Gourmet: From a Stall in Northern Europe-Chapter 257 - 178: Approached by 178, Culinary Exchange

"After three days of operation, there are a total of 132 reviews, and 130 of them are positive. Two of the reviews are three-star reviews, and the reason given is that there are too many people dining buffet-style and they can't get any food??"

He rubbed his dry eyes, thinking he was seeing things.

In all his years in the restaurant business, he had never heard such a reason for a bad review.

"It's actually a buffet restaurant? Hold on, dinner is by reservation only and only open to hotel guests, with only three spots available daily, and each guest can bring a companion to dine together?"

"The restaurant doesn't provide a menu or ingredients; dinner guests must prepare their own, or they can visit the hotel-owned farm and fishery to experience the joy of personally catching, hunting, and picking, and then bring the ingredients to the restaurant for the head chef to cook on the spot?"

This novel and interesting model instantly piqued his intense curiosity.

"It's not provided by the restaurant, but obtained by the guests themselves?"

"Subarashii, interesting, truly interesting!"

He couldn't resist wanting to quickly experience this novel dining process, and his curiosity about the person who conceived this model rose strongly.

If he could exchange ideas with this genius, he might gain unprecedented new inspiration!

He immediately picked up the phone, found the hotel's contact information, and without hesitation, introduced himself.

"You said a famous Sakura Chef wants to meet me?"

Wang Ziqin awoke from his sleep, feeling completely bewildered. He wasn't a head chef, so why would a chef want to see him?

"What's the name of the restaurant? What's the name of the Sakura Chef?"

He picked up his phone from the bedside table and typed in the spelling as provided by the receptionist.

"Natsuki Longyin? What kind of character is this — never seen it before... Japan-made Chinese character, meaning calm and peaceful? Well, it does fit their artisan spirit."

"Let's see what's up... The restaurant was founded five years ago by the grandson of Sakura Country's famous general Nagishiro Ichiro, Nagishiro Sho. The restaurant's concept is to blend diverse cultures and create cuisine that caters to the palates of diners from around the world?"

He glanced through the information available online about the restaurant and was surprised to find that it was inspected by Michelin last year. Although not selected, it can be said to be on Michelin's level. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Michelin restaurant's selection criteria are comprehensive, focusing mainly on culinary skills while considering other aspects, and comparing it with similar-category restaurants. Not being selected doesn't necessarily mean the taste isn't good; it could be due to factors such as environment or service not keeping up.

In any case, being selected for Michelin's review list essentially means the restaurant's food meets the standards of a Michelin one-star rating.

For him, Western dishes at Michelin restaurants are just alright; mainly about the experience. Wanting a full meal is impossible so he prefers a hotpot or a boxed meal for a satisfying bite.

He usually goes with his wife to take pictures for the feeds, occasionally visiting when he needs some trend content for his social media.

But a restaurant founded by Sakura People reaching Michelin level in just a few years here indeed proves this chef's exceptional skills.

"Alright, tell him to stay at our hotel first. I'll find time to chat with him."

After hanging up the phone, Wang Ziqin was now fully awake, with his mind racing.

The head chef didn't just come to see him; he was likely interested in the business model of his industry chain, so in other words, wanted to experience it.

This one-stop farm-to-table model is common in China, but abroad it's seen as a bold innovation, naturally sparking curiosity and interest.

He hadn't anticipated that the first person interested would be from Japan.

Having been doing business abroad for a long time, he had interacted with people from various countries and found the Japanese to be quite okay — meticulous in their work, giving enough respect outwardly — at least easier to deal with than the Kimchi People.

It's not that there's an issue with Kimchi People; it varies individually. Every country has good and bad people; running into the bad ones is bad luck.

His contact list included people from various countries with whom he had established trustworthy relations over the years, the kind of people he could call friends, with some degree of business dealings.

Leveraging this meeting with the Sakura Chef and the kite festival, he planned to see if he could organize some follow-up activities, inviting more restaurants or brands to join in, perhaps setting up a food festival or something similar.

To have good business, maintain the hype, collaborate where needed, organize where needed, and capitalize on the fact that foreigners love hosting parties anyway.

After brainstorming for two or three minutes, the receptionist called to say the Sakura Chef was already en route and would arrive in an hour.

"Wow, coming so soon??"

Having interacted with dozens of Sakura People, but never encountering such a decisive person, he instantly gained a basic understanding of this individual's character.

"Chefs truly have distinctive personalities; Lin Chen might have better conversations with him. Although it's mealtime now, Lin Chen definitely wouldn't be free."

Tonight's dinner reservations are certainly already taken; he could only host the person tomorrow evening, even if he was the hotel's big boss, he couldn't blatantly cancel other guests' reservations.

8:30 PM.

Nagishiro Sho promptly appeared in Radison Hotel's parking lot.

His car was very low-key, the most ordinary kind, even a second-hand one, such that nobody would pay attention when it passed on the street.