paris. Yue Ning greeted him politely, saying that a chef who could get three Michelin stars must be a very good chef.
The chef asked a question. In her previous life, Yue Ning had come to Lyon to participate in a competition and opened Ning BBQ here. Although she did not understand French, she could occasionally understand one or two words. Yue Ning understood the word "Japanese", and Lucas replied that she heard "Hong Kong City". As soon as the chef's face showed confusion, Yue Ning said to the translator: "Tell him that I am Chinese." After the translation, the big-nosed chef looked at her and asked Lucas: "Chinese? Are you learning cooking in your restaurant? There are many Japanese who come to learn cooking, but Chinese are rare."
"No! Chef Yue is the founder of the most popular restaurant in Hong Kong and the successor of an old restaurant. Her cooking skills amaze me, and today I invite her as a special guest to attend our exchange meeting."
"The founder of the most popular restaurant?" The big-nosed chef said in surprise, "But she looks very young. Although it's not polite to ask a lady's age, I really want to know how old she is?" Yue Ning was waiting for the translator to tell her, but the translator mumbled a few words and the big-nosed chef's eyes widened.
"He asked how old you are, and I told him you'll be nineteen this Saturday. I also told him that many people in Hong Kong are looking forward to celebrating your birthday!" Yue Ning thought of her birthday, and those "mom fans" remembered it very clearly, and all said they wanted to celebrate her birthday with her. Before she left, she told everyone that she was still young, and there was no need to make a big fuss about her birthday. When the time comes, Grandpa will make her a bowl of noodles, and Qiao Junxian will buy her a cake, and she can just have a simple birthday.
Yue Ning saw a familiar face coming behind the big-nosed chef, it was the Japanese teppanyaki chef Yan Xi.
There was a white chef next to Yanxi. Lucas had already greeted them. The big-nosed chef also started chatting with Yanxi. Yanxi chatted for a few words and then came over to greet Yue Ning. He spoke Japanese, but then realized that it was inappropriate and quickly changed to French. He came here at the invitation of another French chef. Japanese teppanyaki originated in France and developed different schools. He came to France to learn cooking more than ten years ago. This chef who looked younger than Yanxi was Yanxi's teacher.
Yanxi introduced Yue Ning to the French chef. Yue Ning heard from the translator that Yanxi called her a talented girl who was very popular in Japan. She said that the two fast food restaurants she opened in Osaka and Tokyo have now become the most popular Chinese food restaurants in Japan, and her program teaching Japanese housewives how to cook is also very popular.
“Teach Japanese housewives what to cook?”
“Chinese cuisine with a Japanese twist.”
“…”
As they chatted, everyone's eyes were focused on her. How come she became more popular than a celebrity in such a short time? Yue Ning said, "I am the best marketer among chefs and the best cook among salespeople."
After Yue Ning said this, the translator didn't know how to translate it. Is it appropriate to say it so bluntly?
Yue Ning nodded: "Turn it over."
As soon as the translator said that, Lucas said that because of her, their foie gras sales in Japan and Hong Kong have tripled. This was also confirmed by Yanxi, who said that this bibimbap appeared on the menus of many Japanese restaurants, and his restaurant sold it.
“So what kind of bibimbap is it?”
"Ms. Yue, are you cooking this meal today?" Yan Xi asked her.
"No, I brought a casserole and planned to make clay pot rice. Asparagus with French sausage and mushrooms."
Yanxi said, "I will cook this meal using the teppanyaki method later."
"Okay!" Yue Ning agreed happily.
"Of course, the sauce is not Miss Yue's special abalone sauce, but Japanese-style teriyaki sauce."
“I’m looking forward to it.”
“…”
As they were chatting, a French voice came over the radio, and the translator reminded Yue Ning that they had to leave the operation area in 20 minutes. Everyone returned to their own workstations, and after Yue Ning put his materials in place, he walked out of the operation area with Lucas and the others.
The staff of Durand Group who were waiting outside came over and said Paul had arrived and asked them to take a photo with him. There were several guests dressed elegantly at Paul's place. After Yue Ning went over to take a photo, Paul introduced her to a hotel owner. She had just chatted with the hotel owner for a few words when a gentleman in a suit and tie called her in English: "Miss Yue."
When Yue Ning saw the print on his tie, he knew that this was the Western seasoning supplier that Ning Yan had been working with.
“Your black vinegar adds a unique flavor to our radish salad.”
“You also raised awareness of our products.”
With this relationship, Yue Ning also took a photo with this gentleman. This company is also a sponsor of this exchange meeting. Yue Ning took a photo with the two sponsors, which immediately triggered various speculations among the people at the scene.
Paul waited for her to have a brief conversation with the boss, and then introduced her to the boss of a commercial food machinery company. Yue Ning did have this need. Several of their stores were still using traditional steamers, and she wanted to buy a steamer with better performance and a hanging oven with more precise temperature control for Ning Xiaochu. Ning Xiaochu was not like Baohualou and Ningyan, which focused on standardized fast food and adopted standard operating procedures. She was not very satisfied with the existing ovens.
After chatting with the boss for a while, Lucas came over and took her to the lounge area to wait. The first part of the exchange meeting was the introduction of the chef.
According to the arrangement, they were the middle team among the twelve teams. Yue Ning and Yan Xi, who was the fourth team to appear, sat together and chatted.
Yanxi was very familiar with these procedures. He introduced the teams that were about to appear to Yue Ning. The first team to appear was the team of the big-nosed chef. Yanxi introduced the chef's specialty. Since it was an international exchange, there were naturally teams from other countries. The next team was a chef team from a Michelin two-star restaurant in Spain. Yanxi's team appeared after the team from Germany.
Yue Ning was also preparing to go on stage with Lucas and the others. The spotlight was on them, and the host announced their team in French and English. Lucas had many honors, and even his assistants had titles. When it was her turn as a special guest, she was simply introduced as "Chef Yue Ning from Hong Kong City."
Compared with those chefs, I feel like a star who walked the red carpet at a film festival in my previous life.
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